Birthday celebration turns tragic: 4 youth on joyride die in Bengaluru

Accident

The accident took place near Handarahalli Cross at Devanahalli near the airport.

TNM Staff

Representational image

In a tragic incident, a joyride to celebrate the birthday of a 26-year-old in Bengaluru resulted in a horrific tragedy, killing him and three of his friends. Police say that the driver of the overspeeding car lost control at a curve and hit a median at the Handarahalli Cross at Devanahalli. The car overturned, rolled multiple times, killing four of the youngsters and injuring five others in the car.  The Hindu identified the young man celebrating the birthday as Mallikarjuna Reddy who was working at the Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra. He and eight other friends were initially at his residence in MS Palya. Later, they decided to go to Nandi Hills to watch the sunrise. The other deceased have been identified as Ashok Reddy, Nagaraju, 25, and Sundar, 25. “After cutting a cake, they decided to go to Nandi Hills to watch the sunrise,” police told The Hindu. One of the friends, Ashok Reddy had reportedly got a car on hire from his office.  “Ashok Reddy was driving around 120kmph when the accident took place around 5am. It turned at least three times before coming to a halt. All those who died were sitting in the front and middle portion of the vehicle. Most died of head and spinal cord injuries,” police told The Times of India. Four people (including Mallikarjuna and Ashok Reddy) died on impact. “The remaining five friends, who were sitting at the back, sustained injuries and are being treated at a private hospital in Hoskote,” the police added. The other deceased have been identified as Nagaraju, 25, and Sundar, 25. The Times of India quoted police saying Nagaraju was an arts student with Bagepalli Government College. Ashok and Sundar were drivers. They other five friends been identified as Girish (23), Ramesh (26), Manjunath (26), Ashok (26), and Raghunath Reddy (22). A case of death due to negligence and rash and negligent driving has been booked.

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Bengaluru gym owner held for allegedly selling steroids to customers

Crime

According to reports, the accused was giving away the steroids at exorbitant rates to customers who wanted a lean or muscular body quickly.

TNM Staff

The Bengaluru police have arrested a 29-year-old gym owner for allegedly selling and injecting steroids to his customers. The accused has been identified as Shashi Kumar, who was also working as an instructor at the gym in Chamarajpet.  According to The Hindu, a police team led by sub-inspector Praveen KY raided the Ultimate Fitness Gym on 4th Main Chamarajpet and found syringes, steroids and tablets. The police said that the accused has confessed to giving steroids to customers who were into bodybuilding.  “He sourced the steroids from online sellers, concealed the labels and charged exorbitant rates. He also sold steroids, which he claimed would help people lose weight,” a top police officer told The Hindu. The police said that they have written to the Drug Control Department to test the drug and find more details about its side-effects. The Deccan Herald reported the police had started a probe on learning that a few of the gym customers were developing health issues after allegedly taking the steroids from Shashi Kumar. The officials also said that he was charging high rates for his steroids to customers who wanted a lean or muscular body quickly. A case has been registered at the Chamarajpet police station and the accused is in police custody for questioning.  According to reports, steroids like these increase male sex hormone and protein synthesis in the body’s muscle tissues and quickly increase muscle mass. Therefore, they hamper with the body’s natural hormone secretion systems.  Speaking to The New Indian Express in January,  T Kamaraj, a renowned sexologist in Chennai had said, “The reduction in the natural secretion of testosterone in men causes the appearance of female characteristics. In women, steroid usage increases testosterone levels and results in a hoarse voice and hair growth.” He added that prolonged usage causes heart attacks, strokes, high cholesterol, kidney and liver failures. 

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A century and an 8-wicket haul: Krishnappa Gowtham lights up Karnataka Premier League

Cricket

Krishnappa Gowtham’s score is the highest individual score in the KPL and the best bowling performance in the competition.

TNM Staff

It is not often that batsmen score centuries in a Twenty 20 but in a Karnataka Premier League match on Thursday, Krishnappa Gowtham not only scored a century with the bat but also took eight wickets with the ball to lead Ballari Tuskers to victory against the Shivamogga Lions.  The right-handed batsman smashed 134 off just 56 balls and then picked up 8 wickets for just 15 runs in his four overs in the game played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. His score is the highest individual score in the KPL and the best bowling performance in the league. In fact, it is the best bowling figures in Twenty 20 cricket including domestic leagues around the world.   Despite his heroics, this will not be considered an official record because state Twenty 20 leagues do not have official status. They are categorised as other T20s in records. But Gowtham's performance is being heralded on social media as one of the best all round cricket performances in Twenty 20 history. Krishnappa Gowtham in Karnataka Premier League today: Bat - 134* off 56, 7 fours, 13 sixes Ball - 8 wkts for 15 runs in 4 overs#KPL — Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) August 23, 2019 134* (56) and a world record 8 wickets!! It's officially the Krishnappa Premier League! : @KPLKSCA pic.twitter.com/DwMZGPzm5F — Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) August 23, 2019 In comparison, the next highest score in the innings was 34, 100 less than Gowtham's score. He hit seven fours and a whopping 13 sixes in the innings taking Bellary Tuskers to a score of 203-3 in just 17 overs. Rain, however, interrupted play with the first innings being reduced to 17 overs. Shivamogga Lions was bowled out for just 133 with Gowtham shining with the ball with his right-hand off-break bowling. Bellary Tuskers won the game by 70 runs by the VJD method.

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Govt apathy at its worst: Nisha Millet’s swimming academy forced out of Bengaluru pool

Controversy

The Nisha Millet Swimming Academy, which was given a two-year contract for the Kensington Swimming Pool, was asked to vacate without notice, says the Olympian.

Prajwal Bhat

On Tuesday evening, Olympian swimmer Nisha Millet was stunned to receive a letter from the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES) of the Karnataka Government asking her to hand over the Kensington Swimming Pool in Bengaluru immediately. The pool in Halasuru is one of the locations Nisha Millet runs a swimming academy called the Nisha Millet Swimming Academy.  “Government apathy at its worst. We said goodbye to the Kensington swimming pool which we helped restore to its current glory over 2.5 years with lots of blood, sweat and tears…,” said Nisha Millet in a Facebook post on Friday.   Recalling the events to TNM, the swimmer said, "By Wednesday, authorities were waiting with locks and we had to plead with them to allow us to remove our items at the pool. We packed our equipment, trophies and other items into 15 trucks on short notice and vacated the pool." The abrupt decision of the Department of Youth Empowerment and Sports (DYES) to stop the Nisha Millet Swimming Academy from using the swimming pool has left 300 swimmers and 40 employees of the academy in the lurch. This includes nine swimmers competing in the national level and a swimmer training for the World Ironman Championship.  The contract for the usage of the pool was supposed to be valid for a period of two years with an option of extending for an extra year. The two-year contract period ended on April 20 this year. A three-month extension instead of one year was given since the renewal process came during the time of the Lok Sabha Elections. "The contract was not extended for an additional year even though we fulfilled safety conditions and paid the dues on time," said Nisha.  On May 27, the department initiated a bidding process for the usage of the swimming pool. "We were at a state level swimming competition in Mysuru when we realised that a tender had been called which made it clear that they are thinking of stopping the contract," said Nisha.  The extension period of the contract ended on July 20 but Nisha says she was not notified to vacate the swimming and was told that she will be given adequate time if she had to vacate. "We were given no communication. The bidding process was not completed and we had paid the rent for the next nine months for the usage of the pool and we have not been returned this money," said Nisha. A DYES official confirmed the developments but stated that since the extended contract period had ended on July 20, the department was under no obligation to intimate Nisha in advance. "The contract was valid till April and then extended. There is no question of giving notice when the contract has expired. The extra year was an option if the department agrees but there is no compulsion it should be given. The rent they have paid will be returned to them in two days," said an official working in the DYES who did not wish to be named.   The pool was renovated four years ago by the DYES and Nisha decided to take a chance and make it the base of her swimming academy. "We installed floodlights, filled 33 lakh litres of water in it and we have maintained it in good condition. It was accessible to the public for a nominal fee and to those who wanted to take up swimming lessons with us," says Nisha. Despite no complaints made against the academy's usage of the pool, a tender process was called in May to determine who will use the pool from this year.   Nisha was one of six bidders in the tender process. But a condition was added asking bidders to have the experience of operating two 50 metre swimming pools under the DYES. "We informed the department about this. This clause has not been used in recent bidding processes and it tipped the tender process in favour of one bidder," said Nisha, accusing the DYES of discrepancies in the bidding process.  Nisha pointed out to DYES officials that the particular clause in the tender process favoured one of the bidders - Satish Kumar, Managing Director of Swimlife Swimming Academy in Bengaluru.  DYES officials acknowledged the lapses in the bidding process and withdrew the additional clause after a complaint was raised by Nisha. "When we float a tender, a bidder can raise queries. When Nisha raised issues, we rectified them wherever it was necessary," added the DYES official.  If the clause was enforced, even the eventual winner of the bid - Dolphin Acquatics - would not have been eligible to compete in the process. Dolphin Acquatics is a swimming academy in the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence. It is run by Nihar Ameen, a Dronacharya Award winner in 2015. But for Nisha Millet and her team of instructors and swimmers, the hard work begins now to rebuild their academy in another swimming location. She trains in a smaller 25 m swimming pool in Koramangala. "We don't even have an office to discuss with our staff about the future but one thing is certain, I will not be dealing with government officials again," added Nisha. Nisha has represented India in the 2000 Olympics when she became the first Indian swimmer to qualify for the 200-metre freestyle event. She was conferred the Arjuna Award in 2000.  Read: How Olympic swimmer Nisha Millet is changing swimming coaching in Bengaluru

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Murder of Kolkata model in Bengaluru: Ola driver arrested for crime

Crime

32-year-old Pooja Singh De was found dead near the airport's compound wall on July 31, but police had to scour missing persons reports to determine her identity.

TNM Staff

A Kolkata woman was brutally murdered allegedly by an Ola cab driver who tried to rob her on the way to Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on July 31, according to reports.  The cab driver, HM Nagesh, was caught on August 21 after investigations by the local police.  Pooja Singh De, 32, was a model-cum-event manager who had visited the city on July 30 for an event. She was returning to Kolkata when the brutal crime took place. The victim had been found with head injuries and multiple stab wounds, according to Deccan Herald. .  Pooja’s body was discovered by villagers near the compound of the airport at about 6.30 am on July 31. They informed the police. She was found wearing a Titan watch, ‘Jealous 21’ jeans and a pair of sandals. Police could not find her handbag, so there was no proof of identification, other than the accessories and clothes she wore. The police then sent teams to Kolkata and New Delhi to scour through missing person reports and established the identity of the victim, as per The Hindu Pooja booked the Ola cab on July 31 and boarded the cab at Hosur Road at 4.15 am. Police say that Nagesh deviated from the main road and demanded money from Pooja. When she refused, he attacked her with a jack rod. He then looked through her bags and pockets but was only able to find Rs 500 and two mobile phones. He then allegedly attempted to dump her behind KIA near Kaada Yarappanahalli village, but she regained consciousness and tried to escape. However, Nagesh allegedly attacked her again with a knife and a stone, this time fatally.  Police told media that Pooja had been in the city for event management work. Once Pooja’s identity was determined, with the help of special teams from Delhi and Kolkata, they learnt that she had booked an Ola cab. After this, police were led to Nagesh.  Police said Nagesh confessed to the crime and police were able to recover the victim’s belongings from him. He has been produced before a magistrate and remanded to judicial custody.

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JD(S) responsible for BJP's growth in K'taka: Siddaramaiah lashes out at Gowda and HDK

Politics

In a lengthy diatribe, Siddaramaiah accused Kumaraswamy and Deve Gowda of toppling the coalition government.

TNM Staff

Representation Photo

Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, Siddaramaiah on Friday blamed former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda and his son HD Kumaraswamy for toppling the coalition government. In a lengthy diatribe against his (once) political rival, Siddaramaiah said, “I am not someone who will stoop to the level of toppling a government in which my party was a member. That kind of politics is the birth right of Deve Gowda and his sons (Kumaraswamy and HD Revanna). Deve Gowda is an expert in toppling governments." The statement was in response to Deve Gowda’s recent outburst that Siddaramaiah could not stand to see Kumaraswamy as the Chief Minister and thereby plotted the downfall of the coalition government. Siddaramaiah also accused Kumaraswamy and Deve Gowda of allowing the BJP to grow in Karnataka. He also accused the father-son duo of creating unrest among MLAs by not catering to developmental works and thereby forcing them to rebel. “They (Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy are responsible for the BJP's growth in Karnataka. It would not have happened if they hadn’t withdrawn support to the Dharam Singh government and joined hands with the BJP. If the JD(S) hadn’t broken their promise, Yediyurappa would’ve been CM for 20 months (in 2006). Instead, the BJP won 110 seats in the next election because of Gowda and Kumaraswamy. The MLAs are saying this, not me. If all MLAs had been taken into confidence and their constituency works taken care of, none would’ve been disgruntled,” Siddaramaiah said. Siddaramaiah was referring to the time when the JD(S) and BJP formed a coalition in 2006 and came to power. Though the understanding was that Kumaraswamy would be Chief Minister for 20 months and then Yediyurappa for the next 20 months. However, Kumaraswamy refused to handover the baton to Yediyurappa forcing the BJP to withdraw support, leading to the government's fall.  Siddaramaiah fiercely defended himself against allegations that was against Kumaraswamy as the CM. Siddaramaiah claimed that he had respected the high command’s decision and had not interfered in the workings of the coalition government for 14 months. “Deve Gowda said I couldn’t digest Kumaraswamy becoming the CM. Our high command decided that the Congress, with 80 MLAs, would extend support to the JD(S) that has 37 MLAs. I agreed because I too did not want the BJP to come to power. For 14 months, I gave complete support,” he said.  Siddaramaiah also accused Deve Gowda of not nurturing and allowing anyone other than members of his family to grow in the party. The former Chief Minister said that Deve Gowda and his grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy lost the Lok Sabha polls as the electorate too was aware of the family’s “thirst for power”.  Siddaramaiah also said that he had advised the high command to not form a pre-poll alliance with the JD(S) as the party workers were campaigning against the Congress. Siddaramaiah was responding to Deve Gowda’s allegations that he lost in Tumakuru and his grandson in Mandya as Siddaramaiah had instructed Congress party workers to campaign for Sumalatha, the independent candidate. “It’s true I told our high command that we shouldn’t have an alliance with the JD(S) for the Lok Sabha polls, but the alliance was made. If I’m being accused of Nikhil’s defeat, who is responsible for Congress candidates losing in Chamarajanagar, Mysuru, Kolar and Chikkaballapura? Deve Gowda and Nikhil lost because people were fed up with family politics and their thirst for power. That’s the truth,” Siddaramaiah said.  

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K’taka to continue cloud seeding as drought-like conditions prevail in some districts

Six districts in Karnataka have deficient yearly rainfall currently, even at a time when floods claimed 88 lives.

Soumya Chatterjee

Representation Photo

The Karnataka government led by Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa is continuing the cloud-seeding project that was approved by former CM Kumaraswamy’s cabinet, despite the heavy rains and floods that have lashed the state since then. Cloud seeding is a weather-modification experiment to induce rainfall from rain-bearing clouds using chemicals. For Karnataka, flares of sodium chloride and potassium chloride is being used to trigger hygroscopic cloud seeding. Though rains recently lashed many parts of the state this month, cloud seeding is being carried out due to low soil moisture levels in many taluks of the state even after floods forced people of 13 districts to be shifted to relief camps. According to an earth scientist, this strange situation has led the government to declare both flood and drought at the same time. They said that riverine flooding meant that groundwater was not recharged much as it would have if water percolated due to days of continuous rain.  “Districts like Vijaypura, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, Kolar, Chikkaballapura and Bengaluru Rural have very low soil moisture, which makes them unfit for agriculture,” said Prakash, the chief engineer of Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation of the Karnataka Rural Development Department and who is associated with the cloud seeding program. “For obvious reasons, we have not done it in areas which flooded. The criteria to pick targets depends on two factors — soil aridity and the availability of rain-bearing clouds. We also take the rainfall in the last few days into account. The data on soil moisture and cloud density is assessed by meteorologists and based on that, we plan the day. Initially, the plan was to deploy one plane in Hubbali and one in Mysuru. But since there was good rain in south Karnataka, we moved both the planes to Hubbali,” Prakash explained. The aridity could possibly be because Karnataka was affected by drought for 12 out of the last 18 years. Even currently, six districts of Karnataka have deficient yearly rainfall. The recent floods claimed at least 88 lives and forced close to 16 lakh people to move to relief camps. When one sees district-wise, Kalaburagi in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region has the worst rainfall and has a 40% deficiency. In the coast, Dakshina Kannada has a deficit of 21% annual rainfall to date. While all major reservoirs in the state are filled to the brim, the status of the minor irrigation (MI) tanks across the state show a more dire picture, as only 40% of the state is serviced by irrigation projects. According to KSNDMC data, all minor irrigation tanks in Bidar and Yadgir are dry. Districts like Vijayapura, Kalaburagi, Bagalkote, Ballari, Davanagere, Chitradurga, Tumakuru, Chikkaballapur, Kolar, Mandya and Chamarajanagar also have an overwhelming number of empty tanks. Officials in the know said that intra-district variations in rainfall at the taluk or hobli level is also high, which affects the soil potency to grow crops. The state government previously carried out cloud seeding in 2017, which saw considerable success. Following that, experts from the Indian Institute of Science, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune, National Aerospace Laboratories and the Indian Meteorology Department suggested that the Karnataka government carry out this exercise every year. Officials also said that clauses of the existing contact meant the project can be carried for 90 days starting from July-end, with a maximum of 200 hours of flight time for each of the two aircraft. “The only variable is the amount of chemicals burnt, that we have to pay in actuals,” Prakash said. According to him, the project has shown notable success even though official statistics can only be presented at a later time. “In every area that we attempted, there has been a minimum of 5-30 mm of rainfall. In 2017, a detailed evaluation took a good six months to prepare. We will soon make the data with preliminary findings public," he said.

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