Didn't sleep well on Thursday night? Bengaluru saw hottest January in 150 years

Temperature

The previous high in January was recorded two decades ago, on January 24, 2000, at 32.8 degrees Celsius.

Theja Ram

Ever wondered why the nights in Bengaluru have been unusually warm over the last two days? According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), January 30, Thursday, marked the hottest January night in 150 years. On Thursday, Bengaluru recorded a temperature of 33.5 degrees Celsius, the highest maximum temperature in January. On Friday, the temperature remained at 33.4 degree Celsius, according to IMD figures.  IMD officials said that the highest average temperature in January in Bengaluru is between 27 to 28 degree Celsius. The last time temperature rose drastically in January was in the year 2000, when it has touched 32.8 degree Celsius, the Deccan Herald reported.  “This year is the highest temperature IMD has recorded in January in the city ever since we began recording temperature data 150 years ago. Generally, January is colder and the temperatures rise in late February,” said CS Patil, Managing Director of IMD.    According to IMD’s extended-range forecast, the temperature is expected to rise to around 35-36 degrees Celsius by the last week of February, the DH report stated. “We cannot predict whether the summer will be warmer or not right now. But we are witnessing a general, one to two degree rise in temperature throughout the peninsula,” he added. Speaking to TNM, KSNDMC Director Sreenivas Reddy said that the rise in temperature is due to the rise in the sea surface temperature in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. “The skies have been clear with no cloud formations. The sea surface temperature has increased in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. As a result, the entire peninsula is witnessing a rise in temperature. There is a general increase in temperature across the world. This year, even Australia witnessed record high temperature. It is a global phenomenon and we can expect a rise in temperature in the future,” he said.

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'Bengaluru will see a Jamia repeat': Two men detained for threatening anti-CAA protesters

The two men were employees of a bank and threatened students after getting drunk.

TNM Staff

Student protester

The shooting outside Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi on Thursday by a minor shook the country. On Friday, two men, threatened student protesters in Bengaluru, that there would be a repeat of Jamia in Bengaluru. The High Grounds Police, who were deployed for security at the Maurya Circle, where a protest was under way, detained the two men and herded them off to the police station after complaints from protesters. The students of several colleges in Bengaluru had gathered at Maurya Circle at around 7.30 pm to protest the incident at Jamia Millia. The students demanded that Union Home Minister Amit Shah resign and that BJP MP Anurag Thakur be booked for hate speech. By 11 pm, many protesters had dispersed after which the two men who were passing by began heckling the remaining student protesters, Times of India reported. TOI quoted a student named Adrian stating that the small group of protesters stayed within the barricaded area and two men, who were inside the barricade, began shouting pro-CAA slogans. Speaking to TNM, Teresa Braggs, a student protester said that three men were circling the area where the protest took place for over an hour before the incident occurred. “They began saying, ‘it’s not down down CAA but you people will go down just like Jamia’. Two of them came up to a friend and took a picture with my friend. The two men shook hands with the same friend and started running,” Teresa said. The two men began running away from the protest site and Teresa and her friends chased them. “The police was also with us. We caught up to them and the police detained the two men,” she says. According to the TOI report, the two men came back and pleaded with the protesters to not file any police complaint. They were taken to the High Grounds Police Station, where the incident was noted in the case diary and the they were let off. “We noted it as public nuisance. They were both bank employees and were drunk. One of them had thrown a party last night and they were all drunk when the incident happened. They apologised to the students. We told the students that we would register a case if they filed a complaint. But they accepted the apology. Se warned them and let the two men go,” the High Grounds Police said.   

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Plea to cancel Nithyananda’s bail: Karnataka HC issues notice to self-styled godman

Crime

In the plea, whistle blower Lenin sought the cancellation of bail granted to Nithyananda in a rape case from 2010.

TNM Staff

The Karnataka High Court on Friday issued a notice to absconding self-styled god man and rape accused Nithyananda while hearing a petition by whistleblower Lenin Karuppan, who was a former disciple of the rape accused. In the plea, Lenin sought the cancellation of bail granted to Nithyananda in a rape case from 2010. Justice John Michael Cunha hearing the case directed the local police to execute the notice issued by Monday (February 3), and file a report before the court. The counsel appearing for the petitioner stated that Nithyananda had fled the country, his passport had been cancelled and a blue corner notice was issued against him by Interpol in connection with a case registered in Gujarat. The court ordered that the notice has to be issued against the self-proclaimed godman and asked the police if they will be able to execute it.  The counsel appearing for the state government said that they did not know the whereabouts of Nithyananda. Reports indicate that Nithyananda has left India, either on a fake passport or bearing a second passport. Thus, he would not be available for trial and for judgement, the petitioner informed the court. The High Court in response asked, "Why has his presence not been secured before the trial court? Did you (prosecution) file any objections to the exemption granted?” Live Law quoted the judge as saying. The court directed the prosecution to file a report stating the reasons for not filing objections before the trial court seeking revocation of the exemption granted and for cancellation of bail. Nithyananda is facing trial under Sections 376 (rape), 420 (cheating), 114 (criminal abetment), 201 (disappearance of evidence, giving false information), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and other charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in the III Additional District and Sessions Court in Ramanagara in Karnataka. Since the complaint was filed in 2010, Nithyananda has been arrested twice and been granted bail from higher courts, successfully delaying the start of the trial. Ultimately, the victims approached the apex court to seek justice. The Gujarat police had declared him as wanted as he failed to appear for trial in a child abduction case.    

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Karnataka CM Yediyurappa to induct 11 more ministers into his cabinet

Politics

BJP spokesperson G Madhusudhana said, however, that he was not privy to the names of the ministers who will make it to the final list.

IANS

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa will induct 11 new ministers into his ministry, a BJP spokesperson said on Friday. "Amongst 11 ministers, maybe nine will be accommodated (from by-election winners) and another three from the regular BJP cadres," BJP spokesperson G Madhusudhana told IANS. However, he said he was not privy to any names that would feature in the final list. Commenting on the amount of time being taken to expand the cabinet, Madhusudhana said 11 non-BJP candidates winning the bye-election and all of them being promised a ministerial berth has created imbalances. "...the entry of 11 non-BJP legislators getting elected on BJP tickets with an assurance of cabinet berth for everybody has really caused a lot of commotion, a sort of tension and a regionally imbalanced and a caste imbalance also," he said. To rule the state, the spokesperson said regional and caste balances are a must. "Regional balances... ministers coming from different parts of the state. And ministers representing different groups of people. These two things are not there with the assurance we have given to a group of people who are the benefactors of our government in Karnataka," said Madhusudhana. As a result, the question of how to accommodate, how to make a balance has been the problem for the Chief Minister, the high command and everybody as a matter of fact, he said. Amid this chaos, Madhusudhana said some balance has to be struck, some have to be convinced and some simply sympathised with. Some hopefuls will be promised next time as politics is a game of hope, he added. According to the BJP leader, being the Chief Minister is like wearing a crown full of thorns. "Both (throne and crown) have more thorns than roses. But the thing is sitting on the thorny throne, he (Yeddiyurappa) has to smile at the people, he can't weep," he added. The much-delayed cabinet expansion has already been postponed several times. The BJP won 12 of the 15 Assembly seats in the bye-elections while the opposition Congress could win only two while an Independent won one.

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After delay of over 10 years, Pumpwell flyover inaugurated in Mangaluru

Civic

The flyover had become an election issue in Mangaluru and even mock inaugurations have taken place.

Prajwal Bhat

It is a celebration more than ten years in the making. A parade of cultural troupes, with some people playing the chende (a drum used in Yakshagana), some others dressed as giant puppets and one person even dressed as Mr. Bean, turned the Pumpwell flyover in Mangaluru into a carnival. The flyover was inaugurated amid fanfare, more than 11 years since the letter of approval was granted for its construction in 2009. Over the last decade, it was a source of conflict between the Congress and the BJP in the coastal city. Ironically, the flyover, which has been built to ease the traffic logjam at the intersection of NH66 and NH55 was inaugurated at 9.37 am, which is about the same time the area faces heavy traffic due to people heading towards city to reach offices and educational institutions. According to a traffic policemen, the inauguration was delayed from the scheduled start at 9 am. “We were told to cordon the area until VIP’s leave and allow regular commuters after the inauguration was done,” a traffic policeman said. The inauguration however lasted for about an hour, after which and the regular vehicular movement was allowed around 10.30 am. Speaking at the inauguration, Dakshina Kannada MP and BJP Karnataka President Nalin Kumar Kateel argued that it did not take over a decade but merely three years for the completion of Pumpwell flyover. “Until 2016, only the support elevated area on which the flyover stands were acquired for the project. We could not complete the entry and exit-ramps as the local residents had obtained stay order. The Congress party that had elected representatives both in the state assembly as well as Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC), did not make any effort, to negotiate or bring consensus among the litigants, even as ordinary people continued to suffer from traffic congestion,” he said. Responding to the criticism and trolling over repeated changes of the deadline for the flyover’s completion, Nalin alleged that it was the opposition led ‘drama’ to show BJP leaders in poor light. “It has only made me more popular. But let them first answer that despite knowing Navayuga Udupi Tollway Pvt. Ltd (NUTPL)'s poor financial health, why did the Congress at the Centre in 2009 decide to handover the project to NUTPL. It was us (BJP) who convinced the Central government to award advance of Rs. 59 Crore for the Pumpwell project after NUTPL had failed to convince private bankers to extend loan for the project,” he said. Speaking to The News Minute, the project director of NHAI Mangaluru Project Office Shishu Mohan said that four-laning of the road is completed and only a few final touches at the two-underpasses leading to a local hospital is pending. “The flyover will easily be able to manage a load of 20,000 vehicles from the Pumpwell junction,” he said.  The inaugural event was largely dominated by the BJP’s local legislators, along with its local corporators and party workers. The event did not see any presence of Congress representatives or leaders. Nalin, a three-time MP from Dakshina Kannada, was first elected from the constituency in 2009. He subsequently won from the constituency in the 2014 and 2019 parliamentary elections. In the run-up to both elections, the Pumpwell flyover was an election issue raised by his opponents. At one point, the flyover was officially slated to be inaugurated on March 31, 2013 but it has now been inaugurated more than six years after the initial target. The flyover is a part of the 90 km highway widening project from Talapady to Kundapura, a distance of 112 km between Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. NUPTL was tasked with completing the construction and was supposed to hand the property back to the government in 2035 after managing the property for over 20 years. However, due to slow progress in land acquisition by the government, court litigations and local political pressure, the firm’s work on the flyover was only completed earlier this month. In the last two years, the Congress and the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) had celebrated a mock inauguration of the incomplete flyover wearing masks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and Nalin Kumar Kateel.  

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Praveen Sood appointed as DG and IG of Karnataka after Neelamani Raju retires

Law and Order

TNM Staff

Praveen Sood, the incumbent DIG of CID’s Economic Offences Wing has been appointed as the Director General and Inspector General of Police for Karnataka state. On Friday, the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms issued a notification that the current DG and IG Neelamani Raju retired on superannuation. Known as the police officer who brought in reforms in training officers deputed with cyber crime units across the state, Praveen Sood introduced several reforms that sped up investigation processes. He introduced the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System all over the state by networking all police stations in the country and ensuring data entry and retrieval of all information in police stations and higher police officers online. Born in 1964, Praveen Sood graduated from IIT Delhi and joined the Indian Police Service in 1986. He kicked off his career as the Assistant Superintendent of Police in Mysuru in 1989. He has served as the SP of Ballari and Raichur before being posted as the Deputy Police Commissioner (Law and Order) of Bengaluru. In 1999, he served as the police officer on foreign deputation as the police advisor to the Government of Mauritius for 3 years.  He was posted as Police Commissioner of Mysuru City between 2004 and 2007.  He took over as the Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) in Bengaluru in 2008 and continued in the post till 2011. He has won the Chief Minister’s Gold Medal for excellence in service in 1996, the Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 2002  and the President’s Police Medal in 2011.  During 2013-14 he took over as Managing Director of Karnataka State Police Housing Corporation. He later worked as the Principal Secretary to the Home  Department as the Additional Director General of Police (Karnataka State Reserve Police) and the ADGP of Administration. In 2017, he was appointed the Bengaluru Police Commissioner. He was also instrumental in launching “Suraksha” App and “Pink Hoyasalas” managed by all-women police officers. As the DIG of the CID, Economic offences and Special Units, he is credited for opening the Centre for Cyber-crime Investigation, Training and Research for training police officers, prosecutors and the judiciary in handling cyber crime cases.     

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Bidar school sedition case: Youngest student cops questioned over play is 9 years old

CAA

The mother of the pupil and the head teacher arrested may not get bail till February 4 as the judge is on leave.

Prajwal Bhat

On Thursday, officials at the Shaheen Primary and High School in Bidar district of Karnataka were prepared for the sight of police personnel in plain clothes walking into the school premises. The police had called up earlier and asked the school authorities to present all students who participated in a play staged on January 21 about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to the police station. However, when the school authorities refused to send students to the station, the police came to the school instead, this time for a second round of questioning.  While they had anticipated as much, the school authorities were not prepared for what came next. The police not only questioned students in the school but also arrested a head-teacher of the school’s primary section – Fareeda Begum (52) – for overseeing the play, and the mother of a child who took part in the play – Nazbunnisa (26). The school management is also facing charges of sedition for allowing the play to be conducted. On Friday, though the school authorities applied for bail for the two women who were arrested, it did not come up for hearing. The lawyer who is representing the two women told TNM that the judge in the District and Sessions court in Bidar was on leave till February 4 and it will most likely not be possible to secure bail. Read: Mother of student, teacher arrested after Karnataka school stages play on CAA-NRC "The students were questioned for over two hours. All the students are from classes 4, 5 and 6 and the youngest among them was aged 9," says Tauseef Madikeri, the CEO of the school.  Bidar SP T Shreedhara told TNM that the mother has been arrested for telling her daughter to say a dialogue that anyone who asks for documents should be hit with a chappal (slipper), and including abusive words which were not part of the script of the play. “The head-teacher was arrested because she was overseeing the play," the SP added. He said that while the school management is facing charges of sedition, the parent and the teacher arrested will be "charged to the extent of their involvement." The police are unwilling to disclose if there is a separate FIR against the parent and the head teacher, and the only FIR that the media has accessed till now is a case based on sedition law. "At this point we cannot reveal what charges have they been booked under. Only an investigation will reveal their role," Bidar DSP Basaveshwara Hira, who is investigating the case, told TNM.  In a video reportedly of the play which has now been taken down from social media, a child is heard telling another child, “The government is telling Muslims to leave India and go away.” The other child responds, “Amma, Modi is saying show documents of your father and grandfather otherwise he is telling us to leave the country.” At this point, another child is heard saying, “Hit them with slippers if anybody asks for documents.” Tauseef says the dialogue uttered by the child was generic. "It has been wrongly interpreted. It was not used to target anyone and the girl spoke of hitting anyone who would ever dare ask her for her documents with a chappal. She has picked up this part from watching videos and listening to conversations at home," Tauseef adds.  Speaking in an interview with India Today before her arrest, Nazmunnisa apologised for the incident and took responsibility for it in the hope that her daughter is not targeted for her part in the play. "We did not intend to portray the Prime Minister in a bad light. We were thinking about how we can do the play; saw something on YouTube and thought of doing it," Nazmunnissa says.   Complaint says play was 'insulting PM’ Police officials from New Town Police Station acted on a complaint made by Nilesh Rakshala, an activist of the Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), in which he stated that dialogues in the play "insulted the Prime Minister". Police first visited the school on January 28. On this occasion, there were police personnel in uniform as well as those in plain clothes, who questioned students involved in the play. Police officials, in plainclothes, made a second visit to the school on Thursday, and once again questioned students. The police further asked parents of the children involved in the play and the head-teacher Fareeda to visit the police station for questioning.  The police justified their actions stating that the children were witnesses in a complaint of sedition. "We have followed protocol in examining juvenile witnesses. A child rights activist was present and police officials visited the school in plain clothes. We have a system of Special Juvenile Police Units in each police station and they have acted based on the complaint," Bidar SP T Shreedhara said.  School says police didn’t follow child-friendly procedure But people connected to the school say that the questioning by the police was not conducted in a child-friendly manner, and that some of the police officials who visited the school were in uniform. "Police officials who visited on Thursday were in plain clothes. However, on January 28, there were policemen who were in uniform at the school," says Tauseef. Photographs, which have been shared widely, also show police officers in uniform questioning students.  Members of the Shaheen Alumni Association wrote to the Chairperson of the Karnataka State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights on the issue.  In the letter, it was pointed out that under the section 107 of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015, only a Child Welfare Police Officer (CWPO) can deal with children. The letter points out another rule which states that parents of the child may be present during the interrogation, however, this was not followed.  "Photos that are going viral on the social media prove the fact that rules of child-friendly procedures have been completely breached by the concerned police officers, as the police officer interviewing is wearing a coloured shirt, however, the other two officers accompanying him are in complete uniform and are carrying weapon which is visible. The impact of such a sight is traumatising for the children (sic)," reads a letter written by Irfan Ahmed, Coordinator of the Shaheen Alumni Association.  Police officials say that they will continue their investigation into the incident even as school authorities are scrambling to ensure bail for the teacher and the parent arrested. 

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