Two die in boiler blast accident at Bengaluru factory, police detain owner

Accident

The explosion has been attributed to the built-up pressure within the boiler as it was not operational for some time.

TNM Staff

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The police in Bengaluru have detained the owner of a textile washing and colouring unit in Peenya after two workers died when a boiler in the factory exploded on Friday night.  According to media reports, the deceased have been identified as Srikanta (40), also known as Kanti, a resident of Kamath Layout in Doddabidarakallu, and Ramesh (35), a native of Bihar. Kanti, who is a native of neighbouring Kunigal taluk of Tumakuru district, had recently joined Santosh Kumar, the owner of the factory, as a business partner.  The factory unit — Phoenix Washtech Garments — is a few years old and was closed for a month due to maintenance work. The explosion has been attributed to the built-up pressure within the boiler as it was not operational for some time.  According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (North), N Shashikumar, the factory was set to resume operations again on Monday after the maintenance period. The mishap occurred when Kanti had gone near the boiler to check if the equipment was working properly.  Ramesh was also at the spot to unload some garments, which were sent for washing and colouring at the time of the explosion. Both of them died at the spot, police said.  Due to the impact of the explosion, even the walls and cement sheets of the factory were damaged. “We have detained Santosh Kumar, a resident of Peenya, for questioning and have taken a case of criminal negligence against him for allegedly failing to take precautionary measures to avoid hazardous incidents,” the Times of India quoted the police as saying. The Hindu reported that the boiler unit was unauthorised. Quoting TR Ramesh, Additional Director, Department of Factories, Boiler, Industrial Safety and Health, it said the washing unit was not authorised by the department and even the boiler was not registered.  The Labour Department officials reportedly said a criminal case will be registered against the factory owner.

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Rs 95 lakh cash, liquor and sarees seized in Karnataka poll code violation

Politics

Meanwhile, the Congress in Karnataka wrote to the EC to file a police complaint against the BJP candidate of Hunsur Assembly segment, where 30,000 sarees were seized.

TNM Staff

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Election Commission officials have seized Rs 95 lakh in cash, 66 litre of liquor valued at Rs 83,000 and 30,000 sarees for violation of the model code of conduct (MCC) in Karnataka's 15 Assembly segments where by-elections are scheduled for December 5, an official said on Saturday. "Our flying squads and surveillance teams with the help of the local police have seized Rs 95 lakh in cash, 66 litre of Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL), 30,000 sarees and other materials from political parties, their candidates and agents since November 11 when the poll code was reinforced ahead of the bypolls," the official said in a statement. In the last 24 hours, Rs 8 lakh in cash and liquor worth Rs 13,335 were seized from some of the constituencies. The poll panel has deployed 248 flying squads, 479 surveillance teams and MCC teams to strictly enforce he poll code in all the 15 Assembly segments, including five in Bengaluru, seven in the state's northwest region and two in the old Mysore region.  In Mysuru, the District Electoral Officer (DEO) seized about 30,000 sarees in 425 plastic bags, intended for distribution to women voters, along with pamphlets containing pictures of former BJP legislator CP Yogeshwar and other ruling party leaders from a godown that was raided in the city's Hebbal industrial area. Taking exception to the development, the Congress has written to the EC to initiate appropriate action. In a letter written to the EC, the Congress has said, “We also request you to kindly direct the respective police to file an FIR against CP Yogeshwar and BJP candidate of Hunsur Assembly Constituency. It is very clearly violating people's Representative Act 1951, under Section 123(1) read with IPC 171(B), 171(E), 171(F). Therefore an FIR against the said persons should be filed and a strict vigilance must be kept till the elections are over in and around Hunsur Assembly Constituency.”  It further alleged, “The present government is also threatening the poll officers and not allowing them to work freely. It is a very serious concern about free and fair elections in Karnataka. Please take more interest and strict action in conducting bye elections in Karnataka.”  Other than this the EC flying squads have registered 29 FIRs against poll code violators in the last six days. Though by-elections have been necessitated in 17 Assembly segments following the resignation of their legislators belonging to the Congress (14) and Janata Dal-Secular (3) in July, they are being held in 15 segments as bypolls in two seats have been withheld due to pending court cases. The bye-elections will be held in Athani, Kagwad, Gokak, Yellapura, Hirekerur, Ranibennur, Vijayanagara, Chickballapura, K.R. Pura, Yeshwanthpura, Mahalakshmi Layout, Shivajinagara, Hosakote, K.R. Pete and Hunsur Assembly segments. Bypolls in Muski (Raichur district) and R.R. Nagar (Bengaluru southwest) have been withheld due to litigation in the Karnataka High Court over their results in the May 2018 Assembly elections. The counting of votes will take place on December 9. "In all, 169 people were detained under the preventive sections of the CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code), 882 arms were deposited, 37 non-bailable warrants were executed and 255 cases booked," the official said. (With IANS inputs)

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Congress names six more candidates for Karnataka bye-polls

Politics

The bye-elections have been necessitated in 17 assembly seats following the resignation of MLAs from the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular).

IANS

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The opposition Congress on Saturday named six more candidates for contesting the 15 Assembly by-elections across Karnataka on December 5. "Interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi has approved the names of the candidates for contesting the Karnataka assembly by-elections," Congress General Secretary Mukul Wasnik in a statement in New Delhi. The candidates are GB Mangasuli (Athani), BA Kage (Kagwad), Lakha Jarkiholi (Gokak), Venkatrao Ghorpade (Vijayanagara), Rizwan Arshad (Shivajinagara) and KB Chandrashekar (KR Pet). The party had announced candidates for eight other Assembly segments on October 31. They are: Bhimmanna Naik (Yellapur), BH Bannikod (Hirekerur), KB Koliwad (Rannebennur), M Anjanappa (Chikkaballapur), M Narayanswamy (KR Pura), M. Shivaraj (Mahalakshmi Layout), Padmavathi Suresh (Hoskote) and H.P Manjunath (Hunsur). The Congress is yet to announce candidate for the Yeshwanthapura seat in Bengaluru north. The by-elections have been necessitated in 17 Assembly segments following the resignation of their legislators belonging to the Congress (14) and Janata Dal-Secular (3) in July. Elections have been withheld in two seats because of pending court cases Bypolls in Muski (Raichur district) and R.R. Nagar (Bengaluru southwest) have been withheld due to litigation in the Karnataka High Court over their results in the May 2018 Aassembly elections. The counting of votes will take place on December 9. The announcement from Congress comes after the JD(S) and BJP both released their first list of candidates on Thursday.  The announcements came just a  day after the Supreme Court decided that the rebel MLAs who resigned from the Congress-JD(S) ruling coalition can contest the bye-polls. Incidentally, all the rebel MLAs except Roshan Baig joined the BJP in presence of Chief Minister and former state president BS Yediyurappa on Wednesday. The BJP has allotted 13 seats to 13 of these rebels and is yet to announce its candidates in 2 seats.

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Residents of Bengaluru’s Haraluru stage protests against poor infrastructure

Civic Issues

Residents, including children, organised a march on the Haraluru Main Road, holding up placards highlighting bad roads and the large number of potholes in the area.

Prajwal Bhat

Hundreds of residents from areas like Haraluru, Silver County Road, Kudlu, Somasundrapalya, Mangamanapalya and HSR Layout Sector 2 in Bengaluru took to the streets on Saturday morning in protest against the lack of infrastructure and amenities in the area. Residents, including children, organised a march on the Haraluru Main Road, holding up placards highlighting bad roads and the large number of potholes in the area.  "A walk or drive through our locality will show the conditions we live in. Our elected representatives and officials have failed us. If they had done their job properly and had taken proactive steps to address our concerns long-standing concerns. We would not have been on the streets along with our children to raise our voices and demand our rights for a better locality and better living conditions," a letter by residents led by Ramakrishna Reddy, President of the Haraluru Somasundrapalya Residents Association says. In a detailed letter addressed to Bengaluru (Central) MP PC Mohan, Mahadevapura MLA Arvind Limbavali, BBMP Corporator Asha Suresh, as well as civic officials working in Mahadevapura and Bellandur, the residents highlighted various issues related to road works, lake rejuvenation, garbage disposal, storm-water drains, safety and administration.  Their key demands included the widening of Haraluru Main Road, traffic signals on Birla Junction, flyover or underpass for Haraluru Road, functional streetlights in all internal roads, cleaning streets using mechanical sweepers, a ban on unauthorised digging of roads, ban on water tankers, and a skywalk on Sarjapura Road near Springfield apartment.  Residents also demanded diversion of sewage flowing into the Haraluru lake by constructing a separate sewage line, installation of CCTV cameras, cleaning and the de-silting of stormwater drains, among several other improvements.  Residents raised the lack of accountability among officials since these neighbourhoods fall under three different constituencies — Mahadevapura, Anekal and Bommanahalli. They also called for regular ward committee meetings and monthly meetings with officials and elected representatives.  The protest was organised by a collective of resident welfare associations and citizen groups in the area. The protests come just weeks after a similar protest by residents of Bengaluru's Mahadevapura for better roads and development of the IT hub in Bengaluru.    

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After Humming Tree and BFlat, Bengaluru's Monkey Bar to shut its doors

Commerce

As Monkey Bar prepares to shut down, chef Manu Chandra says it has become tough to run bona fide restaurants in Bengaluru due to the public entertainment license issue.

Theja Ram

After Humming Tree and BFlat, one of  Bengaluru’s popular pubs – Monkey Bar, is shutting the doors to its Indiranagar branch. In a statement, Manu Chandra, chef and Chief Partner at Monkey Bar, said that the pub had to shut down as it was unable to procure a public entertainment license.  For Manu Chandra and the Monkey Bar team, the closure of the Indiranagar branch is personal, with the restaurant and bar having first set up shop in Bengaluru in 2012 before it expanded with branches in other parts of the country. For now, it's the end of the road for Monkey Bar in the city it first called home. Speaking to TNM, Manu Chandra said that Monkey Bar could not get the license as the building owners had not procured an Occupational Certificate from the civic body – Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. BBMP is supposed to issue Occupational Certificates only if the said building follows the fire safety norms and the building bye-laws. However, several bar owners have alleged that this process is not followed through properly.  Read: B’luru pubs protest live music ban, residents say buildings themselves are illegal A few months ago, the Bengaluru police began enforcing rules laid down under Licensing and Controlling Places of Public Entertainment (Bangalore City) Order, 2005, which requires establishments to get licenses for entertainment programmes. This means pubs and restaurants cannot play live music without a license, however this license also was later applied to playing pre-recorded music. From 2018, the Bengaluru police asked all pubs and restaurants in the city to submit a variety of documents to procure an entertainment license, after Supreme Court upheld the licensing rules. However, most of Bengaluru's core areas have violated building bye-laws in one way or another, but the civic body had allowed these constructions. As a majority of buildings in the city (including government buildings) were built in contravention of one bye-law or the other, the Karnataka government had proposed to normalise them under the Akrama Sakarama scheme. Since the issue of Akrama Sakarama is sub-judice, no action has been taken yet. Restaurant and bar owners say that imposing such rules for a license is problematic to local businesses. "The closure is because we are unable to get a Public Entertainment License owing to the demand of an OC. The license meant for “live bands” has come to cover pre-recorded music too. The Police Commissioner has the full authority to rationalise this order, but that has not happened. The list of documents required to procure a license to play background music are untenable, especially given a majority of them are in the purview of building owners and not the tenants. Now the tenants are being penalised after having invested heavily in these spaces," Manu Chandra told TNM. Impossible to run bona fide restaurants The Supreme Court upheld the Licensing and Controlling Places of Public Entertainment (Bangalore City) Order, 2005 in January 2018 following a dispute that dragged on for several years. In addition to this, a group of Indiranagar residents moved the Karnataka High Court against the illegalities in the operation of pubs in the area. Earlier in September, several popular bars in Indiranagar including Humming Tree, BFlat and BTDT had shut as they were not given the license. In some cases, the bars did not have an OC and others did not get the license as the building owners had not complied with fire safety norms. These three bars were known for their live music performances, especially Humming Tree and BFlat, as they provided a platform for budding musicians to perform. “The Bangalore landscape has changed to an extent where it is almost impossible to run a bona fide restaurant and bar business today. We are always supportive of the authorities and the interests of everyone in a city and try and work closely with the laws as they exist. Retroactive decision making, post all clearances and investment and effort, is a huge setback and ends up punishing so many legitimate businesses. Rules that ought to have been rationalised years ago, get used as mechanisms for making things impossible to those running their business and that is very wrong. Monkey Bar became a Bangalore cult brand, a story that spread across the country from this city. We will be back, hopefully soon.” Manu Chandra said.    

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Can Trump Win Governor of Louisiana?

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Karnataka government schools to ring bell to remind students to drink water

Public Health

The water bell scheme has already been implemented in parts of Kerala and will soon begin at Telangana schools.

TNM Staff

Following in Kerala’s footsteps, the Karnataka government has decided to ensure that government schools ring the bell three times a day as a reminder for children to drink water. Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar announced on Thursday that a ‘water bell’ would ring in all government schools at 10.35 am, noon and 2 pm every day to remind students to drink water. Each break will last for 10 minutes and it would be made mandatory for students to drink water at the time. In Karnataka, one private school in Dakshina Kannada district’s Uppinangady has already started implementing the programme, where three 10-minute water breaks are given to students. “The Kerala government initiative is a good one and I have instructed officials with the Department of Public Instruction to look into implementing this programme at the earliest. There are a lot of health problems that can occur due to dehydration. If we can prevent it, then we must do so,” Suresh Kumar said. Speaking to TNM, Director of the Department of Public Instruction, KG Jagadeesha said that the government has approved the water bell scheme and that the department is figuring out the logistics. “We have not yet issued a circular about the water bells to government schools. In Kerala, we learnt that the children were asked to bring water bottles from home. We have to see how it can work here. In many places, the children may not be able to afford water bottles,” Jagadeesha said. The director further stated that currently, RO water is available outside the classroom in all government schools for the children. “The Kerala model has alerted everyone that even though water is available some children, mostly the girl children, refrain from drinking water. This can affect their health. We are trying to come up with alternatives on whether the government will provide the water bottles or if any other plan has to be implemented on how the water will be distributed during these breaks,” Jagadeesha said. The government of Kerala implemented the water bell scheme in Wayanad, Kannur, Thrissur and Kasargod districts. Following this, the Telangana government also announced that it would implement the water bell scheme.  

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