Sonia Gandhi visits DK Shivakumar in Tihar ahead of his bail plea

Politics

Congress sources say that Sonia Gandhi’s visit was to show solidarity with the former Karnataka Minister even if he got bail or not.

TNM Staff

Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi visited former Karnataka Water Resource Minister DK Shivakumar at New Delhi’s Tihar Jail on Monday. Sonia Gandhi was accompanied by Karnataka in-charge and Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal. The two leaders arrived at Tihar Jail to meet Shivakumar, who has been in judicial custody for over a month after being arrested in the alleged money laundering case. Congress sources say that Sonia Gandhi’s meeting with DK Shivakumar lasted for around 30 minutes. This is the second time the Congress supremo has visited Tihar Jail in the last couple of months. In September, Sonia Gandhi visited former Union Minister P Chidambaram, who has been lodged in judicial custody in the INX Media case. Sonia Gandhi’s visit comes just hours ahead of DK Shivakumar’s bail hearing in the Delhi High Court on Wednesday. “Her visit was to show solidarity for DK Shivakumar. Her visit was to show that even if Shivakumar got bail or not, the party would back him completely,” the source said. Congress insiders say that Sonia Gandhi’s visit was also meant as a message to party leaders and DK Shivakumar’s detractors in Karnataka that the high command has offered him complete support. “There are many factions in the Karnataka Congress and Sonia Gandhi’s visit is also a message to those who wanted Dk Shivakumar’s wings clipped that the party will back him completely and also a reminder that it is not the time for petty infighting,” the source added. The 57-year-old legislator was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on September 3 on allegations of money laundering. DK Shivakumar was denied by the Special CBI court in New Delhi earlier in September. Shivakumar had challenged the trial court’s order that had denied him bail. The Enforcement Directorate had opposed DK Shivakumar’s bail plea alleging that he would intimidate witnesses as he is an influential person and that he could also tamper with evidence due to the influence he holds in the country. DK Shivakumar, is a seven-time MLA from Karnataka and was booked under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) along with a former employee of Karnataka Bhavan Hanumantha, Sunil Kumar Sharma and another associate after the Income Tax Department filed a chargesheet against Shivakumar in 2018. The I-T Department had accused Shivakumar of tax evasion and setting up hawala networks to convert black money to white.    

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For women’s safety, 16000 CCTV cameras to be set up in Bengaluru under Nirbhaya fund

Crime

The cost of the project will be shared by the Karnataka government and the Centre in a 40:60 ratio.

TNM Staff

The Karnataka Cabinet on Tuesday approved a plan to install more than 16,000 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, safety lights, and emergency buttons across Bengaluru for the purpose of ensuring women’s safety. The proposal was under the Nirbhaya fund to implement the Safe City Project in Bengaluru, Rs 667 crore and will be completed in a three year period. The cost of the project will be shared by the state and Centre in a 40:60 ratio. Speaking to reporters following the decision, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister JC Madhuswamy said the location of these cameras will be identified by the Bengaluru police based on the GIS mapping of crimes. Each CCTV camera will have an emergency light and a panic button, which when pressed will emit a loud siren and alert nearby police personnel, as per a report in TOI.  “When the switch is depressed it will send out an alert to the command and control centre (CCC). The CCC will in turn alert patrol cars to rush to the scene,” the minister told The Times of India. A PTI report said that the 16,000 cameras will include 7,500 day/night surveillance cameras, 5,000 fixed cameras, 1,000 pan tilt zoom cameras, 1,000 automated number plate recognition cameras, 500 facial recognition cameras, 20 drone-based surveillance cameras and 1,100 body-worn cameras. The Nirbhaya funds have been sanctioned by the Union Ministry for Women and Child Development. Other than Bengaluru, other cities that are part of this scheme are Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Lucknow.    

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Bengaluru club Bowring Institute may lose part of land leased out for fuel station

Controversy

Revenue Minister R Ashoka said the club might be fined too for Rs 3.1 crore

TNM Staff

The elite Bengaluru club Bowring Institute, set up on a 12-acre campus on St. Mark’s Road in the city centre, is set to lose 150ft x 100ft of space for allegedly violating state government norms. This 150ft x 100ft of space has been rented out by the club to Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to run a fuel station. Revenue Minister R Ashoka said, “The club has violated the terms and conditions of the agreement with the government by sub-letting it to a petrol bunk. We’ll take back the land and hand it to BBMP which will use it for public service,” The Times of India reported. The club may also be asked to pay a fine of Rs 3.1 crore. The fine amount was based on the calculation made by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report in 2014. The Hindu reported that land was granted to Bowring under rule 19 (4) (VIII) of the Karnataka Land Grant rules, according to the CAG report. The report said although it had rented it out to a third party after obtaining permission, it had not remitted 50% of the rent to the government as legally mandated. However, the Bowring Institute refuted the allegations saying they have paid the 50% remission regularly to the state Treasury. It said that the land was sub-leased based on a 1969 Government Order (GO). “The circumstances that were prevailing then was that Cantonment area suffered shortage of kerosene, petrol and diesel. The land was leased to ensure supply of essential commodities,” club secretary HS Srikanth said.  He added, “The IOC has already been intimated that there will be no more extension of the lease as the club requires the area for its own activities.” Speaking to The Hindu, he also acknowledged the CAG report and said that he had already replied to a notice by the Bengaluru DC in November, 2018.

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Karnataka High Court directs HAL employees to call off strike

Strike

"It is obligatory for the workforce to call off the strike and resume work, failing which (it) would amount to contempt of the court," said the statement.

IANS

File image

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday directed workers of the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) Ltd to call off their indefinite strike, which entered the ninth day. "The high court has passed an interim order restraining the HAL Association, its office-bearers and workforce from continuing their ongoing strike, including go-slow, work-to-rule or any form of agitation or disrupting daily activities and its offices in Bengaluru," said the city-based defence major in a statement in Bengaluru. About 20,000 employees, including 10,000 here, have been on indefinite strike since October 14 for revision of their wages since January 1, 2017. "It is obligatory for the workforce to call off the strike and resume work, failing which (it) would amount to contempt of the court," said the statement. The company sought the high court's intervention for withdrawing the strike through a writ petition on October 18, stating that the trade unions had no legal right to go on strike under the Industrial Disputes Act. 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 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 company's 8,000 officers and executives and 11,000 contract workers, however, are not participating in the strike. The trade union office-bearers and members were waiting for the court's order to decide on their next course of action. "We will discuss the court's order and explore options, including legal, for ensuring our demands are met by the company's management," a union leader told IANS in Bengaluru.

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After flak, K'taka govt says detention centre for illegal immigrants different from NRC

Controversy

The govt has sought to differentiate the purpose of the detention centre built in Nelamangala, around 40 km from Bengaluru, from an NRC-like exercise.

Prajwal Bhat

PTI/ File image of NRC in Assam

The Karnataka government has decided to spell out that it's proposed plan of implementing an exercise like the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state was different from the detention centre for illegal immigrants that is set to open soon. The development comes three weeks after state Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced that the state government is collecting information on illegal immigrants and that the National Register of Citizens (NRC), first implemented in Assam, is being discussed with a view of implementing it in Karnataka. However, after receiving flak from many quarters for the proposal to implement the controversial NRC in the state, Basavaraj Bommai sought to differentiate the purpose of the detention centre in Nelamangala from an NRC-like exercise.  "The detention centre is a different issue. A detention centre is in Delhi for a long time. A similar detention centre was built by the Social Welfare department and it will be operational very soon. This has nothing to do with NRC. It is to detain illegal immigrants without required documents like visa and passport," Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai told reporters on Tuesday.  However, he added that there was no question of abandoning the idea of NRC in Karnataka. "There is no question of dropping NRC. The policy (decision) has to be taken by the central government. I repeat what I have said that we are trying to get the database and once that database is there, we will submit it to the Home Ministry (Union Government) and a decision will be taken," Basavaraj Bommai said.  Karnataka government has repurposed a hostel built for SC/ST students in Nelamangala, around 40 km outside Bengaluru, into a detention centre for illegal immigrants. The hostel was built in 1992 and closed down in 2008. 

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Heavy rains disrupt normal life in Karnataka, more rainfall likely

Rains

Heavy to very heavy rainfall has been predicted in coastal areas till October 25, with scattered and isolated rains on October 23-24.

IANS

PTI

Heavy to very heavy rains across Karnataka disrupted normal life, caused rivers to overflow, inundated low-lying areas and hit vehicular traffic, a weather official said on Tuesday. "Due to the low pressure in the Arabia Sea on the west and depression in the Bay of Bengal in the east have created conditions for heavy to very heavy rains and thundershowers across the state with strong surface winds," a Meteorological Department official told IANS here. Besides flood alert in the coastal areas and evacuation of people from low-lying areas and river banks in northern districts, the authorities declared holidays for schools and colleges in rain-soaked Belagavi, Bagalkote and Vijayapura districts till Friday ahead of the Diwali festival. "With heavy to very heavy rains forecast over the next four days, we have issued an orange alert and red alert for extremely heavy rainfall across the state as a precautionary measure to ensure safety of the people, cattle and houses," said the official. Orange alert indicates heavy to very heavy rainfall and red alert extremely heavy rainfall. Rainfall from 7-12 cm is considered heavy and 12-20 cm as very heavy. Torrential downpour above 20cm is termed as extreme rainfall. "Orange alert mandates the state machinery to be ready for rain-related exigency while red alert demands action. Yellow alert makes the authorities keep a watch and stay vigilant," added the official. Regionwise, the forecast is heavy to very heavy rainfall in coastal areas till October 25, with scattered and isolated rains on October 23-24. In north interior areas, isolated heavy to very heavy rains are predicted from October 23-26. In south interior areas, widespread rains have been forecast on October 23-24. Rains and thundershowers continued to lash several districts across the southern state, including Kolar, Bengaluru, Mandya, Mysuru, Kodagu, Chikkamgaluru, Hubli-Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Raichur, Yadgir and Uttara Kannada. According to Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority Director G.S. Srinivasa Reddy, streams and rivers are in spate due to heavy rains across the state, especially in catchment areas. "Areas which used to get less rains are getting more rains this time. Heavy rainfall in the neighbouring Maharashtra has led to heavy inflows into our state's northern districts, resulting in submergence of Kudthini and Athini road bridges in Belagavi district" Reddy told IANS. Relief camps have been set up at Belagavi, Bagalkot, Chikkmagaluru, Kodagu, Haveri, Chitradurga, Gadag, Dharwad to shelter 2,180 people shifted from low-lying and flood-hit areas. Preliminary property damage report 5,444 houses affected and 45 animal deaths. A dozen camps were set up to shelter 130 cattle. "Three National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) teams have been pressed into service, with two at Belagavi and one at Gadag. Three more teams to be stationed at Dharwad, Bagalkote and Haveri," added Reddy.

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Student death in Bengaluru: Students demand Amritanandamayi should address their issues

Controversy

Police continued to remain on campus even though no classes were held.

Soumya Chatterjee

Students of Amrita School of Engineering in Bengaluru’s Kasavanahalli near Bellandur continued their protest for the second straight day on Tuesday. This after a fellow student had killed himself following alleged harassment by the college administration. On Monday, Harsha, a fourth-year engineering student had killed himself after college authorities rusticated him, after days of alleged harassment. Police continued to remain on campus even though no classes were held. No incidents of violence were reported on Tuesday. Read: Amrita Engineering college student in Bengaluru kills self, students protest alleging harassment The students demanded that the accused must be punished swiftly and that the Chancellor of the Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham and Kerala-based spiritual leader Amritanandamayi should reach Bengaluru and address the students about how the management will solve the ongoing issue. A proposal by the management to announce holiday on account of Monday’s tragedy was also rejected by the students unanimously.  Students that TNM spoke to said that they have been told that Amritanandamayi is currently in Switzerland. The students then asked Dean Sasangan Ramanathan who operates out of Coimbatore to come and address them, but this demand too was declined. This led to the students continuing their sit-in protests at the college campus. “We have no faith in the current administration . We want our Chancellor to come and suggest a way out. We will not compromise and will continue our protests,” one of the protestors said. He added, “All the students are gathered in the college to fight for justice and to make sure that this doesn't happen with any other student."  The problem in the college started as students were frustrated that repeated complaints on the lack of decent food and sufficient water at the hostel were not acknowledged.  The protests in September led to an incident of vandalism in which windscreens and windows of six college-owned buses were broken. The college’s disciplinary action committee wanted Harsha to 'confess' his involvement in the incident of vandalism. This despite another student apparently telling the committee that Harsha was in no way involved. In a statement, the students also said the director of the institute Dhanraj Swami had allegedly ridiculed the student’s demand in a formal meeting where he apparently joked that the failure of Chandrayaan-2 and depreciation of the rupee was the reason behind the college not being able to pay water tankers. 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. They alleged all the students were punished arbitrarily without any iota of evidence. Meanwhile, Parappana Agrahara Police Station Inspector Venu told TNM that they are still investigating the case.

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