Bernie Sanders tweets on Delhi riots, BJP leader threatens India will influence US polls

Politics

BJP's BL Santosh, the party's National General Secretary (Organisation), however, later deleted his tweet.

TNM Staff

The  BJP's National General Secretary (Organisation), BL Santosh on Thursday hit out at Bernie Sanders, the Democratic candidate for the US Presidential election for his take on the riots in New Delhi. In a tweet that he has since deleted, Santosh wrote, “How much ever neutral we wish to be you compel us to play a role in Presidential elections .Sorry to say so...But you are compelling us (sic)”.  Bernie Sanders had posted a link to Washington Post's article on the riots in New Delhi and called US President Donald Trump's reaction to the violence a failure of leadership on human rights.  "Over 200 million Muslims call India home. Widespread anti-Muslim mob violence has killed at least 27 and injured many more. Trump responds by saying, "That's up to India." This is a failure of leadership on human rights," Bernie Sanders said in a tweet.  Over 200 million Muslims call India home. Widespread anti-Muslim mob violence has killed at least 27 and injured many more. Trump responds by saying, "That's up to India." This is a failure of leadership on human rights.https://t.co/tUX713Bz9Y — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) February 26, 2020 The Democratic candidate’s comments come days after Trump’s visit to India, when New Delhi was on the boil with communal violence in several parts of the capital.  When asked about incidents of violence during his India visit, the US president had said, "As far as the individual attacks, I heard about it, but I didn't discuss that with him (Modi). That's up to India."  A staunch RSS man, BL Santosh is a close associate of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and has made communally-coloured statements in the past. Santosh had on February 25 also insinuated that the Delhi riots were planned and that the AAP government was not taking action against the "rioters".  "What is the reason for Delhi Govt and AAPs subdued reactions to panned Delhi riots? No relief to cops killed or citizens murdered. Is it because of one way polling in selected booths and AAPs total victory in minority dominated constituencies? Nation will never forgive them," he had said in a tweet.  After violence broke out in Jaffrabad, BL Santosh tweeted to say “rioters needed to be taught a lesson”.  The communal violence that began on Sunday in parts of northeast Delhi has so far claimed 32 lives. Clashes had erupted on Sunday between protesters against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and right-wing groups, before escalating into riots.  With inputs from PTI   

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Man falls asleep after breaking into house in Karnataka, handed over to cops

Crime

The strange incident took place on Wednesday in the one-storey, tiled-roof house in Dakshina Kannada.

TNM Staff

A seemingly drunk man broke into a home in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, but he was so tired that he reportedly decided to take a nap. However, the homeowner caught the strange man taking a nap on his sofa with a set of keys clutched in his hand.  The strange incident took place on Wednesday in the one-storey, tiled-roof house of Sudarshan, a resident of Ullas Junction in Uppinangady police station limits in Dakshina Kannada. The man who broke into the house has been identified as Anil Sahani, a native of Bihar’s Majipur district.  A statement by the police in the district stated that on Wednesday morning, Sudarshan noticed that the tiles on the roof of the house were removed. After noticing the unknown man on his sofa, Sudarshan promptly woke him up by hitting him with a stick before handing him over to the police.   According to the police, Anil had entered the house on Tuesday night by removing a tile on the roof. But instead of stealing items from the house, he fell asleep on the sofa after grabbing a bunch of keys kept near the TV stand, the statement read.  "It appears he was too inebriated and fell asleep. We are investigating whether he is linked to other cases of theft reported in the area," a senior police official told TNM.   A case has been registered in the Uppinangady police station charging Anil with the attempt of theft.  A similarly strange incident was recently reported in Kerala. After reportedly robbing five shops in Ernakulam district of Kerala, a thief broke into a house on the night of February 18. However, after entering the house, he noticed an army cap, and soon realised that it was an Army man’s house.   The thief then scribbled an apology letter on the wall. Quoting the Bible, the man wrote in Malayalam that he violated the seventh commandment of the Bible, “Thou shalt not steal.” Expressing his regret, he also wrote that he would not have entered the house if he had known it was a soldier's house. The caretaker of the house in Thiruvankulam, who alerted the police the next morning, also noticed that the thief consumed alcohol from the army man’s collection.

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Ramesh Jarkiholi urges Centre to notify Krishna, Mahadayi tribunal orders

Politics

Karnataka Water Resources Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi met with Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and also urged him to grant approval for the Mekedatu project

Theja Ram

Karnataka Water Resource Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi along with a delegation of officials from his department met Union Minister for Water Resources Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Wednesday and urged him to look into various water disputes related to the state. Ramesh Jarkiholi urged Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to notify the order of the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal and also the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal. He also requested the Union minister to give the go ahead for the Mekedatu project. Mahadayi issue Supreme Court on February 21 granted interim relief to Karnataka and allowed the state to implement the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal’s order after the Centre notifies the same. On August 14, 2018, the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal had allocated 13.42 tmcft of water to Karnataka. Of the 13.42 tmcft, 5.5 tmcft is was meant for use within the Mahadayi river basin and for diversion to the Malaprabha reservoir. Of the total allocation, 8 tmcft was meant for power generation. Goa has opposed the tribunal’s order and moved the Supreme Court asking for relief from the order. The case is currently being heard by the Supreme Court. The Goa government is also against the construction of canals on the Kalasa and Banduri tributaries of the Malaprabha river, which the Karnataka farmers have been demanding for over three decades. Farmers in north Karnataka, who depend on water from the Malaprabha river, were unable to avail benefits of the tribunal’s order as the Centre had not notified the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal’s order. The Krishna water dispute Ramesh Jarkiholi also sought the Centre’s intervention in issuing a gazette notification of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal. The tribunal had in 2013 granted Karnataka 907 tmcft of water for irrigation purposes. This was meant to benefit farmers in Yadgir, Raichur, BIjapur, Bagalakote and Gulbarga districts of Karnataka. The final award was meant to irrigate 15.4 lakh acres of land. The tribunal also allowed Karnataka to increase the capacity of the Almatti Dam from 519m to 524m. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are opposing Karnataka’s government’s decision to increase the height of the dam. “We submitted separate memorandums to the Centre to notify the tribunals’ orders in both the Mahadayi and Krishna water disputes. Construction of the Kalasa Banduri project must begin soon to benefit the farmers,” an official with the Water Resources Department said. The Mekedatu project Minister Jarkiholi also requested the Centre to okay the Mekedatu project, which aims at providing drinking water to Bengaluru. The Centre had granted conditional clearance for the project in 2018 after the state government submitted a detailed project report earlier that year. However, in 2019, the Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change refused to grant environmental clearance for the project. The Mekedatu Balancing Reservoir project aims at bringing in Cauvery water to Bengaluru city. The MoEFCC had stated in 2019 that the project would destroy 52.5 sq km of forest land, including the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary. The MoEFCC’s  Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) had then stated that the issue of an environmental clearance would be discussed only if Tamil Nadu and Karnataka reach an amicable solution to the construction of the project. The Tamil Nadu government has opposed the project stating it would affect the farmers of the state adversely.

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‘KSRTC bus fare hike is anti-people, inflationary’: Opposition slams Karnataka govt

Transport

In a surprise announcement on Tuesday, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) increased bus fares by 12% with effect from Wednesday.

IANS

The sudden hike in bus fares by the state-run transport corporation has triggered a public outrage and protests by the opposition Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) in Karnataka. Terming the hike as anti-people and inflationary, the Congress urged the ruling BJP to withdraw it forthwith and spare the commuters from the additional burden. "KSRTC and its affiliates should not further burden the people when the cost of living has gone up and its bus service is used by the majority in the absence of trains in many regions of the state," said Ravi Gowda of the Congress. In a surprise announcement on Tuesday night, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and its two affiliates -- North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKSRTC )and North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKSRTC) -- increased bus fares by 12% with effect from Wednesday, drawing the ire of commuters and opposition parties alike. Condemning the fare hike, JD(S) leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy urged the KSRTC to roll back the revised fares and give relief to the common man reeling under price rise due to CGST, SGST and food inflation. "The BJP government has deliberately increased the bus fare ahead of the state budget for 2020-21 fiscal on March 2, catching people unawares. Though student passes have been spared from the hike, regular passengers are forced to pay Rs 5-32 more instead of getting better efficiency, management and productivity," Kumaraswamy said in a statement in Bengaluru. It's an additional burden on us, said Bengaluru resident K. Venkatesh, while adding, "The 12 per cent hike in bus fares by the KSRTC and its north-east and north-west affiliates from Wednesday will hit passengers hard and make commuting costly.” "The fare hike will negate the state government's efforts to encourage public transport service and force passengers to travel on the train, which is cheaper, faster and safer," asserted Venugopal Gupta, a cloth merchant in the city. Justifying the hike, KSRTC Managing Director Shivayogi Kalasad told IANS that the hike was inevitable due to the steady increase in diesel price, dearness allowance in staff salary and overall cost of operations. "Since the last fare revision came in May 2014, the operational cost has gone up substantially due to Rs 11.27 per litre hike in diesel price, increase in DA to employees and repairing, maintenance and fleet management costs," Kalasad said. The financial burden due to fuel price hike is Rs 261 crore, DA Rs 341 crore and operational cost Rs 601 crore per annum for KSRTC alone, he said. "For the benefit of rural passengers, fares have been reduced to Rs 5 from Rs 7 for the first 3 km. There is no increase in fares for the first 12 km and up to first 6 km in express service," Kalasad added.

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Policewomen to patrol Bengaluru streets on motorbikes and Hoysala vehicles

Police

Policewomen will patrol areas in southeast Bengaluru including Mico Layour, Koramangala, HSR Layout and Electronic City.

TNM Staff

In a new initiative started on Wednesday, policewomen will patrol areas such as Koramangala, HSR Layout, Mico Layout and Electronic City in Bengaluru. The initiative 'Shaurya Vahini' was flagged off at the BBMP ground in Koramangala by Kannada actors Prema and Ragini Dwivedi in the presence of Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao. 15 women constables will patrol areas in southeast Bengaluru under the initiative. In addition, 10 policewomen will patrol in pink Hoysala patrol cars. The initiative aims to break stereotypes by including women in a job typically allotted to men within the police force.   "Inaugurated “Shaurya Vahini,“ Women Motorcycle Patrolling Team and as an experiment for the first time 10 women drivers of Police Patrol cars. Credits to my DCP Isha Pant and her Team for the Initiative," Bengaluru commissioner Bhaskar Rao said in a social media post. Inaugurated “Shaurya Vahini,“ Women Motorcycle Patrolling Team and as an experiment for the first time 10 women drivers of Police Patrol cars. Credits to my DCP Isha Pant and her Team for the Initiative. A FIRST TIME STEP pic.twitter.com/BDcLy0KPsF — Bhaskar Rao IPS (@deepolice12) February 26, 2020 Outgoing Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Bengaluru (Southeast) Isha Pant stated that usually policemen patrol the streets on motorbikes and women do not think they can perform certain tasks in the police force. The initiative was taken up to instill confidence in policewomen, she said, as per Deccan Herald. It will be one of the last acts by Isha Pant as Bengaluru (Southeast) DCP after she was transferred as Superintendent of Police, CID, Bengaluru. Earlier this week, Isha Pant was praised for launching a campaign encouraging women to spend time in public spaces after dark. The campaign was launched to reclaim public spaces which are deemed unsafe due  to "anti-social” elements and poor lighting. Under the initiative, celebrities were roped in to urge women to use public spaces which are otherwise rendered unsafe. 

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California resident is first potential community-spread coronavirus case

The patient had not recently traveled to an affected country and was not known to have close contact with someone infected with the virus.

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Trump’s CDC chief faces increasingly harsh scrutiny

Early missteps on coronavirus, lack of a consistent message make the nation's disease-fighting agency a focus of criticism.

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