Bengaluru airport may soon witness music concerts, weddings

Development

A BIAL spokesperson told TNM that the concert arena will be developed on a 6.3-acre land parcel at the Bengaluru airport campus.

TNM Staff

The Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru may soon become a popular destination for music concerts, weddings and even award shows as the operator, Bangalore International Airport Limited, is planning to develop a world-class arena at the airport premises. This arena will be the first of its kind to be built at an airport in India.  This arena is part of the Rs 13,000 crore airport expansion project currently underway. The overhaul process includes a new terminal, widening of access roads, metro access, cargo bays as well as a new multi-modal transport hub.  A BIAL spokesperson told TNM that the world-class concert arena will be developed on a 6.3-acre land parcel at the BLR Airport campus to cater to the growing demand for entertainment events in Bengaluru.   It is proposed to be a cost-effective, semi-permanent marquee structure. The allotted area for this development is adjacent to the newly-built South Access Road.   It is envisaged to have the capacity to accommodate up to 9,000 people and be capable of hosting a wide range of events such as music concerts, award shows, weddings, exhibitions, conventions, etc.  “In keeping with BIAL's vision is to make the BLR Airport the gateway to a new India and a destination in itself, this offering is part of a wide range of amenities that will keep both passengers and visitors entertained,” the spokesperson stated.  According to reports, the new arena will not hamper traffic going towards and coming from the airport.   Bengaluru airport is the busiest airport in South India and the third-largest in the country, having welcomed 33.3 million passengers in FY 2018-19 and registering a 23.8% year-on-year growth. Bengaluru airport began operations in May 2008 and offers a wide air-route network, with over 37 passenger airlines and 12 cargo airlines connecting Bengaluru to the rest of the world. 

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BJP's Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri elected as Speaker of Karnataka Assembly

Politics

He was elected the Speaker after Congress leader KR Ramesh Kumar resigned as the Speaker on Monday.

TNM Staff

The Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Wednesday elected BJP MLA from Sirsi, Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri as the new Speaker. Vishweshwar Kageri had filed his nomination for the post on Tuesday and was the only one to do so. He was elected the Speaker after Congress leader KR Ramesh Kumar resigned as the Speaker on Monday.  BJP sources say that the high command hand-picked Vishweshwar Hegde for the post. "The orders came in at around 11.30 am on Tuesday that Vishweshwar Hegde must file nomination for the post of the Speaker. He was picked as he is a veteran in the party and been an MLA six times," the source said.  Vishweshwar Hegde was elected as the Speaker unanimously without opposition from the Congress and JD(S). Born on July 10, 1961 in Sirsi, Vishweshwar Hegde has been elected as the legislator from the region six times. Hegde studied B.Com at Karnataka University and was an active member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) — BJP’s student wing, during his college days and was also elected the student union leader at the time.   He soon became a member of the BJP and was given a ticket to contest from the erstwhile Ankola Assembly constituency for the first time in 1994. He was re-elected as the MLA from Ankola in 1999 and 2004. However, after delimitation in 2008, the constituency became Sirsi, where he won the subsequent elections thrice.  An RSS man and a BJP loyalist, Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri served as the Minister for Primary and Secondary Education in the Yediyurappa government in 2008.  Earlier, Ramesh Kumar’s resignation was on expected lines as the Speaker is usually from the ruling side as per convention and the BJP had hinted it would move a no-confidence motion against him. His resignation also came a day after he  disqualified 14 legislators from the Congress and the JD(S). On Friday, Ramesh Kumar had disqualified three other rebel MLAs until the expiry of the current term of the Assembly. 

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‘A tragic end and great loss for the nation’: Tributes pour in for VG Siddhartha

Politics

Politicians cutting across party lines mourned coffee king Siddhartha’s loss and expressed their condolences.

TNM Staff

As police in Mangaluru confirmed the death of coffee king and business tycoon VG Siddhartha on Wednesday morning, tributes began to pour in for the business leader from politicians cutting across party lines.  Siddhartha, who is the son-in-law of former Union Minister and BJP leader SM Krishna, had gone missing in Mangaluru on Monday night near the Nethravathi river. According to the city police, the body was found on the bank of a river close to an ice plant at Hoige Bazar, over 9 kms away from the Nethravathi bridge at 6:30 am. His body will be taken to his village in Chikkamagaluru district where both his parents continue to live.  Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa said, " My heart goes with the bereaved family and may God rest his soul in peace.(sic)“ Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has expressed shock and heartfelt condolences on the death of #VGSiddharth, founder of #cafecoffeday & son-in-law of former Chief Minister SM Krishna. "My heart goes with the bereaved family and may God rest his soul in peace," he said in a message — CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) July 31, 2019 Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers DV Sadanada Gowda said, “My heart goes out to the family & friends.He will forever live in the heart of people of Malnadu. Unbelievable end to the coffee King #VGsiddartha My heart goes out to the family & friends.He will forever live in the heart of people of malnadu A enterprenuers end is big loss to the country.#OmShanthi pic.twitter.com/ZGUmPGWxUD — Sadananda Gowda (@DVSadanandGowda) July 31, 2019 Shobha Karandlaje, BJP MP from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru, called it a “tragic end” and a “great loss to the country”. “A tragic end to the coffee King #VGsiddartha is really disappointing. My heart goes out to the family, friends & his well-wishers. He'll forever live in the heart & minds of thousands.Indeed a great loss to country! #OmShanthi,” she tweeted. A tragic end to the coffee King #VGsiddartha is really disappointing. My heart goes out to the family, friends & his well-wishers. He'll forever live in the heart & minds of thousands. Indeed a great loss to country!#OmShanthi — Shobha Karandlaje (@ShobhaBJP) July 31, 2019 Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah tweeted, “Very sad to know about the unfortunate death of Shri. V G Siddhartha. His contribution to Karnataka & India through his entrepreneurship shall be an example & always be remembered. My deepest condolences to Shri. S M Krishna and family members & well-wishers of Siddhartha.” Very sad to know about the unfortunate death of Shri. V G Siddhartha. His contribution to Karnataka & India through his entrepreneurship shall be an example & always be remembered. My deepest condolences to Shri. S M Krishna and family members & well-wishers of Siddhartha. — Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) July 31, 2019 BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka Rajeev Chandrasekhar, also expressed his condolences and said, “Saddened to hear of passing of #VGSiddhartha  #OmShanthi My deepest condolences n prayers for his family n friends especially to #SMKrishna" Saddened to hear of passing of #VGSiddhartha #OmShanthi My deepest condolences n prayers for his family n friends especially to #SMKrishna https://t.co/lwX5dAJJVm — Rajeev Chandrasekhar (@rajeev_mp) July 31, 2019 Mourning the loss, former Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy said, “I am shocked to hear the news of the death of businessman and close friend Siddhartha. Siddhartha, a friend of the last 25 years, had introduced Karnataka's coffee industry to the world. Thousands of employees were accommodated in their organizations. With his death Karnataka has lost a great businessman,” he said. ಉದ್ಯಮಿ ಹಾಗೂ ಆತ್ಮೀಯ ಗೆಳೆಯ ಸಿದ್ಧಾರ್ಥ ಅವರ ನಿಧನದ ಸುದ್ದಿ ತಿಳಿದು ಆಘಾತಗೊಂಡಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಕಳೆದ 25 ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಸ್ನೇಹಿತ ಸಿದ್ಧಾರ್ಥ ಅವರು ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ಕಾಫಿ ಉದ್ಯಮವನ್ನು ವಿಶ್ವಕ್ಕೆ ಪರಿಚಯಿಸಿದ್ದರು. ಸಹಸ್ರಾರು ನೌಕರರಿಗೆ ತಮ್ಮ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಅವಕಾಶ ಕಲ್ಪಿಸಿದ್ದರು. ಅವರ ನಿಧನದಿಂದ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠ ಉದ್ಯಮಿಯೊಬ್ಬರನ್ನು ಕಳೆದುಕೊಂಡಿದೆ. — H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) July 31, 2019

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IMA scam: Bengaluru corporator’s husband held for extorting Rs 2 cr from Mansoor Khan

Crime

The accused Ishtiaq Ahmed aka Pailwan has close to 50 criminal cases against him.

TNM Staff

The special investigation team (SIT) probing the multi-crore IMA ponzi scheme in Bengaluru on Tuesday arrested Ishtiaq Ahmed aka Pailwan, a history sheeter and the husband of Shivajinagar ward corporator Farida. Police say that Pailwan had extorted Rs 2 crore from IMA founder and Managing Director Mohammed Mansoor Khan. “Khan has mentioned in a book the details of how much he has paid to several people. Based on that, Pailwan was picked up for questioning. We arrested him only after we gathered clinching evidence against him that he had received hafta from Khan,” a SIT source told The New Indian Express. Another officer added, “It is established during the investigation that Pailwan had taken Rs 2 crore as hafta (protection money) from IMA founder Khan. He has a criminal history since 1993 and is involved in at least 48 criminal cases registered across the city.” Deccan Herald reported that he was also arrested in 2018 for extorting restaurants in and around Shivajinagar and his name had also come up when the Ambidant case came up. Ambidant  was the first high profile ‘halal’ ponzi scheme that made news with the arrest of tainted mining baron and former minister Janardhana Reddy. According to Islam, earning from interest is considered "haram", so they don't invest in fixed deposits or other investment instruments which gives interest. Instead these schemes will ask people to invest their money as a form of partnership business and offer profits to the extent of up to 12% interest per month. The scamsters would return the first instalment as promised and lure customers to invest even more and then stop paying. In connection with the IMA case, the SIT has already arrested former 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.

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Malnad remembers VG Siddhartha: Coffee king who created jobs, inspired entrepreneurs

VG Siddhartha

VG Siddhartha was one of the biggest entrepreneurs from Karnataka’s Malnad region, creating jobs for close to 50,000 people including those from his home district.

Soumya Chatterjee

The death of Coffee Day founder VG Siddhartha as confirmed by Mangaluru police on Wednesday morning has left many in shock. His body was found at 6.30am around 9 km away from the spot he had reportedly jumped off to the Netravati river more than 24 hours after am multi-department rescue operations began.   The 58-year-old was one of the biggest entrepreneurs from Karnataka’s Malnad region, creating jobs for close to 50,000 people including those from his home district.  Siddhartha hailed from Chikkamagaluru district, the central part of Karnataka also known as Malnad, which is famed for its scenic hills, waterfalls, coffee estates and other plantations. The son of a coffee estate owner, Siddhartha’s family has been in the coffee growing business for 130 years. Known as the coffee king of India, Siddhartha launched the first Café Coffee Day outlet in 1996 in Bangalore. Since then, the Coffee Day group has expanded massively, with the hospitality chain including two seven-star hotels. Siddhartha also has other business interests ranging from furniture sector to IT to wealth management. Jairam G Kimmane, a successful businessman from the region, said, “We are distant relatives and know him from 1985. He had established himself in a very big way. We all know him as a man of dignity and accountability. He has given a lot of jobs to people, especially for our people in that region. He is a prudent businessman who has been successful in managing such big plantations and build such a big brand.” Halappa Gowda, a resident of his village and a long-time acquaintance, said, “He has given jobs to thousands of people employed in Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, Coorg (districts forming Maland). Many people have gathered today listening to the news. We are all worried about the situation. Even before him, his father used to manage acres of coffee plantations. He took over and has managed in the last few decades. He was a gem of a person. Very friendly and acted very humble with us.”  Many people who knew him personally vouch for his prudence in business and said that he was looked up to by entrepreneurs in India.  BS Arun, a former president of Shivamogga District Chamber of Commerce, said that he had very “good vision and very few people have come up like this over the years”. “Nobody ever dreamt like him. At that moment, coffee was selling at a very high price, but he thought of retailing and building a brand. While there would be many investing in real estate or tourism but nobody like this who invests in coffee and software business. He was a good motivator and provided employment to a lot of people,” Arun told TNM.   While Siddhartha commanded admiration from legacy businessman and people remember him as a job creator, a bunch of new-age entrepreneurs look up to him as inspiration. Yashwanth Nag Mocherla, Founder of The ThickShake Factory, a budding Quick Service Restaurant chain, said, “First of all for me and as well as hundreds of entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs he was an inspiration for the entire country.” He added, “He wanted to build the Starbucks of India and even when they have now entered India, till today they are no match. And at the end of the day, he still one of the four largest coffee exporters of the world. I kept my business plan for shakes what CCD was for coffee. Since then and even today, we look up to CCD for inspiration just to understand the market potential like every new city we go to. The kind of business that he has built over the last 25 years is phenomenal and don’t forget that he is still among the top four coffee exporter.”

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Coffee Day founder VG Siddhartha’s body recovered 9 km from Nethravathi bridge

Death

VG Siddhartha, who is also the son-in-law of former Union Minister SM Krishna, had gone missing near the Nethravathi river in Mangaluru on Monday night.

Luke Koshi

Coffee Day founder VG Siddhartha’s body was recovered on Wednesday morning, after he went missing in Mangaluru on Monday. A massive team of 100 firefighters, 100 policemen, 50 divers, 50 fishermen and 30 boats who were involved in the search operations, managed to trace his body.  Siddhartha, who is the son-in-law of former Union Minister and BJP leader SM Krishna, had gone missing in Mangaluru on Monday night near the Nethravathi river. According to the city police, the body was found on the bank of a river close to an ice plant at Hoige Bazar, over 9kms away from the Nethravathi bridge.  Based on the dress description, shoes, the police said they were able to identify the deceased. "The facial features of the victim was still identifiable. It helped us to identify him, " A police official said. According to police sources, Siddhartha left Bengaluru after intimating his family that he was going to Sakleshpur in Hassan district. However, after leaving home, he allegedly told his driver to head towards Mangaluru. When they reached the Nethravati bridge, he was apparently on a call and informed his driver that he's taking a walk and would be back. However, over an hour after he left, his driver got worried when he didn’t see him and called his cellphone multiple times but it was switched off. Following this, his driver informed Siddhartha’s family and the police.  A tip-off from a local fisherman, who saw someone falling from a bridge on Monday evening, helped officials narrow down the search for the body. The fisherman, Symond D’Souza told the media that he tried to help the man who fell, but couldn’t due to heavy rain. “I am here at Ullala. My house is near the railway bridge. At around 5:30 pm (on Monday), I took my fishing net and was returning home. On my way back, I saw a man jumping off the bridge. I don’t know who this man was. I was rushing towards him. But he had reached the deep waters by then,” he said. A letter written by Siddhartha before he went missing had also surfaced on Tuesday. Dated July 27, the letter was addressed to the CCD Board of Directors and to the employees.    The letter states that he “failed as an entrepreneur” and that he is “solely responsible for all mistakes. It goes on to detail that he was under tremendous pressure from a private equity partner and from lenders. The letter purportedly signed by Siddhartha also alleges harassment from a former DG Income Tax.   “After 37 years, with strong commitment to hard work, having directly created 30,000 jobs in our companies and their subsidiaries, as well as another 20,000 jobs in technology company where I have been a large shareholder since its founding, I have failed to create the right profitable business model despite my best efforts,” it says. The Income Tax Department, however, came out with a statement noting that the signature in the letter does not tally with Siddhartha’s signature in his annual reports.   Siddhartha was the son of a coffee estate owner and began Café Coffee Day in 1996. Since then, the chain has expanded with 1550 outlets in several international locations. According to a Forbes report, VG Siddhartha is worth more than 1.15 billion dollars and had shares in tech company Mindtree until March 2019 when he sold them to L&T. He also has shares in a few companies in the hospitality sector. (With inputs from www.storyinfinity.com {Subscribe and Scribes Media Ventures LLP])   (by www.storyinfinity.com (Subscribe and Scribes Media Ventures LLP)

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It’s about to get ugly between Democrats on health care

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