Couple allegedly killed by woman's relatives in Karnataka, police deny caste angle

Crime

The couple had married three years ago in spite of objections raised by family members since they were of different castes, a local resident said.

TNM Staff

Image for representation

A couple was killed in Lakkalakatti village of Gadag district of Karnataka after they were allegedly attacked with clubs and stones on Wednesday afternoon. The brother and uncle of the woman, Gangavva, were arrested for the murders. The couple, Ramesh (29) and Gangavva (23), had married three years ago in spite of objections raised by family members since they were of different castes, a local resident said. The duo had fled the village and had been working in Bengaluru and Shivamogga as construction labourers. According to a resident of the area, the couple used to visit the village once a year for 1-2 days. "There were panchayat raj discussions held with seniors in the village. They had warned the couple not to visit the village for 3-4 years because it hurt their pride but this year, the couple visited during Deepavali and stayed on for 8 days," a local source said. Ramesh was a Dalit man, while Gangavva belonged to the Lambani caste. They eloped and married each other three years ago. On Wednesday afternoon, at around 3 pm, the couple was allegedly attacked by Ravi and Shivaji, Gangavva's brother and uncle respectively, in front of their house. The duo allegedly beat the couple to death and then surrendered themselves at the Gajendragad police station on the same evening. Police officials investigating the case however denied that caste was the reason for the murder. "Ravi and Ramesh were friends and were close to each other. Ravi was irked that Ramesh fell in love with his sister and married her. This led to a rivalry between them and over the years, this personal animosity aggravated", Gadag Superintendent of Police Shrinath Joshi said. Police are on the lookout for two more men believed to be involved in the murder.

Body 2: 

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

Doctors protest: Members of pro-Kannada group that attacked Bengaluru doctor detained

Protest

This comes amidst the statewide bandh on all non-emergency services declared by the Indian Medical Association on Friday.

Dr Nimeshika Jayachandran

Seven days after doctors in Bengaluru started their protests, around thirty people belonging to the pro-Kannada outfit Kannada Raksha Vedike (KRV) were taken into police custody on Friday in connection with the probe into the attack on the PG student doctor at Bengaluru’s Victoria Hospital. “No arrests have been made, we are just conducting preliminary investigations. Around thirty people have been brought into our custody and discussions are underway,” a police official from the VV Puram station said to TNM.   While no official decision has been announced with regards to the protests, discussions are being held and updates are expected shortly.  It all began one week ago on November 1 when a mob of around thirty people stormed into the outpatient clinic of the Minto Eye Hospital located inside the campus of Bengaluru’s Victoria Hospital. The mob, allegedly comprising of members of the pro-Kannada group Kannada Raksha Vedike, surrounded a female postgraduate student doctor who was on duty and began asking her about an earlier incident which took place in July. When she replied in English, the agitated group attacked her, asking why she was not speaking in Kannada. KRV members TNM spoke to earlier, however, had claimed that they were there to ‘seek compensation’ on behalf of those who had lost their vision after their cataract eye surgery went wrong. Following the attack on the doctor, a complaint was lodged with the VV Puram Police by Dr HS Satish, the Dean of Bangalore Medical College (BMC), which is associated with Victoria Hospital.  The next day, November 2, doctors from Victoria Hospital and medical students of BMC began protesting outside the outpatient block of the hospital. Consultants were sparse in the clinics of the hospital as many took to protesting against the attack on the doctor. As the indefinite strike at the Bengaluru hospital continued, the Karnataka branch of the Indian Medical Association took cognisance of the issue and declared that a statewide bandh of non-emergency services would be in effect on Friday.      

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/32uCGi0
via IFTTT

Disqualified Karnataka MLAs move SC, want December 5 bye-polls to be deferred

Court

While the Supreme Court refused to direct the Election Commission to defer the polls, it has agreed to hear the MLAs’ plea.

TNM Staff

The disqualified MLAs in Karnataka on Friday moved the Supreme Court seeking that the bye-elections in the state be deferred till the court pronounces its decision on their disqualification. The bye-elections are scheduled to be held on December 5.  The 17 Karnataka rebel MLAs of Congress and JD(S) have moved the court challenging their disqualification by the then Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. While the Supreme Court refused to direct the Election Commission to defer the polls, it has agreed to hear the MLAs in court.  Earlier this week, the Supreme Court told the Congress party that the judgement is ready in the Karnataka disqualification case and asked the party to wait for the verdict. The court was hearing the application moved by Congress counsel Kapil Sibal, asking the court to take on record the audio tape, allegedly of Karnataka Chief Minister Yediyurappa, as evidence in connection with the 17 disqualified MLAs' case.  On October 15, a bench of Justices N V Ramana, Sanjiv Khanna and Krishna Murari, after three days of continuous hearing, reserved its judgement in the case and asked the counsels to submit documents related to the matter. In July, the then Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar had disqualified the MLAs, rejecting the resignations tendered by them. Those MLAs had remained absent from the House on July 23 when former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy put the confidence motion to vote. The disqualified legislators had moved the top court, challenging the Speaker's action saying it was in gross violation of the apex court orders, and that it was illegal and unconstitutional. The rebel MLAs stated that the Speaker overreached his mandate under the Constitution while taking a decision on their resignation and then disqualified them against the law and the directions given by the top court. A battery of senior advocates appeared in the case. Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Rajeev Dhavan, Devadatta Kamat and K Shashi Kiran Shetty represented Congress and JD(S) parties. Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi, C A Sundaram, V V Giri, A K Ganguli, K V Vishwanathan appeared for the MLAs. (With IANS inputs)

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2qC3Kyw
via IFTTT

‘Stopped covering stormwater drains with concrete slabs on KSPCB direction’: BBMP to HC

The Karnataka High Court was hearing a PIL related to deaths owing to people falling into drains during heavy rain.

TNM Staff

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Thursday told the Karnataka High Court that it had stopped covering stormwater drains (SWDs) with concrete slabs, based on a Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) direction, reports said.  The HC Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice SR Krishna Kumar, was hearing a PIL related to deaths owing to people falling into drains during heavy rain. The KSPCB direction in turn, was based on the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) July 2018 directions in a case related to such drains in Haryana, reported The Hindu. The BBMP also said that it had not taken any expert view on the issue and only went by the KSPCB directions. But later, the BBMP got technical advise from M Inayathulla, a professor of Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Civil Engineering Department (PG-Water Resources Engineering). Inayathulla had opined that covering drains would make it susceptible to choking and accumulation of silt, leading to flooding, after he visited certain SWDs. This submission was made by BS Prahallad, BBMP’s chief engineer, SWD, in an affidavit. The Times of India reported that the submission mentioned an experience in Peenya Industrial Area where in one instance, slabs had to be broken to clear the silt. The Hindu quoted the expert view from Inayathulla as stating that illegal sewage outlets are harder to detect in covered drains, and open SWDs help in aeration of sewage and increases the self-cleaning capacity of drains. In an earlier hearing, it was reported the court was told that chain link fencing done by the BBMP was not sufficient to prevent people falling into SWDs. According to data maintained by BBMP itself, just 230.68 kilometre length of SWDs of the total length of 842 km has been fenced and there is a proposal to fence only another 125.38 km by the end of 2021.  

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2CqxZv4
via IFTTT

Three players of national basketball team involved in roadside scuffle in Bengaluru

Sports/Controversy

The scuffle reportedly took place as the players were returning to the national camp on Wednesday night.

TNM Staff

Amjyot Singh/ Facebook

Three players of the Indian national basketball team — Amjyot Singh, Arshpreet Bhullar and Amritpal Singh, were allegedly involved in a roadside scuffle in Bengaluru on Wednesday, media reports said.  According to the Times of India, a three-member inquiry committee of the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) is probing the incident. The Indian basketball team is in Bengaluru to take part in the national camp. The scuffle reportedly took place as the players were returning to the national camp on Wednesday night and were injured in a road accident. The story came to light as Amjyot Singh posted a photo of his injured knee and arms on Instagram and accused the BFI of “suppressing” his voice.  The Indian Express reported that the fight resulted not only in injuries but also a damaged gold chain and broken spectacles. The TOI report said the trio of Amjyot, Arshpreet, and Amritpal, and an under-17 campaigner, had stepped out of the campus on two bikes without informing the officials or coaches in charge of the camp.  The four have now been issued show cause notices on why they violated the camp’s protocol, confirmed BFI secretary general Chander Mukhi Sharma to TOI. He said, “Since the two met with the accident, they feared that their act of indiscipline would come out in public. Arshpreet was furious about Amjyot not riding the bike carefully and fought with him. A scuffle broke out and the two hit each other.” However, the IE report claims that the fight ensured after Amjyot was allegedly forced by Arshdeep to consume alcohol.  “Last night, Arshdeep, Amritpal and I went to the nearby hill outside our training centre as it was our day off from practice. Arshdeep offered me coke which had rum in it and we had a minor altercation,” Amjyot told IE. Incidentally, Amjyot is not new to controversy. He was earlier banned for a year by the BFI along with another player Palpreet SIngh for allegedly slapping Arshpreet and then team captain Yadwinder Singh, during the Commonwealth Games in Australia. The Indian team is set to play in the South Asian Games that will be held in Nepal from December 1 to 10. 

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/33uXxmD
via IFTTT

Centre denies plan to allow machines to be used in NREGA

Rural Issues

Officials from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have denied making any request to allow the use of machines in the rural employment scheme.

Mithun MK

Alarm bells went off among state government officials in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka overseeing National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) implementation when reports claimed that the Centre was willing to allow the use of machines in the rural employment scheme. The report that came out on Thursday claimed that three states had sent proposals in October to the Centre to allow the use of machines were under “active consideration”. Those working closely with the rural employment scheme in Andhra Pradesh say if machines are allowed, it would wreck the livelihoods of those who depend on the scheme. However, Panchayath Raj department officials from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have denied that any such proposal was made to the Centre by them. Furthermore, a Union Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) official speaking to TNM also denied having received such a proposal from the states or even considering allowing the use of machines for works under NREGS. Report quoting unnamed official A report that first appeared in the Hindustan Times on October 30 claimed that Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka had written to the Ministry of Rural Department seeking relaxation in rules to allow the use of machines for executing projects in difficult terrain. The report quoted an unnamed official, who said, “The states feel that a limited exemption of use of heavy machines or bulldozers in such difficult terrain can actually help the scheme and also meet construction targets.” The official cited in the report had said that the proposal if accepted, would be done through executive orders and not through an amendment to the NREGA Act in Parliament. Under NREGS, works executed by the programme implementation agencies shall be performed only by using manual labour and no labour displacing machines can be used. On November 7, another report appeared in the Hindustan Times citing two unnamed officials as saying that the Centre was “actively considering” the proposal sent by the three states. The officials told the newspaper that even if machines were allowed for certain work under the scheme the wages of workers would not be affected. “We have received the proposals. We are actively considering proposals to allow machines in a very limited way in NREGS,” a senior rural development ministry official told HT on Wednesday. No proposal sent, no proposal received However, speaking to TNM the Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj department Additional Commissioner for NREGA, Balasubramaniyam said, “We have not sent the Centre any such proposal, the report is false. Any use of machines that are in the scheme requires an amendment to the NREGA Act,”. The Karnataka Panchayath Raj department Joint Director (Technical) for NREGA, VM Mahesh also denied the state had sent any such proposal that would affect NREGA workers, “We do use machines such as road rollers or compressors for building roads, but any other machines that will displace workers would require a request that comes from the block level and only after reviewing the need of it, is permission granted. ” Amarjeet Sinha, Secretary, Union MoRD told TNM that no such proposals were received from any state by the Centre either, “We will not be taking any measures that would impact the poorest in the country who depend on NREGA for a livelihood. Some states (such as Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh) where the market rates are high we have received complaints from the state that there have been instances where machines were used and fake rosters of workers were sent for approval. There are no plans to allow machines for use in NREGA,” Madhya Pradesh NREGA commissioner's office was unavailable for a comment Those working for the better implementation of the NREGA scheme in Andhra Pradesh say if the state or the Centre allows the use of machines it would severely affect the livelihood of tribal communities in the Eastern Ghats where the terrain is rocky, “Such a move would pave the way for the contracts to make their way into works under NREGS. During summer the particularly vulnerable tribal groups they rely a lot on NREGS for their sustenance and survival, allowing machines would deprive them of a livelihood,” said Chakradhar Buddha, program manager, with Libtech India, a group of team of engineers, social workers and social scientists working with tribals in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. “We have been demanding for years that the Eastern Ghats areas should be by default be declared as rocky soil, the state government has always denied as they look at work allotment on a case by case basis. Thus only 5% work gets allotted under this category, this results in a lot of workers not getting the work and wages they deserve,” he pointed out, adding that if machines are allowed for the work, it would only benefit the contracts and the big farmers who want to retain the NREGS workers as agricultural labourers in their farms. Both Andhra state government and the MoRD told TNM that they would be sending rejoinders to Hindustan Times for factual inaccuracy over the two reports.

Body 2: 

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

Outpatient services at K’taka hospitals to be affected on Friday as IMA declares bandh

Protest

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has announced the bandh in a show of support for the postgraduate student who was attacked by a pro-Kannada group at a hospital in Bengaluru.

Dr Nimeshika Jayachandran

Doctors protest at Victoria Hospital

Six days into the protests by doctors at Bengaluru’s Victoria Hospital, the state branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has announced a statewide bandh on Friday. The outpatient services at all hospitals in Karnataka will be affected. Speaking to media, Dr Srinivas, IMA Karnataka’s Secretary, said that the decision was taken to show their support for the postgraduate student from Bangalore Medical College, who was assaulted by a pro-Kannada group on November 1. Several resident doctors and medical students from the college have been protesting since November 2 at the government-run Victoria Hospital, which is affiliated with Bangalore Medical College. On Friday, a postgraduate student was mobbed by members of the Kannada Raksha Vedike (KRV).  This was after two patients lost their eyesight after a cataract surgery performed at Minto Eye Hospital (attached to Bangalore Medical College) in July. According to reports, the two patients approached the KRV group, who, in turn, reached the eye hospital. A video of the incident shows the mob walking into the hospital and accosting the female doctor, who was tending to patients in the ophthalmology outpatient clinic at the time. The men are seen chanting different slogans like: “We want justice”, “we need a solution”, and “down, down to the doctors of Minto”. However, things took a turn when the postgraduate student replied to the mob’s enquiry in English, after which they began asking why she wasn’t speaking in Kannada. Following this, doctors have been protesting on the premises of Victoria Hospital and boycotting the non-emergency medical services. Dr HS Satish, the Dean of Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, also filed a complaint at the VV Puram police station. The police registered an FIR against unknown persons of the KRV group, although they are yet to be arrested. The protesting doctors have demanded action against the perpetrators. “It has been almost a week and no arrests or action has been taken against those who attacked the student. We, at IMA, have decided to stand by the doctor and have declared that there will be a statewide bandh on Friday. All outpatient facilities and non-emergency medical services will be boycotted,” stated Dr Jyothi, a member of the Karnataka IMA.

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/33u4aWk
via IFTTT