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Thursday, July 18, 2019

Congress accuses BJP of kidnapping MLA, Speaker demands Home Ministry probe

Politics
Congress members held up pictures of their MLA at the airport and then in the hospital, claiming he was kidnapped.
Drama unfolded in the Karnataka Assembly with Water Resource Minister DK Shivakumar and other Congress accusing the BJP of kidnapping Congress MLAs from Kagwad Srimanth Patil. Holding up a blown up photograph of the Congress legislator lying topless with his heart being monitored in an ambulance, DK Shivakumar accused the BJP of orchestrating a scenario, alleging that Srimanth Patil was made to pose for a picture where he looked ill.  “Look at this picture, that’s Srimanth Patil with Lakshman Savadi (BJP MLA). Srimanth Patil was fine and healthy in the resort last night. Suddenly this morning, I was informed that he was missing. The next thing we know, we revived a letter from Mumbai where it states that he is suffering from a heart ailment. The BJP has kidnapped our MLA. You must come to our rescue. You must offer protection to our MLAs,” DK Shivakumar appealed to the Speaker. Echoing DK Shivakumar’s accusation, Karnataka Pradesh Committee President Dinesh Gundu Rao accused the BJP of orchestrating a nefarious plot to steal Congress MLAs. “Look at the flight tickets.  Srimanth Patil was taken to Chennai and then flown to Mumbai earlier this morning. Why could he not undergo treatment at the numerous hospitals in Bengaluru? Why did he have to fly to Mumbai to undergo treatment? Why is the Maharashtra government providing him protection at the hospital in Mumbai. In fact why does he need police protect if he is undergoing treatment, clearly the BJP is doing this,” Dinesh Gundu Rao alleged. Meanwhile, DK Shivakumar distributed the blown up images of Srimanth Patil in the ambulance, his picture with Lakshman Savadi and the flight ticket to Congress MLAs. Soon after all Congress MLAs began hurling questions at the BJP, while holding up the blown up pictures and shouting 'Down, Down BJP.' “Who is Lakshman Savadi? Is he not a BJP leader? In whose chartered flight did the MLAs go to Mumbai,” said the legislators while they demanded answers from the opposition.  Ruckus erupted and the BJP legislators strongly denied any involvement in the ongoing rebellion.  An agitated Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar read out a handwritten letter allegedly written and signed by Srimanth Patil which claimed that he was unable to attend the session due to ill health.  “CLP leader Siddaramaiah has submitted a complaint to me that Srimanth Patil was kidnapped. This is a criminal complaint. I have also received a letter from Srimanth Patil stating that he is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Mumbai. He has attached a medical certificate and an ECG report. There is no letter head and no seal. The Medical Board has not signed of on any of these medical documents. How can I accept this? In this political game, you (legislators) do not care for the people. It has become a game of one-upmanship,” the Speaker lamented. Speaker Ramesh Kumar directed Home Minister MB Patil to launch a probe into the matter. He directed the Home Department to question his family members regarding why he went to Mumbai. While staying that the papers in front of him were not fair, the Speaker said that if such inability continued, he would asked the DGP to provide protection to the legislators.  “Look at the media, they are here to error the facts. What will people think of this House? I am disturbed. Medical Board has not certified the report. How can I accept something without credentials. The Home Minister must look into this matter and report back to me as soon as possible,” said the Speaker.  The assembly was adjourned on Thursday, without a trust vote taking place.
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Holy site of Nava Brindavana near Karnataka's Hampi desecrated, police look for vandals

Crime
Police officials are investigating whether 'treasure hunters' looking for the supposed treasure of Krishnadevaraya, an emperor of the Vijayanagara empire caused the damage.
In an incident similar to the vandalism at a temple in Hampi five months ago, structures at the Nava Brindavana of Anegundi, which is the resting place of nine Hindu saints belonging to the Uttaradi Mutt, were found damaged on Thursday morning.  Police officials are investigating the incident which occurred at the site located on an island on the Tungabhadra river in Koppal district, around 12 km away from Hampi. The site is the resting place of the nine saints of the Madhva community, a Brahmin sub-caste. They are mostly settled in Karnataka and its neighboring states. Damages to the structures of the resting places and an idol at the site came to light on Thursday morning when the caretaker of the private property informed the police.  "Nobody goes there regularly except for a caretaker. In this season, the place is accessible only by boat from Anegundi and Ballari," said a police official investigating the incident. The district administration manages boats operating in and out of the island and according to the investigating police, the people who vandalised the area used their own boats. "The boats operated by the district administration closes at 4 pm and they were found to be intact. We are talking to locals and asking if anybody suspicious were seen in the area," the police official said. Police investigate 'treasure hunters' Police officials are investigating whether the damage was caused by 'treasure hunters' looking for the supposed treasure of Krishnadevaraya, an emperor of the Vijayanagara empire who reigned from 1509–1529. Treasure hunters are prominent in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, particularly in the areas which were once part of the Vijayanagara empire. "We suspect that people looking for treasures have done this because we found that a ritual was performed at the site and in places they have attempted to dig. We have also found evidence of elaborate planning to execute this," an investigating official added. Police officials are speaking to locals in the area to find out if any suspicious persons were seen entering the site. This comes five months after a group of men were forced to help re-erect the pillars at the Vishnu temple in Hampi after a video of them toppling the pillars was shared widely on social media. Read: 'Raju was here': Why in the world do Indians vandalise heritage monuments?
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Bengaluru senior citizens allege cheating by Tata housing, approach court for relief

Controversy
Though the Tata Riva project was marketed as senior citizen assisted living homes, buyers claim none of the promised common amenities are adequate.
Many senior citizens in Bengaluru claim they have been left in the lurch after Tata Housing allegedly defaulted on their promise. These are all buyers in a Tata Value Homes housing project titled Tata Riva, situated in Nelamangala in Bengaluru Rural district. While 80 apartments have been sold to buyers, there are more than a hundred apartments left to be sold with some of them still in the construction phase.  Tata Riva has 1 and 2 BHKs, and the apartments were sold as assisted living facilities for the elderly with the promise of an exclusive senior citizens enclave and assisted living services. The premiere facilities were supposed to be tailored for seniors, who were promised round the clock medical facilities and a running kitchen. The buyers now allege that the builder is washing their hands off the promises of assisted living, and are forming a common apartment association with members of regular apartments built in the same plot. Disappointed with the service and alleged apathy of the company management, some of the buyers have approached the court seeking relief. As requested by these litigants, a local court has issued an interim injunction on the builder withdrawing from the management of the apartment complex, and forming an Apartment Association. The Nelamangala Civil Court has also asked Tata Housing to file their response to the allegations by August 1.  “Since it was a Tata project, people like me and many others had invested our hard-earned money with great expectations, paying 30% more for the extra facilities. But now we’re struggling because of the apathy of the group. We have been conned by a group as big as the Tatas,” said Janaki Ramakrishnan, who bought an apartment for her parents, “Even today, when I go there none of the amenities that were promised are there. My parents, both over 80, are staying with me or my brother but not everybody is as fortunate. Some of their children live outside India and they are forced to stay there.” Janaki is also one of the litigants against the Tatas. Some residents allege that the builder has not given them their ownership documents.  Due to the non-availability of the promised amenities for senior citizens, many buyers are now opting to stay elsewhere. Sixty eight-year-old Sanjay (name changed) said attempts to reach the Tata Housing MD and other higher officials have not been positive. “We feel cheated by Tata. Many of us, including me, had blindly trusted the brochure thinking since it’s Tata everything will be fulfilled,” Sanjay said. Among the promises was a medical centre within the apartment complex equipped with all necessary infrastructure, including ICU facilities and an ambulance. “Though the builder claims the medical centre is working, it is totally defunct,” Sanjay alleged, “We have paid more than Rs 4 lakh for five years and there is nothing, no proper doctor or pharmacy. There is a small dingy room and no stabilisation facility. So people are forced to go outside for any medical need.” Another facility promised by the Tatas in this project was a ‘running kitchen’ for the seniors, but the buyers claim it is also struggling to meet the requirements.  When asked to comment, Tata Housing Managing Director, Sanjay Dutt, categorically refused. Incidentally, this is not the first allegation against Tata’s real estate arm. The Haryana government’s Town and Country Planning Act had started proceedings against one of its projects in mid-2017. In another case, Tata Value Homes was asked by a Chennai consumer court to pay Rs 8.9 lakh to one of its customers in July 2018.
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Siddaramaiah wants floor test postponed: Why the coalition is trying to buy time

Politics
The Congress-JD(S) coalition seems to be buying more time by seeking clarification from the Supreme Court.
PTI photo
As the clock struck 11 on Thursday morning, and Karnataka legislators walked into the Assembly, the coalition’s game-plan was clear – to delay the trust vote for a few more days. Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy moved the motion of confidence in the House, and it was accepted by the Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar. As CM Kumaraswamy raised the issue of Wednesday’s Supreme Court order, Congress Legislature Party Leader Siddaramaiah raised a point of order contending that his Constitutional rights under the Tenth Schedule had been curtailed by the apex court verdict.  “SC order has discussed about my rights as CLP leader to issue whip but I was not a respondent to present my concerns. As the outcome of anti-defection law has its implications on no-confidence motion, I would like to request to postpone the motion until we get clarification from SC,” said Siddaramaiah. He also told the Speaker that he would petition the court seeking a clarification on the same.  The move was an attempt to buy more time for the coalition which does not have the numbers presently to pass the confidence motion. According to sources, the Congress and JD(S) are looking at different options. 1) Work out a deal acceptable to Ramalinga Reddy and promise him a major role in the government. In turn, Ramalinga Reddy will bring back a few rebel MLAs back to the fold.  2) Ask two or three BJP MLAs to abstain – though this is a tough scenario.  3) With the threat of disqualification looming large, hope that a few rebel MLAs come back. The Congress has been telling rebel MLAs that even if BS Yeddyurappa is able to form the government now, he may not be the Chief Minister for a long time. The rebel MLAs have been 'warned' that once the BJP chooses another CM, there is no guarantee that these rebels would remain ministers. What happened in the Assembly After Siddaramaiah made his point, the opposition created a ruckus and accused the ruling coalition of delaying the trust vote. BJP MLA Madhu Swamy and Leader of the Opposition BS Yeddyurappa stated that raising a point of order was contradictory to the Assembly’s order of the day.  “There is no situation where a Point of Order needs to be raised. Siddaramaiah and the Congress party know that this is not what needs to be discussed. What Siddaramaiah speaks of is privilege, but does not fall under the circumstances where a point of order can be raised,” said BJP MLA Madhu Swamy.  However, Speaker Ramesh Kumar shut him down by stating that a Point of Order can be raised if there is a violation of any rule or Article of the Constitution. “The point of order that the CLP leader is raising is about the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. He is saying that the Constitutional rights are being curtailed and hence the point of order can be raised,” Speaker Ramesh Kumar added. A commotion ensued in the Assembly with legislators from both the ruling coalition and the opposition hurling accusations at each other. Yeddyurappa then claimed that the Supreme Court has asked the coalition not to issue a whip. However, Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar yelled at Yeddyurappa, “You are misguiding the nation, you are misguiding the court and you are misguiding the political parties.”  Intervening in the argument, the Speaker said that the issue needs to be discussed because of its ambiguous nature. “I am a respondent in the Supreme Court petition. The CLP leader is not. The tenth Schedule gives political parties the right to issue a whip. This Schedule has not been struck down nor has it been amended. The Supreme Court order is saying that it is up to the legislators if they want to come to the session or not. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know to whom this order applies. I am worried. How should I function?” the Speaker asked. He also reserved his right to pass an order on the CLP leader’s request to hold the trust vote proceedings. The Supreme Court had on Wednesday passed an interim order giving freedom to the 15 rebel MLAs to not attend the Assembly proceedings including the trust vote. This even as it allowed the Speaker to decide on their resignations, without setting a deadline. Several people had questioned whether the top court’s order undermined the anti-defection law – the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. With the dissident MLAs not bound by the whip, they would not face disqualification. 
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Karnataka to introduce Rotavirus vaccine into immunisation schedule for children

Vaccines
The vaccine which reportedly costs upto Rs 600 in private hospitals, will now be made available free of cost.
Image for representation
Rotavirus is a known cause of diarrhoeal diseases in young children. Given this, several doctors have earlier expressed concern that a simple vaccine found to be effective against the virus has yet to be implemented into the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP). Taking note of this, the Karnataka state Health Department announced that from the third week of August, the Rotavirus vaccine would be included in the immunisation schedule for children. This virus is relatively common and can live outside the body for several days. Onset of the infection is seen within a few days of exposure to the virus. Children usually present with mild fever, diarrhoea, and vomiting. If the infection is not treated, it has been noted to cause deaths in young children, particularly those within 5 years of age. The vaccine which reportedly costs upto Rs 600 in private hospitals, will now be made free of cost. It will be administered to babies at six, 10 and 14 weeks of age. This is the age group among whom the infection is most commonly seen. According to a study by the World Health Organisation which was first published in 2013, 334,000 infant deaths out of over 2 million, are largely attributed to diarrhoeal diseases such as infections caused by Rotavirus. Another study published in 2016 showed that in Karnataka alone, Rotavirus was noted to be the most common pathogenic agent which was responsible for most diarrhoeal diseases in young children. Often, children who present with diarrhoea are prescribed antibiotics. However in the case of the Rotavirus, this would not prove to be helpful as antibiotics are only effective against bacteria and not viruses. The vaccine, on the other hand, has been shown to be extremely effective in protecting against the viral infection. As recently as 2018, three forms of the vaccine which are most frequently administered — RV1, RV5, and Rotovac- were found to be highly potent against the virus. 
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Setback for rebel MLAs: ‘Whip’ to apply during Trust Vote, says Speaker

Politics
Siddaramaiah had contended that since neither he nor the Congress were respondents to the Supreme Court petition by rebels, the SC’s order doesn’t apply to him.
Ramesh Kumar (L), Siddaramaiah (R): PTI photos
In what comes as a small but significant setback to the rebel Congress and JD(S) MLAs in Karnataka, Speaker Ramesh Kumar has allowed all parties to apply their ‘whip’ in the House during Chief Minister Kumaraswamy’s trust vote. This essentially means that the rebel MLAs can be disqualified for not attending the session, despite the Supreme Court order. And if they are disqualified, they cannot become ministers until they win another election. Ministry posts are believed to be among the promises made by the BJP to allegedly make these MLAs defect. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court said that all rebel MLAs have the choice of attending or not attending the Assembly. However, former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday insisted that whip will be applied on all MLAs of the party. Siddaramaiah, who is the leader of the Congress Legislature Party said he is not a respondent in the Supreme Court case which was filed by the 15 rebel MLAs, and hence he can go ahead to issue a whip. He made this point by moving a “Point of Order” (Rule 350 of Karnataka Assembly Rules of Procedure). "Anti-defection law has not been struck down by the Parliament or by any court of law," said Siddaramaiah, referring to the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. To this, Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar accepted Siddaramaiah’s contention. He further said, “If a member wants to stay away from proceedings of House, they need to write to me (Speaker). Depending on whether I accept or not accept, leader of the party can exercise his rights under the Tenth Schedule.” “If you (Siddaramaiah) intend to implead yourself as one of the respondents before the Supreme Court for amending this, you are at liberty to do so,” he added. However, the coalition still does not have the numbers. With the threat of disqualification looming large, the Congress is hoping that at least three MLAs will take back their resignation. With rebel MLA and senior leader Ramalinga Reddy returning to their fold, the Congress hopes that a few others will too. A Point of Order is an issue with the rules of the House that the Speaker can take decisions on. A 'whip' is an order issued by a political party to all their legislators to be present and voting as per the party's direction during a debate. If a legislator does not follow the 'whip', they can be disqualified. Article 164 (1B) of the Constitution says that a member who has been disqualified cannot be made a minister till the expiry of his or her term, or until he or she is reelected. This development comes just a day after the apex court led by a Chief Justice of India-Ranjan Gogoi bench allowed the 15 rebel MLAs of the ruling coalition in Karnataka to not participate in Thursday’s trust vote and gave them immunity from the whip. As part of its interim order, the SC made it clear that the 15 rebel MLAs cannot be compelled to participate in Assembly proceedings despite a whip order being issued by the Congress and JD(S). Initially, 10 rebel MLAs had moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Speaker to accept their resignations without delay on July 11. The 10 MLAs in their plea had said Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar was delaying in approving their resignations and hence acting in a biased manner in light of the recent political crisis. These 10 MLAs are Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak), Byrathi Basavaraj (KR Puram), ST Somashekhar (Yeshwanthpura), BC Patil (Hirekerur), Shivaram Hebbar (Yellapur), Prathapgouda Patil (Maski), Mahesh Kumathalli (Athani), K Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout), AH Vishwanath (Hunasuru) and Narayana Gowda (Krishanarajapete). Then on Monday, five other MLAs had tagged on the same petition seeking a similar relief. Those five were Munirathna Naidu (RR Nagar), Roshan Baig (Shivajinagar), MTB Nagaraj (Hoskote), K Sudhakar (Chikkaballapura) and Anand Singh (Vijayanagara) who also levelled the same charges against the Speaker. However, the SC in its Wednesday order have the Speaker the freedom to decide on their resignations and disqualifications as and when he wants. Incidentally, it is not only these 15 MLAs who have skipped Thursday's proceedings. Congress MLAs Shrimanth Patil, Nagendra B, independent MLAs R Shankar, H Nagesh and BSP MLA N Mahesh were also missing. These takes the number of absentees to 20.
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K’taka crisis: Cong MLA skips Assembly, gets admitted to hospital in Mumbai

Karnataka Crisis
Shrimant Patil, the Congress MLA of Kagwad constituency, reached Mumbai on Wednesday night and is currently receiving treatment in a hospital in the city.
After going incommunicado ahead of the trust vote in the Karnataka Assembly on Thursday, it was found that Congress MLA Shrimant Balasaheb Patil had travelled to Mumbai. He had slipped out of the Prakriti Resort in Bengaluru on Wednesday night.  This development was confirmed by a Congress functionary to TNM.  The MLA of Kagwad constituency left the Prakriti Resort before a meeting was set to be held with Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara.  Shrimant cited chest pain as his reason for leaving the resort on Wednesday night. Photos of him receiving treatment in a hospital were released on Thursday morning. Sources in the Congress told TNM that he is receiving treatment at a hospital in Mumbai.  Speaking on this, a Congress source said, “He left Bengaluru last night by HAL airport and reached Mumbai. He could have taken treatment at a hospital here. Why did he have to go to Mumbai?” BJP sources claimed that he has not joined the rebel MLAs staying in a hotel there and is in a hospital in Mumbai. Shrimant is not the only MLA to skip Thursday’s proceedings, aside from the 15 rebel MLAs who have been given liberty by the Supreme Court to skip the Assembly session. Independent MLA R Shankar, known in political circles as 'Pendulum Shankar' for constantly swinging between BJP and Congress, also did not turn up at the Assembly. The other independent MLA H Nagesh also abstained from the Assembly session. The duo had withdrawn their support from the coalition government and indicated that they will support the BJP. The lone BSP MLA in the Karnataka Assembly N Mahesh also abstained from the Assembly on Thursday. He was elected from Kollegal constituency and was also made the Primary and Secondary Education Minister in the Karnataka cabinet until he resigned from his ministerial position in December 2018. This takes the number of absentees for the 224-seat Assembly on Thursday to 20. Seven-time Congress MLA Ramalinga Reddy, who had also submitted his resignation papers, attended the Assembly session and confirmed that he will vote in favour of the Kumaraswamy-led coalition government. Here is the full list of Karnataka MLAs who skipped Thursday's Assembly session: Cong MLAs in Mumbai Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak) Byrathi Basavaraj (KR Puram) ST Somashekhar (Yeshwanthpura) BC Patil (Hirekerur) Shivaram Hebbar (Yellapur) Prathapgouda Patil (Maski) Mahesh Kumathalli (Athani) MTB Nagaraj (Hoskote) JD(S) MLAs in Mumbai K Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout) AH Vishwanath (Hunasuru) Narayana Gowda (Krishanarajapete) Other Congress MLAs Munirathna Naidu (RR Nagar) Roshan Baig (Shivajinagar) K Sudhakar (Chikkaballapura) Anand Singh (Vijayanagara) B Nagendra (Ballari Rural) Shrimant Patil (Kagwad) BSP N Mahesh (Kollegal) Independent MLAs R Shankar (Ranebennur) H Nagesh (Mulbagal)
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