After Jio, Airtel slapped with fine for digging Bengaluru road without permission

Civic Issues

It was only last week that Reliance Jio Fiber was fined after its vendor allegedly dug up Sarjapur main road in three spots to lay optical fibre cables.

Soumya Chatterjee

File image

A week after the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) fined Reliance Jio Rs 25 lakh for allegedly damaging a part of the Sarjapur Road, similar action has been taken against Airtel.   In the latest incident where Airtel has been fined, multiple locations on recently asphalted 1.5 km stretch on the Bannerghatta Road were allegedly damaged while laying a fibre optic cable (OFC). The company has to pay Rs 68,14,000 in total to the BBMP, which includes a fine component of Rs 25 lakh. The remaining Rs 1.5 lakh is included as “road cutting” charges and the rest as restoration charges. Officials said the fine amount has been fixed based on the conditions imposed while granting permission to the telecom company. The conditions also include that after restoring every road they have dug, the telecom company has to ensure that the roads get a ‘Satisfactory Work Done’ report from the BBMP. The jurisdictional BBMP Engineer HC Krishna Kumar also filed a police complaint. An FIR (first information report) was registered on Sunday under Section 3 of Karnataka Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984 and Sections 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) and 431 (mischief by injury to a public road, bridge, river or channel) of the Indian Penal Code. Read: Explained: Workplace sexual harassment law is applicable to religious organisations In his complaint to the police, Krishna Kumar said that other than the high financial cost of repair, the damaged road is also causing hardship to the commuters. According to a BBMP statement, Kumar had also called for blacklisting the company.  Speaking to TNM, Prabhakar, BBMP’s Executive Engineer of Road Widening Divison, said, “They did not have the required permission from the jurisdictional executive engineer before digging the road. Besides, in their agreement with BBMP, they have violated the clause which says that no road that has been asphalted in the last 12 months can be dug up again.” ‘Took all requisite permission’ Responding to the reports of BBMP levying fine for laying optical fibre cable without permission, Bharati Airtel, in a statement, said, “We would like to clarify that all requisite permissions and approvals from BBMP were duly obtained… We would like to reiterate that as a responsible corporate citizen, we always abide by all regulations laid down by local authorities.” The statement also said: “Even during the Jio incident, BBMP in a statement had said the company will be issued a fine of Rs 25 lakh and the Palike will take measures to blacklist the company involved in laying the cables.”

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Artwork by 5 Bengaluru youngsters with autism to be displayed at Paris fair

Art

22 artworks made by the 5 students of Sense Kaleidoscopes, an academy that trains youth with autism in art, have been chosen for Outsider Art Fair, Paris.

Geetika Mantri

When the artworks of nine youngsters on the autism spectrum from Bengaluru were displayed at the Kochi Biennale earlier in February, Anima Nair, the co-founder of the academy that works with the youth, was very happy. Little did she know though, that thanks to the traction the artwork got at the Biennale, the pieces of five of her students would make their way to Paris to be displayed at the Outsider Art Fair (OAF). Outsider art is essentially art that is made by someone who is not professionally trained in it. Anima is the co-founder of Sense Kaleidoscopes, a six-year-old academy based in Bengaluru that works with 15 such youngsters with autism and Aspergers Syndrome, and trains them in art so that they can earn a living from it.  She tells TNM that the 22 pieces of artwork made by five students of Sense Kaleidoscopes being chosen for the OAF Paris, which displays artwork by galleries, dealers, non-profits and publications, is a matter of great pride and validation. “All artwork included in the application must be made by self-taught, outsider, or art brut artists,” says the OAF’s website. “After the artwork was put up at the Kochi Biennale, some of our students were interviewed by the media as well. All of that caught the eye of an individual who later wrote to us saying that they would like to display the artwork in Paris. They offered us a stall there, but later waived off the charges for that as well,” Anima shares. The students whose artworks have been chosen for Paris are Rohit Anand (19), Ayush Bhambhani (20), Kalash Cariappa (17), Adarsh Shetty (23) and Anima’s 19-year-old son, Pranav, all of whom are on the autism spectrum. The artworks themselves are extraordinary, and reflect how differently each child sees art. For instance, there is a five-feet long dragon painted by Rohit that is intricately designed and full of patterns and colours.  Imagine my dragons One of Ayush’s artworks that has been chosen is a dog, sitting lopsided, filled in with minuscule and detailed patterns. He has also drawn mudras from Indian classical dance forms, superimposed on a mosaic of a background. 'A dog's world' 'Mudra' 'Grace' Many of Pranav’s designs are geometric, with depth and dimension created through colour.   'Laying out' 'Think. Believe. See' Kalash uses web-like structures in his art, making it more abstract. 'At work' 'Earth hues' Adarsh, meanwhile, does portraits. 'Connect' 'People' The students, including Rohit and Pranav, were quite excited about the news, Anima says, more so because they thought they were going to go to Paris. Unfortunately, though, that did not materialise, even though Anima tried raising money through crowdfunding. “The costs were quite a lot, especially with packaging and shipping the artwork too. We thought we would raise money for the boys to go to Paris too, but the crowdfunding platform we were working with did not take off on time,” Anima says. “Now, they (Rohit and Pranav) are talking about how they will earn money and go to Paris,” she adds. In an earlier interview with TNM, Anima had talked about how they motivate those students who are drawn towards art to hone it, and use it to earn and be self-sufficient. “A lot of our children are naturally drawn to art – maybe because they have difficulty in expressing verbally what they want. Maybe they perceive the world so differently from the way we perceive it. Their senses are differently wired,” she had said. OAF Paris, that will be held from October 17 to 20, will feature artwork from galleries across the world. If any of her students’ artworks is sold at the fair, Anima says that 60% of the amount will go the artist, and some will be used by Sense Kaleidoscopes to recover their costs. 

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Angry CM BSY shifts meeting venue as rats and insects plague Vidhana Soudha

Civic Issues

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa was forced to move four scheduled meetings out of a committee room due to the stench of a dead rat.

TNM Staff

Representational Image

The grand structure of Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, the seat of the legislature in Karnataka, seems to have a rat and pest problem. On Monday, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa was forced to face the issue ahead of official meetings in a committee room. According to the Deccan Herald, when Yediyurappa reached the room, the stench was so strong that he reportedly lashed out at officials, asking, “what is this?” the newspaper reported.  The Hindu reported four such scheduled meetings were then held at the CM’s chamber away from the designated venue. However, it wasn’t just dead rats that plagued the committee room — there were reportedly bed bugs as well.  This is not a new problem at Vidhana Soudha, with Yediyurappa’s predecessor having tackled the same menace. In 2015, the former CM Siddaramaiah had told the Legislative Council that his government had spent Rs 19.34 lakh for a five-year period to catch rodents in both Vidhana Soudha and Vikasa Soudha. Siddaramaiah had also said that 50 rats were killed in a month on average. If Rs 20 lakh to catch rats and mice seems steep, Rs 1 lakh was recently sanctioned to catch cats. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike in March had floated a tender with an estimate of Rs 1 lakh for catching 30 tomcats in Raj Bhavan. Speaking on this, the then Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun had said the Palike received information about the cat menace in Raj Bhavan. “The BBMP Commissioner also had a look at this issue after Senior Assistant Director of Horticulture Department wrote a letter to BBMP Joint Commissioner of Animal Husbandry Department. Based on the contractor who is looking at the problem, we have been told that it will cost Rs 3,000 to catch one cat.” Read: Cat got your money: To catch 30 cats in Raj Bhavan, BBMP to spend Rs 1 lakh TNM had earlier reported how the civic body floated tenders to trap 3,000 odd pigs to curb a swine menace. Read: When pigs are in town, float a tender: Why Bengaluru’s pig-trap schemes are bound to fail

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Students escape unhurt after tree falls on school bus in Bengaluru

Accident

As the tree had landed on top of both the bus and the truck, the damages were minimal.

TNM Staff

Twitter/WhitefieldRising

Over 30 children from the International School were saved in the nick of time, as a huge tree fell on their school bus on the Varthur-Gunjur main road in Bengaluru. The incident took place on Monday around 3.45 pm when the bus was on its way to Dommasandra to drop off the children after school. As per reports, the driver heard a sound coming from the roadside but didn’t have enough time to react as the tree came crashing down on the bus as well as a truck parked nearby. As the tree had landed on top of both the bus and the truck, the damages were minimal. Onlookers at the spot immediately rushed to help pull the children out of the bus. No casualties or major injuries were reported. The driver of the bus sustained a shoulder injury and was taken to a nearby hospital for first aid. None of the children was hurt, though a few sustained some bruises and were in a state of shock. A call was made to the school to arrange for another bus to send the children home, while several worried parents rushed to the spot and picked up their kids. The Whitefield traffic police were also alerted at once. They came to the spot and blocked the area. Traffic was stopped for some time as officials began to clear the roads. Vehicles heading towards Gunjur were diverted until 5 pm after the road was cleared of all debris. Taking to Twitter, Citizens’ Collective Whitefield Rising said that the tree is suspected to have fallen because of the weakened roots following digging by the BWSSB for laying a pipeline. #MahadevapuraDemands Exhibit C: but for the grace of God, and the guardian angels, no lives were lost today. The tree is suspected to have falled down due to the digging by BWSSB pipeline digging weakened the roots. This is in Varthur - Gunjur Road. Today. pic.twitter.com/1KqRgjeRES — Whitefield Rising (@WFRising) October 14, 2019 The BBMP Corporator from Varthur Pushpa Manjunath told Deccan Herald that in addition to the digging work done by the BWSSB, the rains, too, played a large role in the incident. “The recent rains added to the problem. We frequently check the old and dry trees and prune them. This tree, however, looked fine. I wish the poor condition of the tree was brought to our notice earlier,” she said.

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Money laundering case: ED summons DK Shivakumar's mother, wife for questioning

Politics

The ED has earlier questioned Shivakumar's daughter Aishwarya; his brother and MP D.K. Suresh; and Belagavi Rural MLA Lakshmi Hebbalkar.

IANS

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned former Karnataka Minister D.K. Shivakumar's wife and mother for questioning in connection with a money laundering case against the Congress leader, an official said on Monday. The senior ED official told IANS: "We have summoned over 50 people in connection with the case for questioning. We have called Shivakumar's wife and mother on October 17 in New Delhi." The ED has earlier questioned Shivakumar's daughter Aishwarya; his brother and MP D.K. Suresh; and Belagavi Rural MLA Lakshmi Hebbalkar. The official said that summoning Shivakumar's mother and wife was necessitated after the agency got some evidences about financial transactions while questioning several other persons in the last one month. The summons comes as Shivakumar remains in jail for a month after being arrested by the financial probe agency on September 3 in the case. Shivakumar, now in judicial custody, has been on the radar of the Income Tax (I-T) Department and the ED since the demonetization in 2016. An I-T raid at his New Delhi apartment on August 2, 2017, led to the seizure of unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 8.83 crore. Thereafter, the Department lodged cases against the Congress leader and his four associates under Sections 277 and 278 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and Sections 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), 193 (punishment for false evidence) and 199 (false statements made in declaration which is by law receivable as evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). According to Shivakumar's affidavit submitted to the Election Commission ahead of the Assembly elections in 2018, his daughter Aishwarya owned assets of Rs 108 crore compared to only Rs 1.09 crore in 2013. Shivakumar, however, clarified that Aishwarya was not dependent on his income and that he was still declaring her assets as per the Representation of Peoples Act.

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Bandipur tiger captured after 5-day hunt healthy, under observation: Wildlife official

Wildlife

“We are giving time to let the tiger settle down in a holding room,” said Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens Executive Director Ajit Kulkarni.

IANS

The captured man-eating tiger from Karnataka's Bandipur reserve forest is healthy and under observation at the wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre in Mysuru, a wildlife official said on Monday. "The middle-aged tiger is in a healthy condition and under observation at the Chamundi wildlife rescue and rehab centre in our zoo at Koorgalli," Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens Executive Director Ajit Kulkarni told IANS on phone. In a massive hunting operation lasting five days, the killer tiger was traced and captured on Sunday in the forest with the help of Soliga tribals, who are experts in hunting wild animals on foot. The tiger remained elusive since October 9 after claiming farmer Shivappa as its second victim a day earlier and a month after mauling Shivamadaiah, another farmer to death inside the forest. It had also killed 14 cattle during the last two months. "We are giving time to let the tiger settle down in a holding room. So far it is fine. We will execute a thorough veterinary medical check up once it settles down," said Kulkarni. Animals are not handled immediately, and it is only after they settle down, their weight, height and other indicators are measured, he said, adding that no tests were done so far. "The settling time varies from animal to animal as some take 4-5 days to become normal," Kulkarni added. The tiger is fed beef once a day and offered water. No medicines are given as it has no internal or external injuries though it was hit twice with a dart to traquilise it for capturing. The Bandipur forest is spread over 872km on the border with Tamil Nadu and in the southern state's Chamarajanagar district, about 220km southwest of Bengaluru. Meanwhile, Bandipur forest Director T Balachandra told IANS that the members of the Soligas tribal community were given some money for helping the forest guards and the vets in tracing and capturing the tiger. "We gave some monetary reward to the Soligas," said Balachandra without quantifying the amount given to them as a gesture. The search operation was conducted as per the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

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Talks fail, HAL employees to continue indefinite strike over fair wages

Protest

The protesters, who are mostly workers, are demanding that the management give them wage revisions on par with officers.

Prajwal Bhat

The indefinite strike called by thousands of employees of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is set to continue after the employees and the management of the public-sector undertaking were unable to resolve their stand-off over the revision of wages.  In Bengaluru, where HAL is based, and in company units across the country, HAL employees blocked the gates of HAL facilities in the city in a protest against the management over revision of wages and other related demands. The All India HAL Trade Unions Coordination Committee is coordinating the protest. Their tussle with the HAL management over the revision of wages of employees began in 2017 and has now reached a breaking point.  The HAL management, in a statement, claimed that the demands of the employees were 'unsustainable'. "The HAL management’s offer is reasonable, fair and in conformity with the wage agreements finalized by other Defence PSUs. Instead of appreciating this the Unions have come up with the demands that are nonviable in the current and futuristic business scenario. The unsustainability and untenability has been explained to the union (of employees) several times", read the statement.  In a series of 11 meetings, the last of which were held on October 12 and 13, the two parties were unable to resolve their deadlock over the revision of wages. Responding to the HAL management's statement, employees stated that they will continue the agitation till their demands are met. "We are going to continue the strike until the management comes forward or the government intervenes in the matter," said Suryadevara Chandra Sekhar, General Secretary of Hindustan Aeronautics Employees Association (HAEA).  Suryadevara claimed that the media statement released by HAL is misleading. "They have not given a reasonable offer as they claim. They have actually offered a wage reduction. Their (HAL's) contention that workmen benefited from two wage revisions over a period of five years is also subject to discussion", alleged Suryadevara.  The workers protesting, who are scale V to scale XI employees of HAL, are demanding that the management give them wage revisions on par with officers. He also said that HAL was in a good financial position. "The third claim is that the revision (of wages) is unviable in the current business scenario. But in the recent AGM meeting, HAL authorities told shareholders that the company is doing well and has turned a profit", added Suryadevara.   HAL recorded a turnover of Rs 19,400 crores and a profit of Rs 2,282 crore (after tax). It was also the all-time record turnover for the aerospace major. The company is also eyeing a future revenue stream in making the Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) and  Light Utility Helicopters (LUH).

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