K’taka CM seeks re-exam after scores miss NEET due to 7-hr train delay

NEET

Former CM Siddaramaiah hit out at PM Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal for students not being able to write NEET.

TNM Staff

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Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has asked the Central government to intervene after scores of students who failed to write the NEET exams due to an inordinate train delay. The CM tweeted, “Hundreds of students from North Karnataka districts have missed the #NEET Exam being held today at Bengaluru due to a 7-hour delay of the Hampi Express. A last-minute change in the exam centres and lack of proper communication of the same has created confusion among students.” He added, “I request PM @narendramodi, Rail Minister @PiyushGoyal, @HRDMinistry , @PrakashJavdekar to intervene and ensure that students who have missed the opportunity today get another chance to write the #NEET2019Exam.”  I request PM @narendramodi, Rail Minister @PiyushGoyal, @HRDMinistry , @PrakashJavdekar to intervene and ensure that students who have missed the opportunity today get another chance to write the #NEET2019 Exam — CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) May 5, 2019 Hundreds of students from North Karnataka districts have missed the #NEET Exam being held today at Bengaluru due to a 7-hour delay of the Hampi Express. A last-minute change in the exam centres and lack of proper communication of the same has created confusion among students. . — CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) May 5, 2019 It was earlier reported how a 7-hour delay of Hampi Express had crushed the hopes of many students from north Karnataka who were hoping to secure a coveted medical seat. The train which was supposed to reach at 7am in Bengaluru only reached at 2.30pm when the exam was set to begin at 2pm. All those who reached late were denied a chance to write the exam. While, those denied a chance are angry, the issue has taken a political turn. Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal for this. He tweeted, “Mr. @narendramodi, You pat your own back for others' achievements but will you also take the responsibility for your cabinet min' incapabilities. Hundreds of students in Karnataka may not be able to take up NEET because of delay in the train services.” In a subsequent tweet, he added, “Mr. @narendramodi, Ask @PiyushGoyal to work properly for next few days and then we will set it right. Also, ensure that the aggrieved students get another chance to write NEET exam.”   Mr. @narendramodi, You pat your own back for others' achievements but will you also take the responsibility for your cabinet min' incapabilities. Hundreds of students in Karnataka may not be able to take up NEET because of delay in the train services. 1/2 — Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) May 5, 2019 Mr. @narendramodi, Ask @PiyushGoyal to work properly for next few days and then we will set it right. Also, ensure that the aggrieved students get another chance to write NEET exam. 2/2 — Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) May 5, 2019 Karnataka Medical Education Minister E Tukaram termed the development as unfortunate and said that he will discuss the issue with department officials.  "I will speak with officials from the Medical Education Department and see what can be done so the students can write their exams. It's very unfortunate that these students had to miss the exam due to train delay,” the minister told TNM. In a tweet, the RSS’ student wing ABVP said it demands remedial action so that no student suffers academic loss due to circumstances beyond their control. It has been brought to ABVP’s notice that more than 600 NEET aspiring students missed their exam in Bengaluru due to train delay of more than 5 hours. ABVP demands urgent remedial action so as to ensure no student suffers academic loss due to circumstances beyond their control. — ABVP (@ABVPVoice) May 5, 2019          

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Scores of students miss NEET exams due to train delay, urge Centre for alternate exam

Education

The 16591 Hampi Express which runs from Hampi to Bengaluru via Mysuru was late by more than five hours.

Soumya Chatterjee

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In an unfortunate incident, around 400 students from Karnataka missed out from appearing for the National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test (NEET) on Saturday for no fault of theirs. These aspiring medical students, a majority of them from Ballari district in north Karnataka were supposed to reach Bengaluru and nearby towns by 7am well ahead of 2.00pm when the exam was set to start. But the 16591 Hampi Express which runs from Hampi to Bengaluru via Mysuru was late and could reach the city only at 2.30pm. Upset with them missing out on their rightful chance at the exams, the students have started mass tweeting, tagging Union Human Resource Minister Prakash Javadekar. One such student, Rampure Sai Srinivas told TNM that he reached his examination hall at 2.55pm and was not allowed to write the exam. “Even though we have been wronged due to no fault of our own, the exam centre officials denied us our chance. When we spoke about the train delay, he denied knowledge. I have got information about my friends who had got seats in other exam centres, they have also been denied a chance to write the exam,” he said. An understandably angry Srinivas said,”It is not we who are responsible for this delay, It is all because of the politicians and railways. They are responsible. We, students are now in a pathetic situation. But officials do not have the courtesy even to address our concerns. I want to know what would have been the case if the son of a politician or a railway department official’s son is made to stand outside the gate?” He added, “We need a solution, give us a chance to write the exam." Sreenivas also blamed the state government for not being proactive and arranging buses for students who were stuck due to the train delay. Meanwhile, the issue took a political turn with former CM SIddaramaiah attacking the Railway Minister over the issue and asked the Prime Minister to ensure that the students get to write the exam on a later day. https://twitter.com/siddaramaiah/status/1124927306772795393 https://twitter.com/siddaramaiah/status/1124927304591765505 Railway officials blamed the delay due to an unavoidable diversion but refused to comment further. “Hampi Express from Hubli to Mysuru is presently being run on diverted route via Bellary-Rayadurga-Chikjajur-Arsikere-Tumakuru instead of original route of Bellary-Guntakal-Dharmavaram-Penukonda- Yelahanka  due to ongoing Non-interlocking working for doubling between Guntakal -Kalluru. The diverted route is 120 km longer than the previous route and involves engine reversal at Bellary. In addition to this on Saturday the departure of this train from Hubli had to be rescheduled by 120 minutes,” a South Western Railway statement said. “Reserved passengers of the train yesterday were intimated of diversion and rescheduling by SMS on the mobile numbers given during reservation.The scheduled departure was at 6.20 pm but the train left at 8:20 pm. This was done since incoming pairing Train no 16592  Mysuru- Hubli Hampi express) arrived late by 2 hours and 55 minutes. The train finally reached Yeshwantpur on 2.20pm and SBC at 2.36pm,” the statement added.          

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Borewells running dry, water in KRS dam depleting: B'luru faces water scarcity?

Civic Issues

Illegal borewells too have affected the ground water level of water.

TNM Staff

With summer at its peak, parts of Bengaluru are facing water scarcity. The Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board officials say that the agency is only able to provide 1390 MLD of water per day to residents in the city, when the demand is at 1500 MLD per day. Officials with BWSSB say that the water level in KRS is depleting quickly and hence, the residents of Bengaluru’s suburbs and 110 villages are suffering from water scarcity as borewells too are running dry. Speaking to TNM, a official with the Cauvery Neeravari Nigamal Ltd said that as on Sunday, the water level in the Krishnaraja Sagar Dam stands at 9 ft. KRS is the major source of water for the city’s residents. “The live storage capacity currently is 9 MLD. The outflow of water stands at 3021 cusecs per day and the inflow is only 151 cusecs. If the monsoon does not set in on time, we may have to ration water,” he added. According to data obtained from BWSSB, 60% of residents of Bengaluru are dependent on groundwater and currently, the city has 4,464 legal borewells in the city. Of these, around 1,500 of them have run dry and the ground water level has reached 1,100 ft. BWSSB sources say that based on the survey conducted, the city has around 3.6 lakh illegal borewells. “There are so many unauthorised ones that have been dug and this has resulted in ground water depleting quickly. Many borewells in Ramagondanahalli, Bellandur, Sarjapur, Mahadevapura, Maragondanahalli, Yelahanka and 110 other villages have run dry,” says T Madhusudan, deputy Chief Engineer of BWSSB. BWSSB officials say that they receive over 200 requests to dig borewells in the city every day and that some of the requests are approved as the residents have no other source of drinking water. “The project to provide drinking water to the entire Bengaluru Urban district will be completed only by 2026. So far, we have been able to provide water connections to 41 villages out of the 110 villages in BBMP limits. As the number of connections increase, there is more demand for Cauvery water and KRS officials say the water level is low in the reservoir. Until then, there is no other choice but to allow people to dig borewells,” the official added.      

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More than 500 illegal shops demolished in Bengaluru’s Russel Market

Civic Issues

This comes after in late March a similar drive was carried out in KR Market following a warning by Karnataka High Court.

Soumya Chatterjee

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Starting from Saturday, officials of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike initiated an anti-encroachment drive to make Russel Market in Shivajinagar, one of the city’s oldest markets compliant with fire safety norms. As part of the process, more than 500 shops, stalls were demolished. In the drive that continued on Sunday, several encroachers were fined. The fire department had also said that an audit will be done and emergency pathways will be identified. Encroachers who were identified were fined Rs 500-Rs 1,000 based on the size of their stalls. According to BBMP sources, they have 1,000 establishments inside the market while only 421 licenses have been granted.  The anti-encroachment drive was also expanded to areas leading to the entry of the market like Broadway Road and Narona Road.  “We want it to be a pleasant experience for both the shoppers and traders in the market. We had been warning unauthorised traders to move away and remove their encroachments. Most of the work has been done yesterday, today we are clearing up the debris. After Russel Market, we will go to Madiwala market in the coming days followed by other big markets,” SG Raveendra, BBMP Special Commissioner (Estates), told TNM. When asked if BBMP will compensate, the displaced traders, “There is no question of rehabilitation or compensation as we had repeatedly warned over the last week that we will come on Saturday to clear encroachments. We had given ample time to move away and in the first place they should not have been there,” he added. Alongside BBMP and fire officials, the Traffic Police Department also towed away illegally parked vehicles within the passageway of the vehicle. Despite minor arguments and commotion, there was no law and order issue till Sunday, Shivajinagar police said. This drive in Russel Market comes after Palike officials carried out a similar crackdown against unauthorised shops and traders at the city’s landmark KR Market in late March following a direction from the Karnataka High Court. The Karnataka High Court earlier in March had criticised the BBMP over laxity in fire safety norms and warned that the BBMP Commissioner and the Fire and Emergency Services (F&ES) department will be named as the first and second accused if a mishap occurs in any of the city’s old markets. The court was hearing a petition filed by Bengaluru Flower Merchants’ Association seeking the removal of encroachments on the pathway.  The BBMP was asked by the court to file a compliance report within two weeks’ time. At the same time, BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad had ordered all zonal engineers to review fire safety measures of all commercial buildings in their jurisdiction.

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Bengaluru Transferable Development Rights scam: ACB raids five properties

Crime

According to ACB officials, this case is the tip of the iceberg with numerous such cases of fraudulent TDR issued for the same stretch of road widening. The value of this scam is pegged to be thousands of crores.

TNM Staff

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The Anti-Corruption Bureau in Karnataka raided properties belonging to four individuals connected to a real estate company on Saturday in connection with the Transferable Development Rights (TDR) scam of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. The scam involves former BBMP Mahadevpura Zone Executive Engineer Krishnalal and two other middlemen, who allegedly inflated the value of a property which was to be acquired by the BBMP for the expansion of the Outer Ring Road at TC Palya. The ACB booked Krishnalal and six others in connection with the same in April. Saturday’s raids were the third set of raids since the FIR was registered. Properties that were raided include the Residency Road office and Old Airport Road residence of Ratan Babulal Lath, the Director of Valmark Realty Holdings Private Ltd. Others raided on Saturday were the Horamavu residences of Amit J Bolar, K Gou tam and the Kalkere residence of Munirajappa. “The raids were carried as part of an ongoing investigation into the alleged TDR scam. It has come to light that many private persons have benefited,” an ACB official told The Times of India. “We suspect that the four men, Lath in particular, are close associates of BBMP assistant engineer Krishnalal, prime accused in the scam who has been named in the FIR,” he added. The road expansion eventually did not take place, as the owners refused to budge with their land of around 5.2 sq km without any compensation. According to ACB officials, this case is the tip of the iceberg with numerous such cases of fraudulent TDR issued for the same stretch of road widening. The value of this scam is pegged to be thousands of crores. Krishnalal is currently posted in the Bangalore Development Authority.

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Bengaluru man makes hoax bomb call to land women in trouble, gets arrested

Crime

Sunil Kumar had alleged that he had seen three women carrying weapons and explosives into a temple in Bengaluru.

TNM Staff

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The Bengaluru Police were on high alert on Saturday after they received a phone call from a man who alleged that he had seen several women carrying weapons and what looked like explosives into a temple in Annapoorneshwari Nagar. At around 12 pm on Saturday afternoon, the Annapoorneshwari Nagar Police received a call from a man, who sounded like he was in a state of panic. “The man said, that he was at the Annapoorneshwari Temple where he had seen three women carrying weapons and what looks like bombs. He told us that the women were planning to hold the devotees hostage,” the Annapoorneshwari Nagar Police said. Soon, the police along with the canine bomb detection squad was pressed into action. They evacuated the devotees from the temple and began combing the area for a bomb. “We combed the area for over two hours but we could not find anything. Then we began suspecting that it may have been a hoax call,” the police added. When the police tried to call the mobile number of the man who sent the tip, it was switched off. Finally, they tracked it down to Srirampura and managed to arrest 32-year-old V Sunil Kumar. “When we questioned him, he told us he had seen three women carrying weapons into the temple. He began blaming us saying he did what any concerned citizen would. He even blamed us and said that the police should not keep sending alerts to people to call in suspicious activities,” the police added. When the investigation led nowhere, the police brought in Sunil’s father for questioning. “Sunil’s father told us that he was in the UAE for a few years and worked as a driver. He was married to a woman, who left him because he was overly jealous. Ever since, he has been trying to make trouble for any woman he saw on the road and he would randomly get angry if women spoke to him,” the police added. Annapoorneshwari Nagar Police say that Sunil had on multiple occasions picked fights with women on the roads and on Sunday, when he saw three women talking near the temple, he wanted to make trouble for them. “He kept telling us that he could identify the women and also asked for us to sketch out their faces. But his father told us that he has been trying to harass random women after his wife left him,” the police added. The Annapoorneshwari Nagar Police have booked Sunil under section 505 (causing public mischief), 507 (criminal intimidation by anonymous communication), 268 (public nuisance) and 290 (punishment for public nuisance) of the IPC. 

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American woman says she gave money for Bengaluru auto driver’s posh villa

I-T

The I-T Department said that they have recorded the statement of the woman.

TNM Staff

Days after the Income Tax Department had issued notice to a Bengaluru autorickshaw driver for purchasing an expensive villa worth more than a crore, it has emerged he is indeed a benefactor of one American’s generosity. Subramani had attracted an IT notice for buying a villa in a gated community – Jatti Dwarkamai Villas located in Whitefield- which raised suspicion that he was used as a benami for other wealthy tax evaders. The I-T Department said that they have recorded the statement of the woman and also accessed related documents in connection with the transaction. Sources in the I-T Department said the woman identified as 72-year-old Lara Evison had given him the money. “The two had met around 2006 when Subramani had helped her to move around the city in 2006. She was in Bengaluru till 2010. Not only with the money for villa, the woman is also helping with education related expenses of his two kids.” He added, “Even now when the woman visits Bengaluru, she stays in the same villa with the family.” TNM had earlier reported how the Income Tax Department had on April 16 this year sent notices to Jatti Engineering Pvt Ltd, the company that constructed the villa. The sleuths had requested the company to furnish copies of the ledgers pertaining to the sale of the villa to Subramani. As the issue came to light, and Subramani came under media scrutiny it was speculated that Subramani was close to BJP MLA Arvind Limbavali, who denied any involvement in the issue. Sources in the I-T Department said that he had got the money from a American woman. “She was struggling to get a cab or rickshaw on a rainy day, I dropped her home that day. I also dropped her back home on another occasion. Since then, we had an agreement that she would pay me to drop her and pick her up whenever she needed transportation. We became friends and when she heard that my family and I were struggling financially, she offered to buy us a house,” Subramani had reportedly told the investigators.            

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