‘No helmet, no petrol rule’ may not take off as planned in Bengaluru

Administration

Petrol bunk owners have said that the rule, which is supposed to come into force from Monday, might cause confrontation between petrol bunk staff and customers.

TNM Staff

PTI/ File image

Bengaluru police’s plan to enforce a ‘no helmet, no petrol’ rule for bikers from Monday, August 5, may not go according to plan as a section of petrol pump owners have expressed reservations on the same. “We are fine with an awareness campaign in petrol stations targeting people found without helmets. People need to be told why helmets are important. This is a gradual process. But, we don’t have the right to refuse these customers. Fuel is an essential commodity. There is no legal basis to deny them fuel,” Ravi Hamsa from the Bengaluru Petrol Bunks Owners told The Hindu. He added, “Nearly 60% of customers in petrol stations are two-wheeler owners, and more than half of these are regular customers who live in the neighbourhood. By suddenly implementing a ban, we may see arguments.”  As reported earlier, there is no law that can allow implementation of this rule. Instead, police were seeking cooperation of the petrol pump owners for a good cause.  The owners however said that they were willing to start an awareness drive of their own and urged the police to install CCTV cameras to catch the defaulters. “We support police’s intention. However, it’s not practically feasible for us to force customers to wear helmets. It will lead to conflicts between our sales team and customers. Instead, we suggested that police install CCTV cameras, regularly scrutinise them, identify the defaulters and book cases online. We are ready to provide free electricity and internet for the same. This could be rolled out in a fortnight,” Tharanath A, vice-president of Akhila Karnataka Federation of Petroleum Traders, told The Times of India.. Read: ‘No helmet, no petrol’ rule to come into effect in Bengaluru from Aug 5  

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'He threatened to tear my clothes’: B’luru woman accuses Uber driver of misbehaviour

Crime

The driver forced her out of the cab while the Uber app was of no help, the woman has alleged.

TNM Staff

In another untoward incident involving app-hailed cabs in Bengaluru, a woman was left stranded alone on Saturday night after the driver of an Uber cab allegedly threatened her with sexual assault and left her abandoned in a “not so busy” road. In an elaborate post on social media, Chetna* narrated her ordeal and even claimed that the Uber Support team was of not much help. “Today, I had the most traumatizing experience of my life. I got into an Uber cab after dinner with my colleagues. The cab driver was telling his friend on phone about customers being ‘very bad’. Suddenly, he turned to me and told me that as an educated woman I should leave work before 7 pm and not go out drinking with colleagues. I told him I didn't drink and asked him to mind his own business. He went on to call me “slut” and also to say things like I can't even be his keep who cleans his shoes (sic),” the woman wrote in a post on social media. According to her post, at this point of time, the driver, Sunil Kumar PS, slowed down the cab and she got “extremely scared’. This prompted her to press the “safety button” on the Uber app.  She wrote, ‘Instead of calling me, they called the cab driver and, he started telling the customer care person that ‘I am extremely drunk’. At this point, I had no choice but to start screaming asking the customer care to listen to me. The woman on the call spoke to me and I cried begging her to help me. She told me to get out of the cab and that she will book me another one immediately. Meanwhile, this cab driver started threatening me with things like ‘I will tear your clothes if you don't leave the cab now’ (sic).”  The woman added that she kept messaging the Uber Support Team for another cab but at that point, the app was of no help and she eventually had to call her friends for help. She added, “As I got down at 11.15 in the night at a not so busy road, I was waiting for a call from the customer care and also for my backup cab. I was terrified that the cab driver would come back to hit me. After waiting for 15 minutes and desperately writing messages to the Uber Customer Care, I received no support and I had to call my friends to help me.”  TNM reached out to Uber regarding the incident and the company said that the driver has been barred from accessing its platform pending an investigation. “What’s been described is unacceptable and violates our community guidelines. We have been in touch with the rider, and driver partner’s access to the app has been suspended until further investigation,” an Uber spokesperson told TNM. *Name changed to protect woman’s identity

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Karnataka CM Yediyurappa's challenge of forming a ‘please all’ cabinet

Politics

Yediyurappa will not only have to keep some cabinet berths vacant for the disqualified MLAs, but will also have to do a juggling act when it comes to aspirants within the party.

Naheed Ataulla

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa will be carrying the aspirations of nearly 70 BJP legislators vying for a ministerial berth besides his own wish list for the 33-member cabinet  formation (excluding  himself), when he boards the flight to New Delhi  from Bengaluru on Monday evening. After taking charge on July 26,Yediyurappa has been functioning as a one-man government inviting flak from the opposition parties Congress and JD(S) with North Karnataka in particular  Belagavi, Vijayapura, Raichur, Dharwad and Ballari districts facing heavy rains and flash floods. This prompted former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah to take to Twitter saying, “The hurry which  Yediyurappa demonstrated in being sworn in as the Chief Minister is not being shown now in cabinet formation. People are reeling under floods, rains, drought, there is no administration. Is this democracy?'' BJP sources told TNM that Yediyurappa  was asked to wait till the Parliament session was over as the party's central leadrship comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister and BJP President Amit Shah wanted to put  the list of aspirants  under the microscope  before they give the nod. Yediyurappa is scheduled  to stay in the national capital on August 6 and 7 to get the names cleared and the new ministers  are likely to be sworn in on August 9, considered an auspicious day. Sources say that Yediyurappa will not not be inducting a full cabinet. The first  instalment of oath-taking is expected to  be a 15 to 18 member ministry and the rest will be kept in reserve. According to a senior BJP MLA, who is also an aspirant, the berths are being kept  vacant to accommodate the  rebel Congress-JD(S) MLAs who have been disqualified and have approached the Supreme Court challenging  former Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar's decision. This is said to be the thinking of the central leadership too as it wants to test the mood in the party to the new ministry once it is formed. “This is our leader Modi's style of functioning. I had visited Gujarat as a minister in Yediyurappa's cabinet, when Modi was the state's CM. Everytime I went, there used to be at least a few  vacancies in Modi's cabinet and the reason I was told is  to meet political exigencies,” a former BJP minister said. Former Deputy Chief Mnister R Ashoka had convened a meeting of the  disqualified MLAs at his residence  in Bengaluru on Sunday. Of the 17 former MLAs, eight attended and Ashoka is reported to have  assured them of the  party's support in their fight. “We have to take care of these former MLAs and  the vacancies are being kept to accommodate some of them as they helped us to form the  government,'' a source close to Ashoka  said.  The headache for Yediyurappa will commence, when he sits down with the BJP's central leadership to finalise the  ministers’ list. He will have to do a tic-tac-toe as the aspirants list is north Karnataka top heavy, as 60 of the total 105 BJP MLAs are from this region.  While majority of them are Lingayats, at least six MLAs from Bengaluru are also seeking a berth. He has to look into the interests of one former CM Jagadish Shettar (Lingayat) and two former Deputy CMs Ashoka (Vokkaliga) and K S Eshwarappa (Kuruba) besides B Sriramulu (Valmiki), JC Madhuswamy, MP Renukacharya,  Basavaraj Bommai and V Somanna (all Lingayats), who stood by Yediyurappa  in recent  weeks leading to  government  formation. There is no clarity yet on the Deputy CM's post. Sources close to Yediyurappa said he was not in favour of having deputies as  it would lead to  parallel power centres. However, another section in the party was of the opinion that  the BJP high command will allow the 76-year-old CM have deputies to assist him. “The  BJP central leadership  has made an exception by giving Yediyurappa the CM's post  though he is past the stipulated  age. Due to his age  factor, he wil  be given at least two deputies---a Lingayat and Dalit--- to assist  him,” sources said. Among the Vokkaligas, the jockeying  has  started between CT Ravi, who is being seen as a promising second line leader to take over the party's reins, CN Ashwathanarayan (who was put in charge of hosting the disqualified  MLAs in Mumbai), young Turk Preetam Gowda from  Hassan and Araga Jnanedra  from Yediyurappa's Shivamogga district and above all Ashoka. Going by Modi's speech, which he made after becoming PM, that of taking the minorities along, a berth will be reserved  for a Muslim. The party has to look for a minority candidate.  The aspirants list does not end with the MLAs. In the Legislative Council, the party has 18 members and among them Kota Srinivas Pujari and Ayanur Manjunath are contenders. While finalising the list, the central leadership cannot ignore  the women folk  as the party has three  MLAs Shashikala Jolle, Poornima Srinivas and  Roopali Santosh Naik and Tejeswini Gowda in the Upper House, who are all articulate. Naheed Ataulla is a journalist who covered Karnataka  politics for over two decades and  is former Political Editor of The Times of India.  

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North Karnataka flood: CM Yediyurappa to conduct aerial survey of affected regions

Politics

The flood-hit districts include Belagavi, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Raichur and Yadgir.

Soumya Chatterjee

As flooding worsens in north Karnataka districts, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has announced that he will conduct an aerial survey of the damage on Monday. This was announced after the CM held a video conference with district officials on Sunday afternoon. The flood-affected districts include Belagavi, the worst affected area, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Raichur and Yadgir. With heavy rain in Maharashtra, the upper riparian state has released water from the Koyna reservoir and Rajapur dam into the Krishna river, which had caused flooding. Moreover, rainfall within Belagavi city has flooded its streets, primarily in the suburban areas. Two platoons of the Maratha regiment soldiers have arrived in Chikkodi to support rescue operations. As more rain is expected over the next five days in Maharashtra, where dams are almost at capacity, the situation will remain serious in the coming week, officials said. They added that the localised rainfall was not a major source of concern. “The CM has held a video conference with the DCs of the five districts. The situation is currently under control and district administrations have taken all necessary precautions and moved people living in low lying areas. There are sufficient resources with them and there is no reason to worry. There are teams of Army, SDRF (State Disaster Response Force), NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) and Fire and Emergency Department personnel on the ground,”  Karnataka State Disaster Monitoring Centre Director GS Srinivas Reddy told TNM. “There are already seven relief camps open and more will be opened if the district administrators feel it is necessary. So far, in Belagavi alone, 235 families with a total of 705 persons have been shifted. 365 household animals have also been shifted. Most of these have gone to their relatives’ place instead of relief camps,” he added. So far, one person has been killed in the floods and crops have been extensively damaged. Meanwhile, senior Congress MLA HK Patil has asked CM Yeddyurappa to skip his Delhi trip and focus instead on flood mitigation measures.  

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DK Shivakumar files Rs 204 crore defamation case against BJP MLA BR Patil Yatnal

Politics

BJP MLA BR Patil Yatnal had alleged that DK Shivakumar had lobbied with BJP leaders with regard to cases filed against him by central agencies.

TNM Staff

File image

Senior Karnataka Congress leader and former minister DK Shivakumar has filed a Rs 204 crore defamation case against BJP Vijayapura MLA and former Union Minister BR Patil Yatnal. This pertains to Yatnal’s statements to the media in June where he alleged Shivakumar lobbied with BJP leaders with regard to cases filed against him by central agencies. The defamation case has been filed by Shivakumar in the Kanakapura Senior Civil Judge and JMFC court. As part of the case, Yatnal has been asked to appear before the court on or before September 18.  “He (Shivakumar) is exerting pressure on the Central ministers through someone to drop cases against him. He is said to have assured the Union ministers and the BJP President that he would not oppose the BJP forming government in the state. No one from BJP has invited Shivakumar to join the party,” alleged Yatnal, while speaking to reporters on June 23. In his petition, Shivakumar has said, “These statements have been beamed in electronic and print media too. These are baseless, false, irresponsible and irrelevant statements made by Mr. Yatnal. These remarks are passed with malafide intension to malign and to tarnish my public image. This has put a huge question mark on my loyalty, sincerity, integrity and image at party and public level.” He added, “Further it is damaging to an extend that I am looked at with suspicion by Kanakapura assembly constituency voters, Congress leaders, workers, and citizens of India in general and Karnataka in particular. It gives an impression that I am sacrificing the trust of people, leaders and voters for my personal and political gains. I have played a pivotal role in bringing Congress - JD(S) government to power. With these baseless statements I am branded as a person instrumental in destabilising and dethroning the coalition government. This has caused a major damage to my reputation, image and my loyalty towards the party.”  Following the defamation case, Yatnal could not be reached for a comment.

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‘Let me live in peace’: Ex Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy hints at quitting politics

Politics

Kumaraswamy was responding to questions over whether his son Nikhil may contest in the KR Pet by-elections.

TNM Staff

PTI/File

Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Saturday suggested he may quit active politics following the collapse of the coalition government which he led until recently. Son of former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy made the comments stating the nature of “today’s politics”. “I’m thinking of going away from politics. I came to politics accidentally. I became CM accidentally. God gave me opportunity to become CM twice. I wasn’t there to satisfy anyone. In 14 months, I did good work towards state’s development. I’m satisfied,” he said. Kumaraswamy had first become CM in 2006 for 20 months with the support of BJP. This time he was the CM for 14 months with the support of Congress. He added, “I'm observing where today's politics is going. It's not for good people, it's about caste infatuation. Don't bring in my family. I'm done. Let me live in peace. I don't have to continue in politics. I did good when I was in power. I want space in people's heart.” The former CM made this comment when he was asked by reporters if his son NIkhil Kumaraswamy will contest from KR Pet constituency in Mandya which had felt vacant following the disqualification of rebel JD(S) MLA Narayan Gowda. Rubbishing the speculation, Kumaraswamy said, “There is no truth in these reports. When Nikhil was nominated as the party candidate from Mandya, vested interests plotted to ensure his defeat. A conspiracy is afoot once again.” His son Nikhil had faced a humiliating defeat during the Lok Sabha Elections in Mandya, known to be a JD(S) stronghold at the hands of Sumalatha Ambareesh, wife of late film star and Congress leader Ambareesh.  The JD(S) which had joined hands with Congress post-2018 Assembly polls and had fought the Lok Sabha Elections together was reduced to just one seat. Even HD Deve Gowda had to eat humble pie after losing in Tumakuru. The only JD(S) representative in the Lok Sabha now is Prajwal Revanna who won from Hassan, the seat long held by Deve Gowda.a

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1 kg gold found hidden in rectums of two passengers at Bengaluru airport

Crime

The gold was hidden in the form of paste contained in capsules, officials said.

TNM Staff

Representational image

Custom officials at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru seized a little over one kilogram of gold hidden in the rectums of two passengers who landed in the city on Friday, reports said. The gold was hidden in their rectums in the form of paste contained in capsules. Officials said that the gold seized weighed 1.05 kg and was valued at around Rs 37.4 lakh. According to reports, the two men had reached the city from Dubai via Goa. They were on board Air India flight AI 994, which landed in Bengaluru at 5.35 am.  Officials of the Air Intelligence Unit said that the duo was approached after they were seen acting in a suspicious manner while they waited in the clearance area of the airport. Upon questioning, it was discovered that the two were carrying smuggled goods on their person via capsules. The airport had seen a dip in smuggling activities over the last few months. The last large-scale seizure was reported in April. At that time time, officials arrested three men for smuggling gold worth Rs 29.30 lakh concealed in their rectums. In that case as well, the gold had been smuggled in the form of paste in pellets mixed with other chemicals and insulated with tape. The three accused had flown into Bengaluru from Goa on an Air India flight. Earlier in January, customs officials at the Kempegowda International Airport had caught four passengers returning to the country with a total of 700 grams of gold worth Rs 23.19 lakh. In one case, a total of 496 grams of gold was found in the rectums of three women. According to officials, the three woman flying from Colombo on Sri Lankan Airlines flight were detained after suspicion. In another instance on the same day, an AP passenger was caught with 200 grams of gold strapped to his body as he reached Bengaluru from Kuwait on an Emirates flight

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