Protests, violence in Hassan after BJP leader allegedly says ‘Deve Gowda will die soon’

Politics

The tape led to JD(S) party workers pelting stones at BJP MLA Preetham Gowda's house in Hassan. Preetham has accused HDK’s family of attempting to kill him.

Theja Ram

Karnataka state politics seems to surround leaked audio clips in recent times. Especially after Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy released a tape of BJP leaders allegedly trying to lure a JD(S) party worker. On Wednesday, another audio clip went viral. This time, it was purportedly a phone conversation between Hassan BJP MLA Preetham Gowda, BJP MLA Shivana Gouda Nayak and an anonymous leader from the coalition government. In the audio tape, a voice purported to be that of Preetham Gowda is heard telling a man named Santosh that JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda “would die soon” and Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy “is unwell” and that JD(S) “will soon be history.” As news of the new audio clip went viral, over 100 JD(S) party workers in Hassan gathered outside MLA Preetham Gowda’s residence and began pelting stones at his house. They condemned Preetham Gowda for speaking about a former Prime Minister in a derogatory manner. Soon, BJP party workers too landed up at the spot and a fight broke out between the workers of both parties. In the process, Rahul Kini, the BJP State Executive Committee member of the Yuva Morcha, was injured after a stone hit his right eye. This led to further agitation and the police resorted to lathicharge to calm the crowd. The JD(S) party workers accused Preetham Gowda of indulging in horsetrading of JD(S) MLAs and also accused him of passing “distasteful comments” about the party’s higher-ups. As news of the violence spread, BJP leaders in the Assembly too began protesting in the well of the House, leading the Speaker to adjourn the proceedings. Here’s a full transcription of the latest audio clip: Preetham Gowda: Santosh, I have spoken to Saab. The man is only 30 years old and still has lot of time in politics. Our Saab has offered him a minister post if he wants. He wanted to talk about the financial matters but I told him not to do that and that we will take care of  it. So what now? Santosh: Hmm.. Preetham Gowda: Talk to him, talk to him. Santosh: Hmm Preetham Gowda: Saab has told him that there are very few non-Lingayat leaders in that region and there are one of two of them. Saab also told him that he will be handling Yadgir district. He has also said that he wants a good portfolio. He said his father will resign and he will contest bye-elections and will be made a minister. He also promised to pay whatever money needed for the election campaign. Now your job is to get 11 more people, just like you got the other four. What’s the figure? Santosh: Hmm. It’s not about the figure. If it happens, it will. I don’t want to sit in the background. Preetham Gowda: You come to Bombay and look after everything. We will put you in touch with Vijayendra, you contact him. Once the 14 MLAs are in Bombay, you come with me in my car, he will also make his father resign, we will all go and talk to Vijayendra. No one is going to take away anything from us. Shivana Gouda Nayak: Now what is the price? How much are you demanding? Yeddyurappa has money. Santosh: Only power. Shivana Gouda Nayak: Giving ministerial berth is his (Yeddyurappa) job. My job is to give money. I will discuss the financials and then tell me. If you confirm it by tomorrow evening, I will give you Rs 20 crore within three months. But you tell me how much you want. Santosh: I don’t… Preetham Gowda: Listen to me. You are the person who will walk out of here a better man. You will grow to a certain status in your life. You should not feel like you did not get enough. So tell us how much you want. We give you our word because everyone’s lives are at stake here. Shivana Gouda: If Yeddyurappa becomes the CM and if you trust him, it is the best. If you don’t trust him, it will be your misfortune but if you do trust him, you will benefit from it. This is the practical thing. So tell me how many crore you want. I will talk to them about it. I will bat on your behalf. (Inaudible). Preetham Gowda: See, Vijayendra has told me a figure to offer you but if you tell us how much, then we can convey it to him and that will make him happy. You are like family to us.  All 11 people will get the equal amount. But if you want something more, we will be able to tell you how much we can give. Shivana Gouda: I resigned and did not take a single penny from BJP. That Janardhana Reddy did not give me a single rupee. I gave Rs 3.1 crore for elections and he did not give any money. I wanted to hold a press meet about Janardhana Reddy but Saab told me not to at the time. (inaudible noises) Preetham Gowda: I will be with BJP until I die. He (referring Deve Gowda) will die soon and his son is unwell. They will be wiped out soon. Santosh: Hmm… Clip ends Yeddyurappa’s warning Following the protests and violence in Hassan, BJP leader and Karnataka Leader of Opposition BS Yeddyurappa warned the Kumaraswamy government that he would travel to Hassan and take on Deve Gowda’s family if the violence continued. Speaking to the media, Yeddyurappa said, "The Gowda family is attacking our MLA and party workers. I will go there and sit down in protest. Let the JD(S) workers attack me. I will speak to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh about this incident." Preetham Gowda on the other hand, alleged that Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy and HD Revanna were trying to kill him and his family members. “They want to kill me but I will not be afraid. I will also fight back,” he said. After the furore over the new audio tape and the violence it triggered, Chief Minister Kumaraswamy appealed to JDS workers and asked them not to create violence over a BJP MLA's alleged comments about him and his father. He has also instructed Hassan DC and SP to maintain law and order. Hassan police say that the situation was tense and they have deployed more security to ensure no untoward incident occurs. “Attack on Hassan BJP MLA Preetham Gowda’s house and his family members by JD(S) goondas exposes how HD Kumaraswamy and his party men are running riots in the state. Kumaraswamy is heading and sponsoring goonda elements in Karnataka and pushing the states towards anarchy,” the Karnataka BJP tweeted.    

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Despite protests, toll to be introduced for KA 19 vehicles in Surathkal

Civic

Commuters unhappy over toll for for KA 19 vehicles in Suratkal toll booth from March 1.

Prajwal Bhat

Protest demanding closure of Surathkal toll booth in November 2018: via Facebook: Muneer Katipalla

From March 1, private vehicles with a 'KA 19' registration will also have to compulsorily pay toll at the Surathkal toll booth in Dakshina Kannada. The decision to levy toll on vehicles with local registration was taken by Keshav Agarwal Company, which took over the contract for toll collection from the toll booth in November 2018, to improve toll collection from the booth. Previously, vehicles bearing the local 'KA 19' registration number, which includes vehicles registered in Dakshina Kannada, were exempted from paying toll at the booth. The move to introduce toll for vehicles with local registration numbers has angered residents and activists in the areas near the toll booth, as it will mean that commuters driving to Mangaluru will now have to pay toll of Rs 75 at the toll booth in Surathkal and Rs 50 at the toll booth in Hejamady, which is 11.2 km south of Surathkal. "If toll is collected in both booths, then commuters travelling to Mangaluru from Padubidri every day will have to pay Rs 125 for toll. This is not a new road constructed. This is an existing road that has been widened and we are not happy that toll will now be compulsory for local residents also," explains Yathish Baikampady, who is in the process of mobilising a protest in response to the decision. According to rules laid down by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the distance between two adjacent toll booths should be at least 60 km. Protest demanding closure of Surathkal toll booth in September 2018 Even though a monthly pass will be available for local vehicles, commuters are unhappy since it will be an added inconvenience. "Initially. we had demanded the closure of the toll booth but after exemptions were made for local vehicles, the stir against toll collection in the booth was curtailed. They are looking to divide and rule in this manner," says Muneer Katipalla, State President of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) who was part of the protests to close down the toll booth in Surathkal. The toll booth at Surathkal has been the site of various protests in the last six months. The Tollgate Virodhi Horata Samithi, a forum formed to demand the closure of toll booth at Surathkal, held a protest in September 2018 asking for the merger of the toll booths in Surathkal and Hejamady. The protest intensified after the Samiti held a 11-day dharna in October demanding the closure of the booth. The dharna was withdrawn after assurances were made by district incharge minister UT Khader that a meeting will be held with NHAI officials over the issue. Protest demanding closure of Surathkal toll booth in September 2018 The Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) council in its October meeting passed a resolution to recommend to the government to close down the toll gate on NH 66 at Surathkal. The recommendation was backed up by letters from the Samiti, the district administration and the NHAI's regional office reiterating the demand to close down the toll booth and merge it with the toll booth at Hejamady. However, in spite of the recommendations, the toll collection at the booth continued to happen and Keshav Agarwal Company took over the contract after the previous contract expired on November 16, 2018. The company has now decided to collect toll even from vehicles with 'KA 19' registration numbers. The decision will come into effect on March 1; however citizens living in the areas near the toll booth are planning to protest the decision once again before the toll collection is implemented.

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No trees planted by BDA in Bengaluru in 2 years: Green cover to reduce to 2.96% in 2020

Environment

There has been an 88% decline in green spaces from 1973 to 2017, states a study by IISc.

Soumya Chatterjee

Representational Image/ Mokkie via Wikimedia Commons

As successive governments (both state and local) show little interest in revitalising the lost green cover in Bengaluru, the future of the city looks grim with temperatures rising, ground water tables depleting and urban flooding becoming a common occurrence. A recent RTI reply shows that in the last two years there have been no addition to the number of tress in Bengaluru due to government action. TNM has accessed the RTI reply by the Bangalore Development Authority which shows that it has not planted a single sapling for 2017-18 and in 2018-19. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahaangara Palike (BBMP) also had also stopped planting trees for the last two years after it was criticised for lack of transparency and low survivability of its saplings.  Even the free sapling distribution by the tree bank run by the BBMP, started in 2017, has been called off. All this, as citizen activists are crying foul over the call to further reduce green cover as trees are being felled on a daily basis for road widening, metro projects. Satellite imagery, remote sensing data and analysis by scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) paint a frightening picture. There has been an 88% decline in green spaces from 1973 to 2017, while groundwater table has also witnessed a sharp decline along with the deterioration of air quality, reveals a study by IISc. The study reads, “Urbanisation during 1973 to 2017 (1028% concretization or increase of paved surface) has telling influence on the natural resources such as decline in green spaces (88% decline in vegetation), wetlands (79% decline), higher air pollutants and sharp decline in groundwater table.” The study using multi-criteria decision-making techniques have predicted that by 2020, only a green cover of 2.96% will remain in Bengaluru compared to 45.77% in 1999. This would make the region greenhouse gas rich, water scarce, non-resilient and unlivable, depriving the city dwellers of clean air, water and environment.”It adds, “Quantification of number of trees in the region using remote sensing data with field census reveals that there are only 1.5 million trees to support Bangalore's population of 9.5 million, indicating one tree for every seven persons in the city. This is insufficient even to sequester respiratory carbon (ranges from 540-900 g per person per day).” Vijay Nishanth, an urban eco-conservationist, said, “This shows why people don’t believe the government when they say there will be compensatory forestation for big infrastructural projects like the steel bridge and elevated corridor. While there is enough money to spend thousands of crores on steel bridge, why can’t Rs 5 crore be spent on planting trees. This city was made of trees, people used to come here for the good weather but now look how the weather has changed over the last few years alone.” He added, “We can see how little importance the political class gives for the trees. For an entire city of Bengaluru, we only have 12 officers in the BBMP tree cell. We hear that tree cells of both the BDA and BBMP do not get the financial sanction to carry out their plantation programs. If the trees disappear like this, not only will there be no good weather but no rain also. The BBMP has been saying that it will start its tree census but we don’t know when.”  

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Rs. 15 lakh goes missing from BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje's bank account

Crime

The money was withdrawn in the past two months from her account in State Bank of India's Parliament House branch.

TNM Staff

Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Member of Parliament (MP) Shobha Karandlaje lost more than Rs. 15 lakh from her salary account after it was allegedly hacked. The hack was confirmed by Shobha who claimed that she did not receive an SMS prompt for any transaction.  It was when she got her salary account entry book updated last week that she found that more than Rs. 15 lakh was missing from the account. The money was withdrawn in the past two months from her account in State Bank of India's Parliament House branch in New Delhi. Shobha approached Parliament Street Police Station and filed a complaint on Tuesday after getting to know about the missing amount. The amount is estimated to be close to Rs. 15.62 lakh.  “We have registered a case into the matter at North Avenue police station under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code. It will be transferred to the cyber cell for detailed investigation. We are getting the details of the transactions from the bank to find out whether the transactions were done in the country or from outside the country,” said a police officer speaking to The Hindu. Police are investigating whether her account was hacked or the details of her account were compromised by an official at the bank. “The police is also probing whether any of the bank staff compromised the bank account details of the MP since she claimed that she did not receive the SMS alert,”a senior police official told  Deccan Herald.  Shortly after the news of the hack emerged, Congress leader Priyank Kharge quipped about the incident taking a potshot at PM Narendra Modi.  PM had said that he will put in 15 lakhs in everybody’s bank account. Looks like someone was tired of waiting for it & instead withdrew it directly from our Karnataka MP. I hope the Govt will wake up to the need for Center of Excellence in cyber security https://t.co/aXENHWHWNh — Priyank Kharge (@PriyankKharge) February 13, 2019

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129 passengers affected after B’luru-Bangkok flight makes emergency landing in Myanma

Flight

The Indigo flight from Bengaluru to Bangkok reported an oil pressure warning in one of its engines, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing.

TNM Staff

Representational image

More than 100 passengers were inconvenienced on Tuesday after a Bangkok-bound flight leaving from Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru had to make an emergency landing at the Yangon International Airport in Myanmar. The Indigo 6E 075 flight having 129 passengers on-board had reported an oil pressure warning in one of its engines which forced the pilots to take the step following a delay of two hours at the time of departure.  Indigo in a statement said, “An IndiGo flight 6E075, operating Bangalore-Bangkok route experienced an oil pressure warning on one of its engines. The aircraft is an A320 aircraft powered by V2500 engine. Our pilot followed the laid down procedure and landed the aircraft safely in Yangoon,” “The affected engine is currently being investigated and the further course of action will be determined accordingly,” IndiGo added. However, it also said the snag was not noticed in the aircraft during an earlier flight. While alternative arrangements were made to take the 129 passengers from Yangon to Bangkok, those on the Bengaluru-bound flight from Bangkok were left stranded. Indigo cancelled the Bangkok-Bengaluru flight leaving more than 50 passengers waiting with no other direct flights available to leave for Bengaluru. The airline, further stated, “IndiGo has already rebooked all 129 passengers to Bangkok on other airlines and initiated rebooking of all the passengers on the flight from Bangkok back to Bangalore. IndiGo will provide accommodation to passengers as required.” While Indigo claimed that it had made all necessary arrangements, passengers complained they were given a raw deal. Meanwhile, the airline is suffering a shortage of pilots which have led to the cancellation of more than 30 of its flights without or little notice affecting passengers. Passengers have alleged that the disruption of its services is forcing them to buy last minute alternative arrangements at exorbitant prices. TNM had earlier reported how 180 passengers of Indigo Airlines flying from Hyderabad to Lucknow were delayed for over six hours at the Hyderabad Shamshabad Airport on Saturday after a pilot skipped duty.        

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Buffer zones in Bengaluru lakes increase capacity, help mitigate floods: IISc report

Environment

The SC had recently reserved its verdict on a petition by the Karnataka govt and private builders seeking a reversal of the NGT order increasing the buffer zone for lakes.

Soumya Chatterjee

As the Karnataka government and some private builders contest the 2016 National Green Tribunal (NGT) mandated 75 m buffer zone for lakes, an Indian Institute of Science (IISc) report has come to light that highlights the importance of buffer zones in flood mitigation. While the 2016 NGT order was welcomed by environmental activists, it brought panic to builders and home owners as their houses became “illegal” overnight. Buffer zones are wetlands or green belts around lakes that are essential for the survival of lakes and that also act as a buffer between the lake and neighbouring lands. According to law, no permanent structure can be constructed within 75 m of the lake periphery. In the same 2016 order, the NGT had fixed a buffer zone of 50 metres, 35 metres and 25 metres for primary, secondary and tertiary storm water drains respectively. The Supreme Court in January end had reserved its verdict on a review petition filed by the state and realtors Mantri Techzone, Core Mind over the implementation of the extended buffer zone in Bengaluru. Both the petitioners are seeking a reversal of the 2016 NGT order which had extended the previously set buffer zone of 30 m. The report gains importance as the petitioners have quoted some studies advocating a zero buffer zone for lakes. In his argument in the Supreme Court, Karnataka Advocate General Udaya Holla said a retrospective implementation of the NGT’s order would mean that 95% of the city’s buildings have to be demolished. Senior advocate Sajan Poovayya, who represents NGO Forward Foundation, the petitioners in the NGT case, however, claimed that the NGT order was only applicable for future constructions. What the IISc report says The Environmental Information System Technical Report: 152 of December 2018 — Need to preserve the buffer zone integrity of water bodies— authored by scientists TV Ramachandra, Vinay S and Bharath H Aithal – concluded that buffer zones contribute towards retaining rain water and contribute positively especially at a time when concretisation is at an all time high. Taking the case of Bellandur, the researchers noted that despite 88% silt deposition and increased concretisation of the catchment area, a 75 m buffer zone provides additional storage capacity of 1.5 million cubic metres. The report notes: “Bellandur lake has a surface area of 367.4 hectares with a catchment area of 159.5 sq km. The water body has a current storage capacity of 6.1 million cubic metres. The catchment receives annual rainfall of 750 to 900 mm with the highest rainfall of about 175 mm during September month. The lake catchment is urbanized (concretised) to 80% due to the unplanned urbanisation. Due to the concretised landscape in the catchment, the catchment has lost its hydrological function (ground water recharge with the percolation of water during monsoon) and hence most of the rainfall flows away from the catchment as overland flows. “The Bellandur lake also has silt deposit (to about 88%) and hence without much storage in the lake, the water flows downstream. The catchment yields about 20 million cubic metres of water as overland flows in the month of September (175 mm rainfall), the lake has a storage capacity of 6 million cubic metres while the upstream lakes having a total area of 455 hectares has the storage capacity close to 6.2 million cubic metres. Considering the earlier BDA norm of 30 m, and assuming a storage capacity of 1.5 m in these 30 metres, the upstream lakes can store close to 3.5 million cubic metres of water, the balance of 4.5 million cubic metres need to be handled by the area in the buffer zone of Bellandur lake. Having a buffer zone of 75 metres around Bellandur lake allows additional storage of 1.5 million cubic metres of water at a depth of 1.5 m while the remaining 3 million cubic metres flows downstream.” The same report also reiterated how recently, between 2002 and 2016, both the lake and buffer zones of Bellandur lake have been encroached citing a 2016 study conducted by the IISc. The report had noted encroachments are due to soil filling (construction and demolition waste, solid waste from the city) and unauthorised buildings, which has increased from about 0.5 % (2002) to 3.1% (2016). Similarly, in the buffer zone, built up areas have increased from 1.5% (2002) to 45% (2016) at the cost of vegetation cover.          

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Bengaluru tax defaulter held in Mumbai as he was trying to flee country: I-T Dept

I-T

IANS

Representational image/ NIck Youngson via Wikimedia Commons

A Bengaluru businessman was arrested in Mumbai and jailed for six months for allegedly defaulting on payment of Rs 11.94 crore as income tax and penalty arrears, said a top official on Tuesday. "For the first time for Karnataka, a Bengaluru businessman was stopped on Monday at the Mumbai airport from leaving the country and arrested for allegedly not paying Rs 11.94 crore income tax and penalty arrears," said the Income Tax official in a statement without naming the defaulter. A tax recovery officer sent the defaulter to the city central jail for six months after he failed to arrange for paying the tax arrears, including penalty and interest, after he was brought from Mumbai under police custody. "The defaulter was also found to have illegally transferred property at Yeshwanthpur on Bengaluru's northwest suburb," said the statement. As per Rule 73 of the Second Schedule to the Income Tax Act, 1962, if a defaulter transfers his property after the service of ITCP-1 (Income Tax Certificate Proceedings), the certificate may be executed by his arrest and detention. The provision in Rule 16 prohibiting transfer of property by the defaulter without the permission of the TRO (Tax Recovery Officer) is stringent and the defaulter must face the consequences of his wilful violation. The TRO under the Income Tax Act can take recourse to one or more of the modes of recovery specified under Section 222 of the Act read with the rules laid down in the second schedule. "The defaulter had violated the provisions of Section 222 of the Act and Rule 16 of the schedule by transferring immovable properties after the date of service of notice of demand," said the statement.  

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