"Must be ready for polls at any time": NIkhil Kumaraswamy tells JD(S) cadre

Politics

Amidst speculation of infighting in the Congress-JD(S) coalition, a video of Nikhil Kumaraswamy's statement went viral on social media.

TNM Staff

Discord in the Congress-JD(S) coalition government has led to many leaders in both parties instructing their cadre to be prepared in case of snap polls. On Thursday, a video of Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s son, Nikhil Kumaraswamy, informing JD(S) party workers to start preparing for elections has gone viral. “We may have to go to polls at any given point of time. It may be in a few months, a year or two years. We must be ready for any situation that is presented to us. We will have to begin working for it now,” Nikhil is heard saying in the video while talking to party workers in Mandya. The third-generation aspiring politician told his party cadre that there is no threat to the government and Kumaraswamy would continue to be the Chief Minister for the next four years. “There is no doubt Kumaraswamy will complete his term as the CM but we have to be ready to face elections at any point of time,” he said. After suffering a crushing defeat against independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh in the Mandya Lok Sabha segment, Nikhil Kumaraswamy vowed to remain in the district and begin work to strengthen the JD(S) cadre. Nikhil Gowda’s statement comes just two days after veteran Congress leaders blamed Siddaramaiah and his supporters for the party’s defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. Several veterans including HK Patil, Roshan Baig and Ramalinga Reddy have openly criticized Siddaramaiah, alleging that the humiliation suffered by the party was simply because Siddaramaiah was misguiding the high command into making wrong decisions. Ever since the coalition government came to power, he has kept the ‘Siddaramaiah for CM’ campaign on through his supporters, alleged these leaders. Several JD(S) and Congress leaders have also indicated that Siddaramaiah has become a hindrance for the smooth functioning of the coalition. Siddaramaiah has been accused of keeping KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao and former JD(S) President AH Vishwanath out of the coalition’s coordination committee. “Any decision regarding the government has to be a collective one taken by the coordination committee but no one is bothered to adhere to Siddaramaiah’s diktats any more. Kumaraswamy has started his village stay programme without even consulting the coordination committee. Ideally, both Congress and JD(S) leaders were to be a part of it. JD(S) is doing its own thing as they cannot rely on Siddaramaiah,” a JD(S) leader told TNM on condition of anonymity. JD(S) insiders say that Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s Grama Vastavya 2.0 (village stay 2.0) programme is all set to launch on June 21 in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region. Kumaraswamy is planning to stay at government schools and directly interact with the voters. Kumaraswamy had started this campaign in 2006 and had toured 47 villages across 30 districts in the state. “This is just a way to also get an understanding of the areas and constituencies where the JD(S) can expand its base. Relying on the coalition partner (Congress) is not an option at this point. They may pull out support at any point of time and we will be left in lurch. JD(S) cannot join hands with the BJP so this is an effective way to save the party from ruin. If the coalition breaks up, it will be because of the Congress leaders,” the JD(S) leader said.     

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Second time in a week, metro services in Bengaluru interrupted for more than 30 mins

Transport

Commuters were inconvenienced as they were informed about the impromptu maintenance work only they reached the Baiyappanahalli and SV Road metro stations.

TNM Staff

PTI/Representational Image

Less than a week after train services were temporarily stopped in the Purple Line on Namma Metro in Bengaluru due to a power failure, there was another disruption in services on Wednesday between 11.30 am and 12.10 pm, between Baiyyappanahalli and Indiranagar stations. “Train services between Indranagar and Baiyappanahalli will not be available between 11.30 am to 12 noon today due to urgent maintenance work to third rail traction power at SV Road station. Services will continue to be available between Mysore Road to Indiranagar,” the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL)  said in a tweet. Speaking with The Hindu, Yashwant Chavan, PRO, BMRCL, said, “The train services were stopped between stations to fix some power supply snags in the third rail system. Services were suspended for 30 minutes, but were operational from Indiranagar to Mysuru Road stations.” Commuters were inconvenienced as they were informed about the impromptu maintenance work only they reached the Baiyappanahalli and SV Road metro stations. “Shutting down the Metro for maintenance without any prior information is an inconvenience for daily passengers. A 40-minute delay here will cost us more than one and a half hours. Why can’t officials plan and inform passengers in advance?” one irate commuter in Baiyappanahalli said. On Sunday too, train services in the same line was hit for 47 minutes, as lightning damaged electrical equipment at Baiyappanahalli metro station. Then in a release, BMRCL said, “Traction power supply on the Purple Line was not available from 7.23 pm to 8.01 pm. During this period, short-loop train operations were done between Indiranagar and Mysuru Road station. Full services on Purple Line, between Mysuru Road and Byappanahalli, were restored at 8.10 pm.” On both days, services in the Green LIne were unaffected.          

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Swiggy food delivery executive attacked, robbed in the heart of Bengaluru

Crime

The 20-year-old was rushed to St Philomena’s Hospital as he was bleeding from his right hand and abdomen.

TNM Staff

Representational image

A 20-year-old man working as a food delivery executive with Swiggy was stabbed and robbed by four men in the early hours of Wednesday in central Bengaluru. The incident was reported from Thiyagi M Palanivelu Road on MG Road. According to reports, the victim, Vinay, was riding his two-wheeler after he had delivered an order at 12.40 am, when four men started chasing him on two bikes. Then, one of those bikes hit his vehicle causing him to fall to the ground. The men then threatened him to give up his valuables. When Vinay showed resistance, he was stabbed and left bleeding, as they made away with Rs 4,000 in cash. Vinay received injuries on his right hand and his abdomen. Following this, one commuter saw him in that condition and volunteered to take him to the police station. Meanwhile, a patrol van spotted them and rushed him to St Philomena’s hospital. “We have taken up a case of attempt to murder and robbery and have formed a team to nab them,” the invesigation officer attached to Ashokenagar Police Station told The New Indian Express. This is not the only incident of assault against food delivery executives. In May, five persons were arrested by Halasuru police in the city. That time it was customers who had attacked the delivery executive for allegedly delivering their food late. The assaulters had left him injured and did not pay for their food.             

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Siddaramaiah slams BJP for not including any Karnataka Dalit MP in Union Cabinet

Politics

Taking umbrage to Siddaramaiah's remarks, the BJP asked him to make senior Congress leader and a Dalit Mallikarjun Kharge the CM.

IANS

Terming the BJP's concern for the downtrodden and deprived a lip sympathy, Karnataka Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Wednesday slammed the party for not making any of its 5 newly-elected Lok Sabha members from the state a minister in the NDA government. "Though the BJP won all the 5 parliamentary seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and two for the Scheduled Tribes(ST) in the state, none of them was included in the 58-member NDA government. It shows how much the ruling BJP cares for Dalits," Siddaramaiah told reporters after attending Eid prayers at Idgah maidan in the city. Of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the southern state, the BJP won 25 of the 27 seats it contested, while the Congress and its coalition ally in the state Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) faced rout, winning only one seat each. An Independent (Sumalatha Ambreesh), backed by the BJP, won one seat (Mandya) in the old Mysuru region, about 100km southwest of Bengaluru. "Instead of talking big about uplifting Dalits, the BJP should show in deed than only talking. Not one Dalit MP from the state was included in the Union cabinet," tweeted Siddaramaiah in Kannada. Taking umbrage to Siddaramaiah's sarcastic remarks, the BJP's state unit was quick to rebut by asking him to make senior Congress leader and a Dalit Mallikarjun Kharge the state's chief minister if he had so much love for Dalits. "Twitter Ramaiah, make Kharge the chief minister if you care for Dalits so much. You prevented Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara, also a Dalit, from becoming chief minister last time. Don't just tweet. Show your care and concern for Dalits in action," retweeted BJP in response to Siddaramaiah's tweet. Kharge, a two-time Lok Sabha member, lost to BJP's Umesh Yadav from Gulbarga reserved seat in the recent general elections in the state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took 4 lawmakers from Karnataka into the Union Council of Ministers on May 30, including three newly-elected Lok Sabha and one (Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman) from the Rajya Sabha from the state. The three Lok Sabha members are Union Minster for Chemicals and Fertilisers D.V. Sadananda Gowda from Bangalore North, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi from Dharwad and Minster of State for Railways Suresh Angadi from Belgaum in the state's northwest region. Gowda belongs to the politically dominant Vokkaliga community and Angadi hails from the powerful Lingayat community while Joshi and Sitharaman are Brahmins. "Representation to members of all castes and communities from across the country will be given on merit when the cabinet is expanded, keeping in view the constitutional limit and coalition compulsions," a party spokesman told IANS. The Central Government can have only 15 per cent or 82 of the 543-member Lok Sabha as ministers.  

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Translocating trees and a runway surrounded by nature: Bengaluru airport goes green

Environment

Some of the tree species which have shown high survivability rate ipost translocation are coconut, silver oak, palms, cycads, and rain tree.

Soumya Chatterjee

Authorities at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport have begun the process of translocating 7,095 trees over the next three years — one of India’s largest such programmes — as part of a Rs 13,000 crore airport expansion project. The overhaul process will include a new terminal, widening of access roads as well as a new multi-modal transport hub. So far, the thousand-odd trees that have been transplanted since March have seen a survivability rate of upwards of 85%. For this initiative, the Bangalore International Airport Limited has tied up with the government-run Indian Institute of Science and automobile major Volvo, which is providing hardware, including its special tree transplanter truck. Some of the tree species which have shown high success rate are coconut, silver oak, palms, cycads, and rain trees. The first phase, which started in March, will continue till August and cover a stretch of 4 kilometres. Prasannamurti Desai, vice-president of landscaping at the airport said, “We are able to translocate as many as 18 trees in a single day starting from 8.30 am to 6.30 pm using the mechanised translocator. All these trees are either translocated to a pre-identified suitable spot or otherwise preserved in the nursery until a suitable spot is made ready.” He added, “We have to follow traditional methods for trees with a girth of above 45 inches and less than 6 inches. Using the conventional method, the process takes about three months as it requires adequate care and protection.” The new terminal is expected to be operational from October 1 onwards and will have a three-story “forest belt.” This is designed to create an immersive, calming outdoor experience for both arrival and departure passengers. Trees, small gardens, and ponds featuring local and exotic species of plants will line the interior. Airport authorities also note that the land surrounding the new runway will be carpeted with lush greenery, making it the first in India and only the third in the world to have green corridors around the runway. “The objective is to avoid felling of trees and, instead, relocate them to a place where they can further improve the aesthetics of the airport. All this is to ensure that the landscape is in sync with our garden-themed Terminal 2,” Tom Shimmin, chief projects officer for Bangalore International Airport Limited told reporters. “Some of the existing tree are unique species and not available in India. Our aim is to ensure that we don’t lose out on the existing ones. In keeping with Bengaluru’s image as the Garden City of India, BIAL has tried to reflect this image at the airport by creating world-class landscapes,” he added.

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Trump administration imposes new restrictions on fetal tissue research

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'Vacant positions to be filled first': Siddaramaiah plays down talk of cabinet reshuffle

Politics

Siddaramaiah said that veteran Congress leader Ramalinga Reddy will get a ministerial berth when the cabinet expansion takes place.

TNM Staff

Amid reports that a cabinet reshuffle is being planned in the Karnataka government, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday stated that the vacant ministerial positions will be filled first. Siddaramaiah, who is also the head of the coalition coordination committee set up to ensure the smooth running of the coalition government, added that miffed Congress leader Ramalinga Reddy will be given a ministerial position. "We will fill the vacant positions first. I had told him that when the re-shuffle of the cabinet happens, he (Ramalinga Reddy) will get a chance to be a minister", Siddaramaiah told reporters in Bengaluru on Wednesday. CS Shivalli was the Minister of Municipal Administration and Local Bodies before he passed away in March this year. The position has remained vacant since then. The position of Primary and Secondary Education Minister is also vacant after N Mahesh, the lone BSP MLA in the Karnataka Assembly resigned from his position.  Earlier in the week, Ramalinga Reddy had criticised the Congress for ignoring senior leaders.  "The party should also ensure that seniors don't quit the party. If this continues, it's difficult for senior party leaders to continue in the party. The party should concentrate on getting rid of the imbalance in the party and the government. Ministers who didn't do well in the election should be given party work and seniors should be taken into the cabinet,"  he said in a Facebook post. This comes at a time Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy held discussions with Congress President Rahul Gandhi about the coalition government's future in the state.   

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