New Mysuru-Kodagu rail line sanctioned despite opposition from environmentalists

Railways

BJP MP from the region, Pratap Simha made the announcement on Wednesday evening on Twitter.

Soumya Chatterjee

Representational Image/ PTI

An 87 km railway line between Belagola in Mysuru and Kushalnagar, the largest town in Kodagu, a district until now which did not have any rail connectivity, has been sanctioned by the South Western Railways. The development was revealed by Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha on Twitter on Wednesday evening, before an official announcement by the Railways. In his tweet, Simha thanked Railway Minister Piyush Goyal saying, “New Railway Line between Mysuru and Kushalnagar(87 Kms) APPROVED! Total cost 1854 crores. Thank u @PiyushGoyal ji n thank u all.” New Railway Line between Mysuru and Kushalnagar(87 Kms) APPROVED! Total cost 1854 crores. Thank u @PiyushGoyal ji n thank u all. pic.twitter.com/foXhMBSeei — Pratap Simha (@mepratap) February 27, 2019 The attached note issued by the Railway Board shared by Simha in the same tweet said, “The Competent authority has accorded approval for inclusion of Mysuru (Belagola)- Kushalnagar new line project (87 Km) at a cost of Rs 1854.62 crore (Rupees one thousand eight hundred fifty four crore and sixty two lakh only) chargeable to Capital under the Umbrella Work of New Lines subject to requisite approvals. This project will appear with 04 mark in Pink Book. Department-wise break-up of the cost is as under:-Civil Engg Z 1723.78 crore Elect (G) Z 11.85 crore Elect(OHE) Z 59.06 crore S&T Z  59.93 crore Total Z 1854.62 crore.”  While the announcement by Simha was welcomed by some, it got slammed by many on environmental grounds. TNM had reported how in November 2017, a mega rally was organised to stop the rail link between Mysuru to Kushalnagar and another connecting Mysuru and Thalassery in Kerala cutting through the sensitive forests in the district. The first protest against the railway line was held in Madikeri on June 4, 2017 and the second at Kutta on August 26, 2017.  The project in recent times was first proposed in the UPA era in 2011 and was shelved after a survey commissioned by the Railways deemed the route to be unprofitable. However, the project got a push after then Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa promised to bear 50% of the costs of the proposed railway line. A change.org petition against the construction of the railway track has registered nearly 43,000 signatures at the time of writing. A third protest was held last month on the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Mysuru when thousands of citizens gathered at Mysuru’s Dasara Exhibition Grounds to protest against the proposed railway line.  Read: This K’taka district doesn’t want a rail link, and has good reasons for it   An 87 km railway line between Belagola in Mysuru and Kushalnagar, the largest town in Kodagu, a district until now which did not have any rail connectivity, has been sanctioned by the South Western Railways. The development was revealed by Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha on Twitter on Wednesday evening, before an official announcement by the Railways.   In his tweet, Simha thanked Railway Minister Piyush Goyal saying, “New Railway Line between Mysuru and Kushalnagar(87 Kms) APPROVED! Total cost 1854 crores. Thank u @PiyushGoyal ji n thank u all.”   The attached note issued by the Railway Board shared by Simha in the same tweet said, “The Competent authority has accorded approval for inclusion of Mysuru (Belagola)- Kushalnagar new line project (87 Km) at a cost of Rs 1854.62 crore (Rupees one thousand eight hundred fifty four crore and sixty two lakh only) chargeable to Capital under the Umbrella Work of New Lines subject to requisite approvals. This project will appear with 04 mark in Pink Book. Department-wise break-up of the cost is as under:-Civil Engg Z 1723.78 crore Elect (G) Z 11.85 crore Elect(OHE) Z 59.06 crore S&T Z  59.93 crore Total Z 1854.62 crore.”    While the announcement by Simha was welcomed by some, it got slammed by many on environmental grounds. TNM had reported how in November 2017, a mega rally was organised to stop the rail link between Mysuru to Kushalnagar and another connecting Mysuru and Thalassery in Kerala cutting through the sensitive forests in the district. The first protest against the railway line was held in Madikeri on June 4, 2017 and the second at Kutta on August 26, 2017.    The project in recent times was first proposed in the UPA era in 2011 and was shelved after a survey commissioned by the Railways deemed the route to be unprofitable. However, the project got a push after then Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa promised to bear 50% of the costs of the proposed railway line.   A change.org petition against the construction of the railway track has registered nearly 43,000 signatures at the time of writing. A third protest was held last month on the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Mysuru when thousands of citizens gathered at Mysuru’s Dasara Exhibition Grounds to protest against the proposed railway line.    Read: This K’taka district doesn’t want a rail link, and has good reasons for it    

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K’taka CM HDK finally allots chairmanship of boards, corporations to 9 JD(S) MLAs

Politics

This comes after 14 Congress MLAs already being appointed as heads of boards/ corporations.

IANS

After dilly-dallying for months, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has finally appointed nine of its 37 legislators as chairmen of state-run boards and corporations. "The legislators were selected for the posts in consultation with our party supremo and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, party's state working president AH Vishwanath and party's senior leader HD Revanna on Tuesday as the general elections are nearing," a party official told IANS. Karnataka allies Congress and JD(S), as part of their coalition arrangement, have agreed to hold top posts in 30 boards and corporations in a 2:1 ratio in proportion to their representation in the assembly. Accordingly, Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on January 7 appointed 14 Congress legislators, including a woman MLA, as heads of various boards and corporations. "He has also appointed four JD(S) lawmakers as parliamentary secretaries according to the arrangement with the Congress, which already has eight parliamentary secretaries," added the official. Two more Congress legislators were appointed as chairmen of Karnataka Forest Industrial Corporation and Karnataka Tanda (Tribals) Development Corporation. The posts enjoy cabinet status with commensurate perquisites. Representation in the 34-member Council of Ministers is also in the ratio of 22:12, as the Congress has 80 legislators, including the Speaker. Ten of JD(S) legislators, including Kumaraswamy, are cabinet ministers in the coalition government' while two vacancies are yet to be filled. The Congress has filled its quota of 22 cabinet posts with the induction of 10 more of its legislators on December 22 in a reshuffle, in which one of its ministers was dropped along with its supporting party member. In the 225-member assembly, including one nominated from the Anglo-Indian community, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 104 legislators, while the remaining are one each from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party (KPJP) and one independent. To ostensibly keep the BJP out of power, the Congress extended support to the JD(S) and offered the Chief Minister's post to Kumaraswamy after it was defeated in the May 12, 2018, assembly elections in the southern state.  

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K'taka woman hacked with a machete, allegedly by stalker

Crime

Police suspect that Namrata* was being stalked by a man, who may have committed the crime.

Theja Ram

Late on Monday night, a 23-year-old woman from Hassan was brutally hacked with a machete inside her home allegedly because she rejected a stalked and married a Muslim man. Namrata (name changed) was asleep in her home in Sakleshpur, when a miscreant allegedly broke into her house and began hacking her with a machete. She suffered grievous injuries on her head, neck, chest, arms and fingers due to the brutal attack. Sakleshpur Town Police, who are investigating the case, suspect that Namrata was being stalked by a man named Raju, a few years ago, before she got married Rizwan*. "He had also professed his love for her on multiple occasions. She had refused his advances and told him to stay away. Raju began stalking her even after she was in a relationship with Rizwan. He had also expressed his anger towards her marrying a man from the Muslim community," the Sakleshpur Town Police said. Rizwan, who got back home after work late at night saw Namrata drenched in blood. He rushed her to the Hassan District Hospital, where Namrata is currently undergoing treatment for her injuries. "The victim is in a critical condition and is lodged in the ICU. We were able to note down her statement today (Tuesday). In her statement, she has expressed her suspicion on Raju and also members of a right wing outfit operating in Hassan. She has told us that a year ago, members of the Hindutva outfit had threatened her life as she was married to a Muslim man. She also said that Raju, who was stalking her, had also lashed out at her for marrying a man from the Muslim community instead of him, who is a Hindu," the Sakleshpur Police said. According to an official at the Hassan District Hospital, Namrata's condition is critical and she is fighting for her life. "The patient had lost a lot of blood. She is currently in the ICU and is under observation," the official added. The Sakleshpur Police have registered an FIR under sections 307 (attempted murder) of the IPC. "We have not yet apprehended anyone in the case. Once we detain Raju and establish motive, we will add stalking to the FIR," the police added.

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Bandipur forest fire: Activists accuse officials of negligence on four counts

Environment

Lack of sufficient fire lines – gaps between the vegetation to prevent a wild fire from spreading – is being touted as a major reason behind the quick expansion of the inferno at Bandipur.

Soumya Chatterjee

PTI

The fire in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka was finally extinguished after five long days of work by firemen, forest department officials and volunteers on Tuesday. Now, activists on the ground have alleged negligence on four grounds by senior forest officials posted in the area. The fire primarily affected three ranges— Gopalaswamy Betta, Bandipur and Kundikere – and engulfed large tracts of forest land which will take decades to grow back, according to IFS officers and naturalists. While Forest Minister Satish Jarkiholi on Monday said that 2,000 hectares were affected, unofficial estimates peg the damage to close to 7,000 hectares. Two activists that TNM spoke to have accused authorities of negligence on the following grounds. 1) The primary allegation, especially against the respective Range Forest Officers in the three ranges, is absence of basic fire lines. A fire line is a gap in vegetation or other combustible material in the forest. This gap acts as a hinderance to slow or stop the progress of a wildfire. An activist well versed with the functioning of the department claimed, “Basic fire lines were not in place – they are the most standard and basic work needed to prevent a forest fire from spreading. This is major negligence that is criminal in nature.” This was corroborated by a highly placed source in the forest department. The source said, “It has come to my notice. When we went to the jungle, I did not see fire lines anywhere, sometimes throughout vast stretches. This will be thoroughly investigated.” 2) Another major allegation is the lack of adequate deployment of forest fire watchers usually employed by the department in the summer. The activist claimed, “Errant officials often create false bills and pocket the money by using their regular forest guards, and do not employ additional people during the season when forest fires are likely.” He added, “The funds could have been utilised for putting pump blowers and water tankers in place to take care of emergencies. But we were still using stone age techniques to counter the fire.” 3) Satellite warnings and centralised information systems sent by the Indian Forest Survey were allegedly overlooked by officials. There’s also an allegation that senior fire officials volunteered to help the situation after knowing the development from TV channels, as they were not alerted by forest department. 4) Bandipur allegedly did not have a dedicated field director and was managed by a person holding dual posts who was stationed in Mysuru. A senior IFS officer claimed that this worsened the situation at the time of crisis. The senior forest officer said, “You can understand what happens if a captain of a team is missing. Managing forests is a very complicated issue. This requires a great deal of management and also earning confidence of the locals.” “These issues of fire lines and first reaction to the fire may have been dealt better with if there was a dedicated field director. But this is the situation across the state and not only in Bandipur - 112 out of 165 sanctioned IFS officers are in Bengaluru. How on earth can one expect these officers to dedicate themselves in forest protection?” he argued.    It was only on Friday that a field director for Bandipur was assigned after over two months. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Sridhar Punnati who was on the ground overseeing the firefighting operations conceded that there were some lapses on part of the department which compounded the disaster in addition to existing natural conditions. “We will look into all the allegations and take action accordingly,” he told TNM. 

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Bangalore metro timings extended by 30 minutes in view of T20 cricket match

Civic Issues

India and Australia are scheduled to play a T20 international at Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday.

TNM Staff

In view of the T20 cricket match, which is to be held at Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday, the metro rail service timings have been extended.  According to the Bangalore Metro Rail Transport Corporation (BMRTC) officials, due to the match between India and Australia, metro rail services will be extended by 30 minutes. The metro rail, unlike its usual schedule, will ply till 11.30pm on both Green and Purple lines. The last train from the terminal stations, Baiyappanahalli, Mysuru Road, Yelachenahalli and Nagasandra, will depart at 11.30pm and the last train from the changeover stop - Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Station, Majestic, towards all the four directions, will depart at 11.55 pm, BMRCL officials said. In order to ensure that metro train ticket counters are not crowded and commuters do not have to wait in queues, return journey paper tickets will be issued on Wednesday from 3pm to 7pm at all metro stations. These tickets are valid only for Wednesday. BMRCL has fixed paper ticket prices between Cubbon Park Metro Station to any station on Wednesday at Rs 50 from 10pm onwards. However, commuters returning from the match from Cubbon Park Metro Station to any other station would need to buy paperless tickets or use the metro cards and normal discount rates will be applicable for users of metro cards. Apart from the metro services, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation also will run extra buses on Wednesday after 11pm from Chinnaswamy Stadium. The extra buses include SBS-1K to Kadugodi, G2 to Sarjapura, G3 to Electronics City, G4 to Bannerghatta National Park, G6 to Kengeri-KHB Quarters, G7 to Janapriya Township, G8 to Nelamangala, G9 to Yelahanka 5th Phase, G10 to Yelahanka and G11 to Bagalur.

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K’taka govt to restore job promotions of SC/ST employees who were demoted

Politics

The government will do this by creating supernumerary posts for the staff who were demoted but can’t be accommodated due to technical/legal reasons.

TNM Staff

The Karnataka government kept its promise of restoring the promotions of 6,000 SC/ST employees who were demoted based on a 2017 Supreme Court order, after being promoted as per the Karnataka Extension of Consequential Seniority Act. They will restore the promotions by creating supernumerary posts for the staff who were demoted but can’t be accommodated due to technical/legal reasons. Commenting on the issue, Social Welfare minister Priyank Kharge said, “About 6,000 officials will benefit from this order directly, and about 35,000 officials will benefit indirectly. The cabinet passed the order, giving the go-ahead and restoring promotions to earlier cadre. At the same time, it assures officers of other communities that they will not be affected. It is a win-win situation for all. No one will be demoted.’’ The Supreme Court is yet to announce its verdict on the matter, and is hearing a review petition. However, the state government said this will not negatively impact those in the general category. This move comes after a cabinet decision was taken to the same effect on January 30 based on the advice of former Attorney General of India Mukul Rohatgi, even though the move may have to be reversed based on the final order of the Supreme Court. “The cabinet has decided to go ahead and implement the reservation bill with immediate effect as the legal opinion by a senior lawyer who is appearing on behalf of the government, Mukul Rohatgi, has clearly said the government has no choice but to implement the decision of the legislature which passed the act protecting the government employees promotion based on reservation,” Karnataka Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Krishna Byre Gowda had then said. After the SC order in 2017, the Karnataka government had set up a committee headed by then Additional Chief Secretary Ratnaprabha to undertake issues concerning the reservation while promoting SC/ST employees in the light of the Supreme Court judgment and collate all the relevant data.   Read: SC/ST quota in govt job promotions: K’taka cabinet clears law to implement reservations   a  

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K’taka HC sends notice to state, Centre on plea seeking regulation of streaming content

Regulation

The petitioner pointed out that current legislations such as the Cinematographic Act, 1952, and the Cable Television Network Regulation Act, 1995, do not apply to online streaming content.

TNM Staff

Representational image

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday sent notices to the state and union governments along with on-demand streaming content providers like— Netflix Entertainment Services India, (LLP), YouTube, Google India Pvt. Ltd, Hotstar, Star India Pvt Ltd, Amazon Prime, Amazon Development Centre (India) Pvt. Ltd and All Digital Media Entertainment Ltd, regarding creation of a Censor Board-like body.   The notices were sent by a division bench headed by acting Chief Justice L Narayana Swamy and Justice PS Dinesh Kumar based on a public interest litigation filed by Padmanabh Shankar, seeking regulation on movies and other multimedia content streamed on the Internet. In his petition, he claimed that although online streaming platforms have proliferated multiple households, there was no authority to regulate the content—-films, serials and other multimedia content which can be accessed by one and all.   The petitioner pointed out that current legislations such as the Cinematographic Act, 1952, and the Cable Television Network Regulation Act, 1995  do not apply to online content. In his prayer, he sought the court to declare that the existing Censor Board regulates streaming content until a new body like the Central Board of Film Certification is formed solely for online content.  He also asked the HC to restrict the access to films and other forms of multimedia content streamed on the Internet to a certain class of people or people belonging to some professions, until the formation of the new authority. This classification is to be done based on the nature and theme of the said content.  He also cited multiple Supreme Court and High Court judgements which had directed reasonable restrictions and regulation on content shown on television and also orders leading up to the formation of an autonomous regulatory authority. Further, he sought that screening of content on the Internet even in private settings like that of a house or an office, be brought under the ambit of “public exhibition” in accordance with the Cinematograph Act, 1952.

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