B’luru garment workers accuse manager of sexually harassing colleague, case booked

Sexual harassment

The workers of the factory, who are mostly women, have been protesting at the factory premises since March 12 demanding that the general manager should be dismissed from work.

Prajwal Bhat

Bengaluru police are investigating a general manager of a garment factory in Peenya over allegations of sexual harassment. Shashidhar Shetty, the general manager of Texport Overseas LLP, a unit that manufactures garments such as Nautica and Vans, based out of the Peenya industrial area is being investigated after a complaint was made by a worker in the unit regarding an incident that occurred on March 12.  The workers, who are mostly women, have been protesting at the factory premises demanding that the general manager should be dismissed from work.  The complaint made in Rajagopalnagar Police Station by the workers, states, "The General Manager summoned her, abused her verbally and asked her to obey commands and never question any of the supervisors. He threatened her and took his boots off to beat her. The garment worker made a run for it and at the behest of the GM, 20 men holding different supervisory roles in the factory chased her down and pulled apart her clothes and scratched her even as her colleagues came to her rescue.". The police have registered an FIR under IPC sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman) against Shashidhar and other unnamed persons. "We received the complaint only today and we have registered a case. We will be questioning Shashidhar in due course," Patil, Inspector at Rajgopalnagar police station told TNM. While he is yet to be arrested, the management of the textile unit decided to suspend Shashidhar for two days after deliberating over the incident. However, the workers are now protesting the decision. "We think that the decision was very favourable to the manager. In cases like this, the management should have suspended him for three months and conducted an inquiry in that time. The workers are also saying that the manager has a history of abusing workers for small mistakes," Pooja, Treasurer of the Karnataka Garment Workers Union (KOOGU), which is mobilising the workers' protest told TNM. 

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After Indira and Sonia, K’taka Congress wants Rahul Gandhi to contest from state

Lok Sabha 2019

While Indira Gandhi had contested from Chikkamagaluru in 1978, Sonia Gandhi contested from Ballari in 1999.

TNM Staff

It is a battle between the dwindling electoral success of the Congress party versus the BJP's election machine, which rules most of the state governments in India. And historically, whenever the Congress’ first family has felt threatened to contest from its pocket borough - Amethi, the leaders have turned to Karnataka.  On Friday, former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah tweeted out the party leaders' wish for Rahul Gandhi to contest from Karnataka. "Karnataka has always supported and encouraged Congress leaders. It has been proved in case of Smt. Indira ji and Smt. Sonia ji. We also want our next Prime Minister of India Shri. Rahul Gandhi to contest from Karnataka and herald new developmental paradigm," Siddaramaiah said.  Karnataka has always supported & encouraged @INCIndia leaders. It has been proved in case of Smt. Indira ji & Smt. Sonia ji. We also want our next Prime Minister of India Shri. @RahulGandhi to contest from Karnataka & herald new developmental paradigm.#RaGaFromKarnataka — Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) March 15, 2019 Soon #RaGaFromKarnataka began trending as Congress leaders began urging Rahul Gandhi to contest from the state. Karnataka Pradesh Congress President Dinesh Gundu Rao too joined the bandwagon. "On behalf of Karnataka Congress, I urge Rahul Gandhi to consider contesting from Karnataka for the forthcoming Lok Sabha Election 2019. He should also be our representative from South India for that he should choose my state," Dinesh Gundu Rao said.  On behalf of @INCKarnataka I urge @RahulGandhi to consider contesting from Karnataka for the forthcoming #LokSabhaElection2019. He should also be our representative from South India & for that he should choose my state.#RaGaFromKarnataka pic.twitter.com/Jk4ALMMLKK — Dinesh Gundu Rao / ದಿನೇಶ್ ಗುಂಡೂರಾವ್ (@dineshgrao) March 15, 2019 Two important leaders Indira Gandhi & Sonia Gandhi have contested from the state, tasted success & helped India move forward! In this spirit of development, we say yes to #RaGaFromKarnataka for #Elections2019. K'taka will be proud to be the state represented by our future PM! — Dr. G Parameshwara (@DrParameshwara) March 15, 2019 ರಾಜ್ಯದ್ದೇ ಆದ ವಿಜಯಬ್ಯಾಂಕ್ ನ್ನ ಬ್ಯಾಂಕ್ ಆಫ್ ಬರೋಡಾದೊಂದಿಗಿ ವಿಲೀನ ಪ್ರಕ್ರಿಯೆ ಕೈ ಬಿಟ್ಟು ಮತ್ತೆ ರಾಜ್ಯದ ಸುಪರ್ಧಿಗೆ ನೀಡುವ ಹೊಸ ಆಶಯಕ್ಕಾಗಿ#RaGafromKarnataka#ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದಿಂದರಾಹುಲ್ — Bangaluru North Congress (@BangaluruC) March 15, 2019 Congress insiders say that Rahul Gandhi is being persuaded to contest from one of the South Indian states and bank on the anti-Modi sentiment. "It will have to be Karnataka but Rahul Gandhi is also being persuaded by Tamil Nadu Congress to contest from there as the anti-Modi wave is strong in the state. However, if he contests from Karnataka, it will give the party a boost as it would become difficult for the BJP candidates to win," the Congress source said.  This is not the first time a member of the Gandhi family has turned to Karnataka in times of need. In the 1977 Lok Sabha Election, Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India was routed facing massive anti-incumbency following Emergency. She, however, turned to the quaint hill station and the coffee estates of Chikkamagaluru to (meaning little daughter’s town) return to Parliament in the 1978 bye-elections.  With the slogan, “Give your vote to your little daughter”, Indira Gandhi was re-elected as Parliamentarian, defeating her Janata Party rival - Veerendra Patil.  In 1999, when the General Elections were held soon after the Kargil War, apprehensions were high regarding Sonia Gandhi's victory in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi. Sonia Gandhi chose to contest from Amethi and Ballari, which had been a Congress bastion in Lok Sabha polls. Her rival was BJP’s Sushma Swaraj. The election campaign saw the BJP calling Sonia Gandhi a “videshi”, while Sushma Swaraj was projected as the “swadeshi”. The then Congress National President, however, ended up winning both the seats. 

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Bengaluru shocker: Army major allegedly rapes colleague in car, out on bail

Crime

The alleged incident happened on February 5 when the accused took the survivor on a late night drive.

Soumya Chatterjee

Image for representation only

A shocking incident of sexual assault has come to light in Bengaluru. A woman officer in the army has accused her colleague, a Major, of raping her in a car. The accused allegedly asked the survivor to come with him for a drive after they attended a party together, and sexually assaulted her in the vehicle midway. An FIR has been filed in the Halasuru police station against the accused, Major Amit Choudhary, under sections 376 (rape) and 323 (assault) of the Indian Penal Code. However, Major Amit was granted interim bail till March 21 by a local court. Rahul Kumar, Deputy Police Commissioner (East) told TNM, “We will take all necessary steps and finish the investigations at the earliest. If the investigation officer feels that the accused needs to be arrested later, he will be.” A defence spokesperson told TNM that apart than the police case, the army is conducting a court of inquiry into the incident as well. According to the complaint, the survivor was sexually assaulted on the night of February 4 after she and the accused attended a party hosted by a Brigadier in the Bengaluru ASC Centre at HAL Old Airport Road. She alleged that she was raped by Amit when she agreed to go on a drive after the party. “Both the complainant and the accused had attended the party. After that, both of them had returned to their respective residences. The accused then approached the complainant to go for a drive to which the complainant accepted. At around 11:50pm, the accused and the complaint returned to the ASC Centre and went for the drive. Midway he stopped and raped her inside the car, she said,” an officer attached to the Halasuru police station told TNM. Police said that they were first informed about the incident on February 5 when the survivor had gone to the Command Hospital and the staff there informed them. “At this time, she told us that she is thinking about whether to give a complaint or not,” a police official said. The survivor filed a complaint with the Vivek Nagar police on February 16. However, the case was transferred to Halasuru police on Wednesday as the alleged crime happened within their jurisdiction. This delayed the investigation in the case, due to which the accused could not be prevented from getting bail, a senior police official said. “We are now waiting for the accused to come to the police station, we have served him a notice,” the officer attached to Halasuru Police Station told TNM. “The police have gathered all the evidence including seizing the car. She has undergone medical examination as well and the evidence material has been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory. We are awaiting the report. We have also acquired the CCTV footage of the ASC Centre,” the officer added.  

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Will BJP back Sumalatha in Mandya? ‘When she decides, we’ll decide,’ says SM Krishna

Politics

Sumalatha Ambareesh wants to contest from her late husband’s seat – and while both JD(S) and Congress have snubbed her so far, BJP may end up backing her candidature.

TNM Staff

Courtesy: Twitter

Will she or won’t she contest from Mandya? Sumalatha Ambareesh’s political career has been a matter of speculation for several weeks now. And on Friday, the actor gave a joint press conference along with BJP leader and former Chief Minister SM Krishna, where she praised the party and SM Krishna declared that BJP will take a call on whether the party will contest from Mandya after Sumalatha takes her decision. Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, SM Krishna said that he will announce the BJP’s decision on March 18. When asked if his decision is the same as the BJP’s, the former Congressman said, “SM Krishna is not different, BJP is not different. Whatever they say, I will tell my stand on 18th. First let her clarify her stand and then I will tell.” Sumalatha is an actor and wife of late Congress leader Ambareesh, who was an MP from Mandya thrice. After his demise in November 2018, fan clubs started pressurising Sumalatha to contest from Manyda. By February, when she made it clear that she would like to contest elections, neither the Congress nor the JD(S) encouraged this decision. The JD(S) that wanted HD Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil Gowda to make his political debut, was not willing to give the seat to Sumalatha. The JD(S) went to the extent of insulting Sumalatha, with Kumaraswamy's brother and minister HD Revanna questioning how a widow could have political ambitions so soon after her husband's death. The Congress meanwhile was unhappy at the ‘rebellion’ of the wife of a late Congress leader. Sources in the BJP say that the state BJP unit is recommending leaving the Mandya constituency blank and back Sumalatha as an independent candidate in the elections. The national leadership of the party will discuss the recommendations made by the state unit on Saturday and confirm the candidate list for south Karnataka constituencies after that. According to sources, DK Shivakumar had told Sumalatha to not contest from Mandya and instead consider the Mysuru-Kodagu seat, which the Congress has been allocated as per the seat-sharing arrangement. Sumalatha has said that she will make her decision official at a press conference on March 18.

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IISc introduces e-rickshaw service for commuting inside its 400-acre campus in B’luru

Transport

In February, the institute made new applicants sign an undertaking stating that they won’t use motor vehicles within the campus in a bid to keep its campus pollution free.

TNM Staff

Sheeju via Wikipedia Commons

Commuting within the 400-acre Indian Institute of Science (IISc) campus in Bengaluru can now be eco-friendly even if you are not riding a bicycle or are not on foot. The university, starting from Saturday, will start an e-rickshaw service called ‘Pick-E-Rick’ on five routes with 10 vehicles. The distances of these routes will vary between little less than 2 km to 3.3 km and the service will be available from Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 7.30 pm, at a flat fare of Rs 5. However, the fares have to be paid only by e-wallets or through UPI. “It is a really good initiative. Travelling from one end to the other end of the campus is an issue. Depending on cycles all the time is tiring. This service will definitely help us,” a PhD student, Varsha Vasudevan told The Hindu. A staff working at the university said, “This is a very cheap mode of transport. The routes link major buildings, departments, hostels and the library.” The service will be run by Transvahan Technologies India Pvt. Ltd on an  ‘Own, Operate and Maintain’ basis. The service will not only cater to 8,000 students and staff but hundreds of visitors. In February, the institute had made new applicants sign an undertaking stating that they won’t use motor vehicles within the campus in a bid to keep its campus pollution free. “Ours is the only large area with a green cover on this side of the city. We wouldn’t like to lose it. With students’ cooperation, vehicle usage could almost completely be eliminated and used only during an emergency,” an IISc administrator had told Deccan Herald. A trial run of the e-rickshaws was done during the IISc Open Day in 2018 in March and an initial decision was taken to introduce three of these 10 autos.      

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Ahead of polls, Rs 30 lakh unaccounted cash, Rs 63 lakh valuables seized in Karnataka

Lok Sabha 2019

Digital wallet and bank transactions will also be monitored by the EC closely to prevent any misuse of money.

IANS

File image

Unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 30 lakh and vehicles and valuables worth Rs 63 lakh were seized by poll officials ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka next month, an election official said on Thursday. "The flying squads and static surveillance teams (set up by the Election Commission to enforce model code of conduct) along with the state police have seized unaccounted cash of Rs 30 lakh till date," state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sanjiv Kumar told the media in Bengaluru. Valuables including silver and vehicles were also seized in the southern state since March 10, when the model code of conduct came into force with the announcement of the Lok Sabha election schedule. Excise Department officials have seized liquor worth about Rs 4 crore for breach of licence and other issues, Kumar said. A total of 1,512 flying squads and 1,837 static surveillance teams were in place in the state to ensure the model code of conduct is adhered to. The poll officials have removed from across the state 38,325 unauthorised posters and 19,409 banners and lodged two cases under the Karnataka Open Places (Provisions of Disfigurement) Act, 1981, the CEO said. The CEO also directed the public to be prepared to produce relevant documents if they are carrying cash over Rs 50,000 and gifts more than Rs 10,000. Digital wallet and bank transactions will also be monitored by the EC closely to prevent any misuse of money, he said. "People are requested to cooperate during inspection of vehicles and luggage by the poll officials," Kumar said. Polling for Lok Sabha elections will be held in Karnataka in two phases -- on April 18 for 14 seats and on April 23 for the remaining 14 seats. Vote count is on May 23.  

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TenderRadduMaadi: Bengaluru residents to hit the streets against elevated corridor

Civic Issues

An online petition opposing the project has already got the support of more than l.5 lakh people in a day.

TNM Staff

Representational Image

In October 2016, a massive human chain protest along the then proposed steel bridge in Bengaluru connecting Chalukya Circle to Esteem Mall in Hebbal had sent a strong message to the state government. Little more than five weeks later, on March 2, 2017, the then-Siddaramaiah government had shelved the project. A similar protest organised by citizen groups is set to take place on Saturday asking for the cancellation of the tender for the controversial elevated corridor project, issued by the Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited earlier this month. At 10am, the protestors will gather at Maurya Circle at the city centre. The activists are running an online campaign with #TenderRadduMaadi which translates to “cancel the tender”. Renowned film and theatre personality, Prakash Belwadi said, “From erstwhile PM Deve Gowda to CM Kumaraswamy to KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao to the ex-CM Siddaramaiah, every one has decried the project in the past. They should stay true to their conscience and withdraw this anti-people project. Join us on Saturday to convey our opinion to the decision makers.” The organisations to take part on Saturday's protest include Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB), Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike (BBPV), CIVIC, Cifos, Bengaluru Environment Trust (BET), Environment Support Group (ESG), ESAF, Praja-Raag, Whitefield Rising, Bellandur Jothege, RR Nagar I Care, Malleswaram Swabhimana Initiative, Cubbon Park Walkers Association, Living Lavelle, Vittal Mallya RWA, Kasturba RWA, D'Souza Layout RWA, The Students' Outpost, Citizens Agenda for Bengaluru, Srishti School of Design, Aikyam Community for Sustainable Living, Malleswaram Social, Bengaluru Suburban Rail Users, Coalition for Water Security, Human Rights Empowerment Council of India (HRECI) among others.  Representatives of some of the organisations addressed the media on Thursday asking people to come out for Saturday’s protest. Tejaswini from The Student Outpost, a pan-city organisation of college students, said, “We students widely use public transport and need more open green spaces. The government must dis-incentivise use of private vehicles for mobility and exhaust alternative systems before implementing the Elevated Corridor Project. We urge for social and ecological inclusiveness in development of urban infrastructure to preserve tree cover, strengthen public transport system and provide cycle lanes” An online petition opposing the same project has got the support of more than l.5 lakh people within a day. The project, according to the Environmental Impact Assessment report prepared by a government body along with private consultants, has said that 3009 trees will be cut to make way for the project.  The Karnataka High Court meanwhile, has asked the state government not to go ahead with the project until it decides on  a case pertaining to the Bangalore Metropolitan Committee.      

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