All official languages in India equal, but Kannada first in Karnataka: CM Yediyurappa

Language

"We will never compromise its importance and are committed to promote Kannada and our state's culture,” Yediyurappa said.

TNM Staff

Karnataka Chief Minister Yediyurappa on Monday tweeted about the importance of Kannada in Karnataka. In what is being seen as a response to Home Minister Amit Shah’s ‘one nation, one language’ speech last week, Yediyurappa said, “All official languages in our country are equal. However, as far as Karnataka is concerned, Kannada is the principal language. We will never compromise its importance and are committed to promote Kannada and our state's culture.” While Yediyurappa did not mention either ‘one nation, one language’, or Hindi, nor did he refer to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, this tweet is being seen as a contradiction by the Chief Minister to the Home Minister’s stand.  All official languages in our country are equal. However, as far as Karnataka is concerned, #Kannada is the principal language. We will never compromise its importance and are committed to promote Kannada and our state's culture. — CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) September 16, 2019 Yediyurappa's backing for Kannada comes in the backdrop of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's statement that only Hindi can unite the country. Shah also openly pushed for the 'one nation, one language' agenda during the celebrations of Hindi Diwas. Amit Shah had said, "There are several languages in India and they have their own value, but it is important for the nation to have one language that it is identified by in the world. If there is one language that can unite the country, it's Hindi." Read: 'Only Hindi can unite country': Home Minister Amit Shah declares It led to massive opposition from non-Hindi speaking states as political leaders across party lines condemned the declaration and demanded that the statement be withdrawn. They also accused the union government of imposing Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states.  In Karnataka, there was strong criticism over the issue from former Chief Ministers HD Kumaraswamy and Siddaramaiah. Both leaders described it as an imposition of Hindi in Karnataka while the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) released a statement alleging a hidden RSS agenda. But the reactions were muted from BJP leaders in Karnataka who mostly remained mum on the issue. A few BJP leaders suggested that it did not amount to Hindi imposition. In Karnataka, Kannada is the most widely spoken language. There are numerous dialects of the language spoken in the different parts of the state while other languages like Konkani, Tulu, Kodava, and Beary are also spoken.  

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Media once again falsely claims Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are fighting over Mysore Pak

Media

News channels telecast reports falsely stating that the GI tag for Mysore Pak was granted to Tamil Nadu following a memorandum submitted by Anand Ranganathan.

TNM Staff

It all started with a joke by columnist Anand Ranganathan. Posting a photograph of himself and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Twitter, Anand joked, "Pleased to receive this token of appreciation, on behalf of the one-man-committee for granting of the Mysore Pak GI tag to Tamil Nadu. Talks are proceeding smoothly. WDTT" Pleased to receive this token of appreciation, on behalf of the one-man-committee for granting of the Mysorepak GI tag to Tamilnadu. Talks are proceeding smoothly. WDTT. pic.twitter.com/khppaVijXt — Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) September 15, 2019 But what was intended as sarcasm was clearly not picked up by news publications. Several TV news channels, mostly Kannada language ones, broadcasted the joke as a news item, claiming that the union government had granted the Geographical Identification (GI) tag for Mysore Pak to Tamil Nadu. News channels telecast reports stating that the GI tag was granted to Tamil Nadu following a memorandum submitted by Anand Ranganathan. TV9 News, which published a report on the same stated that this had sparked discussions among the public about the origin of the sweet item. The channel aired visuals of Mysore Pak being served in a function. DEAR @tv9kannada. YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS. Stop this. AT ONCE. For heaven's sake, @smitaprakash, please intervene and calm the waters. Things are getting out of hand. pic.twitter.com/HTTFrdkK3O — Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) September 16, 2019 I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS. Now another channel has picked it up. Soon they will ask for Ms Sitharaman's resignation. And my head. https://t.co/HQvBSrtdhn pic.twitter.com/VgFz9XLnaC — Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) September 16, 2019 Another news channel – TV5 Kannada – reported that Tamil Nadu was trying to start a fight over the origins of Mysore Pak, while News18 Kannada suggested that there was outrage amongst people in Karnataka for the decision to grant Tamil Nadu the GI tag. Similar reports were carried by several news channels including Dighvijay, Suvarna News among others. This is not the first time this sequence of events is playing out. In 2017, similar reports were aired by TV channels and even national newspapers about how Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were fighting over the legacy of  Mysore Pak. Read: How the media 'claimed' Karnataka, Tamil Nadu are fighting over Mysore Pak Even on that occasion, Anand Ranganathan got involved in the debate by tweeting what he claimed was an 'authentic' document purportedly showing Lord Macaulay stating in the Indian Parliament in 1835 that the sweet originated from Tamil Nadu. He even posted a screenshot of Lord Macauley's purported speech in which he refers to his good friend Lord Crincklybottom saying that the Mysore Pak recipe was smuggled out of Madras to Mysore. But even on that occasion, Anand posted it as a joke and also claimed that he could not believe that the Indian media was publishing a story based on something that was imagined. As always, authentic documents come to the rescue. Here it is - confirmation that Mysorepak is a Tamilian invention. pic.twitter.com/GxSVfquwRN — Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) August 2, 2015

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Scam to lure medical, engineering aspirants with fake admission busted in Bengaluru

Crime

Merit Wise Consultancy allegedly promised aspirants seats in reputed medical, dental and engineering colleges for a ‘nominal’ fee.

TNM Staff

The Bengaluru police have arrested a 11-member gang for allegedly duping engineering, MBBS and dental course aspirants with the pretext of providing them seats in reputed colleges. The Central Crime Branch sleuths arrested Snehil, Pavan Kumar, Nishanth, Kunal Kumar Singh, Muneesh, Nitin, Tinku Mandal, Koushal Kumar, Seeju Daniel, Rahul Singh and Ankit Kumar Singh on Sunday. Investigators say that the accused had started a consultancy service named Merit Wise Consultancy in Bengaluru’s Jayanagar area and allegedly falsely advertised that they could get admissions for students into reputed medical colleges. CCB sleuths told TNM that Merit Wise Consultancy allegedly procured information about engineering, MBBS and BDS (Bachelor of Dental Sciences) aspirants from various coaching classes in Bengaluru and other major metro cities. “Once they got the list of names and contact numbers, they got in touch with these students and their parents. They advertised by saying that they could get the students admitted to any medical college of their choice for a nominal fee,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Patil told TNM. Investigators say that the accused allegedly charged Rs 1 lakh per student. When the students and their parents called Merit Wise Consultancy after making the payment, they allegedly kept pushing the date, stating that the admission process would take longer as they were going through the management quota. “They kept giving one excuse or another. We received a petition from one such student and his parents, who had paid money. We raided the office and found a DD of Rs 1 lakh, which was written in the name of a private medical college, Rs 1.8 lakh cash, 11 mobile phones and a car,” Sandeep Patil added. Investigating officers say that many such consultancy services have mushroomed in the city and they hope for more victims to come forwards and file a complaint. “We don’t know how much money they have taken yet. We are hoping that more people come forwards and report such incidents. It is not just Merit Wise but other such firms are also duping aspirants,” Sandeep Patil said. The investigators are also probing to see whether managements of colleges were involved in the racket. Joint Commissioner Sandeep said that the accused have confessed to the involvement of certain colleges in Bengaluru. “We have to verify their claims first. We will produce them before the magistrate today (Monday) and seek police custody as we have to probe the matter thoroughly,” he added. A case has been registered under section 420 (cheating), 405 (criminal breach of trust) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.     

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Bengaluru man designs ‘air-conditioned’ helmet for bike riders

Innovation

Bengaluru-based Sandeep Dahiya retrofits certain hardware into helmets, and using a cooling mechanism, the temperature can be lowered.

Geetika Mantri

Love riding your bike but find the sweating and suffocation the helmet a bummer? Bengaluru-based Sandeep Dahiya, who has owned a Harley Davidson for a decade now, had the same concerns.  So, the mechanical engineer decided to do something about it. And after 4.5 years of work, he has now come up with an ‘air-conditioned’ helmet. “I know from experience how annoying the heat and sweat in a helmet can be in. That’s why many riders are seen keeping their helmets on the fuel tank and riding,” Sandeep tells TNM.  How the helmet works Once the hardware is retrofitted into a helmet, and the cooling mechanism is activated, the temperature inside the helmet can be 12 degrees lower than the outside temperature, Sandeep says.   The pipes and wiring inside the helmet are attached to an external device that draws 12 volts of current from the bike battery, once attached. This ‘air-conditioner’ works on solid state cooling, that is, unlike in conventional coolers, it doesn’t have a compressor and does not require any water. It only has thermoelectric components. While the cooler comes in a small knapsack that can be worn on the back, once the device is switched on, and the cooling mode is switched on, it sends cool air into the helmet. There is a heating mode as well. The total weight added to the helmet, with the hardware retrofitted, is only up to 150 grams. And the total unit weighs about 1.8 kilograms. Sandeep explains how the helmet works in the video below. Get helmets customised Sandeep and his wife run a company called AeeDEA, where he sells the accessories he built (including adjustable silencer and a windshield with modifiable height), based on demand. They do not have much of an inventory, and it’s more of a passion project than anything else, Sandeep says. As for the helmet, for which he has already applied for a patent, Sandeep plans to do a soft launch at the upcoming 8th Southern HOG (Harley Owners Group) Ride that is happening in Hyderabad on September 20. “There were eight previous versions of this, and this is the one I want my friends to test out,” Sandeep says proudly. Interested people would have to send AeeDEA their helmets to attach the hardware. Attaching a cable to the battery of the bike, for the helmet’s cooling device to draw power, can easily be done by the rider. In the future, Sandeep plans to make other variants, too. “The same air conditioning device can be used for jackets as well. In future, we will launch that, and a helmet that can give a spray of cool air on the face when the visor is shut. We’re also planning a version that can be used by the rider and the pillion both, which will be powered by a solar unit.”

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Karnataka govt to probe money allocated to Water Resources Dept during coalition rule?

Politics

The coalition had allocated Rs 8,000 crore to the Water Resources Department in the Budget. However, the department was allegedly sanctioned much more money.

TNM Staff

Ever since the BJP came to power in Karnataka, the government has initiated probes into various schemes started by the two previous governments – the Congress-JD(S) coalition headed by Kumaraswamy, and the Congress government headed by Siddaramaiah. Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office now say that the government is mulling over initiating a probe into monetary allocations made for the Water Resources Department during the coalition’s tenure.  In the 2018-19 budget, the Congress-JD(S) coalition had allocated Rs 8,000 crore to the Water Resources Department. However, the department was sanctioned much more money – Rs 23,966 crore for various projects, the CMO source says. “Money was to be allocated for 148 different works under the Water Resources Department. The budgetary allocation was Rs 8,000 crore but the amount sanctioned was much more than the amount allocated in the budget – there is almost a 300% increase. There was a drastic increase in the amount. There is a suspicion that the prices were inflated for some reason, which needs probing. The CM will discuss the issue in the cabinet meeting and take a call on a probe into the matter,” the CMO source adds. CMO sources state that the coalition government had sanctioned Rs 1,933 crore to the Cauvery Neeravari Nigama Ltd, Rs 13,808 crore to the Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Ltd and Rs 8,225 crore to the Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Ltd. “All the various water resources projects were supposed to have been allocated Rs 8,000 crore totally. The previous government allocated more money to agencies that cater to water resources development works in the constituencies where they (Congress and JD(S)) had been elected from. Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Ltd was to be allocated more money than the other companies. If these works are stopped, then the contractors will move court, so we need to probe for discrepancies and then see what action can be taken,” the source says. In August this year, the Yediyurappa government had ordered a probe into monetary allocation for the white topping and TenderSURE projects. Following this, the BJP corporators in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike had also alleged that there were massive discrepancies in the bills generated by Indira Canteens’ caterers. The state government had also launched a probe into this in August.    

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Karnataka Minister Eshwarappa refers to Cong MLAs as hijras, stirs controversy

Controversy

“Congress MLAs who want to join the BJP are displaying their hijadathana,” Rural Development Minister Eshwarappa allegedly said at an event organised by the Sri Rama Sene.

TNM Staff

Karnataka's Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister KS Eshwarappa stirred controversy on Sunday for comparing Congress MLAs to members of the transgender community.  Speaking at an event organised by the Sri Rama Sene in Bengaluru, Eshwarappa said, "What happens if we don't get Muslim votes. Before we formed the government, I met a few Congress MLAs who wanted to join the BJP. But they were afraid of losing elections as 50,000 Muslims would not vote for them." He allegedly added that such MLAs were displaying their "hijadathana", as reported by Deccan Herald. In another controversial statement, Eshwarappa reportedly said, "Those Muslims who are patriotic vote for the BJP. Those who support Pakistan don't vote for the BJP.” He added that MLAs who were scared to join BJP were afraid of losing minority votes, The Hindu reported. Eshwarappa further added that the Karnataka government will bring in strict legislations against cow slaughter. He is the latest Karnataka BJP leader to advocate for a ban on cow slaughter and the consumption of beef.  Earlier, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and State Deputy Chief Minister Ashwath Narayan called for stricter laws against cow slaughter. This was after the BJP's Cow Protection Cell submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa over the issue. The BJP government in Karnataka had in 2010, introduced the Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Bill. It was passed after a long debate in the Assembly but did not get the assent of the Governor. The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government revoked the Bill in 2013. This is not the first time Eshwarappa is in the news for making controversial statements. In April, he was criticised for stating that the BJP does not give tickets to Muslims because the community does not trust the party. "The Congress believed Muslims were vote bank. But because Muslims have stopped voting for them, they've stopped giving seats to Muslims,” he had reportedly said.  In December 2017, he landed in another controversy after a video of him purportedly telling his party workers to lie went viral. “Lie if you have to, but don't admit you don't know,” he had reportedly said. Read: ‘People forced to live like dogs’: Kannada organisations ask PM for flood relief  

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Karnataka govt proposes film city in Roerich estate, environmentalists object

Environment

Environmentalists say that the area where the proposed film city will come up, is an elephant corridor between Bannerghatta and Savandurga.

TNM Staff

Roerich Estate | Photograph via Wikimedia Commons/ CC 3.0/ Primejyothi

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday proposed a film city be built at the Roerich and Devika Rani Roerich Estate near Kanakapura Road. The proposal was announced during his speech at the Founder's Day celebration organised by the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), as per the Times of India. The estate is spread over 468 acres, a part of which is maintained by the Forest Department. The proposal is still in its early stages and is yet to be tabled before the Forest Department. The proposed idea of building a film city in the estate was criticised by environmentalists who pointed out that the area is an elephant corridor between Bannerghatta and Savandurga. Elephants, moving from Bannerghatta to Savandurga, have been spotted in the estate land camping for a day or two due to the availability of water. Leopards, peacocks, and barking deers have also been spotted in the area. “People have also sighted wild animals in the area. Any intrusion will harm them. The estate is one of the rich natural habitats left on the outskirts of the city,” said a Forest Department official speaking to The Hindu. Activists say that the proposal to build the film city will harm the biodiversity of the area, where several developmental projects have come up over the years. The estate gets its name from Svetoslav Nikolaevich Roerich, a Russian painter from the early 20th century, who settled in India. He was the son of Russian painter and archaeologist Nikolai Roerich and was a noted painter himself. His portraits of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi can be seen at the central hall of the Indian Parliament even today. He married noted Indian actor Devika Rani and the duo stayed in a colonial house off Kanakapura Road. Both passed away leaving the estate without an heir. The Karnataka government won a legal battle to take control of the estate. An earlier plan to build a museum in the estate land was dropped. 

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