Ramanagara won’t be renamed Nava Bengaluru: Karnataka CM dismisses rumours

Politics

Yediyurappa’s clarification came after Congress and JD(S) leaders criticised the government for mulling such a proposal.

TNM Staff

Amidst massive speculation that a proposal was in the works to rename Karnataka’s Ramanagara district to ‘Nava Bengaluru,’ Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa dismissed all speculation and said that the state government has not approved any such proposal. “An unnecessary discussion on renaming Ramanagara is underway. There is no proposal before the government over renaming the district. There is no such agenda before the government. It is a joke that JD(S) and Congress leaders are starting a fight over it,” Chief Minister Yediyurappa said. Yediyurappa’s clarification came after Congress and JD(S) leaders criticised the government for mulling a proposal to rename the district. On Sunday, former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy took to Twitter and criticised BS Yediyurappa’s government for mulling such a proposal. In a series of tweets, Kumaraswamy said that there was a plot to plunder the “golden land neighbouring Bengaluru city."  ಬಿಎಸ್ವೈ ಅವರೇ, ರಾಮನಗರದ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಮಾಡುವ ಇಚ್ಛೆ ನಿಮಗಿದ್ದರೆ, ಜಿಲ್ಲೆಗೆ ನಾನು ನನ್ನ ಬಜೆಟ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಮೀಸಲಿಟ್ಟ ಹಣವನ್ನು ಪ್ರಾಮಾಣಿಕವಾಗಿ ಬಿಡುಗಡೆ ಮಾಡಿ ಸಾಕು. ಅದನ್ನೂ ಮೀರಿದ ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಮಾಡುವ ಮನಸ್ಸಿದ್ದರೆ ನಿಮಗೆ ನನ್ನ, ನನ್ನ ಜನರ ಸಹಕಾರ ಸದಾ ಇರಲಿದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಹೆಸರು ಬದಲಿಸಿ ಜಿಲ್ಲೆ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ, ಅಸ್ಮಿತೆಗೆ ಬೆಂಕಿ ಇಡಬೇಡಿ. 2/10 — H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) January 5, 2020 “Yediyurappa avare, if you want to develop Ramanagara, you should release the funds I had allocated in my budget for the district. The people of Ramanagara and I will cooperate with you if you have a mind for development. But don't change the name of the district,” Kumaraswamy said. Kumaraswamy ridiculed the proposal to rename the district for purposes of investment. “What is there in a name? By just calling Bengaluru is development possible? Can BSY who comes forward to change the name of Ramanagara, change the name of Shivamogga to Bengaluru?” He said that renaming the district would lead to agricultural land “falling prey to North Indians".  “Every rich man in Bengaluru dreams of having land within a 100-km radius. In this, North Indians are big in number. That is why our land has fallen prey to farmhouses. The renaming of Ramanagaram helps these people and not farmers,” he said. The controversy erupted after Deputy Chief Minister and Ramanagara district-in-charge minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan announced that a proposal was put before the CM to rename Ramanagara into Nava Bengaluru on Saturday. Ramanagara city, the district headquarters of Ramanagara district, is located 50 km away from Bengaluru. The district was carved out of erstwhile Bengaluru Rural district in 2007 when HD Kumaraswamy was the Chief Minister. DCM Ashwath Naraya had said that investors were reluctant to put their money into two-tier cities and Bengaluru city was getting crowded. He had said that the government planned to direct investment to construct hospitals and medical colleges in the district and convert it into a medical tourism hub.    

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Two dead as BMTC bus rams into bikes in Bengaluru: Driver says brake failed

Accident

The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus rammed into bikes and an auto-rickshaw at Kottigepalya junction.

Prajwal Bhat

Two people were killed and several others were injured after a Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus rammed into six bikes and an autorickshaw at Kottigepalya junction in Bengaluru on Monday morning. While the driver stated that the brakes of the bus were not functioning properly, the BMTC is probing whether rash driving by the driver caused the accident.  According to a statement from BMTC, the accident took place near the Kottigepalya bus stop at 9.30 am when the BMTC bus operating from Madanayakanahalli to Kempegowda Bus Stand in Bengaluru rammed into six moving bikes from behind. Passengers on two bikes died on the spot. The bus also hit an auto-rickshaw, which was in the vicinity.  The two persons killed in the accident have been identified as Bailappa (43) and Vishweshwar Aaradhya (48).  The bus was driven by Venkatesh while Neelamma Hiremath was the conductor on the bus. As per BMTC, several days prior to the accident, the driver had informed the depot manager that the brakes were not functioning. "We have received a complaint from the driver. We are ascertaining whether it was brake failure or rash driving that led to the accident. Usually, if there are issues, drivers are asked to key it in a log-sheet given to them. We are ascertaining if this was done earlier," a BMTC official told TNM.  The damaged bus has been removed from the site of the accident and a technical team from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is probing the incident.  Meanwhile, those injured in the accident were taken to Laxmi Hospital in Sundanakatte. The Depot Manager at depot number 35, where the bus was stationed, has been suspended. "An ex-gratia amount of Rs 25,000 will be given to the dependents of each victim for the cremation purpose. The expenditure of the injured persons will be borne by the BMTC," a statement from BMTC said. 

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Money laundering case: ED issues fresh summons to DK Shivakumar

Crime

The ED has summoned DK Shivakumar for questioning on January 13.

TNM Staff

The Enforcement Directorate has issued fresh summons to former Karnataka Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar in connection with the alleged money laundering case. The ED has summoned Shivakumar for questioning on January 13. Sources close to Shivakumar said that he would be travelling to New Delhi on Monday night to meet with his lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi to discuss whether a petition must be filed with the Supreme Court to quash the Enforcement Directorate’s summons. The Enforcement Directorate has allegedly asked DK Shivakumar to bring documents related to several of his businesses for the 2013-14 fiscal. On January 2, the Karnataka High Court had dismissed DK Shivakumar’s plea to quash the Enforcement Directorate’s summons. DK Shivakumar was arrested on September 3 in new Delhi after the Enforcement Directorate launched a probe alleging that he had set up an international money laundering network. DK Shivakumar was lodged in Tihar jail and multiple bail pleas were rejected by the CBI Special Court. On October 23, the Delhi High Court had granted him interim bail, after which he returned to Bengaluru on October 25. The Supreme Court had, on November 15, pulled up Enforcement Directorate as they had challenged Shivakumar’s bail order in the apex court. The top court had noted that the ED had 'copy-pasted' from their petition against P Chidambaram, the ex-Home Minister, who was then in Tihar jail. The petition had apparently referred to DK Shivakumar as a former Union Home Minister, instead of calling him an MLA. Shivakumar has been on the radar of the Income Tax Department and the ED since demonetisation in 2016. According to the Income Tax department, a search at his New Delhi flat on August 2, 2017, led to the seizure of unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 8.83 crore. Thereafter, the Tax Department lodged cases against the Congress leader and his four associates under Sections 277 and 278 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and Sections 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), 193 (Punishment for false evidence) and 199 (False statements made in declaration which is by law receivable as evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The ED registered a case against him based on the Income Tax Department’s findings. 

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Spontaneous candlelight vigils in B’luru against JNU violence, fresh protests planned

Protest

Fresh protests are planned at 10 am and 4 pm on Monday in Bengaluru's Town Hall.

TNM Staff

Students in Indian Institute of Management - Bengaluru (IIM-B) and National Law School of India University (NLSIU) held candlelight vigils on Sunday night in protest against the violence reported in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi.  According to the protesters, it was a spontaneous reaction to the reports of unidentified members wearing masks attacking students and faculty at the JNU campus."At around 10 pm, 50-60 students gathered to organise a candlelight vigil inside the university premises after the news of what happened in JNU began circulating. We are disturbed by the events there and we are planning fresh protests on Monday," a student of NLSIU told TNM. A midnight vigil was also held at IIM-B on Sunday night and students holding candles showed solidarity with their counterparts in JNU.  Fresh protests are planned on Monday in Bengaluru condemning the violence that broke out in JNU. The JNU Student Union accused members of ABVP of carrying out the attack. A collective of students belonging to different universities in the city announced that a protest will be held at Town Hall in Bengaluru throughout the day beginning at 10 am. The protest is set to continue throughout the day. Another protest over the same issue will be held from 4 pm at Town Hall by a collective of student organisations including Students' Federation of India (SFI), All India Students Federation (AISF), All India Students Association (AISA), and All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO).  Protests have been held in Bengaluru for over 20 days starting from December 14 against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens with most of them organised at the Town Hall in Bengaluru. A collective of students, which had come together to organise protests against CAA, is now taking to the streets to oppose the violence in JNU.       

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Yediyurappa leads BJP's door-to-door pro-CAA campaign in Karnataka

CAA

This is the BJP's initiative to counter the series of anti-CAA protests taking place in Bengaluru and other parts of the state for the last three weeks.

IANS

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday launched the ruling BJP's outreach campaign in favour of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Bengaluru. "The CAA came into being after its amendment bill was passed in Parliament during its winter session with the support of major political parties. It is meant to give shelter and protection to Hindu minorities facing persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. It does not take away any rights of Indians," Yediyurappa told residents on a door-to-door campaign in the city. Accusing the opposition Congress of misleading the people on the CAA and inciting its protesters to indulge in violence, the chief minister said the Act does not cause any problem to all sections of Indians. "There is no question of taking away anyone's citizenship, including that of Muslims, as the Act only facilitates the return of the Hindus persecuted in the neighbouring countries in the sub-continent," he asserted. State deputy chief minister H.C. Ashwath Narayana and party's Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha member P.C. Mohan accompanied the chief minister on his outreach programme in some residential and commercial areas of the city. As part of the nationwide campaign in favour the CAA, the party's state unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel and the state's dozen cabinet ministers led the campaign in other cities across the southern state. "An awareness campaign will be peacefully held daily till January 15 across the state to counter the protests against it by students and other people at the behest of the Congress and Left parties," Kateel told reporters at Mangaluru, 350km southwest of Bengaluru. Kateel is a BJP Lok Sabha member from the state's Dakshina Kannada seat. Besides contacting the people directly at their doorstep through the party's leaders, cadres and supporters, the BJP is reaching all sections of society through social media and by holding pro-CAA rallies in all the 30-district headquarters across the state over the next 10 days. "About 300 leaders and cadres of the party have fanned out in cities and towns across the state to explain the provisions of the CAA to the people and clarify their doubts, as the protesters were misleading them with wrong information about it," reiterated Kateel. The CAA came into being after the President enacted the a law to give citizenship rights to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis and Christians who have been allegedly persecuted as minorities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan over the last seven decades. "A deliberate misinformation campaign has been carried out against the CAA by vested interests, misguiding a section of college/university students, their faculty, activists and members of the minority community on its provisions so as to create unrest and trigger violence in the country," Ravikumar claimed. The ruling party also held rallies and public meetings in major cities like Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubballi, Belagavi, Bellary and Kalaburagi across the state and enlightened the people on the benefits of the CAA. "As social media is all-pervasive with greater reach and better impact, we are also reaching about one crore people of all ages through Kannada, Hindi and English script, messages and audio/video clips in the state during the fortnight campaign," added Kateel.

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'Know me by my clothes?’: Wearing bindis and burqas, Bengaluru protests against CAA

Protest

Irom Sharmila, the anti-AFSPA activist, was one of the many women who converged at Bengaluru’s Town Hall to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

Alithea Stephanie Mounika

“Will we get tired of protesting?” An emphatic response rose from the crowd: “NO!” Hundreds of people gathered at Bengaluru’s Town Hall on Sunday, wearing bindis and burqas, to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, and the Prime Minister’s statement that those protesting against CAA can be identified from their clothes.  “When women come out in great numbers, laws get changed and people sit up and take notice,” said Tara Krishnamurthy, one of the organisers of the protest, addressing the crowd. “We thank the honourable Prime Minister and the honourable Home Minister of this country because they have succeeded in uniting us. We are one,” Tara said.  Hundreds of women wearing burqas and bindis, who were sitting on steps of the Town Hall, all cheered at this statement.  Tara also spoke about how Hindus and Muslims have come together to fight an attack on the Constitution and to fight fascism. The large number of women protesters from various backgrounds made the protest unique. They held up posters against the NRC and the CAA and waved the Indian flag. Some people held up copies of the Preamble of the Constitution of India. “We called for the bindi and burqa protest because some weeks ago, Prime Minister Modi said that we can identify the people protesting by their clothes,” Vaishnavi, one of the organisers of the protest, told TNM.  “By this, he meant that it’s only Muslims who are coming out to protest. As a response to his comment, we came out in ambiguous clothing. We see men in bindis, women wearing both bindis and burqas and people in skullcaps. So how are you going to identify them by their clothes? It’s not only Muslims who are against CAA and NRC,” Vaishnavi added.  The large crowd present there also erupted in chants of “Hum ladhke rahenge” (We will keep fighting). Several prominent citizens were also present at the protest, including anti-AFSPA activist Irom Sharmila, who reached the protest with her twins, and journalist Rohini Mohan, who has covered the NRC process in Assam extensively. Irom Sharmila, who undertook a fast for 16 years to against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in Manipur, spoke about staying resilient in the face of state violence. “In this society, it’s compulsory to protest. It is never a burden. However, we must keep our mind and body balanced,” she said. Irom Sharmila with her baby Journalist Rohini Mohan spoke about how the NRC exercise in Assam affected the poorest of the poor. “In Assam, 75 per cent of people (who were doubtful cases) were declared foreigners. Especially the women, flood victims, landless people, and the poorest of the poor, were the worst affected by the NRC,” she said.   @rohini_mohan at the Bindi-Burqa protest in Bengaluru talking about the NRC in Assam. "People wanted the NRC in Assam. We know that it didn't work... Do we want that again?" she asks pic.twitter.com/JAmagPMXCX — Alithea Stephanie Mounika//ಅಲಿತ್ಯ ಮೌನಿಕಾ (@alitheasm) January 6, 2020   Chandini, one of the many women attending the protest, said, “I’m here so we can protect the secular framework of India. I’m here to stand up for my Muslim sisters, even though I wear a bindi and I probably won’t get affected by the NRC or the CAA.” A ‘hip-hop’ protest was also going to be held in Bengaluru but after police denied them permission, the group reached Town Hall and soon, rap songs against the CAA and the NRC echoed at the venue. The group rapped songs hailing the revolution, drawing cheers from the crowd The protest culminated with the crowd singing “Hum honge kaamiyaab” (We shall overcome), and the national anthem.   Hip hop protest today at the Bindi and burkha protest in Bengaluru against CAA, NRC, NPR. Video by @emorrtal pic.twitter.com/9iLlyVtIyZ — Alithea Stephanie Mounika//ಅಲಿತ್ಯ ಮೌನಿಕಾ (@alitheasm) January 5, 2020  

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Bengaluru residents make their voices heard to civic officials, push for accountability

Civic

Kanakapura Road Apartments Movement of Change (KARAMoC), a federation of apartments on Kanakapura Road, had organised this meeting with officials from various civic departments.

TNM Staff

Borrowing from BBMP’s model of holding ward committee meetings, the residents of all apartment complexes in Kanakapura Road in Bengaluru, held a redressal program in Yelachenahalli with officials from various departments of the local government.  The residents, who voiced their views about the lacunas in the various departments of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, were promised better infrastructural facilities by the elected representatives who were also part of the meeting. Corporator Balakrishna, BBMP Major Roads Executive Engineer Mahadesh, KS Layout Traffic ASI Srinivas, BESCOM AEE Ramaiah, BBMP Health Inspector Mahesh, BWSSB Engineer, BBMP Electrical Department AE Ramesh were some of the officials present at the meeting. Kanakapura Road Apartments Movement of Change (KARAMoC), a federation of apartments on Kanakapura Road, had organised this meeting which was called 'Samvaada.’ Based on the demands by the resident, Major Roads Executive Engineer Mahadesh said that the authorities will implement the continuous standard width footpaths, apart from the stormwater drains on Kanakapura Road as part of the sanctioned plan. A bus bay will also be created at Yelachenahalli Metro Station to prevent clogging traffic, he added.  Speaking about the event, Aleem, President of KARAMoC, said, “This was a good way to resolve issues of the local residents and I appreciate all the officers and elected representatives for participating in the discussion.” He added, “We are extremely happy that our long-standing demand for a continuous footpath has been accepted.” The ward corporator has also assured that BBMP will shift electrical poles to the edge of the road and also help create a service road at the city’s Sarakki Junction. The traffic police ASI stated that one traffic police staff member will be deployed on Kanakapura Road until the completion of infrastructure projects to prevent wrong side driving. When asked about the waste management problems of the area, the Health Inspector Mahesh said that soon, deployment of more waste-collecting vehicles for the ward will be approved. He also assured of regular fogging to prevent contamination diseases, in response to a complaint raised by a resident. He also assured of clearing all the black spots, where garbage is thrown and accumulated in the area, within a day. 

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