Shut down Bengaluru entirely for 20 days: HD Kumaraswamy

Coronavirus

The ex-CM also sought the state government's intervention to financially help vulnerable sections of the society hit hard due to the pandemic.

PTI

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Former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy said on Tuesday said Benaluru, the state capital should be shut down for 20 days in view of the rising COVID-19 cases instead of sealing a few areas  In a series of tweets, the JD(S) leader said sealing some areas would not serve any purpose and that weaker sections of the society should be taken care of immediately. "Stop playing with human lives. It will not serve any purpose to seal a few areas. If you care for the human lives in Bengaluru, shut down the city totally for 20 days. Else, Bengaluru will become another Brazil. People's lives are more important than the economy," Kumaraswamy tweeted. ಜನರ ಪ್ರಾಣದ ಜೊತೆ ಚೆಲ್ಲಾಟ ನಿಲ್ಲಿಸಿ. ಕೆಲವೇ ಪ್ರದೇಶಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಸೀಲ್ ಡೌನ್ ಲಾಕ್ ಡೌನ್ ಮಾಡಿದರೆ ಪ್ರಯೋಜನವಿಲ್ಲ.‌ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ನಿವಾಸಿಗಳು ಬದುಕುಳಿಯಬೇಕಾದರೆ ಈ ಕೂಡಲೇ ಕನಿಷ್ಟ 20 ದಿನ‌ ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣ ಲಾಕ್ ಡೌನ್ ಮಾಡಿ. ಇಲ್ಲವಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ಮತ್ತೊಂದು ಬ್ರೆಜಿಲ್ ಆಗಲಿದೆ. ಜನರ ಆರೋಗ್ಯ ಮುಖ್ಯವೇ ಹೊರತು ಆರ್ಥಿಕತೆಯಲ್ಲ.‌ 1/3 — H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) June 23, 2020   I urge @CMofKarnataka to immediately announce lock down for 20 days, especially for Bengaluru. I also urge him to grant a compensation of at least Rs. 5000 through DBT to all daily wage workers including cab/auto drivers and weavers. 4/4 — H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) June 23, 2020   Asserting that "mere announcement" of relief package by the state government for drivers, weavers, washermen and various other sections was not enough, he asked it to immediately supply groceries to the weaker section and transfer at least Rs 5,000 to 50 lakh workers. "Mere announcement of the package will not be sufficient. It should be implemented immediately. The government should not sit idly by showing a rosy picture," Kumaraswamy tweeted. The Karnataka government on Monday decided to seal five places in the city from where the maximum number of coronavirus cases have been reported. Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa took the decision at a meeting with ministers and officials on Monday. Yediyurappa had expressed his dissatisfaction over people "misusing" the relaxation after the two-month lockdown. He had also put the blame on inter-state travellers as well as those who violated quarantine rules. The chief minister instructed officials to initiate police cases against those violating the rules mandated to prevent the spread of the disease. Karnataka reported 249 new COVID-19 cases and five fatalities on Monday, taking the total tally of infections in the state to 9,399 and the death toll to 142. Of the five dead, three were from Bengaluru urban and one each from Ramanagara and Ballari. Among the districts from where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru urban accounted for 126, followed by Kalaburagi 27, Vijayapura 15, Udupi 14, Dakshina Kannada 12, Davangere 9, six each from Uttara Kannada and Bagalkot and five each from Bidar and Chikkamagaluru.

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Stop survey of Sharavathi project in Karnataka: Environmentalists warn of landslides

Environment

Environmentalists in Shivamogga are also fighting for the project to be scrapped.

Prajwal Bhat

Environmental activists in Karnataka's Shivamogga district have criticised the state forest department for continuing with the survey and geotechnical investigation for an underground pumped storage project in the limits of the Sharavathi Valley Lion Tailed Macaque (LTM) Sanctuary despite the onset of the monsoon season.  Environmentalists demanded that the work be stopped immediately since there could be landslides during the monsoon. The Sharavathi River, which originates in the central Western Ghats region, flows westward through Shivamogga and Uttara Kannada districts of Karnataka before joining the Arabian Sea. The Linganamakki Dam (located close to Jog Falls) and the Gerusoppa Dam have been built on the river. The Sharavathi Project is a 2000 MW hydroelectric project and aims to pump water from downstream reservoirs - Talakalale and Gerusoppa - to generate electricity. "One of our group members found that drilling work was being conducted in a protected area. This is in violation of the conditions laid down by the Department of Forest and Wildlife," Akhilesh Chipli, an environmentalist from Sagar in Karnataka told TNM. The survey is being conducted for the Sharavathi Underground Pumped Storage Project and it was approved in the meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife held on April 7. The project has been proposed by the Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL) and in May, the Karnataka Forest Department gave permission for the survey and geotechnical investigation which allows for drilling inside the sanctuary's protected area.  One of the conditions for the survey process laid down by the Chief of Wildlife details is that the drilling had to be halted during the south-west monsoon, which began at the start of June. Subsequently, after a week of drilling work was completed, it was stopped when the monsoon season began earlier this month. “But doubts were raised when the officials did not remove the drilling equipment even though it is happening in a remote area in the heart of the forest,” Akhilesh added.  When asked about the development, R Ravishankar, Conservator of Forests, Shivamogga Circle said that the forest department will ask KPCL to stop the work. “I was informed about this earlier today. We will inform KPCL and all concerned authorities and get them to stop this," he said. The sanctuary is also known for Myristica swamps, an ancient evergreen forest system. It is a freshwater swamp forest which is home to a range of species of reptiles, birds and amphibians. They are located in just two areas in India — in Karnataka's Uttara Kannada district and in southern Kerala — and in Uttara Kannada, more than 50 such swamps have been recorded.  The monsoon period is also considered the rejuvenation time for the swamps and Akhilesh says drilling work, especially in this time, could upset the ecological balance of the forest area. While the work will be stopped temporarily during the monsoon, Akhilesh and other environmentalists in Shivamogga are fighting for the project to be scrapped. Akhilesh is a member of a non-governmental organisation SWAN and Man (Save-Wild-Atmosphere-Nature and Man) and he says that the project is endangering a protected area. "It is a pristine forest and is an area with high biodiversity and is also an LTM sanctuary,” he said.  KPCL argues that the project does not require much construction since the two reservoirs, Talakalale and Gerusoppa, that would be used to transport water to generate power are already in place. The power corporation wants 360 acres to be diverted for the project.  But Akhilesh says that the power plant is envisaged in a pristine forest area and earth-movers will be needed to establish transmission lines, access roads and staff quarters for the plant.  The Sharavathi valley is also home to the Deccan Mahseer, a fish endemic to the Western Ghats. “Most importantly it is home to endangered and endemic Lion-Tailed Macaque and vulnerable Great Indian Hornbill apart from many other endangered species,” says Shankar Sharma, another activist and policy analyst from Sagar. Activists have urged the state government to explore other avenues to generate power. “The Linganamakki project is not using maximum water to generate electricity. Renewable energy sources were not explored,” says Akhilesh.

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Karnataka Minister K Sudhakar’s wife and daughter test positive for coronavirus

Coronavirus

Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar’s father had on Monday tested positive for coronavirus following complaints of cough and fever.

TNM Staff

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Karnataka Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar's wife and daughter have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The minister took to Twitter to make the announcement.   "Test results of our family members have come. Unfortunately, my wife and daughter have tested positive for #Covid19 and are undergoing treatment," the minister tweeted on Tuesday morning. Test results of our family members have come. Unfortunately, my wife and daughter have tested positive for #Covid19 and are undergoing treatment. My two sons and myself have tested negative. I am grateful to everyone for their best wishes and prayers. — Dr Sudhakar K (@mla_sudhakar) June 23, 2020 He said he and his two sons have tested negative.  The development comes a day after Sudhakar's father PN Keshava Reddy, who is 82 years old, tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday. His father was admitted to the hospital with complaints of cough and fever. The family had come into contact with the domestic help of the minister, who also tested positive for coronavirus and was admitted to a hospital. Read: Karnataka Medical Education Minister Sudhakar K's father tests positive for coronavirus In April, Sudhakar was quarantined along with three other ministers for coming in contact with a journalist who had COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The Karnataka Medical Education Minister had been given charge of looking after the COVID-19 pandemic in Bengaluru. K Sudhakar is a trained medical doctor, and has taken charge over the pandemic situation in Bengaluru, after the Chief Minister asked sitting Health Minister B Sriramulu to look after the COVID-19 situation in the rest of the state. Parts of Bengaluru have gone back into lockdown mode after a rise in new cases emerged within a week in Bengaluru. Read: CM BSY orders strict lockdown measures for selected areas in Bengaluru: Full details Karnataka reported 249 new COVID-19 cases and five deaths on Monday evening, taking the total number of cases in the state to 9,399 and the death toll to 142. The current active cases in the state stands at 3,523. With inputs from PTI

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CA kills wife in Bengaluru, mother-in-law in Kolkata; later takes his own life

Crime

The estranged couple were in the midst of a legal battle over property and in the process of filing for divorce.

TNM Staff

A shocking crime in Bengaluru’s Whitefield has come to light after the Kolkata police revealed a double murder. Amit Agarwal, allegedly killed his mother-in-law Lalita Dhandhania and thereafter took his own life in Kolkata. His suicide note said that he had also killed his wife in Bengaluru. While he had killed his wife over the weekend in Bengaluru, he later flew down to Kolkata and killed his mother-law on Monday before taking his own life.  Based on a tip-off from the Kolkata police, Bengaluru’s Mahadevpura Police personnel made their way to the apartment occupied by Shilpi Agarwal, who was the wife of Amit Agarwal. When the police found that no one was answering the door, they broke it open. Police then found the body of the deceased Shilpi Agarwal lying on the kitchen floor. Police said that prima facie, it looked like she had been murdered. Police said that it was subject to official confirmation by post-mortem. The police, while looking through the Bengaluru apartment found a suicide note allegedly written by Amit Agarwal. Police have booked a case of murder at Mahadevpura Police Station, and investigation has begun. Times of India reported that the couple were in the midst of a legal battle over property and in the process of filing for divorce. The couple were both chartered accountants and Shilpi had moved to Bengaluru with their son following their separation. Bangalore Mirror reported that the Agarwal couple had been separated for two years. Amit had flown to Bengaluru after the lockdown had eased, gone to his wife’s house to kill her, and then took their son with him. In Kolkata, he left the son at his brother’s house, and then went to his in-law’s house. Deccan herald reported that Shilpi’s father Subhas Dhandhania somehow managed to lock himself in the room and sought help from the police. Police entered the flat where Amit was found lying in a pool of blood on the bed. Police recovered a suicide note allegedly written by Amit which said that he had killed his wife in Bengaluru. -------------------------------------------------------- If you are aware of anyone facing mental health issues or feeling suicidal, please provide help. Here are some helpline numbers of suicide-prevention organisations that can offer emotional suppport to individuals and families.    Tamil Nadu State health department's suicide helpline: 104 Sneha Suicide Prevention Centre - 044-24640050 (listed as the sole suicide prevention helpline in Tamil Nadu) Andhra Pradesh Life Suicide Prevention: 78930 78930 Roshni: 9166202000, 9127848584 Karnataka Sahai (24-hour): 080 65000111, 080 65000222 Kerala Maithri: 0484 2540530 Chaithram: 0484 2361161 Both are 24-hour helpline numbers. Telangana State government's suicide prevention (tollfree): 104 Roshni: 040 66202000, 6620200 SEVA: 09441778290, 040 27504682 (between 9 amd and 7 pm)   Aasara offers support to inidviduals and families during an emotional crisis, for those dealing with mental health issues and suicidal ideation, and to those  undergoing trauma after the suicide of a loved one.     24x7 Helpline: 9820466726   Click here for working helplines across India.

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Swamped mental health and addiction services appeal for Covid bailout

Centers are laying off staff while facing a surge in patients.

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WHO: Sunday was record day for coronavirus infections

Since the start of the outbreak, more than 465,000 people have died, according to Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

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LBGTQ advocates sue over Trump rollback of protections

The litigation marks a new chapter in a legal battle that's been simmering for nearly four years.

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