Karnataka Bandh on February 13: Cab, auto services likely to be hit in Bengaluru

Karnataka bandh

The bandh call has not got much traction, Namma Metro and BMTC are expected to function as normal.

TNM Staff

Representative image

The Karnataka bandh called for by the Karnataka Sanghatanegala Okkuta on February 13, Thursday, is unlikely to hit many services in Bengaluru. The bandh has been called to demand the implementation of the Sarojini Mahishi report, which recommends job reservations to Kannadigas in the state in both the private and government sectors. Public transportation including the Namma Metro and the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) will function as normal. Indian Express reported that the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) staff and workers associations are yet to decide if they will participate in the bandh. However, cab services may take a hit from 6 am to 6 pm as cab owners and auto drivers who are part of Adarsha Auto and Taxi Union and Jai Bharatha Vehicle Owners and Drivers Association are set to take part in the bandh. "Association of Ola and Uber drivers in the city have extended support for the bandh. We agree that the recommendations laid down in the Sarojini Mahishi report should be implemented. It will be a boost for Ola and Uber drivers too," says Tanveer Pasha, President of Ola, Uber Drivers and Owners Association, Bengaluru told TNM. “There are over 90,000 auto drivers in our union and all of them are supporting the bandh. There are around 1.5 lakh auto drivers and we have urged all of them to be a part of the bandh. We don't know how many other autos will operate tomorrow but our union members will not," said Manjunath, President of the Adarsha Auto-rickshaw Drivers' Union. However, it is unclear how many cabs will continue to ply in Bengaluru as they are not part of the union or association. Many other organisations have also supported the bandh called on February 13. This includes the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), Lorry Owners Association, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) among others. A large rally will be taken out from the Town Hall to Freedom Park, with participation from pontiffs of over 40 mutts across the state, said Karnataka Sanghatanegala Okkuta President HB Nagesh to Times of India, who added that farmers unions will also participate in the strike. However, ToI quoted Police Commissioner Bhasker Rao saying that no organisation had applied for permission from the police for a protest or bandh. The Karnataka government under Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde had in 1983 appointed a committee led by four-time MP Saojini Mahishi to look into reservation for Kannadigas in the state. The Sarojini Mahishi report was prepared in 1986 and it recommended job reservations for Kannadigas in government jobs, public sector units and even in the private sector. Many of the 58 recommendations made in the report have been implemented by successive state governments in power in the state. Many pro-Kannada organisations have pointed to the recommendations made in the report asking for a greater share of jobs in Karnataka for Kannadigas.

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Bidar sedition case: Mother, teacher to be in jail for 3 more days, bail order on Feb 14

Bidar Sedition Case

The mother of the 11-year-old student and the head-teacher of a Bidar school were arrested under charges of sedition on January 30 over an anti-CAA school play.

Balakrishna Ganeshan

The mother of the 11-year-old student and the head-teacher of a Bidar school, arrested over a school play, will remain in prison till February 14, which is when the district court will pronounce the order on their bail plea.  The two women were arrested on January 30 over charges of sedition after a school play voiced dissent against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) last month.  Appearing for the two women, advocate BT Venkatesh argued that this was a politically motivated case and that two women, living in a little town like Bidar, were not a threat to the state. He added that the slogans in the play did not create any unrest and promote any disaffection towards the government. The judge questioned who wrote the script of the play. Venkatesh refrained from answering the question and stated that the contents of the play did not amount to sedition. The judge also stated that it is the responsibility of the elders to read the script before children stage it.  Opposing the bail, the public prosecutor argued that the women would leave the country and possibly destroy the video evidence. He cited the recent case of Kris Chudawala, who was booked along with 50 others for sedition in Mumbai. Kris was booked for shouting “anti-national" slogans in support of JNU scholar Sharjeel Imam at Mumbai's Pride March. Sharjeel Imam was arrested last month for allegedly making inflammatory speeches at Shaheen Bagh. On Tuesday, Kris was granted interim relief from arrest by the Bombay High Court. Nazbunnisa, the mother of a student of Shaheen Primary and High School, and Fareeda Begum, the headteacher of the school's primary section, were arrested on January 30 after a video of the anti-CAA school play went viral. The court took cognizance of the fact that the said video was not sent to a forensic science laboratory for probing its authenticity.  The sessions court on Tuesday was also hearing the anticipatory bail plea filed by the headmaster of the school. Hearing this plea, the public prosecutor sought more time to file objections and the court will hear this case further on February 17. The public prosecutor opposed bail to the two women despite the fact that Pravin Sood, Karnataka Director General and Inspector General of Police (DG&IGP), had reportedly promised a delegation of lawyers recently that the state will not oppose the bail plea of the two women. (Read more here: How is Bidar school play sedition? Bengaluru lawyers pose 20 questions to state DGP) The two women, Nazbunnisa and Fareeda Begum, have spent the last two weeks lodged in the Bidar district prison. They were arrested after a police complaint from Nilesh Rakshala, an activist from the Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) seeking an investigation into the school play.  In his complaint, Nilesh 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. Nazbunnisa and Fareeda were arrested on January 30 even as police officials visited the school five times to question students connected to the play. The judge at the district court was on leave till February 4 and upon returning, the public prosecutor was given one week's time to file objections to the bail petition. Basaveshwara Hira, the Deputy Superintendent of Police of Bidar district led the investigation into the play. He visited the school five times including once when he was accompanied by police officers in uniform. The police's actions at the school were heavily criticised after a photograph of the police questioning students in uniform was shared widely. Bidar police defended the repeated questioning of students in the school stating that they were interviewing students in batches and that they were "collecting information about the play".  Students in the school, however, had earlier told TNM that they were intimidated by the police's repeated questioning.

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Does Bengaluru need a minister – and if yes, should the CM even hold the post?

Politics

People are questioning the need for the Chief Minister of Karnataka to administer the city, when he already has his hands full with the entire state and its problems.

Alithea Stephanie Mounika

On Monday, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa allocated portfolios to 10 MLAs who won bye-elections, after getting the nod from the BJP leadership. A day later, he reshuffled some of these portfolios. However, the Bangalore Development and Town Planning portfolio was retained by the Chief Minister himself.  During the Kumaraswamy regime, the portfolio was handled by Deputy Chief Minister Parameshwara. Under Siddaramaiah, it was Congress leader KJ George who became the minister for Bengaluru Development, although it was a highly controversial tenure. While most of Bengaluru’s civic activists agree that the Chief Minister should not retain the portfolio, a few believe the ministry itself should be scrapped.  “Bengaluru needs a dedicated minister. The city is too big and too complex and has several issues like infrastructure, mobility, waste, water, air pollution, environment and lakes are all crying for attention. It needs to be carefully headed by someone very conversant and proactive about solving urban issues. The CM may have had his compulsions. I hope he will pay attention to this and dedicate a very relevant person to this role. The city is the golden goose for the state in terms of tax collection, collecting over 60% of the state taxes. Special attention needs to be given, otherwise investments will move away and the rest of the state will also bear the brunt of it,” says Revathy Ashok, the CEO of Bangalore Political Action Committee or BPac. Others say that instead of the Chief Minister getting involved in local governance, the people’s representative, the BBMP Mayor, should be the one who is in charge of administrative duties. “The Bangalore Development Ministry must be abolished, and instead, the Mayor should be empowered to administer the city,” says Srinivas Alavilli, from Citizens for Bengaluru. He adds, “They should give the Mayor a full term of five years and give him the duties as he or she is elected to do. Instead, there is lobbying for the Bangalore Development ministership. The previous minister in this post, KJ George, introduced the Steel flyover project which no one in the city asked for or wanted. Ministers should focus on the state and let the city be run by BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, the city’s civic body.)” Tara Krishnaswamy, co-founder of Shakti, a women’s political movement, says that the state government already holds too many powers related to the city, and this is already unconstitutional. “Local planning should happen at various different levels, and the current issue is that a locally elected person is not working for the local problems,” she says.  She says the way things function has ensured that people’s power is marginalised. “The BBMP is submitting its budget of garbage and roads to the State government. This is like the State government submitting its budget to the Centre and seeking approval. Instead, the city should be declared as a district and we should have district level planning. What is happening instead is the person in charge of the Bengaluru BBMP is the BBMP Commissioner, a bureaucrat appointed by the minister (in this case, the Chief Minister). The Mayor should take charge of the city. The Chief Minister should administer the state and not the city.” Tara concludes.

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BS Yediyurappa reshuffles portfolios just a day after allocating them

Politics

In the latest change, Anand Singh was made the Minister of Forest, Ecology and Environment instead of BC Patil, who was allocated the Agriculture Department, a major ministry.

TNM Staff

In a surprise move, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa reshuffled his Cabinet just one day after portfolios were handed to the ten turncoat MLAs who had quit the Congress-JD(S) and later joined the BJP in 2019. The decision was taken after several MLAs expressed unhappiness over the ministries that were allocated to them. In the latest change, Anand Singh was made the Minister of Forest, Ecology and Environment instead of BC Patil, who was allocated the Agriculture Department, a major ministry. Gopalaiah, who was allocated the Small Scale Industries portfolio on Monday was allocated the  Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs department on Tuesday in another major change.  Shivaram Hebbar who was allocated the Labour Department earlier on Monday was handed the additional charge of Sugar from the Commerce and Industries Department. Byrathi Suresh, meanwhile, was handed two urban development boards — Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWSDB) and Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC). Shrimant Patil was given additional charge of Minority Welfare Department, which was earlier handled by Prabhu Chauhan, who also heads the Animal Husbandry Department. Prabhu has been given additional charge of the Haj and Waqf Department. On Monday, the long-pending allocation of ministerial portfolios for the newly-appointed ministers in the Karnataka Cabinet was announced. Ramesh Jarkiholi, the MLA from Gokak, who triggered the rebellion in the Congress was allocated the Water Resources department. This is the same portfolio that was allocated to his political opponent DK Shivakumar when he was a minister in the coalition government.

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How the debate over the ERA became a fight over abortion

Because only women can have abortions, conservatives argue restrictions on the procedure could be found unconstitutional under the Equal Rights Amendment.

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Mohammed Nalapad, MLA NA Haris's son drove Bentley car that rammed bike and auto: Cops

Crime

Police say that another man came to the police station and surrendered saying he was the one who drove the Bentley.

TNM Staff

A Bentley car, which was speeding on Bengaluru’s Bellary Road on Sunday rammed into two vehicles near Mekhri Circle, and ended up injuring four people. Soon after the accident, the driver had abandoned the car and no one knew who was responsible for the accident. Bengaluru Traffic Police now say that the driver of the Bentley was Mohammed Haris Nalapad, the son of Shantinagar Congress MLA NA Haris.  Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Ravaikante Gowda told TNM that the man behind the wheel was Nalapad and that he has been summoned for questioning.  "Soon after the accident, on Monday a man came to the police station and surrendered saying he was the one driving the Bentley. Investigation revealed that it was not true and that the man who was driving the car was Mohammed Haris Nalapad. We have issued summons to him for questioning, once he appears for questioning, we will continue with the investigation," Ravikante Gowda said. @AddlCPTraffic says that Mohammed Haris Nalapad was the one driving the Bentley that rammed into an auto and a bike at Mekhri Cirlcle on Sunday afternoon. @thenewsminute pic.twitter.com/hjELitVLmR — Theja Ram (@thejaram92) February 11, 2020 At around 2.30 pm on Sunday, the Bentley Continental GT (TS 09 UC 9), which was speeding along the Mekhri Circle underpass rammed into a bike bearing the license plate number KA 03 EV 8346 and later rammed into an autorickshaw bearing the license plate KA 05 AD 4756.  The two-wheeler rider Praful Kumar, an engineer, and the autorickshaw driver Abdul sustained injuries and were admitted to a nearby private hospital. A woman named Sabiha and her six-year-old son also sustained minor injuries and were administered first aid.  Police officials say that CCTV footage and several videos of the incident were recovered from which the police identified Mohammed Haris Nalapad as the man who was driving the Bentley.  DCP East (traffic division) M Narayan had earlier said that the Bentley belongs to a private company and that representatives of the company were questioned on Monday. A case of rash and negligent driving has been registered at the Sadashivnagar Traffic Police Station.  This is not the first time that Mohammed Haris Nalapad has been accused of breaking the law. He was arrested by the Cubbon Park Police on February 19, 2018, two days after he and his associates assaulted Vidvat, the son of a prominent businessman, in an uptown cafe in Bengaluru. The chargesheet filed by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) revealed that Nalapad initiated the incident and provoked his aides with the intention of murdering Vidvat. He was denied bail by the sessions court multiple times and was in jail for 115 days before he finally procured bail in June 2018.   

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Lamborghini crashes into police kiosk in Bengaluru, car owner then poses with the debris

Crime

The man, one of the directors of Fun World and Resorts India Private Limited, was arrested and let off on bail.

TNM Staff

A brand new Lamborghini Gallardo crashed into the traffic police kiosk at CTO Circle, right across from Cubbon Park Metro Station in Bengaluru at around 5.15 pm on Sunday. Though the kiosk was empty and no one was injured, the owner of the car had abandoned the Lamborghini and fled. A couple of hours after the accident occurred, the man behind the wheel, Sunny Sabharwal (28), one of the directors of Fun World and Resorts India Private Limited, went back to pose for a picture in front of the severely damaged kiosk and posted it on social media. The post has now been taken down, a senior police official said.  On Sunday evening, Sunny Sabharwal was driving from MG Road to RT Nagar and was on his way to the road leading to Raj Bhavan when he rammed the Lamborghini into the traffic kiosk. Luckily, no police personnel were inside the kiosk.  The impact of the crash caused severe damage to the front wall of the police kiosk as well as to the chairs inside, and left a gaping hole in the building. Soon after the crash occurred, senior police officials say that passers-by and other commuters gathered around the kiosk to see what had happened and Sunny allegedly slipped away in the crowd.  When pictures of the crash went viral on WhatsApp on Sunday evening, Sunny allegedly received several queries from his friends and family members about his condition. “He went back to the spot and clicked a picture of himself with a thumbs up sign at the damaged kiosk,” the police official said.  Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Ravikante Gowda formed a team to investigate the matter. DCP Traffic (East) M Narayana, the lead investigating officer gathered CCTV footage and tracked down Sunny. On Monday, the investigating team went to Sunny’s residence in RT Nagar and informed his family members that he had been booked for rash and negligent driving.  “His family initially denied it. We showed them the CCTV footage and also the picture where he posed in front of the kiosk. He was arrested and we imposed a fine of Rs 2,000. Since section 279 is bailable, he was let go after the arrest as he obtained station bail,” a senior police official said.   

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