17-yr-old dead after being made to clean sewage chamber in Bengaluru

Manual Scavenging

Doctors say that the survival chances of 50-year-old Marianna, who went to rescue Siddappa, are low.

Theja Ram

In a shameful incident, a 17-year-old boy, Siddappa, died of asphyxiation after he was made to enter a sewage chamber in Bengaluru. Fifty-year-old Marianna, who went in to rescue Siddappa, is critical and is admitted to a hospital. The incident took place in Infantry Road, Bengaluru on Saturday. Siddappa is a resident of Kacharakanahalli near Lingarajapuram. According to Siddappa’s neighbours, on Saturday, Marianna, a labour contractor approached Sidappa and hired him to clear the debris at a building which is managed by SSBS Jain Sangh Trust. Siddappa was promised Rs 600 as wages for the job. However, against the work promised – and against the law banning manual scavenging work in India – Siddappa was made to clean the sewage chamber. As Siddappa didn’t come back from the sewage chamber, Marianna went into the chamber to rescue him. However, he too fell unconscious in the chamber. Construction workers who were working in the building soon pulled out the duo, around 12.30 pm, and rushed them to the government-run Bowring Hospital. Doctors declared Siddappa as brought dead, while Marianna is critical and receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Siddappa’s brother Malla told TNM, “This morning the mestri (contractor) came and took him for work. We didn't know that he was taken to clean sewage.” "The mestri told Siddappa that he would settle the money he was owed. Siddappa was to be paid Rs 30,000 for work he had done for Marianna in the last few months. Today he said he would settle that money and also that there was more work. He left home at 6 am and we got a call at 2 pm from the police saying he is dead," Gangamma, Siddappa's older sister said. Speaking to TNM, doctors at Bowring Hospital said, “Marianna is put on a ventilator. He has hypoxia. His lungs are filled with sewage. His chances of survival are low.” Activists and lawyers have approached the Commercial Street police station to file a case against the Trust. However, an FIR is yet to be registered. Siddappa belongs to the Adi Karnataka community, categorised as a Scheduled Caste in Karnataka. Akbar, a neighbour of Siddappa, says that it is common practice for people in the neighbourhood to be hired to clean sewage. Meanwhile, sanitation workers from different parts of Bengaluru have gathered at the Bowring Hospital demanding justice for the victim. Watch:

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Threat letter names ex-CM HDK, actors Prakash Raj and Chetan, among 15 people on hit list

Crime

The threat letter was sent to Nidumamidi seer's ashram in Belur on Friday afternoon.

Theja Ram

An unsigned threat letter with a hit list of 15 famous personalities has caused concern in Karnataka. The letter names former CM HD Kumaraswamy, actors Prakash Raj and Chetan, Lingayat seer Nijagunananda Swami, and several others. On Friday, Nijagunananda Swami, the seer of the Nidumamidi Mutt, who supported the cause for a separate Lingayat religion, received a death threat via post. The threat letter included 15 other names. The list names former Bajarang Dal leader Mahendra Kumar; Nijagunanada Asuri Swami; Nidumamidi Mutt’s Channamalla Swami; actor-turned-politician Prakash Raj; Sandalwood actor and activist Chetan; Gnanaprakash Swami; BT Lalita Nayak, who is a former MLA, MLC and winner of Sahitya Akademi Award; rationalists Mahesh Chandra Guru and KS Bhagwan; Dinesh Amin Mattu, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s advisor; writer Chandrashekar Patil; gangster-turned-writer Agni Sridhar; CPI leader Brinda Karat; and former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.  The letter proclaimed that Nijagunananda Swami would be killed on January 29. “Nijagunananda Swami, you have betrayed your own religion. Be prepared for your final journey on January 29, 2020. Following you, the people listed below will also have to make their final journey. You must prepare them for that,” the letter states.  On Saturday, actor Chetan met Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and state Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai and submitted copies of the threat letter. “I spoke with the CM and Home Minister, they have assured me that they will take care of the matter,” Chetan said.  Belagavi Rural SP Laxman Nimbargi told TNM that the letter was posted from Davangere and reached the ashram in Belur at around 12.30 pm on Friday. The seer then approached the Belagavi SP and informed him of the threat.  “He told us that two months ago, he had received a phone call stating that he would be killed if he did not stop speaking the way he does,” SP Laxman said. The seer is currently residing at his ashram in Kalaburgi district’s Jevargi. The Belagavi police have informed their Kalaburgi counterparts to provide protection to the seer.  However, police say that none of the persons mentioned in the letter have come forward to file a police complaint. “The swamiji or his followers can give us a formal complaint and we will register an FIR,” SP Laxman added. Previously, two hit lists were found in a diary seized from Amol Kale, one of the main accused in the Gauri Lankesh murder. One list had eight names and while late theatre legend Girish Karnad featured on top, Gauri Lankesh was second on the list. The other list with 26 names had academic KS Bhagwan, writers Yogesh Master, Chandrashekhar Patil and Banajagere Jayaprakash and Nidumamidi Swami, on it.

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‘Leave India and go stay in Pakistan’: Karnataka Min Sriramulu tells Kumaraswamy

Politics

The minister was reacting to Kumaraswamy’s recent tweet stating that the BJP is obsessed about Pakistan and the party could not have got votes in India had Pakistan not existed.

TNM Staff

Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu on Friday accused former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy of developing a liking towards Pakistan and said he should leave the country. Speaking to reporters in the district headquarters town of Chitradurga, the BJP leader said one should not indulge in "double standard politics," with an intention of projecting oneself as good both in India and Pakistan. "Kumaraswamy is not a serious politician, of late he has developed liking towards Pakistan. Let him leave this country, when he is speaking with love towards Pakistan, why should he live in India, I want to tell the former chief minister to leave the country and go and stay there" he said. The minister was reacting to Kumaraswamy’s recent tweet stating that the BJP is obsessed about Pakistan and the party could not have got votes in India had Pakistan not existed in the global map.  ಪಾಕಿಸ್ತಾನ ಎಂಬ ದೇಶ ಈ ಭೂಪಟದಲ್ಲಿ ಇರದೇ ಹೋಗಿದ್ದರೆ ನೀವಿಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ವೋಟು ಪಡೆಯಲೂ ಸಾಧ್ಯವಿರುತ್ತಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಅದಕ್ಕಾಗಿಯೇ ಪಾಕ್ ನಾಮಸ್ಮರಣೆ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಕಾಯಕವಾಗಿಬಿಟ್ಟಿದೆ. ನಿಮ್ಮದೂ ರಾಜಕಾರಣವೇ? ನಿಮ್ಮದೂ ದೇಶ ಪ್ರೇಮವೇ? ಎಂಥ ಯಃಕಶ್ಚಿತ್ ಬದುಕು....? 7/8 — H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) January 22, 2020 Accusing Kumaraswamy of indulging in vote bank politics, Sriramulu said being a former Prime Minister's son and a former chief minister, by making such statements, he has "caused" pain to people of India. "If you want to continue with vote bank or appeasement politics, leave the country," he said. India was a "Hindu Rashtra" in which people of all communities and castes are living together, but parties like the Congress and the JD(S) were trying to create "rift" for the sake of vote bank politics, the minister added. Sriramulu is among many BJP leaders, who have made controversial statements. On Friday, Revenue Minister R Ashoka said that those indulging in anti-national activities must be shot. Minister R Ashoka was at a celebration at the Vidhana Soudha. Soon after garlanding the statue of Subash Chandra Bose, R Ashoka responded to questions. When asked how the prime accused in the Mangaluru bomb scare case would have been treated had it not been a Hindu man, Ashoka said, “Anyone who sings to the tune of Pakistan and takes part in anti-national activities, be it Hindu, Christian or Muslim, must be shot.” Ironically, the man advocating that 'anti-national people should be shot’ is also the former Home Minister of Karnataka. With inputs from PTI

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Karnataka cabinet expansion will happen in the next 2-3 days: CM BS Yediyurappa

Politics

Yediyurappa also said that the 11 rebel MLAs would get cabinet berths.

PTI

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday said the much-awaited expansion of his cabinet will be carried out "in three to four days". On his arrival to Bengaluru from Davos after attending the World Economic Forum meet, he reiterated that he will keep the promise of making disqualified JDS-Congress MLAs, who got re-elected in the bypolls on BJP tickets, ministers but made it clear that those who lost will not be inducted. "I have discussed (expansion) with him (Home Minister Amit Shah) during his recent visit (to the state). In three to four days cabinet will be expanded, will do it hundred per cent this month," Yediyurappa said. Speaking to reporters, he said there was no need for him to travel to Delhi as he has already had a discussion with Shah and has got his approval for the exercise. "I will speak to the leadership once again and release the list (of ministers) and expand the cabinet with swearing-in ceremony in three to four days," he said. The Chief Minister, who had begun his Davos tour on January 19, returned to the city on Friday afternoon, following which several aspirants met him at his residence. Yediyurappa, who was anxiously waiting for the high-command's nod to expand his cabinet amid intense lobbying by the aspirants, was keen on getting the approval of Shah last week, ahead of his Davos tour. Though party sources said he will have to go to Delhi and discuss with new party national president J P Nadda, the chief minister maintained there was no need for him to travel to the national capital. Earlier in the day, Revenue Minister R Ashoka said the chief minister will hold discussions with Nadda and carry forward the expansion exercise. Responding to a question on how many legislators who won the bypolls will be made ministers, Yediyurappa said, "You will get to know about it once the cabinet expansion is done, wait till then." To a question on talks that only seven of 11 legislators, who won the bybolls after they were disqualified, will be made ministers, he said, "There's no truth in that. If there is anything particular, I will think and talk about it, but as I had promised they will get opportunity in the ministry." Asked about the disqualified legislators who lost on a BJP ticket during the bypoll, such as A H Vishwanath (Hunsur) and MTB Nagraj (Hoskote), amid demand that they too should be inducted, he said "that question does not arise at all." Also, with the high command reportedly not keen on making all the 11 re-elected legislators ministers, whom Yediyurappa has given assurance, it remains to be seen how things turn out. Not wanting to react on criticism from a few aspirants, about the delay in the expansion, he said, "It is true that there has been a delay, in three days cabinet expansion will be done. It is my duty to fulfil the promise that I had made to some people, I will fulfil it." BC Patil (Hirekerur), one among the 11 re-elected MLAs, said they were "pained" because of the delay. He, however, said, "There may be reasons for it. The party leadership and Yediyurappa hopefully will find a solution and distribute power through cabinet expansion soon." Patil later met Yediyurappa and said the chief minister has assured him about expanding the cabinet soon and that he may travel to Delhi, if required. As the Chief Minister has already made it clear that the 11 MLAs will be made ministers, lobbying has been on in the party for the remaining ministerial berths. Currently there are 18 ministers, including the chief minister in the cabinet that has a sanctioned strength of 34. The cabinet expansion will not be an easy task for the chief minister as he will have to strike a balance by accommodating the victorious legislators as promised and also make place for the old guard, upset at being "neglected" in the first round of the induction exercise. He also has to give adequate representation to various castes and regions in his cabinet and also deal with allocation of key portfolios. Also, disqualified legislator R Shankar, who was not given ticket to contest bypolls but was promised ministerial post by Yediyurappa, openly expressing his ministerial aspirations has added to the chief minister''s worry. Meanwhile, senior minister K S Eshwarappa said, "If anyone from the current ministry is asked to sacrifice the post by high command or the chief minister, we will have to do it. Not sure whether such a situation will arise or not."   

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Bengaluru women's sit-in protest against CAA extended to 48 hours

CAA

The women protesters extended their support to the students in Jamia Millia Islamia, the Aligarh Muslim University, the Jawaharlal Nehru University and others who were recently roughed up allegedly by police and masked goons.

IANS

Several women have completed a 24-hour protest here against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and are going strong to stretch it to 48 hours. "More than a thousand women gathered on the Masjid Road at Frazer Town to denounce the CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC)," participant and Mount Carmel College student Noor Zahira told IANS. The women protesters extended their support to the students in Jamia Millia Islamia, the Aligarh Muslim University, the Jawaharlal Nehru University and others who were recently roughed up allegedly by police and masked goons. Zahira, 20, said the women's protest was planned only for 24 hours but is continuing to touch 48 hours. Starting 3pm on Thursday, the women, several of them in burqas, niqabs and hijabs, are sitting on the road just outside the Haji Sait mosque in Frazer Town in a flash protest. Though they have informed the police, they did not wait for the permission. Around 11 pm, police arrived and shut off the protesters' loud speakers. Zahira said already four such women's anti-CAA protests were taken out in Bengaluru. Women from all ages groups have joined the protest and are sloganeering. As the women are protesting on the road, men are guarding them standing on the opposite road, ensuring all supplies such as food and others to them, she added. "Muslim women were not alone in denouncing the CAA... we were joined by the transgenders, Hindu women, Christian women, Dalits and others, " she said. Some of the protesters also indulged in creative work such as composing songs against the CAA and making placards. Though four anti-CAA women's protests happened at the Town Hall and other landmarks in Bengaluru, they were only a few hours long. The protesting women are also showing support to women protesters at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi who were accused of demonstrating for Rs 500. However, the protest did not align anti-CAA demonstration with any political party, keeping it apolitical.  

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Trump threatens to cut California funding over abortion coverage

The move coincides with Trump's address to March for Life.

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Bengaluru’s Jayadeva flyover demolition causes traffic nightmare, commuters vent out

Traffic

The demolition work, which began on Monday, is expected to take 90 days to complete.

Alithea Stephanie Mounika

Representative image

Work to demolish the Jayadeva flyover, which connects south Bengaluru to the Central Silk Board and the IT corridor, began on Monday and is expected to take 90 days. With traffic restrictions and diversion in place, the demolition has caused a traffic nightmare for commuters. Bengalurueans took to Twitter to vent their ire at the Bengaluru’s Metro, the police, and whoever else they thought was responsible for causing the traffic mess. Commuters complained bitterly about their plight, alleging massive mismanagement of the traffic passing by Jayadeva flyover, and hit out at the non-coordination between civic officials. The alternative route, Dairy Circle to Hosur Road, is yet to complete white-topping, resulting in more traffic jams. One user complained of how he couldn’t even walk because there was no space on the road. “2.5 km jam from HSR to BTM via Silk Board towards Jayadeva. I got off at HSR to walk from HSR to BTM but there is no space to even walk.”   2.5 km jam from HSR to BTM via Silk Board towards Jayadeva. I got off at HSR to walk from HSR to BTM but there is no space to even walk. @blrcitytraffic @BangaloreMirror @cpronammametro @CPBlr pic.twitter.com/T1KuXKdptn — Mayank (@daddyblr) January 23, 2020   Another road user complained about lack of planning on the part of authorities.  “@BBMPCOMM @blrcitytraffic  Pathetic people you are. No proper planning. Make common people suffer. Couldn't you have finished white topping on dairy circle stretch before taking up demolition of jayadeva flyover. My wife left office at Bellandur at 5.30pm in ORRCA bus (1/n) She has still not reached home in Banashankari and stuck somewhere around silkboard. Her phone battery has died. Due to improper planning by you people we common people are made to suffer. Don't give that std reply jayadeva flyover demolition is in progress. (2/n)”   She has still not reached home in Banashankari and stuck somewhere around silkboard. Her phone battery has died. Due to improper planning by you people we common people are made to suffer. Don't give that std reply jayadeva flyover demolition is in progress. (2/n) — Varun Chandramouli (@varun_c24) January 23, 2020   Others have resorted to humour to cope with the infamous Bengaluru traffic.  “@blrcitytraffic  @BBMPCOMM  Please pass on our sincere appreciation to the hardworking, highly competent officers who had this bright idea of beginning the demolition of jayadeva flyover during a weekday evening. Has converted the ORR into a necklace road studded with rubies”   @blrcitytraffic @BBMPCOMM Please pass on our sincere appreciation to the hardworking, highly competent officers who had this bright idea of beginning the demolition of jayadeva flyover during a weekday evening. Has converted the ORR into a necklace road studded with rubies pic.twitter.com/bbzuXEqtTJ — Hayath (@hayath_mo) January 23, 2020   Another person joked, “I have vowed not to sleep even in the direction of Jayadeva flyover till metro starts running”.   I have vowed not to sleep even in the direction of Jayadeva flyover till metro starts running  — Namma Bengaluroo (@NammaBengaluroo) January 23, 2020   Meanwhile, the official Namma Metro Twitter handle responded in a tongue-in-cheek manner to the public backlash on the microblogging platform, stating, “There is no single bullet to city problems. Every stake holder is doing their best to resolve the problems of the citizens. Today’s inconvenience is for a better tomorrow. Criticism and suggestions are take equally to resolve the issues.”   There is no single bullet to city problems . Every stake holder is doing their best to resolve the problems of the citizens. Today’s inconvenience is for a better tomorrow. Criticism and suggestions are take equally to resolve the issues . — BMRCL (@cpronammametro) January 23, 2020   In other words, they gave irate commuters the classic Kannada response to any kind of inconvenience: “Swalpa adjust maadi!” (Please adjust a little). Commuters, however, were having none of that. People lashed out in the replies.   It may have taken you hardly two mins to write this dialogue. The inconveniences you cause for the delay and thoughtless execution of your projects needs no explanation. Stop preaching, start acting — Barcelona Panda (@barce007) January 23, 2020     Today's inconvenience can also be mitigated if some brain works on that front too. You block the road but alternative roads are also dug up by some other agency, no coordination between govt agencies because common public is of no concern for them — spry (@spryextinct) January 23, 2020     'Today' is 'tomorrow' of yesterday! 'Today' scanning-ticketing-waiting nullifies time saved by Metro journey. 'Today' Metro parking has crept into residential areas. 'Today' coaches are overcrowded. 'Today' proper First/Last mile connectivity is missing. Will you fix it? pic.twitter.com/5UQPMdWkoE — Yogeesh Prabhuswamy (@yogeeshgp) January 24, 2020     Agree.. But everything has break point... Especially human patience — City-Zen (@Cribbber) January 23, 2020   The four-lane Jayadeva flyover is being demolished to make way for an elevated corridor-cum-metro line. As, the demolition works is being carried out at night, it is expected to take 90 days for the entire flyover to be razed.   Read: Jayadeva flyover demolition: Bengaluru Metro officials say 90 days to raze structure

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