Karnataka political crisis dies down, but pubs and liquor shops to remain shut

Politics

According to the government order, Section 144 is being imposed throughout the city until 6 am on Thursday.

TNM Staff

Despite the end of the current Karnataka political crisis, prohibitory orders are still in place in Bengaluru. Bars, pubs and liquor shops will remain shut till Thursday morning. The Bengaluru Police imposed Section 144 (unlawful assembly) for 48 hours starting 6 pm on Tuesday (July 23) to 6 am on Thursday (July 25) in the midst of political upheaval of the trust vote. “Generally, when political crisis occurs, Section 144 is imposed to avoid unnecessary conflicts and sudden protests from erupting, which are likely to occur. The situation is peaceful, yet the prohibitory orders will continue and all pubs and liquor shops will remain shut till Thursday morning 6 am,” Commissioner Alok Kumar said. Ahead of the trust vote on Tuesday evening, which resulted in the collapse of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government, Section 144 was imposed throughout the city. Commissioner of Police Alok Kumar, who initially imposed Section 144 in areas surrounding Vidhana Soudha, soon extended it to the whole city. "Due to the tension prevailing on either side, various political groups gathering here and there and coming face to face with each other, to prevent any untoward incident, we have declared Section 144 all over Bengaluru city police limits and we have also declared that there will be prohibition and all bars, pubs and wine shops will be closed today and tomorrow," Bengaluru Police Commissioner Alok Kumar told the media.  This came just as Congress and JD(S) workers gathered outside an apartment building at Race Course Road, where two independent MLAs – H Nagesh and R Shankar – are reportedly staying. This is where BJP MLA R Ashoka also lives. The two independent MLAs R Shankar and H Nagesh were spotted walking out of the Nitesh Apartments complex on Race Course Road and within minutes, Congress and JD(S) workers gathered at the apartments in an attempt to block the MLAs from going to the Vidhana Soudha for the trust vote. HD Kumaraswamy also tendered his resignation to Governor Vajubhai Vala on Tuesday night.     

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/32Nd0yt
via IFTTT

‘Will never accept rebels back into Cong even if there’s an apocalypse': Siddaramaiah

Politics

The former CM also warned the 16 rebels that the BJP was preparing a funeral for their political careers and that they "dug their own graves" by resigning.

Theja Ram

The Congress-JD(S) coalition in Karnataka on Tuesday could not delay the inevitable -- the vote of confidence to prove majority. Congress Legislature Party Chief and former chief Siddaramaiah, who was concluding his speech, took on an accusatory tone, stating that the 16 rebel legislators, who are responsible for the fall of the Kumaraswamy government, would never be accepted into the party's fold. "I have seen so many leaders defect from Congress to BJP and not many of them have lasted long in that party. You see its an ideological difference. Only those who have the RSS background can stay in that party. These leaders have secular beliefs and hence they returned to us eventually," Siddaramaiah said.  Speaker Ramesh Kumar interrupted Siddaramaiah and asked whether the rebels would be accepted into the party if they ever wanted to return. A visibly miffed Siddaramaiah said, "Never. We will never take them back. Those who have fallen victims to Operation Kamala will never be taken back, even if there are floods, or an apocalypse or even if the sky is falling down," Siddaramaiah said.  The former Chief Minister also warned the 16 rebels that the BJP was preparing a funeral for their political careers and that they "dug their own graves" by resigning. Siddaramaiah accused the rebel MLAs of falling prey to the BJP's false promises of ministerial berths and monetary benefits.  "Twelve of them were promised minister berths and eight of them have taken money from BJP like our Krishna Byre Gowda had earlier said. How will you become Ministers? Will the BJP nurture them in the party? How many ministries do they have to give away? This is just a trap. We held great respect for them but the betrayal hurts," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah added.   Siddaramaiah also said that the people's mandate was for the coalition and not the BJP saying that the combined vote share of Congress and JD(S) amounted to 54.44%, while the BJP did not gain a majority in terms of the vote share and neither did they gain 113 seats to form a government.  "It is clearly evident that BJP leaders are behind this disgusting political game plan. People are not fools to not understand this and they will teach BJP leaders a great lesson in the coming elections. How is it right to destabilize stable govt for their selfish reasons?" Siddaramaiah said in a tweet.  The politics in Karnataka, which has been unravelling since July 6, has seen all ministers in Kumaraswamy’s cabinet resign to make way for the rebel MLAs, but to no avail. Attempts by Congress’ troubleshooter and former minister DK Shivakumar to reach out to the MLAs, who were camped in a Mumbai hotel, also failed, with the leader even being detained by the police. The end of the road, however, came when more MLAs tendered their resignations and the Supreme Court allowed the rebelling legislators to sit out of the Assembly proceedings.   The crisis for the coalition began on July 6 when 12 Congress and 3 JD(S) MLAs submitted their resignations to the Speaker’s office. Just days before that Congress MLA Anand Singh had also tendered his resignation. The disgruntled MLAs accused Kumaraswamy of inefficiency and not taking into confidence the requests put forth by his fellow legislators. 

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2ZejGnq
via IFTTT

Bengaluru airport rolls out paperless boarding as part of Centre’s Digi Yatra scheme

Technology

While currently only Vistara flights will have the biometric-based self-boarding system, it will be integrated into other airlines soon.

TNM Staff

Image for representation

The Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, since Monday, started the paperless self-boarding process, which does not require travellers to show any travel documents through every passenger touchpoint. This is part of the Union government’s Digi Yatra project — a fully biometric-based self-boarding solution for a seamless flow from registration to boarding After Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Hyderabad, Bengaluru Airport will be the second airport to be part of the Centre’s Digi Yatra initiative. This boarding process is currently limited to travelling on Vistara flight UK864 from Bengaluru to Mumbai. The airport management said, “This was made possible by the integration of Vistara’s Departure Control System (DCS) with the technology, allowing effortless processing at the entry to the terminal, passenger security screening and the boarding gate. All Vistara flights are expected to be integrated into the biometric boarding process at Bengaluru Airport by October 2019.” Over the next few months, this process is expected to be integrated with check-in/self-bag-drop to include other domestic and international airlines at the Airport. In the final stage, this technology will be integrated with the Digi Yatra Central Platform, which is currently being architectured by the Central Government’s Digi Yatra Foundation. Passengers can simply enrol their ID and biometric data, combined with their flight details, before entering the Terminal. As they travel through the airport, passengers can put their travel documents away, as they will be authenticated and verified at every touchpoint due to the biometrics. With regards to privacy concerns and misuse of data, airport authorities, in a press statement, said, “This process offers the highest degree of safety and security while ensuring stringent standards of privacy. The biometric data is used only for authentication and verification of passengers to assist the boarding process and not for recognition. Additionally, the passenger data is deleted within a few hours of flight completion.” The system has become operational after Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) Managing Director and CEO Hari Marar and the technology provider Vision Box signed an agreement in September 2018. Read: Hyderabad airport's facial recognition system: What are the privacy concerns? How the technology works Passengers who want to avail of this service will have to first register themselves at the airport and get their facial biometrics recorded in specialised cameras at the airport on a one-time basis. Following this, they can use their face as the boarding pass by accessing specialised eGates set up for identity authentication. With these self-clearance checkpoints at the airport, passenger movement will be faster with lesser queuing. Biometric technology will identify passengers by their face as they move across the airport, avoiding stops and the repeated presentation of boarding passes, passports or other physical identity documents.    

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2Ob6Chd
via IFTTT

IMA scam: K’taka HC directs state govt to appoint senior competent authority in probe

Crime

This development comes after Mansoor Khan, the prime accused and IMA founder was recently arrested after he returned to India.

TNM Staff

To help in recovery of money of those duped by the IMA ponzi scheme, the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to appoint an officer higher than the rank of a DC. Normally, under the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments (KPID) Act, an officer of the rank of Revenue Commissioner is appointed. The bench headed by Chief Justice AS Oka had noted that only Rs 270 crore was recovered so far in terms of seized assets. It further said that if the government fails to do so, the court would itself appoint such an officer. In connection with the IMA case, already the then Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner Vijay Shankar (IAS), Assistant Commissioner of the Revenue Department LC Nagaraj, BDA Executive Engineer Kumar, city corporator Syed Mujahid, one religious preacher and village accountant Manjunath among others, have been arrested. This development comes after Mansoor Khan, the prime accused and IMA founder was arrested after he returned to India.  Mansoor has been accused of running a ‘halal’ Ponzi scheme – where the money is diverted from new investors to older investors – in the name of I Monetary Advisory (IMA). He fled India around June 13 when the scam surfaced. He has been accused of cheating 40,000 investors, most of them Muslims to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore.  According to Islam, earning from interests is considered "haram", so they don't invest in fixed deposits or other investment instruments. However, IMA is not the only such halal ponzi scheme. Bengaluru has seen a spurt of such small schemes. The scams got prominence after Ambidant, one of the bigger scams like IMA came in the news with the  arrest of former minister and tainted mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy in connection with the case.  

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2MhOwb9
via IFTTT

‘Their greed won today’: Rahul, Priyanka slam BJP after govt falls in Karnataka

Politics

About an hour after he lost the Trust Vote in the Assembly, HD Kumaraswamy submitted his resignation to the Governor on Tuesday.

IANS

Outgoing Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Tuesday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the 14-month-old Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government in Karnataka failed to prove its majority in the floor test in the state Assembly. "From its first day, the Cong-JD(S) alliance in Karnataka was a target for vested interests, both within and outside, who saw the alliance as a threat and an obstacle in their path to power. Their greed won today. Democracy, honesty and the people of Karnataka lost," Rahul Gandhi tweeted. Priyanka Gandhi also slammed the BJP, saying one day it will discover that everything cannot be bought and till then the citizens will have to endure their unbridled corruption. "One day the BJP will discover that everything cannot be bought, everyone cannot be bullied and every lie is eventually exposed," she said in a series of tweets. "Until then I suppose the citizens of our country will have to endure their unbridled corruption, the systematic dismantling of institutions that protect the people's interests and the weakening of a democracy that took decades of toil and sacrifice to build," she said in another tweet. From its first day, the Cong-JDS alliance in Karnataka was a target for vested interests, both within & outside, who saw the alliance as a threat & an obstacle in their path to power. Their greed won today. Democracy, honesty & the people of Karnataka lost. — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 23, 2019 Until then I suppose, the citizens of our country will have to endure their unbridled corruption, the systematic dismantling of insitutions that protect the people’s interests and the weakening of a democracy that took decades of toil and sacrifice to build. 2/2 — Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) July 23, 2019 BJP responded to Rahul Gandhi's tweet, saying it is the effect of "slap of Democracy".  & again you don’t make any sense. May be it’s the effect of the “Slap of Democracy” Your desperation to hold on to power has lost today. It’s a victory of Karnataka over your unholy alliance & greed for power. Democracy has won today & people’s mandate is restored https://t.co/7swZB5s5oL — BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) July 23, 2019 The Congress leaders remarks came after the Congress-JD(S) government lost the trust vote on the floor of the Karnataka Assembly after a four-day debate on the confidence motion that was moved by Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.  Of the 225-member Assembly, 20 legislators were absent for the floor test, reducing the House strength to 205 with 103 as the halfway mark for simple majority. In the division of votes, 99 were for the motion and 105 against it. The margin between ruling coalition and BJP was six votes. About an hour after he lost the Trust Vote in the Assembly, Kumaraswamy submitted his resignation to the Governor on Tuesday. He will continue as the caretaker Chief Minister until further notice.  Political crisis gripped the 14-month-old fledgling government in Karnataka after 13 Congress and 3 JD-S rebels resigned between July 1 and July 10 in protest against weak leadership and lack of development across the southern state.

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/30YwUoN
via IFTTT

Mayawati expels Karnataka BSP MLA Mahesh for abstaining from Trust Vote

Politics

Mayawati had put out a tweet on July 21 stating she had directed her party MLA to support Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy in Tuesday’s trust vote.

Theja Ram

Soon after the Congress-JD(S) coalition lost the motion of confidence in the Karnataka Assembly on Tuesday, BSP chief Mayawati expelled Karnataka's Kollegal MLA N Mahesh for abstaining from voting. The coalition had 98 votes as opposed to the 100 they were expecting. N Mahesh, the BSP legislator, was instructed by Mayawati on Monday to cast his vote in favour of Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy. However, Mahesh was absent in the Assembly at the time of voting. Congress MLA B Nagendra was also absent due to ill health, bringing the numbers down from 100 to 98. "In violation of the instructions of the party high command to vote in support of the Kumaraswamy government in Karnataka, BSP legislator N Mahesh was absent in today's trust vote, which is indispensable, which the party took very seriously and therefore expelled Mr. Mahesh from the party with immediate effect," Mayawati said in a tweet.  Mayawati had put out a tweet on July 21 stating she had directed her party MLA to support Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy in Tuesday’s trust vote. This tweet had come as a surprise as just a day before, Mahesh had stated that he would abstain from voting in Monday’s trust as directed by his party’s supremo. N Mahesh was formerly a minister in the Kumaraswamy cabinet but resigned in 2018 following disagreements between the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress concerning seat-sharing in the 2018 Madhya Pradesh elections. But the JD(S) and BSP were the only pre-poll alliance before the May 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections and Mahesh had maintained his support for the government. The  Congress and JD(S) in May 2018 had formed a sudden coalition in May 2018 and snatched away BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa's dream of becoming CM again.  However, the crisis for the coalition government in Karnataka started on July 6, when 10 rebel MLAs submitted their resignations. Despite all ministers in Kumaraswamy’s cabinet resigning to make way for rebelling MLAs, the rebels could not be pacified. Attempts by Congress’ troubleshooter and former minister DK Shivakumar to reach out to the MLAs, who were camped in a Mumbai hotel, also failed, with the leader even being detained by the police. The end of the road, however, came when more MLAs tendered their resignations and the Supreme Court allowing the rebelling legislators to sit out of the Assembly proceedings.

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2SwJ7xT
via IFTTT

Senate Finance pushes ahead on plan to address high drug prices

from Health Care https://ift.tt/2y7eGVG
via IFTTT