Karnataka rains: IMD issues red warning for all three coastal districts

Floods

These rains could trigger floods again in the northern parts of the state, as both Ghataprabha and Krishna rivers are breaching danger levels.

Soumya Chatterjee

Flooded street in Belagavi

The Indian Meteorological Department has issued a red warning for all the three districts of coastal Karnataka for the next three days starting from Wednesday. An orange warning has been issued to some districts of north and south interior Karnataka. The red warning means the coastal districts of Udupi, Uttara and Dakshina Kannada will have widespread rainfall, with places receiving heavy to very rainfall and some isolated places receiving extremely heavy rainfall. North Karnataka districts like Belagavi, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri and Koppal are expected to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall, accompanied with thundershowers till October 24. From October 26, the warning will be reduced to yellow, suggesting heavy rainfall. Read: Heavy rains lash north Karnataka again, 13-year-old boy gets washed away in canal These rains could trigger floods again in the northern parts of the state, as both Ghataprabha and Krishna rivers are breaching danger levels. This is just two months since the entire region was ravaged by floods in August. The Central Water Commission’s Flood Forecast Monitoring Directorate on Tuesday morning issued an orange bulletin signalling severe flood situation. The bulletin said, "River Ghatprabha at Gokak Falls in Belgaum district of Karnataka continues to flow in SEVERE SITUATION at 06:00 hrs today. At 06:00 hrs, it was flowing at a level of 542.02 m with Falling trend which is 0.02 m above its Danger Level of 542.0 m and 4.86 m below its previous HFL of 546.88 m (2005-08-23).  It added, “River Krishna at Navalgund in Dharwad district of Karnataka continues to flow in SEVERE SITUATION at 06:00 hrs today. At 06:00 hrs, it was flowing at a level of 565.95 m with Steady trend which is 1.95 m above its Danger Level of 564.0 m and 2.62 m below its previous HFL of 568.57 m (2017-10-16).” Similarly, south interior and central Karnataka districts of Chamarajanagar, Chikkamagaluru, Chitradurga, Hassan, Mysuru, Shivamogga and Kodagu will have heavy to very heavy rainfall accompanied with thundershowers (orange) warning for the next three days.  

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2JcES73
via IFTTT

Inform Bengalureans on how to seek relief for accidents due to potholes: HC to BBMP

Civic

The HC took exception to the BBMP Commissioner's submission that it would open a ‘Pandora’s box’ and warned him that it would attract "contempt of court" proceedings.

TNM Staff

File image

The Karnataka High Court on Monday came down heavily on the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner BH Anil Kumar for defying its orders regarding giving publicity about compensation delivery mechanism for victims of accidents caused by potholes. The issue came up as the division bench led by Chief Justice AS Oka and Justice SR Krishna Kumar was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Vijayan Menon of the Citizen’s Action Forum. Vijayan Menon had petitioned the HC saying that the BBMP should be held responsible for accidents caused due to potholes and also stated that victims of such accidents must have a right to compensation. The judges took objection to the BBMP Commissioner “defying” court orders when he submitted that it would open a ‘Pandora’s box’ if the BBMP were to announce such a drive. The HC also warned that the Commissioner's submission could be considered as contempt of court and directed BBMP to install display boards informing citizens about the same within the next 10 days and submit a compliance report to the court by November 11. “The Commissioner is not an ordinary litigant. The statement does not appear to be prepared as per legal advice, as it is specifically signed by the Commissioner himself,” the court said, reported The Hindu. On September 30, the court had  passed an interim order stating that  BBMP officials would be held responsible for accidents due to potholes. The court also said that the BBMP would be liable to pay compensation to victims or their families who incur losses due to hazardous roads. The HC had then observed that tax-paying citizens are at a high risk of getting injured due to the bad condition of the roads. Prior to the judgement, victims had to move the court to seek compensation. In order to avoid going to court over the issue, the judges held that an aggrieved party can directly approach the civic body for compensation.

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2MySXxK
via IFTTT

Over a week since protests began, no let-up in HAL strike as stand-off continues

Strike

"There is a production loss as nearly 20,000 workers are on strike since October 14 despite 8,000 officers and 11,000 contract employees reporting to duty," an official said.

IANS

The indefinite strike by the workers of the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) for wage revision continued on the 8th day, with the trade unions and management hardening their positions, an official said on Monday. "There is a production loss as nearly 20,000 workers are on strike since October 14 despite 8,000 officers and 11,000 contract employees reporting to duty," the official told IANS. Refuting the management claim that the strike had not grounded the company's operations, HAL trade union General Secretary S. Chandrasekhar said as officers don't work on the shop floor or operate any machine, work at all the nine production units has halted. "The officers and their executives don't operate machinery as their work is confined to supervising, planning and inspecting. The contract workers can't do much without the skilled workforce on duty," Chandrashekar said in a statement later. Accusing HAL Chairman R. Madhavan of giving step-motherly treatment to the workers, the union leader said the financial crisis in the company had not prevented the management from extending benefits to executives but not increase the workers' wages. The 55-year-old aerospace major has six production complexes in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Koraput in Odisha, Korwa and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh and Nashik in Maharashtra and three research and development (R&D) centres across the country. The company has petitioned the Karnataka High Court for a direction to the workforce to withdraw the strike and report to work. The unions have sought a wage revision given to the executives, a gross salary hike of 35 per cent, including 110-140 per cent hike in perks. The wage revision is due since January 1, 2017, as the previous two revisions were in 2012 and 2007 for 5 years, respectively. About 10,000 employees work in the company's Bengaluru production complex and the remaining 10,000 in eight locations across the country.

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2VYItei
via IFTTT

How Warren could pay for 'Medicare for All'

The top-tier Democrat — whose motto is that she has a plan for everything — doesn’t have one yet for how to pay for universal health care.

from Health Care https://ift.tt/2o40sDq
via IFTTT

Doctors lack treatments for nicotine-addicted youth

There’s little robust research into whether smoking cessation products used by adults will also work for teenagers.

from Health Care https://ift.tt/2MvFAhP
via IFTTT

Drug companies strike 11th-hour deal to avoid major opioid trial

The agreement comes within hours of the first federal trial over the crisis

from Health Care https://ift.tt/32FgzXm
via IFTTT

Amrita Engineering college student in Bengaluru kills self, students protest alleging harassment

Crime

The protesting students alleged that college authorities rusticated Harsha for no fault of his, after days of harassment.

Soumya Chatterjee

The atmosphere at the Amrita School of Engineering in Bengaluru’s Kasavanahalli near Bellandur was grim on Monday afternoon following the death of Harsha, a 4th year engineering student.  Angry students had assembled in protest, alleging that Harsha had killed himself on campus due to harassment by college authorities and they demanded justice for their friend. Some were seated on the cemented path leading to two buildings and some were standing surrounding the same area. There was a large number of police personnel inside the campus as well, even though the situation remained largely peaceful. The college is one of the many institutions run by Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham under Kerala-based spiritual leader Mata Amritanandamayi Devi. The college in Bengaluru has 2,000-plus students primarily in BTech and around 200 from MTech and MBA courses.   The protesting students alleged that college authorities rusticated Harsha for no fault of his, after days of harassment.  They alleged that the college’s disciplinary action committee wanted Harsha to 'confess' over his involvement in an incident of vandalism that took place in the college around the end of last month. This despite another student who had come forward to confess, apparently telling the committee that Harsha was in no way involved in the incident.  The students said that so far the college authorities had already rusticated 15 students across batches and another 45 were suspended for the same act. The incident of vandalism included breaking of windscreens and windows of six college-owned buses. A group of students had allegedly carried out the act after repeated complaints on the lack of decent food and sufficient water at the hostel were not acknowledged.  According to multiple students TNM spoke to, Harsha had a reputation of being a harmless, shy person and was a good student. One of Harsha’s batchmate and a student of the Electronics and Communication Engineering stream said, “We knew him to be a shy guy who would not even talk to people that much. There was no way that he was involved in that incident. Even one of the students who confessed his involvement clearly said that Harsha was not part of it. But still the college administration continued to harass him.” Another student said, “He was a good student and had already got his placement. What we hear is that the college authorities had said that he would also lose his job offer due to this incident.” Some students alleged that the college authorities had initially tried to pass off the death as an accident and had even tried to remove the CCTV footage. DCP Isha Pant confirmed that Parappana Agrahara police had registered a case of abetment of Section 306 (abetment of suicide) and Section 201 (Causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information) against the college. If you are aware of anyone facing mental health issues or feeling suicidal, please provide help.  Tamil Nadu:  State health department suicide helpline number - 104 Sneha Suicide Prevention Centre - 044-24640050 (listed as the sole suicide prevention helpline in TN) Telangana:   Telangana government suicide prevention toll free no - 104  Roshni- 040-66202000, 66202001 SEVA- 09441778290, 040 - 27504682 (between 9 AM and 7 PM)  Karnataka: Sahai : 24-hour helpline numbers: 080- 65000111, 080-65000222 Kerala: Maithri helpline - 0484-2540530 Chaithram helpline: 0484-2361161 Both are 24-hour helpline numbers.  Andhra Pradesh:  Life Suicide Prevention Helpline No.78930-78930  Roshni  Helpline 1: 9166202000  Helpline 2: 9127848584

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/31saUCs
via IFTTT