Tejaswini Ananthkumar rebuffs campaign for NOTA, asks votes for BJP

Tejasvi Surya was chosen by the BJP as the candidate from the Bengaluru (South) constituency although Tejaswini Ananthkumar was widely tipped to contest from the seat.

TNM Staff

Tejaswini Ananthkumar has clarified that she has not endorsed a campaign to vote NOTA in Bengaluru (South) constituency in the Lok Sabha elections. A poster asking people to 'vote NOTA in Bengaluru (South) to support Tejaswini Ananthkumar' was shared on social media. However, Tejaswini has responded to the poster by stating that the claims made by the poster was "unfounded and malicious". She wrote on Twitter, "It came to my knowledge that somebody is spreading rumours that I am asking people to vote for NOTA. This is unfounded and malicious. For me it's VOTE BJP Modi Again National First It came to my knowledge that somebody is spreading rumours that I am asking people to vote for NOTA. This is unfounded and malicious. For me it's VOTE BJP Modi Again National First @BJP4India @BJP4Karnataka — Chowkidar Tejaswini AnanthKumar (@Tej_AnanthKumar) April 14, 2019 The poster asked voters to vote NOTA in order to show the BJP high command that their preferred choice of candidate was Tejaswini Ananthkumar. "We all karyakartas know that Tejaswini Ananth Kumar was the most deserving candidate to become MP from Bengaluru (South). Due to games played by other members of BJP, she has missed the ticket and an immature arrogant boy has taken her place. Let us vote NOTA in high numbers and show the high command that we are with Tejaswini Ananth Kumar. Tejaswini was widely tipped to be named as the BJP candidate from Bengaluru (South) constituency. She is the wife of Ananth Kumar, former MP and union minister from the same constituency who passed away in November 2018. Ananth Kumar had won the last six elections from the constituency. However, her name did not figure in the list of candidates released by the BJP and young lawyer Tejasvi Surya was picked by the party instead.    

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Food blogger Nikhil Pai of ‘3 Hungry Men’ fame dies at 28

Death

Nikhil Pai was found dead at his apartment in Mangaluru.

TNM Staff

Popular cartoonist and food blogger from Mangaluru - Nikhil Pai - passed away on Sunday after he allegedly took his own life. The 28-year-old's body was found in his house at Malemar in the city. He is survived by his wife, mother and sister.  The reason for the alleged suicide was not clear although sources close to the food blogger claimed that it is due to personal reasons. His body was taken to AJ Hospital while police officials at Kavoor Police Station have registered a case. Nikhil shot to fame as the co-founder of Three Hungry Men, a popular food blog. He ran the blog along with his friends Colin Vernon D'Souza and Rajat Rao and reviewed various restaurants while also conducting food-related events. It was one of the first food-reviewing blogs to emerge out of Mangaluru. The trio reviewed restaurants in places like Mangaluru, Hubballi, Manipal, Pune among other places.  Explaining their method, Nikhil said, "People don’t want to go there and try something wrong which is expensive because then you will be unsatisfied. Out of a menu with fifty items, not all fifty items would be good. What we do is, we help to choose the right dish. We try out about 15 to 20 dishes from the menu and filter it out. We highlight what we like and write our review," in an interview with The Manipal Journal.  In particular, the group was popular among youth in Mangaluru for hosting food eating competitions like the 'Ice Cream Premier League', chicken eating competition and so on. He had also appeared in national television programmes on food and travel and popularised the coastal cuisine in Mangaluru through the shows.

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Special officer named to enforce poll code in Bengaluru

Lok Sabha 2019

Moudgil will be tasked with enforcing the poll code and controlling the movement of cash and liquor during elections.

IANS

Karnataka's Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar has named senior IAS officer Munish Moudgil as Special Officer to enforce the Model Code of Conduct strictly in the city's three Lok Sabha constituencies where polling is on April 18, it was announced on Sunday. "Moudgil has been appointed as Special Officer to enforce the poll code for controlling the movement of cash, liquor and freebies in all the three parliamentary seats after it was found that the enforcement teams, including the flying squads were not effectively regulating them," said Kumar in a statement. Presently the Commissioner for Survey Settlement and Land Records in the state Revenue Department, Moudgil will monitor activities of the enforcement teams and develop software to track their movement daily as it has become a challenge to enforce the poll code and monitor the expenditure of political parties, candidates and their agents, Kumar added. Meanwhile, the flying squads, static surveillance teams and excise teams have cumulatively seized Rs 15.45 crore in cash, 17,694 litres of country liquor (arrack) valued at Rs 62.14 lakh and 136 kg drugs worth Rs 6.42 lakh from across the state from parties, their candidates and agents since the Lok Sabha elections to the state's 28 seats was announced on March 10 by the poll panel. The state Excise Department has also cumulatively seized 8.83 lakh litres of Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) valued at Rs 35.94 crore from across the state Munish is an alumbus of IIT Bombay and was serving as Commissioner of Survey, Settlement & Land Records in Bengaluru. He is also the nodal officer for the crop loan waiver scheme which is being implemented through a software model by the Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in Karnataka.  

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No smartphones inside polling booths in Karnataka: EC

Lok Sabha 2019

During the May 2018 Assembly elections, many were caught taking selfies and videos inside the poll booth while casting votes.

IANS

Electorate in Karnataka will not be allowed to carry smart-phones or mobile phones inside the polling booth while going to vote to prevent them from taking selfies or recording videos, an official said on Sunday. "The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) prevents voters from carrying mobile phones or smart-phones and cameras inside the polling booth. In fact, no voter will be allowed to take his/her cellphone within 100 metres radius of the booth.  "They will have to leave it at home or deposit it with the police personnel before entering the booth," Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar said.. Another poll official admitted that though the MCC has had the ban provision since 2008, it was not enforced strictly during the previous elections for reasons such as manpower shortage and absence of internet-connected smart-phones with a camera. "The provision to not allow mobile phones or smart-phones inside the booth was observed more in breach in the past, as not many voters had them a decade or five years ago or carried them while going to vote," recalled senior poll official Surya Sen. With most urban voters now using camera-wielding smart-phones, during the May 2018 Assembly elections many were caught taking selfies while casting their vote or making videos inside the booth as a proof of exercising their franchise. "This year, the security personnel have been instructed to prevent voters from carrying a mobile or a smartphone inside the booth. If the security personnel are busy, the voters can leave their devices with party agents who sit outside the booths with the voter lists," Kumar added. Polling officials, security personnel and others manning booths, including presiding officers, their assistants and agents of candidates, however, will be allowed to carry and use smart-phones. The number of polling booths in 28 seats across the state has increased 7 per cent from 54,265 in the 2014 elections to 58,186 this year. The state's 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in the central and southern regions go to polls on April 18, while the remaining 14 parliamentary seats cast their vote on April 23. The 14 constituencies polling in the first phase are Udupi-Chikmagalur, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga (SC), Tumkur, Mandya, Mysore, Chamarajnagar (SC), Bangalore Rural, Bangalore North, Bangalore Central, Bangalore South, Chikkaballapur and Kolar (SC). Those in the second phase are Chikkodi, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur (SC), Gulbarga (SC), Raichur (ST), Bidar, Koppal, Bellary (ST), Haveri, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Davanagere and Shimoga. The votes will be counted on May 23.

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Private school fee in Karnataka to go up as govt increases staff salary

Education

The managements of private institutions are yet to decide the percentage of hike in school fee.

Soumya Chatterjee

Representational image

A recent decision by the Karnataka Education Department to increase the minimum salaries of both teaching and non-teaching staff is set to further the burden of many parents whose children are studying in private schools. As a result from the coming 2019-20 session, private schools in the state including those in Bengaluru is set to increase their fees steeply. While private school managements have opposed the government decision to hike the minimum wages in a sudden decision, they claim they have no other option other than to go for a fee hike. “This will definitely impact us very badly. We have heard about the news only yesterday and yet to have a full fledged discussions about it. See if they increase the salaries by this much, we have to hike our fees there is no other way. We have to see closely and discuss about how exactly we can balance this,” Srinivasan, President of Bengaluru CBSE Schools Association said. “Maybe the government has some reason to take this decision and we will approach the government regarding the issue. Unfortunately we have holidays now, many of our staff and association members are out of station, So we have not been able to fix a date to discuss on the issue yet,” he added. According to the new rules, the new minimum monthly salaries have been fixed at Rs 25,800 per month for primary school teacher, Rs 33,450 for high school teacher. The minimum salaries for first division clerk and second division clerks are Rs 21,400 and Rs 17,000 respctively. Nibedita Ray Sahoo, a member of Karnataka Schools Parents Association said while the decision to increase the minimum wage is understandable, the government is not doing enough to regulate the fee structure of private schools. “Anyway every year parents are forced to pay an increased fees of 10-15% on account of some reason or the other. But the government is not respecting orders of the courts with respect to regulating the fees,” she said. In May, 2018 the government had issued a notification to cap the fee hikes in private schools under the Karnataka Education Institutions (Classification, Regulation and Prescription of curricula) Amendment Rules.   But parents claim that this has not changed anything in practicality. It was reported at the start of the month that many parents group objected to the government’s non action over private schools not following the rule of displaying their fee structure on their website or notice board.          

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Probe 'mysterious box' unloaded from PM's chopper: Congress

Lok Sabha 2019

A video shows two men carrying a black box to a private Innova parked at a helipad, allegedly immediately after Modi's chopper had landed in Chitradurga.

IANS

The Congress on Sunday demanded an immediate investigation by the Election Commission (EC) into a mysterious box, which was allegedly unloaded from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's chopper after it landed in Chitradurga in Karnataka earlier this week. The Karnataka Congress on Saturday tweeted a 14-second video clip, claiming that it was filmed soon after Modi landed in Chitradurga on Tuesday to address an election rally. The video shows two men carrying a black box to a private Innova parked at a helipad, allegedly immediately after Modi's chopper had landed there. During a press conference on Sunday, former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said: "In Chitradurga, we got to see something very unusual, something not seen before. The Prime Minister was in an Air Force helicopter, and a big, black box was unloaded from his helicopter.  "We received this information today and will also show you the video. The box was loaded onto a private vehicle which was not a part of the SPG (Special Protection Group) carcade and it sped away." Sharma pointed out that whenever the Prime Minister or other Cabinet Ministers travel to various locations for election campaign, EC officials check their vehicles.  "This rule is applicable on the Prime Minister too. There should an investigation, as nothing is out of the purview of the SPG, which accompanies the Prime Minister everywhere. But an exception was made in the case of this box. Where was the box transported," Sharma asked. The Congress demanded that the poll panel should investigate the contents of the box. Sharma said: "It is not just in favour of the people of India, but also the Prime Minister in order to uphold the dignity of the post."  He said that Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) leaders have registered a complaint with the EC in this matter.

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Election Ambassador Rahul Dravid cannot vote this time: Here's why

Lok Sabha 2019

While the first draft of voters list was published in January, the final roll was published on March 16.

TNM Staff

Former Indian cricketer and Bengaluru’s own Rahul Dravid, who was the Karnataka election icon during the 2018 Assembly elections, cannot vote in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. His name has been deleted from the electorate list. According to a Times of India report, Rahul Dravid, who changed his house, got his name deleted in the old constituency in Indiranagar. However, his name was not added in the new constituency list before the deadline. It was during a special drive carried out by the Election Commission that Rahul’s brother Vijay submitted Form 7 (for deletion of names from the list), as the cricketer had then not shifted to his new house in Ashwathnagar in RMV Extension. However, Dravid did not fill Form 6 meant to add his name in the electoral roll from his new place. Ironically, Dravid is also currently the coach of the Indian U-19 team and has boards and billboards across the state with his face urging people to vote. How the confusion happened While the first draft of voters list was published in January, the final roll was published on March 16. Speaking to TOI, Mathikere sub-division Assistant Electoral Returning Officer Roopa said, “Our officials visited his house twice, but we were not allowed inside. We were informed Dravid is touring abroad and there was no message from him to include his name in the voters’ list.” Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad, who is also the District Election Officer, clarified that while Form 7 meant for deletion can be submitted by family members, Form 6 for inclusion in the electoral rolls can only be submitted by the voter concerned. Additional Chief Electoral Officer KN Ramesh told TNM, "He had to submit Form 6 before March 16, otherwise nothing can be done. We came to know about this only after we finalised the electoral rolls. Our officials must have visited his home and if he had then informed us that he had got his name deleted from the Indiranagar list, we could have done something.” Rahul Dravid reportedly came to know about the incident only after March 16 and then contacted the officials concerned. TOI quoted Basawaraju Magi, the Domlur sub-division Assistant Electoral Returning Officer, as saying, “Rahul Dravid was in Spain, but was eager to vote. Unfortunately, his name got deleted from the Shantinagar Assembly constituency.”    

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