Bidar case: 11-yr-old awaits mother’s release as court to hear bail plea on Tuesday

Bidar sedition case

The school CEO told TNM that the girl did not attend a preparatory examination on Monday.

Prajwal Bhat

An 11-year-old girl in Bidar district's Shaheen Primary and High School is eagerly waiting for the verdict in the bail petition hearing of her mother and her teacher. The court will be hearing their bail pleas on Tuesday.  The mother, Nazbunnisa, and the teacher, Fareeda Begum, were booked for sedition and arrested after a school play voiced dissent against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).  "We are hoping that this ordeal is over tomorrow. We still cannot believe that a school play attracted a charge of sedition and that the police visited the school five times to question students," Touseef Madikeri, the school's CEO says.  The play was held on January 21 in Shaheen School following which Nilesh Rakshala, an activist from the Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) filed a complaint with the police officials in Bidar's New Town Police Station. He accused the school management of sedition and 'insulting' the Prime Minister through the play. Nazbunissa's daughter Ayesha* (name changed) was alleged to have delivered the dialogues which 'insulted' Prime Minister Modi. "In the days after the arrest, Ayesha attended school and was questioned by the police three times but on Monday, she missed her prepartory examination and she has now stopped attending school," Touseef says of the 11-year-old whose father passed away earlier and is now under the care of a teacher at the school. He further defended the play saying that it was satirical and not hateful.  But Nazbunnisa and Fareeda were arrested on January 30 and are lodged at the Bidar District Prison currently. The judge at the district court was on leave till February 4 and upon returning, he gave the public prosecutor one week's time to file objections to the bail petition. Police officials in Bidar led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Basaveshwara Hira visited the school five times to question students. The police also arrested the two women and booked them for sedition. The police's actions were heavily criticised after a photograph of the police questioning students in uniform was shared widely.  "The police visited the school five times and spoke to students they were not able to speak to earlier. They collected information about the play," Bidar SP DL Nagesh says. Students in the school, however, told TNM that they were intimidated by the police's repeated questioning. "We were repeatedly asked similar questions like who scripted the play, what our roles were, where we practiced, whether our parents attended," a student said. 

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Coronavirus: No, the virus hasn’t been detected in chickens in Bengaluru

Coronavirus

A viral message claimed that infected chickens had spread the coronavirus in the city, officials confirmed to TNM that this was not true.

Dr Nimeshika Jayachandran

Representative Image

“High alert: Chicken infected from corona virus found in Bangalore today, kindly circulate the message and avoid consumption of chicken. Spread to your dear ones,” reads the latest forward message circulating in WhatsApp groups in Bengaluru. This message is not true. “From a scientific and medical point of view, whether it is in India or elsewhere, the virus doesn’t spread from chicken. Please do not forward or share such messages,” stated Dr G Devegowda,President, Institution of Veterinarians of Poultry Industry. He stressed that spreading such news only resulted in more fear mongering and panic spreading. Speaking to TNM, Bengaluru District Health Officer (DHO) reiterated that the virus is spread via air droplets from infected individuals or carriers (who are infected with the virus but do not show any symptoms of being unwell themselves). Several such fake advisories and warnings have been shared on WhatsApp and circulated on social media extensively since the coronavirus outbreak started. A similar message that was circulated was debunked after officials from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) issued a statement. “For the past few days we have seen fake messages/posts on social media claiming that broiler chickens are spreading coronavirus are getting viral. As such there is no scientific evidence to back this claim,” reads the statement which has been signed by Dr P Venkateshwar Reddy Chief Veterinary Officer of GHMC. The coronavirus outbreak began in China’s Wuhan city, located in Hubei province. Over 40,000 individuals are reportedly infected with over 800 deaths having occurred in China alone. India has reported three positive cases from Kerala, with one individual no longer showing the virus in the lab samples. The virus belongs to the same family of viruses which caused the 2003 SARS outbreak and the sporadic outbreak of MERS in 2012. The WHO has recommended that individuals follow stringent hand hygiene measures and wash hands frequently with soap and water.

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Water Resources for Jarkiholi, Health for Sudhakar: BSY allocates portfolios

Politics

Ramesh Jarkiholi bagged the coveted Water Resources portfolio, while K Sudhakar got the Medical Education ministry.

TNM Staff

The much-awaited allocation of ministerial portfolios for the newly appointed ministers in the Karnataka cabinet finally came through on Monday. On February 6, ten turncoat MLAs who had quit the Congress- JD(S) and joined the BJP were sworn in as ministers in BS Yediyurappa’s cabinet. On Monday, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa finalized the list of ministries to be allocated to the 10 turncoat MLAs. Ramesh Jarkiholi, the MLA from Gokak, who kick started the rebellion in the Congress has bagged the Water Resources portfolio. Ramesh Jarkiholi had demanded this particular ministry as he wanted the same portfolio that his political nemesis DK Shivakumar had bagged when he was a minister in the coalition government. Although all four of the MLAs from Bengaluru were eyeing the coveted Bengaluru Development Ministry, none of them bagged it as Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has decided to retain the portfolio himself. KR Puram MLA and a prominent politician in Bengaluru – Byrathi Basavaraj, however, bagged the Urban Development portfolio. Although Narayanagowda from Mandya wanted the Agriculture Ministry, he had to settle with the Horticulture and Sericulture portfolios along with Municipal Administration. BJP sources say that only Ramesh Jarkiholi and Dr K Sudhakar got the portfolios they wanted. Dr K Sudhakar has been made the Minister for Medical Education from Health and Family Welfare. “Some important portfolios must be set aside for the next round of cabinet expansion. Some ministers are likely to be shuffled as well in July,” the source added. Here is the full list of newly allocated ministries: Ramesh Laxmanrao Jarkiholi: Major and Medium Irrigation for Water Resources Anand Singh: Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Srimanth Patil: Textile from Commerce and Industries Byrathi Basavaraj: Urban Development (excluding Bengaluru Development, BBMP, BDA, BWSSB, BMRDA, BMRCL, KUWSDB, KUIDFC & Directorate of Town Planning from Urban Development). ST Somashekar: Cooperation Department BC Patil: Environment, Forests and Climate Change Dr K Sudhakar: Medical Education from Health and Family Welfare KC Narayana Gowda: Municipal Administration, Horticulture and Sericulture Shivaram Hebbar: Labour Department  

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Rehabilitate those whose huts were demolished in anti 'Bangladeshi' drive: K'taka HC

Court

The state government was given two weeks to provide interim relief to residents and a period of one month to come up with a scheme to rehabilitate residents.

Prajwal Bhat

The Karnataka High Court directed the state government to rehabilitate and provide relief measures for residents of migrant settlements in Bellandur and Whitefield in Bengaluru which were demolished over fears that Bangladeshi immigrants were staying there. The demolitions were carried out on January 18 and 19 after police officials at the Marathahalli police station issued notices to the landowners to evict residents living in tin and tarpaulin sheds. Police then oversaw the demolition of sheds in Kariyammana Agrahara, Devarabeesanahalli and Kundanahalli despite appeals from the residents.  "As it all began due to the notice issued by the police inspector, it is the state government which takes responsibility to rehabilitate the persons who lost their homes in the demolition. We direct the state government to come up with a scheme for rehabilitating the residents and for grant of interim relief,"  Chief Justice Abhay Oka stated.  The state government was given two weeks to provide interim relief to residents and a period of one month to come up with a scheme to rehabilitate residents. The court was hearing the plea filed by the People's Union for Civil Liberties which challenged the demolition. When the demolitions were carried out, another letter written by Narayan Swamy, the Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) of the BBMP's Mahadevapura zone sought permission from the Marathahalli police to carry out demolitions. But the counsel appearing for BBMP in the high court distanced the civic body from the demolitions stating that even though a letter was sent by the AEE, the demolitions were not carried out by them. But CJ Oka stated that the demolitions were a result of the actions of Marathahalli police officials, who were present along with an excavator when the demolitions were carried out. "The counsels appearing for the state government and BBMP have both denied that they initiated any due process to evict residents in the settlements," CJ Oka said.  Police officials present during demolition of migrant settlement near Mantri Espana Apartment, Bellandur The High Court also rejected the statements made by two landowners that the residents left the settlement after they were politely requested to do so.  Read: ‘Can you identify Bangladeshi by looking at face’: Karnataka HC slams state In the week prior to the demolitions, a video was shared widely on social media claiming that illegal Bangladeshi immigrants were sheltered in the migrant settlements in Bellandur. The video was also shared by the BJP's Mahadevapura MLA Arvind Limbavali.  A news report by Suvarna News had also claimed the presence of Bangladeshi immigrants staying in Bellandur. This was despite the fact that most residents of the settlement were from different parts of India including Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and even north Karnataka.  The residents in the settlement work as housekeepers, cooks and cleaners in high-rise apartments nearby on daily wages. The residents who saw their homes demolished in January are now living in sheds nearby. "We will be collecting information on the list of residents whose homes were demolished last month. We will be providing this list to the state government," Maitreyi Krishnan, the petitioner told TNM.  Read: After video claims 'Bangladeshi immigrant' settlement in Bengaluru, BBMP razes 100 huts  

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Bid to conserve water: BBMP, BDA will soon have to use treated water in parks

Civic Issues

KSPCB officials said that the decision was made as both BBMP and BDA are using tanker water from borewells for public parks they manage.

TNM Staff

With summer fast approaching, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has decided that the Bengaluru civic body, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) must use treated water from STPs in public parks managed by them. KSPCB officials said that the decision was made as both BBMP and BDA are using tanker water from borewells for public parks they manage and the new move is to help conserve underground water. “Last week, we had a board meeting and we realised that underground water is being used to water plants at public parks and also the trees and saplings that have been planted along the roads and pavements. This is drawing out a lot of underground water. During summer months, this can become problematic,” the KSPCB official said. KSPCB officials said that notices would be issued to BBMP and BDA this week, after which the rule would be implemented. "We are asking them to implement it without delay," the official said.  KSPCB officials further said that the move is being made after water scarcity issues cropped up in the suburban areas of Bengaluru in the summer of 2019. They added that the residents had complained of having to pay huge amounts for tanker water services. Currently, there are 3,961 apartments in Bengaluru that have Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs). In addition, the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has 27 STPs, where a large chunk of the treated water is not being utilized at all, KSPCB officials said. BWSSB figures state that 1,112 MLD of treated water is being produced at the 27 STPs across Bengaluru, out of which only 315 MLD of water is being sold for construction purposes. BWSSB officials said that around 10 tankers of treated water are being sold daily and this is resulting in a large portion of the water being let out into the storm water drains. Data from BWSSB shows that there are 8,550 borewells in Bengaluru that have been dug after obtaining permission from the BWSSB. Of these, around 7,900 are functional. “These are only the approved borewells. In areas like Bellandur, Mahadevapura and Sarjapur, there are many people who have dug borewells illegally. There are about 1 lakh illegal borewells in Bengaluru and it is important to conserve groundwater, at least until BWSSB can ensure there is Cauvery water supply for all homes in BBMP limits,” the official said. KSPBC officials said that a lot of the treated water is getting wasted as many people constructing homes and commercial buildings are not following the rules and are using a lot of ground water. “In order to ensure that the treated water doesn’t get wasted and also ensure that ground water levels don’t get depleted, we have decided to make it mandatory for BBMP and BDA to use treated water only for watering plants and trees on the roadside and also managing parks and public spaces. There is also a need to monitor those private entities that are not using treated water for construction activity,” the KSPCB official added.     

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Power tariff hikes in Bengaluru: Bescom making people pay more for its incompetence?

Civic issues

The Bescom has various structural problems which it has no will to improve, and is indiscriminately increasing power costs to put the onus on consumers.

Alithea Stephanie Mounika

The Bangalore Political Action Committee (BPAC) have submitted a report to the Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) opposing the electricity tariff hike that was recently proposed in January. The report was submitted during the public consultation held on February 7. BPAC alleged that the real reason for Bescom increasing the tariff was not even directly connected to household consumers. Though Bescom has claimed that a huge revenue deficit of Rs 5,872 crore was the reason for the tariff hike, BPAC's report says that Bescom is making people pay extra to cover up for it's own incompetency. “When they are slashing the prices of power in other places like Delhi, where is the need to have a price increase in Bengaluru?” asks Revathy Ashok, CEO of BPAC. Delhi residents have access to free power for the first 100 units, and Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi, announced in August that the free units would go up to 200 units. However, Bescom proposed an increase by Rs 1.96 per unit for 2021. This is an increase of 24% from the average cost in 2019 of Rs 7.84. This price of Rs 7.84 per unit is in itself a 15% increase from the approved rate of Rs 6.80 per unit, as given by the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC). BPAC’s report looks at comparing performance and productivity in detail to look into reasons for such a huge deficit. They found that the problem was multi-fold. Power theft and distribution loss “Bengaluru has the highest transmission and distribution losses among the progressive states, at a loss of 16.42%. Other places like Delhi have a much less transmission and distribution loss, between 8.9 to 8 percent. Why is this? Because there is a large amount of power theft, and the Bescom does not have the will to follow it up. Why should the poor consumers pay huge electricity bills because of the Bescom’s incompetence?” Revathy asks. The KERC’s approved rate of transmission and distribution losses is set at 15.33%, however, the BPAC report states that Bescom routinely flouts it, with Bengaluru alone witnessing a loss of 16.42% of the total power distributed in 2019. “Bescom does not show interest in reducing these losses, which affects the price,” the report states. Outstanding dues not collected They study found that Bescom was not collecting its dues and that the agency has an average outstanding payment of 7.42 months. “When Bescom does not collect its dues, it incurs huge cash deficits for which they have to borrow and pay interest. They are trying to pass on this interest to the poor consumers, who struggle and pay their bills on time. Where is the justice in this? A large proportion of this pending collection is from government dues and government must bear the interest burden. This cost should not be passed on to consumers,” Revathy Ashok said. Agricultural consumption is disproportionate The report shows that there has been a huge increase in the number of water pump sets being used, and also in power consumption by the agricultural sector. According to the regulations, each farmer can have only one pump set. Karnataka has witnessed a drop in the gross irrigated area by eight% between 2016 and 2019. However, the report states that the consumption of power for agricultural activities has increased by 71% in this period. “Power for agricultural use is always subsidised due to political reasons, we do not object to farmers getting a subsidy. But fact is, farmers are not the true beneficiaries, and they continue to be in distress. Any power benefit to farmers must go as a direct benefit transfer, so there is no potential for leakage. All subsidies should also be borne by the government. Consumers should not and cannot be made to pay for this, through increased power tariffs.” Revathy says. Industrial users moving away from Bescom The report states that there has been a 7% decrease in the power units sold for industrial purposes, despite the increase in number of subscribers for high tension units. “This is because they are moving towards private energy exchanges, which give flexible and low rates of power, and they don’t have to rely on the fixed rates of Bescom. Bescom must reduce the rates for industrial consumers as it helps job creation. With Industrial users moving to private exchanges, consumers will end up paying more,” Revathy says.

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Ex-CEO of crisis-hit Guru Raghavendra Sahakara bank in Karnataka booked for cheating

Crime

The bank is in the middle of a crisis following huge non-performing assets and Reserve Bank of India imposed restrictions from collecting deposits, lending loans and making investments.

TNM Staff

A case of cheating and forgery has been registered against the former chief executive officer of crisis-hit Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank Limited in Bengaluru, weeks after RBI cap on withdrawal-limit triggered panic among depositors. According to police, the case has been registered based on a complaint by the present CEO officer A Santhosh Kumar against his predecessor Manur Vasudava Maiya. The bank is in the middle of a crisis following huge non-performing assets and Reserve Bank of India imposed restrictions from collecting deposits, lending loans and making investments. The apex bank had also last month capped the withdrawal limit to Rs 35,000. Santhosh Kumar stated in his complaint that between 2012 and 2018, Maiya had allegedly lent money beyond his jurisdiction to various customers. "We want stringent action against Maiya for conspiring and betraying the bank," he stated in his complaint. On January 10, the RBI imposed restrictions on Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank restricting withdrawals to a limit of Rs 35000 and directed the bank to not grant or renew any loans or advances. Worried customers of the bank gathered at the bank premises in Basavangudi when news of the RBI issuing the notice spread. However, the bank officials at the time had said that customers were assured that their deposits are safe. The bank had earlier stated that the RBI restrictions were a result of a default on Rs 350 crore worth of loans; however, the loans can be recovered by taking over the assets given as securities. The bank had stated that ATMs would function normally and that it would seek clarifications from the RBI as well. Many depositors likened the situation at the bank to the situation with the Punjab & Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank. In September, RBI had imposed restrictions on the imposed regulatory restrictions on the PMC Bank limiting withdrawals to Rs 1000.  However, BJP MP from Bengaluru South, Tejasvi Surya had insisted that false equivalences should not be drawn by comparing the bank's present situation with that of PMC Bank. "This is nothing like PMC Bank. We will ensure that the interests of stakeholders will be protected. I urge friends in the media to not draw false equivalence with what is happening here with what happened at PMC Bank," Tejasvi Surya added.  With inputs from PTI    

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