Shivajinagar needs a cosmopolitan, urban face: Congress candidate Rizwan Arshad speaks

Politics

Rizwan is contesting from the Shivajinagar assembly constituency vacated by former minister and veteran Congress politician Roshan Baig

Soumya Chatterjee

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Congress's Rizwan Arshad is one of the younger candidates in the upcoming Karnataka bye-polls. Despite being unsuccessful in his two previous attempts to win a Parliamentary seat, 40-year-old Rizwan, an MLC since 2016, is confident that he can end his losing streak. Three-time MP PC Mohan of the BJP had defeated Rizwan in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls for the Bengaluru Central seat. This time, Rizwan is contesting from the Shivajinagar assembly constituency vacated by former minister and veteran Congress politician Roshan Baig. With neither the Congress nor the BJP willing to accommodate Roshan Baig again, Rizwan is set to face Saravan, a former corporator of the BJP and Tanveer Ahmed of the JD(S) among other candidates.  TNM caught up with Rizwan in a telephonic interview, a day ahead of him filing his nomination. Here are a few excerpts.  Compared to Lok Sabha elections, do you see yourself winning in Shivajinagar constituency?  I have contested twice from the Bangalore Central Parliamentary Constituency. Though there was a wave in favour of the BJP I still managed to secure a lead in the Shivajinagar area. I am both a voter and a resident here. The people of Shivajinagar recognise me, similarly, I am also familiar with them. And that is precisely the reason why my party chose me as a candidate for this seat. What are the challenges you see contesting in a bye-poll as an opposition candidate? Since this is a bye-election, the BJP will spend huge sums of money but I am very confident that I will be able to overcome all that and emerge victoriously. Although they might use government machinery, the common people will support me.  In the past, you have said Roshan Baig did not support you in campaigning, what role will he play?  I would not like to comment on him now because he is no longer in the fray. When he is not in contention, he is not an issue. My issue is the development of the constituency. People want a new face and a youngster to represent them. My commitment to the people is that I will be that face who will serve them better and work for the development of the constituency.  The BJP has fielded M Saravana, a former corporator. The CM has said he is a favourite as he speaks Tamil. How serious a threat is he to your hopes? Certainly, he is no threat. My BJP opponent being a corporator earlier has no special significance and his performance as a corporator did not leave a  mark. And people who speak Tamil don't vote for the BJP, they will stick with the Congress. The Congress party, however, doesn't depend on a single community, single religion or culture. And Shivajinagar is a constituency where Tamil, Telugu Malayalam, Kanada, Urdu and English can be heard and it is also multi-religious. Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Sikhs stay here. So it's kind of a mini India and Shivajinagar needs a cosmopolitan and urban face, who doesn't limit himself into one language or one religion or one culture. The government is currently with the BJP, how will you convince people to vote for an opposition candidate? This government in the last 100 days has failed to address the issues of the people and people want change. People are thinking ‘what is this government doing?’ The government has been bogged with internal squabbles and power fights. The state was reeling under severe floods, the new government could not reach out to the people of the state. The hundred-day performance of the BJP government is zero and they're more interested in poaching MLAs of other parties and settling scores with their rivals.  The new govt has promised to form MPC (Metropolitan Planning Committee ) after the bye-polls. The previous Congress govt did not do much to make the MPC truly functional. What do you say about that? The MPC was there, I have attended it myself as an MLC. But I want to ask the BJP what is their solution to fix the city? The BBMP of today was created by the BJP. My question to them is how are they solving the city's problems? We had formed the BS Patil committee to decentralise the BBMP into smaller bodies but the BJP wants to oppose it. This structure is nonperforming, it has to be decentralised and we have to take the power to the ward level. We have done all the basic work to re-structure but the political opposition from the BJP has stalled it. They are diverting funds from Congress MLA constituencies. How serious are these allegations of fund being divulged from Congress-ruled constituencies? It is very true. When we were the ruling party, we never discriminated between a Congress-held constituency and a BJP-held one. However, the government of the day has been redeploying funds based on Congress-BJP. Due to this confusion, development work is being hampered and this is not in the interest of the city The Congress has been saying that it will dislodge the BJP government by winning most of the bye-poll seats? How confident are you in doing so? I am not a big enough person to dislodge a government, my concentration is on serving the people of Shivajinagar. But I am sure we are going to win a lot of seats in the bye-polls as people are fed up with the government. This government has come to power by luring MLAs with their black money.

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Karnataka BJP expels its Yuva Morcha secretary for going rogue

Politics

Sharath Bachegowda decided to contest the election as an independent when the party denied him a ticket.

TNM Staff

The BJP in Karnataka expelled its Yuva Morcha Secretary Sharath Bachegowda, who is also the son of veteran politician and Chikkaballapura MP BN Bachegowda.  The decision to expel Sharath was on expected lines as he had gone against the party line and filed his nomination papers as an independent from the Hoskote segment for the bye-polls on December 5. In the 2018 Assembly elections, Sharath had fought unsuccessfully from the seat on a BJP ticket against incumbent MLA MTB Nagaraj. MTB Nagaraj already known to be the richest politician in the state had switched his allegiance from the Congress to the BJP. Sharath began openly dissenting against the BJP in August this year when Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and his loyalists started lobbying for the disqualified MLAs. With the BJP top brass signalling that it will field MLAs who quit from the Congress and JD(S) in the byepolls as quid pro quo, Sharath made up his mind to contest election without the party's support. Sharath followed his father’s footsteps into politics but in this decision, he has not found the support of the senior Bachegowda, at least publicly.  Speaking on the same, the Chikkaballapura MP said, “Now my son is not coming home. We are living separately. My son is educated and intelligent. It is his decision to contest the poll and I will not intervene. I will not solicit votes for my son.” Read: Karnataka rebel MLA MTB Nagaraj’s assets grew by Rs 185 crore in 18 months However, Sharath has received support from the JD(S). Former Chief Minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Wednesday announced that the JD(S) would support Sharath in his election campaign if he would accept the party’s help. Senior Bachegowda himself was with the JD(S) but quit the party to join the BJP after a disagreement with former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda.  The political development in the district has triggered speculation that the father-son duo was trying to wrest power in the region from MTB Nagaraju by playing the “divide and rule game” “This situation is exactly like Mandya during the Lok Sabha polls. Sumalatha wanted a Congress ticket but she contested as an independent. But Congress workers supported her. In Hoskote, Sharath wanted a BJP ticket but the party did not give it to him. He is contesting as an independent and the BJP cadre is supporting him. Although Bachegowda is saying that he won’t support his son, no one is ready to believe it,” a BJP leader had told TNM.  

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Hundreds protest as Kaiga nuclear plant expansion threatens Western Ghats

Environment

Activists say the expansion plan could wipe out 54 hectares of forest in the Wester Ghats as well as threaten the lives of those residing in the vicinity of the plant.

Prajwal Bhat

Environmental activists, religious leaders and residents living in the vicinity of the Kaiga Atomic Power Station held a public protest in Mallapura on Sunday raising concerns over the expansion of the power plant. "We are going to the strike," 34-year-old Milana Bandekar said, pointing to a group of women headed to Mallapura in the government bus from Karwar in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka. Mallapura is adjacent to the Kaiga Township where employees of the power plant reside. The Kaiga plant had started commercial operations in November 2000, after being commissioned in 1989. The plant set up 56 km away from Karwar, currently has four functional units generating 220 MW of power. 33% of the power generated is reserved for Karnataka. This is the first of many such large protests set to be organised against the Kaiga expansion plan after all environmental regulatory hurdles were cleared at the state and Centre level on Aug. 29. The plant currently has four units but the Nuclear Power Corporation Ltd. under the Department of Atomic Energy has proposed a fifth and sixth unit. However, activists want the project to be shelved. They argue that expanding the Kaiga plant will take up 54 hectares of forests in the eco-sensitive Western Ghats in the buffer zone of Kali Tiger Reserve. They urged the government to consider replacing it with other safer and cheaper power generating options like solar and wind energy.  Other than the pristine wildlife zone that will be destroyed, activists point out due to lack of an elaborate safety protocol, the entire project might put the lives of the people living in the vicinity of this plant in danger Another source of contention is the nuclear plant’s overdependence on water. Once functional, the two expanded units will consume 7,500 cubic metres of water per hour. “The water used by the upcoming units can be used by 15 lakh people instead,” said Shankar Sharma, a power policy analyst, at the convention. Shankar also questioned the government’s lack of acknowledgement of reports of radiation levels in these areas. A Tata Memorial Centre report in 2010 had said there was a spurt in cases of cancer over the past two decades in Kaiga. Experts insist that this is because of the radioactive pollution caused by the nuclear power plant. The government has neither acknowledged such reports, nor has it carried out any assessment on its own. Vishwesha Theertha, the chief seer of Udupi's Pejawar mutt, addressing the crowd, said, “Scientists have explained what will happen here and we must resist the expansion of this power station.”. The organisers of the convention also got support from Ex Karwar MLA Satish Sail who said that he along with others are going to fight the issue on legal front and ensure that the project does not see the light of the day. “Today, science, spirituality and the culture of this region has come together because we have not received a response from the Indian government,” said IISc professor TV Ramachandra. Additional Director of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change Dr Shruthi Rai Bharadwaj while clearing the project had reportedly noted that many villagers were in favour of the project as it would result in more jobs and local infrastructure in the area. She also acknowledged there was some opposition to it. In December 2018, local environmental groups — Uttara Kannada Zilla Psrisara Samrakshana Samiti, Bedti Aghanashini Kolla Samiti and Vruksha Laksha and residents of the area – had also opposed the expansion of the power plant during the mandated public consultation process. Recently, even Gangadharendra Saraswati Swamiji, the seer of Sonda Swarnavalli Mutt, had also opposed the nuclear plant’s expansion.  

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Ex-Karnataka Min Tanveer Sait attacked by knife-wielding man in Mysuru

Crime

The minister is reportedly stable after undergoing surgery

TNM Staff

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Former Karnataka Minister and Congress MLA from Mysuru district, Tanveer Sait, was attacked with a knife by a man in his 20s late on Sunday night. The incident which took place around 11:45 pm in the night when the former minister was attending a wedding ceremony at Bal Bhavan in Bannimantap. According to reports, the surgery at Columbia Asia Hospital went on until the early hours of Monday and the minister was hurt near his neck The Times of India cited sources as saying that the minister walked to a vehicle as he was bleeding to reach the Columbia Hospital which was a kilometre away. The report cited doctors as saying that he had sustained “major injuries”. The assailant has been identified as 24-year-old Farhaan Pasha. The incident has also been reportedly captured by wedding photographers present at the venue. The Hindu reported police sources as saying that the minister’s condition was stable following the surgery. Soon after the incident, Farhaan tried to flee but was cauht by the ex-minister’s supporters and thrashed, before he was handed over to the police. Mysuru City Police Commissioner KT Balakrishna said the assailant was a resident of Udaygiri and was working as a handicraft artisan. Apparently, he was upset that Tanveer Sait did not arrange a job for him even though he had approached him several times. The Hindu said Narasimharaja Police booked Farhaan under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code. The accused is being questioned further. Following the incident, police increased security in sensitive areas of the city, including the vicinity of the hospital. Sait had served as the Primary and Secondary Education Minister during the chief ministership of Siddaramaiah and is a five-time MLA from Narasimharaja seat. His father Azeez was also an MLA from the same seat since 1967.

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‘Overworked and underpaid’: 19 bonded labourers rescued from Bengaluru’s Anekal

Crime

The labourers have returned to their native place Krishnagiri, where they await rehabilitation, and government funds.

Alithea Stephanie Mounika

Photo of inspection by officials

“I often got chest pain and I requested for two months to get treatment. I promised to return, but the owner did not let me go. He asked me, who will do your work when you’re gone?” laments an unnamed 26-year-old bonded labourer, who has now been rescued. This was the reality of 19 workers in tree plantations in the town of Anekal, located two hours from Bengaluru city. Labourers were kept in the guise of returning advances paid, and were overworked with barely enough pay for basic food requirements. The government refers to such a condition as bonded labour: where the labourers are not allowed freedom of movement due to any debt or obligation, a severe human rights violation. In the early hours of Saturday morning, district officials in Anekal along with social workers from the NGO International Justice Mission (IJM), rescued 19 labourers who were trapped in the hands of the traffickers for more than five years. Two labourers among them were minors. Along with these labourers, there were also 10 children who were between the ages of eight months to 17 years. Acting on a tip-off from another rescued bonded labourer, the police quickly got into action beginning at 6 am, and began rescue operations. Rescuers report that these people were in a desperate condition. The labourers and children had wounds on their hands and feet, with no access to hospital facilities. The labourers were initially given a large advance of up to Rs 60,000, and were promised good pay and accommodation facilities. But the same advance proved to be the shackles that kept them tied to their place of work. The reality of living conditions was also starkly different to what they had been promised: they lived in makeshift tents with no sanitation facilities or food to eat.  Investigations and interviews were held on the same day, and the survivors were able to return to where they came from, within 24 hours of being rescued. The labourers were all trafficked from Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu, and worked as woodcutters, where they cut down Eucalyptus trees at plantations for two weeks at a stretch without a break. Eucalyptus trees are extremely useful for construction, as they are a fast-growing species, as well as sturdy. Working days for the labourers would begin at 6 am and go on till 7 pm. They were initially promised a wage of Rs 600 per day, but were eventually given only about Rs 250 per week, which works out to Rs 35 per day of work. The current minimum daily wage for wood cutters in Karnataka is Rs 565 per day. Indrajeet Pawar, director of operations, IJM, says that as part of rehabilitation efforts, the labourers are given Rs 20,000 as immediate rehabilitation from the government. However, they would need to wait until they can get documentation to start a bank account first, which would mean that the process of procuring the money is often delayed. He also stated quite emphatically that “IJM does not do rehabilitation programs, but we do offer psychological counselling as they recover from the trauma of bondage.” He said that the labourers can also look forward to work from the MNREGA schemes from the Central government

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Bengaluru's Farzi Cafe, Shiro fined for allegedly violating smoking rules

Health

Both Biere Club and Shiro were fined and reportedly told their licenses would be temporarily suspended.

TNM Staff

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Four pubs and eateries in the central business district (CBD) of Bengaluru were slapped fines for allegedly violating rules related to smoking inside the restaurant premises on Sunday The four establishments subjected to the scrutiny were Shiro, Farzi Cafe, Skyye and Biere Club. BBMP officials inspected the pubs after they reportedly received complaints from the public. The violations were under Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COPTA) 2003 and other municipal laws. “Shiro and Biere Club didn’t have proper smoking zones and people were allowed to smoke and drink at the same place, which is against the law,” The Times of India quoted a senior BBMP official as saying. The two establishments were also told that their licenses will be temporarily suspended. While Shiro was fined Rs 15,000, the Biere Club was fined Rs 64,000 reports said Officials further said the other two restaurants were found to have designated smoking zones but they did not comply with the stated guidelines.  Speaking with TOI, BBMP Commissioner BH Anil Kumar said if establishments allow customers to smoke inside the restaurant, they have to provide a designated place for the same, with the permission of the BBMP officials. Otherwise, he said, the entire premises should be made a non-smoking zone. TNM had earlier reported how in August 30, 2018 the BBMP had issued a public notice banning smoking inside all hotels, bars and pubs in the city. The BBMP had, however, stated that these establishments can have enclosed smoking zones and must obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the same. But more than a month after the notice was issued, BBMP officials said that only two bars had applied for the NOC so far. Instead, many restaurants and bars do not have a smoking zone and allowed customers to smoke inside the premises. The BBMP's Tobacco Control Programme had introduced the ban on smoking in hotels and bars as a part of its "tobacco-free" goal. BBMP officials said they aimed to make the city tobacco-free by 2030. According to a Government of India notification issued in August 2018, any establishment, such as a pub, bar, hotel and restaurant that has a seating capacity of more than 30 members, can have a designated smoking zone and it is mandatory for them to get a no-objection certificate from the BBMP tobacco control cell.

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Clean water from air: Swiss company brings new hi-tech solution to India

Technology

While the company says some industries in India have shown interest in the technology, experts are sceptical about how sustainable or scalable the technology is.

Alithea Stephanie Mounika

Ever imagined there would come a day when a machine generated water from thin air? Meet AWA Modula, a piece of high tech developed by Swiss company Greentec Aqua, which has a patented process to turn air into potable water. It runs on the principle that as air contains humidity, the water can be extracted from it and used for human consumption. The machine was displayed for public view at Electronic City in Bengaluru recently. The air is run through an air-conditioning unit to take it to dew point. The water that comes out of this process is filtered and “re-mineralised” so that it’s safe for human consumption. The company’s managing director Martin Kolodziejczyk says that the machine is made of galvanised steel and food grade materials, which makes it different from your regular, run-of-the-mill AC reject water. Depending on the variant, you can get anywhere from 250 litres up to 10,000 litres per day from the machine. There’s also a variant that generates ultra-pure, distilled water which doesn’t have any minerals added to it, for use in industrial settings. It’s not a new idea – people have been using water condensation technology for millennia. The first known use of the technology was in Egypt, during the time of the pharaohs. A low-tech version of this is also in use in some parts of China, to provide drinking water in rural areas where there’s low connectivity and water scarcity. Jonathan Wright and David Richards from the US were the first to build it in the form of a machine in 2006, but the technology didn’t catch on at that time. However, now that there’s widespread water scarcity and urgent need for clean drinking water, this comes as an alternative. Greentec Aqua began marketing to India this year, after seeing interest in other developed nations like the US, Australia and UAE. However, AWA Modula comes at a steep cost. The starting price for the smallest 250 liters per day model is € 30,000, about Rs 23.77 lakh in today’s market. The model with 10,000 litres capacity and the highest specs costs € 700,000. There are also running costs. The 250-litre machine uses 3kW per hour, which can go up to 106 kW per day, while the 10,000-litre machine guzzles up to 162 kW per day. Martin says that some big industrial players in India have already expressed interest in the technology. But experts are sceptical about how sustainable or scalable the technology is. “If the machine costs close to Rs 24 lakhs, then who is going to buy it? Industries might be interested, but we must be realistic,” says Priyanka Jamwal, an ATREE fellow who is an expert in water management. “There needs to be a cost-benefit that will make industries consider alternatives to ground water. Groundwater is inexpensive. If the industry is sitting on a place with access to groundwater, all they have to pay for is the electricity to pump it up,” she points out. Conservationist Joseph Hoover says, “How much do you spend on the initial cost and running cost? It’s too much. Technology should be accessible to all. Should only industries have clean water?” Yaduveer Chamaraja Wadiyar, the Maharaja of Mysore, also happened to be at the venue for another engagement, and tried the water along with other locals. If you’re interested in trying a sip of water that has been generated from air, the machine will be on display at the Bengaluru Tech Summit, Palace Grounds from November 18-20.

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