Major crack on NH-4 due to rains, bus services from Karnataka to Pune, Mumbai halted

Natural Disaster

The crack developed on Monday night near the Karnataka-Maharashtra border after heavy rainfall in Belagavi and its neighbouring districts in northern Karnataka.

TNM Staff

A major crack on the road halted traffic on National Highway 48 (formerly NH 4) on the Karnataka-Maharashtra border. The crack developed on Monday night after heavy rainfall in Belagavi and its neighbouring districts in northern Karnataka.  Pictures of the cracked road were circulated on social media. The photographs are from near Kagal village in Maharashtra, around 8 km from Koganolli, the last village in Belagavi district before the border with Maharashtra. The roads leading to Kaagal were blocked on Tuesday and officials from Kohlapur district of Maharashtra are currently carrying out repair works.  "We received information from our Belagavi division about the crack developed on the road on NH48. Buses headed towards Pune and Mumbai are operating only up to Belagavi now," confirmed an official of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). The official also confirmed that due to waterlogging, the national highway connecting Bengaluru and Pune is now shut and vehicles leaving Belagavi are only able to travel till Kakati, around 10 km north of the city.  All buses bound for Mumbai, Kolhapur and Shirdi from Karnataka have also been stopped, while the road between Ankola and Yellapur in Uttara Kannada district is also blocked due to inundation.  Here is a full list of the roads closed in northern Karnataka — Yellapur -Ankola, Hubballi -Yellapur; BGM: Belagavi - Panjim, Jamkandi -Vijayapur, Belagavi- Gokak, Belagavi - Vengurla; CKD: Kagwad-Miraj, Chikkodi -Ichalkaranji, Nippani -Kolhapur, Gokak-Vijayapur, Nippani -Gadinglaj, Nippani -Hupri, Athani-Kudchi; BGK: Jamkandi -Savalagi, Jamakandi -Guddapur, Chikkapadsalgi barrage, Kudachi barrage. As a result of the torrential rain and consequent water flowing below the track, the South Western Railway - Hubballi Division has informed that both up and down lines between Londa and Tinaighat are suspended from 1 am of August 6 till further advice.   Divisional Engineer of Hubballi Division visited the spot and advised train traffic to be suspended for the safety of passengers.  The following trains have been rescheduled / short terminated / partially cancelled:  1. Train No. 12742 Patna-Vasco da gama which is diverted via Miraj  and arriving on 06.08.2019 will be short terminated at Belagavi.  2. Train No. 06948 Hubballi-Vasco da gama slip coaches will be short terminated at Londa on 06.08.2019. 3. Train No.18048 Vasco da gama- Howrah Express scheduled to depart at 07:10 hrs. on 06.08.2019 is rescheduled to depart at 13:10 hrs. on 06.08.2019. 4. Train No. 12780 Hazrat Nizamuddin-Vasco da gama arriving on 06.08.2019 will be short terminated at Belagavi. Slip coaches will be moved separately to Hubballi. 5. Train No.02779 Vasco da gama-KSR Bengaluru Express commencing journey on 06.08.2019 will originate from Londa instead of Vasco da gama partially cancelling the service between Vasco da gama and Londa.    The heavy rainfall has led to flooding of villages in the Krishna river basin and rescue operations involving personnel of the Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Fire and Emergency services and home guards are underway.

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Ex-Bengaluru Police Commissioner Alok Kumar challenges transfer order

Controversy

While Alok Kumar sought a stay on the transfer order, the Bengaluru bench of CAT on Monday issued notices to his successor and the state government.

TNM Staff

Former Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Alok Kumar who was recently shunted out unceremoniously, has contested his “premature” transfer order in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).  While Kumar sought a stay on the transfer order, the Bengaluru bench of CAT on Monday issued notices to his successor and the state government. The case will be heard again on August 14. Kumar on August 2 was transferred out to the Karnataka State Reserve Police Division, and Bhaskar Rao was brought in his place, just 47 days into his tenure.  “There is a total breach of the principles of natural justice. Within days of taking charge as Commissioner, the city was the centre of a huge political crisis and protests were handled imaginatively by Alok Kumar ensuring peace. He has introduced various measures to improve the functioning of city police,” Kumar’s petition in CAT said, reported The New Indian Express. According to provisions of the Karnataka Police Act, 1963, clause 20-F guarantees a minimum tenure of a year in any positing which has also been endorsed by the Supreme Court. His counsel pointed out that the State Civil Services Board did not even recommend his transfer nor does it concur with the statutory scheme of exemptions.  This change was made as part of a massive administrative reshuffle in the state’s IAS and IPS ranks after BS Yeddyurappa took charge as the chief minister for the fourth time.  Tussles between IAS/ IPS officers with state, central governments regarding frequent transfers or suspensions by the political class are not new or rare. Subsequently, the cases have landed up in the Karnataka High Court when one of the parties contested the CAT order.  In one of the recent high-profile cases, Karnataka cadre IAS officer Mohammed Mohsin approached the CAT after he was suspended by the Election Commission for inspecting the helicopter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Sambalpur in Odisha on April 16. Prior to that, IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri had approached the CAT when she was removed from the position of Hassan Deputy Commissioner after she had an alleged run-in with the local Congress leadership in 2018.  

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Floods disrupt life in north Karnataka: 2 dead, trains and buses affected

Floods

The outflow from the reservoirs of the Krishna basin caused the inundation of several villages and farmlands. 

TNM Staff

Heavy rainfall in the catchment area of the Krishna river caused flooding in parts of northern Karnataka on Monday, leading to two deaths. The outflow from the reservoirs of the Krishna basin caused the inundation of several villages and farmlands.  A man was washed away in the floodwaters of Krishna river in Belagavi district on Monday. Maruti Jadhav, 30, was washed away at a field near Chikkodi. This comes three days after Shivanand Nayak was washed away in the floodwaters at Adeppa Ankalagi village.The district administration in Belagavi has started nine relief centres in the district.  The rainfall also led to disruption of train and bus services, particularly in Uttara Kannada, Bagalkot, Raichur, Yadgir and Belagavi districts of Karnataka. Train services between Londa in Belagavi and Tinaighat in Uttara Kannada were suspended from 1 am on Tuesday morning until further notice due to water flowing below the track. A landslip also brought tracts of mud on the track.   Meanwhile, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation confirmed that all interstate buses bound for Mumbai and Pune are operating until Nippani due to a blockage on National Highway 4. The route between Ankola and Yellapur in Uttara Kannada district was blocked after heavy rains affected services to Pune, Hyderabad and Hubballi. Buses are now operating via Sirsi instead.  The National Disaster Response Force is assisting in rescue and relief operations in Raichur and Belagavi districts. Several people stranded by the floods were rescued on Monday and the operations are set to continue on Tuesday. A total of 50 NDRF personnel, 56 SDRF (state disaster response force), Fire and Emergency Services, and home guards are on duty. The floods in northern Karnataka come a year after devastating floods and landslides in Kodagu district in southern Karnataka. This year, however, the southern parts of the state have received less rainfall and are staring at a condition of drought. 

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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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