BDA Commissioner among 12 transfers ordered by Karnataka govt

Transfer

The BDA Commissioner N Manjula has been replaced after just 49 days.

TNM Staff

Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa on Monday ordered the transfer of three IAS and nine IPS officers, including the Commissioner of the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) after just 49 days on Monday.  N Manjula, the outgoing BDA Commissioner, was replaced by GC Prakash, a 2006-batch IAS officer. He is the third BDA Commissioner in two years.  This comes days after Manjula visited KG Layout and fielded complaints from residents in the area. She also met farmers who gave away their land for the formation of Naada Prabhu Kempegowda Layout (NPKL). The state government also transferred Mandya Deputy Commissioner Manjushree who was at odds with independent MP from Mandya Sumalatha Ambareesh, during the Lok Sabha elections. Manjushree is replaced by MV Venkatesh, a 2009 batch officer, reported the Times of India. Senior IPS officer BR Ravikanthegowda was posted as DIG & Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Bengaluru while Kuldeep Kumar Jain was posted as the DCP (Crime), Bengaluru.  Meanwhile, P Harsha replaced Sandeep Patil as the DIG, Commissioner of Police, Mangaluru while Arunangshu Giri was posted as DCP, Law and Order, Mangaluru in place of Hanumantharayappa, who was made SP of Davangere. Harsha had earlier worked as Assistant SP, Puttur sub division. Interim Commissioner Subramanyeshwara Rao cited personal reasons in declining the transfer to Mangaluru, as per The Hindu. A Parashiva Murthy, an ADGP, has been appointed the additional commissioner of police (crime), which appears to dilute the powers of police commissioner Bhaskar Rao, who is also an ADGP.. Ravi Channavar was posted as the superintendent of police (SP) of Bengaluru Rural district while MA Saleem was named ADGP, Administration, Bengaluru. P Harishekaran is now inspector general of police (IGP), Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP), Bengaluru. 

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Article 370 scrapped in J&K: Activists in Bengaluru stage protest against Centre

Protest

The protestors also criticised the stand taken by parties like the AAP, AIADMK, BSP and YSRCP.

TNM Staff

Armed with placards and shouting slogans against the BJP, a crowd of protestors gathered at Bengaluru’s Town Hall against the revocation of Article 370 which gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir. In a joint statement, students, lawyers and activists, said, “We stand with the people of Jammu and Kashmir in these dark times. We urge all the people of India to fight these illegal amendments, to fight to preserve our constitution which Babasaheb Ambedkar fought to give us”. The gathering, which was peaceful, accused the BJP and the RSS of running a “fascist regime” and staging a “coup against the Constitution”. Calling it a “murder of democracy,” they called the “stealthy and illegal manner” in which the government of India has moved to amend the Constitution “shocking and condemnable”. “The entire population of a state has been cut off from the country through brute force and illegal means. Parliament is being rushed into discussing and voting on a constitutional amendment in two hours. Is this any way to conduct parliament proceedings? Is this the democracy our forefathers fought for?” the joint statement said. It added, “Article 370 is a permanent – not temporary – provision of the Constitution that assures Jammu and Kashmir autonomy.  Article 370 is nothing but a constitutional recognition of the conditions mentioned in the Instrument of Accession that the ruler of Kashmir signed with the Government of India in 1948. It reflects the contractual rights and obligations of two parties. Scrapping the Article without consulting the Jammu and Kashmir constituent assembly is equivalent of going back on our word. It is cheating the people of Jammu and Kashmir.” They further said the authors of the Constitution were cognizant of the fact that the document accords Jammu and Kashmir an exceptional status and it was free of any doubt. They cited the address made by N Gopalaswami Ayyangar, the chief author of Article 370, to the Constituent Assembly on October 17, 1949: “Kashmir’s conditions are… special and require special treatment. It is one of our commitments to the people and the Government of Kashmir, that in matters outside the scope of the Instrument of Accession no additions would be made, except with the consent of the Constituent Assembly which may be called in the state for the purpose of framing its Constitution.”  Other than the BJP and its allies in the NDA, the protestors also criticised the stand taken by other parties like the AAP, AIADMK, BSP and YSRCP which helped in passing of the Bill. The protestors dispersed just minutes before the Rajya Sabha passed the bill to reorganise Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories.

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Music band allegedly attacked in Bengaluru for not singing Kannada songs

Controversy

Musication had just completed their show at Pheonix Marketcity Mall in Bengaluru when they were allegedly attacked by drunk men for not performing Kannada songs

Soumya Chatterjee

A Bengaluru-based band were allegedly attacked for not playing Kannada songs during a recent gig in the city. This incident occurred in Pheonix Marketcity Mall in Whitefield, Bengaluru on Friday when a city-based band Musication was performing. It took place after the show was officially over and the band members were packing their instrument.  Two men, who seemed intoxicated approached the band and asked them to play a Kannada song. The band entertained the request, playing one song in Kannada without their instruments plugged in.  Somnath, one of the band members said, “After we were done with our set, two drunk men came and asked us to play more Kannada songs. We told them we had played a few but they insisted that we play more. To entertain their request, we played a Kannada song but all our equipment was disconnected from the sound system by the mall staff. But they insisted that we play with the sound setup, so we asked them to approach the mall staff.” He alleged, “When the mall staff refused, they went to hit us with the mike stand.  Everything was fast, they went to hit our base guitarist Rudra first but barely missed him. At this point, Anubhav (another member) took out his phone to record the violence which prompted others from a drunk mob to join in. They hit him with the mike stand and crushed his phone and only then the mall security came into the picture and the attackers left.” In a post on their Facebook page, the band said, “PROBABLY THE WORST DAY OF OUR PERFORMANCE TENURE. Our bandmate had to go through this after completion of a fantastic show. The reason we were attacked was not playing Kannada songs whereas we always try to play one or two Kannada/regional songs in our setlist for our love of the regional music and we did the same that day as well.” Somnath said that they were following the matter closely with the mall management over the police complaint. CCTV footage of the incident captured from a nearby store has been given to the police. Jurisdictional Mahadevpura Police Station could not be reached for a comment. The latest incident comes less than a month after a Kerala hip hop band had their microphone turned off during a performance at a pub in Bengaluru. This after three audience members objected to the band singing Malayalam songs. Read: Stopped for singing in Malayalam? Hip-hop band protests shoddy treatment in B'luru pub        

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B’luru Nature inFocus fest: Winners of Photography and Film Awards 2019 announced

Wildlife Festival

Shuvam Nath took home the grand prize of the NiF Photographer of the Year for his image ‘Buzz-kill’ which also won in the Animal Behaviour category.

TNM Staff

New Enemies by Devki Nandan

The 6th edition of the Nature inFocus Festival got underway on August 2 at Chamara Vajra, Jayamahal Road in Bengaluru. Nature and wildlife enthusiasts from across the country flocked to the venue in the centre of India’s garden city to attend talks, film screenings, along with the 120-image photography exhibition. The three-day festival also witnessed the announcement of the prestigious NiF Photography Awards and the inaugural NiF Film Awards on Sunday.  Shuvam Nath took home the grand prize of the NiF Photographer of the Year for his image ‘Buzz-kill’ which also won in the Animal Behaviour category. Sounak Datta won the Animal Portraits category for ‘Nothing To See Here’, Aniket Thopate won the Creative Nature Photography category for ‘You’ll Float Too’, Salil Nair won the Wildscape & Animals in Habitat category for ‘In Heat, On Snow’. 'Buzz-kill' by Shuvam Nath 'You'll Float Too' by Aniket Thopate 'In Heat, on Snow' by Salil Nair The Conservation Issues category was shared between three images: ‘A Tale Of Two Cities’  by Sarang Naik, ‘Crossing The Styx’ by Ankit Kashyap and ‘New Enemies’ by Devki Nandan. The Young Photographer category was won by Wewin Pandian. 'Crossing the Styx' by Ankit Kashyap   By Wewin Pandian The inaugural NiF Film Awards was divided into two segments: Professional and Emerging Talent. In the Professional segment, the Conservation film category was won by Pankaj Singh and Shaktiraj Jadeja for their film ‘The Boy Who Saw More’, and the Natural History film category by Mihir Godbole and Vishwatej Pawar for their film ‘Treasures of Grasslands’. Mihir Godbole and Vishwatej Pawar won for 'Treasures of Grasslands' In the Emerging Talent segment, Aravind Mohanraaj and Cibi won the Conservation film category for their film ‘The Wetland’s Wail’, and Hardik Rathod won the Natural History film category for his film ‘The Bird Who Never Gave Up’. The Mobile Moments award for an edited or unedited video clip shot on a mobile phone that captures an incredible moment of animal behaviour went to Ravi Shankar for ‘Enter The Dragon.’ NiF Photography Awards The NiF Photography Awards is a six-category award with a bracket solely dedicated to conservation issues. Lined up for the contest are entries from both adults (above 17) and young photographers (17 years and under). Winners will be chosen in the categories of Animal Portraits, Animal Behaviour, Conservation Issues, Creative Nature Photography, and Wildscape & Animals in Habitat. Open to those under 17, the ‘Young Photographer Award’ will put the spotlight on fresh and passionate young talent.  Category winners will be awarded a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 and a guided safari tour to a national park of choice (Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Ranthambore, Tadoba and Corbett only) courtesy of Nature Wanderers, while category runners-up will get a cash prize of Rs. 25,000 and second runners-up will get Rs. 10,000.  An additional cash prize of Rs. 50,000 and a trip to the Maasai Mara National Park in Kenya courtesy of Nature Wanderers awaits the ‘NiF Photographer of the Year.’ All winners and runners-up are also entitled to a certificate and a winner’s trophy. The winners this year are chosen by a 5-member jury comprising photographer and filmmaker Jyothy Karat; independent environmental photographer Arati Kumar-Rao, IFS; Chief Conservator of Forests Vijay Mohan Raj; renowned wildlife photographer Sudhir Shivaram; and wildlife filmmaker and photojournalist Sandesh Kadur. The jury curator is Nature inFocus co-founder, Kalyan Varma who is a wildlife photographer, filmmaker and naturalist.  NiF Film Awards The Awards invited entries from both professional and emerging filmmakers. Both Professional and Emerging Talent categories have two sub-categories in Natural History and Conservation. Participants in the Emerging Talent category can tell a story of an animal, plant or habitat in under 5 minutes in the Natural History segment or can highlight a conservation issue in under 5 minutes in the Conservation segment. The Emerging Talent category is only open to Indian participants. In the Professional category, the films can be of any length and can be submitted from anywhere in the world. The Mobile Moments category is also open to all, an edited or unedited video clip shot on a mobile phone that captures an incredible moment of animal behaviour.  The Emerging Talent and Professional category winners will each be awarded a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 and the Mobile Moment category winner will receive a cash prize of Rs. 10,000.   The winners this year are chosen by a 7-member jury comprising of Rita Banerji, Founder-Director at Dusty Foot Productions; Gautam Pandey, Director at Riverbank Studios; Akanksha Sood Singh, a Natural History Filmmaker; Raghu Chundawat, a Conservation Biologist; Joanna Van Gruisen, a Wildlife Filmmaker; and Manish Mundra, the Founder of Drishyam Films. The jury curator is Sara, a wildlife filmmaker and a member of the NiF Advisory Board.  About Nature inFocus Nature inFocus is in the space of curation and dissemination of information about India's wild spaces. It aims to do this by using photography as a tool to make these conversations accessible to everyone.  Founded in 2014 by Kalyan Varma and Rohit Varma, Nature inFocus started as an offline event for the wildlife and nature community in the country. The Nature inFocus Festival is the one and only event of its kind in Asia, where photographers, filmmakers, conservationists and researchers come together to showcase their work, stay informed on global happenings and discuss important topics of conservation and more. In 2015, Nature inFocus introduced its inaugural Photography Awards and with all the amazing content pouring in from the festival and the awards, a year later, NiF created an online space that would help archive this material for the larger public experience. 

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‘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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