Namma Metro suspends services between Yelachenahalli and RV Road from Nov 14 to 17

Transport

Alternate BMTC Metro feeder buses will be provided on all four days for the benefit of passengers affected by the suspension of services.

TNM Staff

File photo

Bengaluru Metro train services between Yelachenahalli and RV Road on the Green Line will be suspended for four days, from November 14 to 17. Normal train services will resume from the morning of November 18. The suspension of services is to accommodate the work being undertaken to convert the RV Road Metro station into an interchange station between the Green line and the proposed Electronic City Metro Corridor. Alternate BMTC Metro feeder buses will be provided on all four days for the benefit of passengers affected by the suspension of the services. These buses can be availed at the affected metro stations and will stop at the intermediate Metro stations – Banashankari and JP Nagar. The buses will be available from 4.45 am onwards from the Yelachenahalli Metro station and from 5.30 am onwards at the RV Road Metro station. They will be available up to 10.30 pm at the Yelachenahalli Metro station and up to 11.45 pm at the RV Metro station. However, on Sunday, November 17, the bus services will start later in the morning; at 6.30 am from Yelachenahalli and at 7.15 am from RV Road. The work being undertaken is to launch viaduct superstructures south of the RV Road Metro station. Viaducts are structures that are designed to cross waterbodies and valleys with several short arches without the construction of a bridge. BMRCL expects to finish the scheduled work within the four days. This work comes close on the heels of the Karnataka government’s decision to extend the service of the state-run Metro network to 300 km from the current 119 km. This comes at a whopping cost of Rs 30,695 crore. The service is expected to take thousands of vehicles off the road. All other Metro services will continue as usual next week. The Purple Line will not be affected by this work.

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Karnataka bye-polls on December 5, Model Code of Conduct kicks in from Monday

Politics

The SC will announce its verdict on the rebel MLAs case on November 13

TNM Staff

The Election Commission of India on Sunday announced that the byepolls in 15 Karnataka Assembly seats will be conducted on December 5 as earlier announced. For the same, the Model code of conduct will come into force from Monday in the district(s) in which the whole or any part of the Assembly constituency going for election is included, subject to partial modification. The announcement by EC comes after the Supreme Court on Friday said the fate of the 17 disqualified Karnataka MLAs will be decided on November 13. These MLAs of the former JD(S)-Congress coalition government had resigned from their positions to pave way for the BJP to form a government in the state. The MLAs are hoping for a favourable verdict as they want to contest the bye-elections in the 17 constituencies. The bye-elections to 15 constituencies were initially scheduled for October 21 but it was later deferred until the three-judge bench decides on the petitions by the 17 disqualified legislators. Bye-elections to RR Nagar and Maski are yet to be announced. The bye-elections were first rescheduled for December 5 but the disqualified MLAs once again moved the SC to further defer the polls until the case is resolved. The polling will happen in 4185 polling stations. The 17 rebels include Pratap Gouda Patil, BC Patil, Shivaram Hebbar, ST Someshekhar, Byrati Basavraj, Anand Singh, R Roshan Baig, Muniratna, K Sudhakar, MTB Nagaraj, Shrimant Patil, Ramesh Jarkiholi, Mahesh Kumatahalli and R Shankar from the Congress and JD(S) legislators AH Vishwanath, Gopalaiah and Narayana Gowda. For the byepolls, the EC said an integrated Complaint Monitoring and Media Monitoring centre has been established in the O/o Chief Electoral Officer, 2nd floor, East Wing, Khanija Bhavan, Race Course Road, Bengaluru. Other than letters and email at ceo.karnataka@gmail.com, voters can complain of violations through National Grievances Redressal System (NGRS) web portal, or by calling 1950  toll free number for District Voter Helpline and 1800 4255 1950 for State Voter Helpline.

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IMA scam: Former Bengaluru Urban DC Vijay Shankar, 2 others booked for taking bribe

Crime

The move comes after the CBI on Friday conducted raids on two IPS officers in the state.

TNM Staff

Just a day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided IPS officers in Karnataka, including Hemant Nimbalkar and Ajay Hilory, in the I-Monetary Advisory (IMA) scam, a case has been registered against IAS officer BM Vijay Shankar. Vijay Shankar was the Deputy Commissioner for Urban Bengaluru district when the scam broke out. Other than Vijay Shankar, the CBI has booked LC Nagaraj, the then Sub-Division Officer, Bangalore North Division; Manjunath, Village Accountant, officiating at Sub-Division Office, Bangalore North Division; among others. All of them have been booked under Section 7 (Public servant taking gratification other than legal remuneration); Section 7(A) (taking undue advantage of public), Section 8 (Taking gratification, in order, by corrupt or illegal means, to influence public servant) and Section 12 (Punishment for abetment of offences defined in section 7) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.  In a release, the CBI said. “Vijay Shankar and Nagaraj accepted illegal gratification from the Directors of IMA Group of companies through Manjunath who acted as a mediator for the transaction. The illegal gratification was demanded and accepted by the above two public servants for forwarding a favourable report to Government in an enquiry into the illegal activities of IMA Group of Companies which was under their consideration.” It added, “The illegal gratification of Rs 1.5 crores demanded by Shri. B.M. Vijay Shankar was delivered to a real estate.” Further, Nagaraj obtained an illegal gratification of Rs 4 crores and Manjunath, who acted as a mediator for these transactions, accepted Rs 8 lakhs as illegal gratification from the Directors of IMA Company, the CBI said. IMA has allegedly duped over 40,000 investors to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore under the pretext of ‘halal’ investment. The scam broke out on June 10, after thousands of investors accused the Managing Director of IMA, Mohammed Mansoor Khan, of cheating them. While the investigations were started by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) as ordered by former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, the CBI is currently probing under the orders of current Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. Incidentally, this is the third FIR registered by the CBI in the case.

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Karnataka remains peaceful post Ayodhya verdict

Police said the decision to extend Section 144 throughout the state will lie with the district police chiefs and local magistrates taking a call on the local conditions.

IANS

Karnataka state witnessed no untoward incident on Saturday, post Supreme Court's landmark verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute, said a police official. "No violence or any sort of untoward incident occurred in Karnataka or Bengaluru. Absolutely peaceful," Karnataka Additional Director General of Police Amar Kumar Pandey told IANS. Neither violence nor any rally of any sort was reported from across the state or in Bengaluru following the verdict on the decades-long dispute, Pandey said. Interestingly, the top police official confirmed that no party erupted in joy with pyrotechnics or sweets distribution in the light of the Supreme Court decision. Earlier in the day, a five-member Constitutional bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, delivered the judgement in New Delhi, directing the central government to hand over the disputed land to the Hindus for building a Ram temple by a state-run trust. Pandey said the decision to extend Section 144 throughout the state will lie with the district police chiefs and local magistrates taking a call on the local conditions. Similarly, the decision on the liquor ban across the state will also be taken by local district authorities, factoring in the prevailing situation, added Pandey.  BCP has made elaborate security arrangements in view of #AYODHYAVERDICT as a precautionary measure to ensure safety and security of the citizens. For any emergency inform Dial-100 or nearest Police Station. pic.twitter.com/tJkSBFWMdZ — BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) November 9, 2019 Aiming at thwarting any untoward incident on Friday after the Supreme Court verdict, security has been tightened across the city and state. All Bengaluru schools and colleges were shut and Section 144 of the CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code) was in force from 7:00 a.m. to be continued till midnight on Saturday to prevent assembling of more than five persons in public places. Bengaluru police deployed 15,000 policemen and women with additional 50 platoons of Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP), 30 platoons of the City Armed Police (CAR) and 20 platoons of home guards were roped in to be deployed in sensitive areas. Despite the heightened security, life was normal in Bengaluru like any other Saturday.

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SC to pronounce verdict in disqualified Karnataka MLAs case on Nov 13

Politics

The verdict will come with less than a month to go for the bye-elections to 15 constituencies in Karnataka.

TNM Staff

The fate of the 17 disqualified Karnataka MLAs will be decided on November 13 when the Supreme Court delivers its judgment in the case. It was on Friday that the disqualified MLAs had moved the Supreme Court seeking bye-elections in Karnataka to be deferred until the court announced its decision regarding their disqualification. The bye-elections to 15 constituencies are scheduled for December 5, which the disqualified MLAs sought to be deferred. In July, the then Karnataka Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar disqualified 17 MLAs, belonging to the Congress and JD(S), rejecting the resignations submitted by them. The Speaker also barred them from contesting in bye-elections until the end of the present Assembly term. Defying their respective party whips, those MLAs were absent from the House on July 23 when former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy put the confidence motion to vote. The rebellion also allowed the BJP to come to power in Karnataka. The disqualified MLAs moved the Supreme Court challenging the Speaker's decision. They said it was in violation of the apex court orders and that it was illegal and unconstitutional. The rebel MLAs said that the Speaker was overreaching the mandate of the Constitution in rejecting the resignations and disqualifying them. Several senior advocates appeared in the case. While senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Rajeev Dhavan, Devadatta Kamat and K Shashi Kiran Shetty represented the 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. The bye-elections to 15 constituencies were initially scheduled for October 21 but it was later deferred until the three-judge bench decides on the petitions by the 17 disqualified legislators. Bye-elections to RR Nagar and Maski are yet to be announced. The bye-elections were then rescheduled for December 5 but the disqualified MLAs once again moved the SC to further defer the polls until the case is resolved.

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Bengaluru metro worker dies after iron beam collapses at construction site

Accident

Two other workers were injured in the incident and are currently hospitalised.

Prajwal Bhat

Image for representation

A 24-year-old construction worker was killed and two others were injured after an iron beam being dismantled fell on them at a metro station construction site in Electronic City on Thursday. The incident occurred near Veerasandra Junction at 6:30 pm. S Kantha Senapati, a construction worker from Odisha, and two others were dismantling the structure using a chain-pulley when the beam fell on them from over 10 feet height. All three workers were immediately rushed to a hospital, where Senapati succumbed to his injuries on Friday morning.  An FIR was registered against Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) under section 304(A) of the IPC (causing death by negligence) at the Electronic City police station. "We have registered a case against BMRCL officials based on the complaint given by the victim's cousin. In the complaint, it was stated that the beam has fallen from above. We are investigating the incident," Kishore Kumar, police inspector at Electronic City police station, told TNM. The victim's body was shifted to the mortuary at St John's Medical College Hospital and a post-mortem was conducted on Saturday.  The incident comes a month after BMRCL stated that a total of 22 people have been killed and four others injured in construction work since 2013. Authorities said they do not have records of workers who were injured or killed between 2007 and 2013. Reacting to the incident, BMRCL managing director Ajay Seth told the Times of India, “It was a construction accident. An iron beam from the support arrangement fell while being dismantled.” The Huskur Metro Station is being built at the site of the incident. The station was proposed in the Yellow Line of the Bengaluru Metro's Phase 2 between Electronic City and Hebbagodi stations. The yellow line will connect RV Road and Bommasandra in the city and will have 16 elevated metro stations. Huskur was one of the elevated metro stations.  

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Bengaluru doctor attack: 12 pro-Kannada activists who were arrested get bail

Crime

The VV Puram Police had arrested 12 Karnataka Rakshana Vedike activists on Friday for harassing a female doctor.

Dr Nimeshika Jayachandran

A Bengaluru sessions court on Saturday granted bail for the 12 Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) activists, who were arrested for allegedly harassing a female doctor at Bengaluru’s Minto Eye Hospital. The VV Puram Police arrested the KRV activists on Friday. “Following the arrests made on Friday the accused were produced before a city court which granted them conditional bail,” Dr Rohini Katoch Sepat, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru South said. It all started on November 1, when a mob of around 30 members of the KRV barged into the outpatient clinic at Minto Eye Hospital, located on the premises of Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru. The members alleged that they were there on behalf of a patient who had lost their vision due to a botched-up cataract surgery, and to ensure that the patient received the promised compensation. In a video of the incident, a large group is seen swarming around the postgraduate student, who was one of the few doctors present in the clinic at the time. One person from the mob begins to question why the doctor didn’t speak in Kannada and spoke in English instead. The situation soon worsened and some of the women in the group physically assaulted the student doctor. Doctors from the hospital and medical students from Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) took to protesting non-emergency services on Friday, demanding the arrest of the KRV activists, who allegedly harassed the female doctor. A state-wide protest of outpatient clinics was also held on Friday under the Indian Medical Association’s Karnataka branch. Following the arrest of the 12 individuals, IMA representatives announced that they would be calling off their strike as well. “We wanted them to arrest the accused and they have done that,” said Dr Pooja, one of the members of the Resident Doctors Association (RDA) on the BMCRI campus. When the activists were produced in a local court, they were granted a conditional bail on furnishing a Rs 50,000 bond each and released.

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