Money from drug mafia used to bring down coalition government: HD Kumaraswamy

Politics

Several political leaders have spoken about drug use after the narcotics control bureau indicated Sandalwood’s alleged link with drug abuse.

TNM Staff

Representation photo

Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Monday alleged that money from the drug mafia was used to fund the coup, which toppled the Congress-JD(S) coalition government last year. Speaking to the media at Turuvekere, HD Kumaraswamy said that ring leaders of the drug racket were allegedly hiding in Sri Lanka during the coalition government’s regime and that money from this drug mafia and cricket betting was used to bring down the Congress-JD(S) government.  “When I was Chief Minister, some (drug peddlers) had fled to Sri Lanka due to the fear of our government's action against the drug mafia. The drug mafia is responsible for the destabilisation of the coalition government. The money from drug mafia, dance bars and cricket betting was used to topple the coalition government,” Kumaraswamy alleged. The issue surrounding the drug mafia in Karnataka was thrust into the limelight after the Narcotics Control Bureau’s drug bust on August 21 at three locations in the Bengaluru city. The NCB had said that it had several actors and musicians from Karnataka under the scanner for their alleged involvement in the drug racket.  This then spiralled into a full-blown controversy after Sandalwood filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh alleged that several actors in the industry were using drugs at rave parties. Following his statement, Karnataka Home Minister and BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai said that Lankesh had been summoned by the Central Crime Branch, which was now been tasked with probing the drug mafia’s alleged link to Sandalwood.  “As Lankesh claimed in a statement to local news channels that a few film actors whom he knows were into drugs, we have asked him to give us details. We ordered the Central Crime Branch (CCB) police to probe the Kannada film industry's links to drugs,” Basavaraj Bommai said.  On Monday, the CCB grilled Indrajit Lankesh for five hours. The filmmaker said that he had furnished a list of 15 names to the sleuths, locations where rave parties had been held in the past and the names of drug peddlers, he knew based on information given to him by persons in the industry.  Following this, CCB chief Sandeep Patil said that the agency would widen the probe to investigate tips given by Lankesh. CCB sources, however, said that Indrajit Lankesh does not want to testify as a witness if the case ever went to court.  Following these developments, BJP state President Nalin Kumar Kateel urged party workers to create awareness about drug abuse. ಡ್ರಗ್ಸ್ ಜಾಲವನ್ನು ಬುಡಸಮೇತ ಕಿತ್ತು ಹಾಕಲು ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಮತ್ತು ರಾಜ್ಯ ಸರಕಾರಗಳು ಶಕ್ತಿಮೀರಿ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿವೆ. ನಮ್ಮ ಗೃಹಸಚಿವರು ಪೊಲೀಸ್ ಇಲಾಖೆಗೆ ಡ್ರಗ್ಸ್ ಜಾಲ ಮಟ್ಟ ಹಾಕಲು ಕಟ್ಟುನಿಟ್ಟಿನ ಸೂಚನೆ ನೀಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಈ ಜಾಲವನ್ನು ಬೇರು ಸಮೇತ ಕಿತ್ತು ಹಾಕಲು ಶ್ರಮಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವ ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಬ್ಬರಿಗೂ ನನ್ನ ಧನ್ಯವಾದಗಳು. 2/2 — Nalinkumar Kateel (@nalinkateel) September 1, 2020 “Drugs not only weaken the body but also the country. Therefore, our party workers need to raise awareness in the youth to keep as much distance as possible from any kind of drug body but also from the country. Central and state governments are working hard to dismantle the drug network. Our home minister has issued a directive to the Police Department to level the drugs network. My thanks to everyone who is working hard to root this network,” Nalin Kumar Kateel said. 

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My experience with COVID-19: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw writes

Coronavirus

The Executive Chairperson of Biocon shares some simple learnings of fighting the disease, adding that leveraging science is the only reliable way forward.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

My first symptoms were a mild feverish feeling late evening on August 16. I had similar symptoms in early June and had tested negative, so I just took a Crocin and thought that would take care of it.  The next morning though, I continued to feel feverish and my temperature was 99 F. That’s when I decided to test myself and my entire household, as I have my 89-year-old mother, a cancer survivor, and my 71-year-old husband, a cancer patient, to worry about. I immediately self-quarantined in a separate room and waited anxiously for the test results. At 5 pm, I was told that I tested positive but that everyone else at home, including my staff, tested negative. Mercifully, the virus spared my mom and my husband. I asked for the CT (Cycle Threshold) value to assess my viral load and when I saw it was 23, I felt the load was safe enough to be home quarantined under tele-supervision. Dr Murli Mohan from Narayana Health, Bengaluru and Dr Shashank Joshi from Lilavati Hospital, Mumbai, were my key medical supervisors. I was put on a course of Favipiravir, azithromycin and paracetamol. Apart from this, I continued with my daily dose of Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc, baby aspirin and chyavanprash! Not to mention my twice a week 200 mg dose of HCQ. Day 2 & 3 were uneventful. I measured my oxygen saturation levels six times a day, which were all between 96-98% even after a brisk 6-minute walk. My temperature was normal but late evening on Day 3, I felt fluish and it extended to Day 4 & 5. No measurable temperature, but frequent bouts of sweating that suggested that my body was fighting the virus. I was also tracking my cytokine levels. My cRP was normal at <0.5 throughout the infected period which indicated no inflammation. My D-Dimer and Ferritin levels were also within normal range. I also tracked my cytokine levels, especially IL-6, which were undetectable. By Day 6, I started feeling better. My rtPCR test on Day 10 was still positive but with a CT value of 33, suggesting a very low and non-infectious viral load generally attributed to dead virus shedding. I also tested my blood for antibodies and T-cells on Day 9. IgM was noticeably present but not IgG. My innate immune response based on Dendritic and NK cells was strong. A robust T cell activation was observed in my sample with a higher frequency of antigen specific T cells, effector T cells, Memory T cells and cytokine release on stimulation. I had basically developed T Cell immunity which could potentially protect me for a long period. On Day 12, my rtPCR test was positive with a CT value of 36 heralding the final leg of my COVID-19 saga. My experience has been mild and uneventful. No loss of smell or taste and no drop in oxygen saturation. I recommend everyone with mild fluish symptoms to test and decide on hospitalisation or home quarantine based on viral load: CT values <20 with fever should not home isolate. Monitoring oxygen saturation several times a day is psychologically good for your virus fighting morale. I also recommend that you try and exercise or go for a short walk every day to keep fit. I did not experience any loss of appetite, and I suggest a diet of fruit, vegetables, lentils and cereal. Soups and salads were a daily feature in my meals. My constant companions were Netflix and Amazon Prime; avoid TV and social media as negative news is bad for fighting COVID-19. My simple learnings: 1. Don’t panic on testing positive. 2. Make sure you assess your viral load based on CT value. 3. Mild symptoms with moderate viral load qualify for home isolation. 4. Monitor your oxygen saturation several times a day to ensure it doesn’t drop below 95%. 5. Make sure you are supervised by a doctor through a tele-health program. 6. Do yoga and walk as much as you can. 7. Your body will fight the virus in a week. 8. Doctors should not treat just the clinical symptoms but rather the cause of the symptoms. For example, if SpO2 reduces, just increasing oxygen flow is not the answer. Treating inflammation caused by cytokines is the answer. 9. Lack of early intervention in mitigating the inflammation and cytokine storm can cause post COVID-19 fatigue and respiratory ailments. 10. Finally, please test and present yourself as soon as you feel mild symptoms. Do not be in denial and wait for more severe symptoms. You have reduced your chances of a mild disease by doing so. Leveraging science to manage the virus is the only reliable way forward. In June, I was half hoping that I contracted COVID-19 to overcome the paranoia and the suspense that has taken over our lives. I was also expecting the infection to be mild and short lived. My COVID-19 experience has matched these expectations and I hope that it allays fears about the virus. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is the Executive Chairperson of Biocon Limited. She is a recipient of the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards.

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Bengaluru police arrest BJP party worker, exposes internal rift in the party's RR Nagar unit

Politics

The rift between Congress rebel Munirathna and the old BJP leader Muniraju Gowda was exposed after the arrest of a BJP party worker on Monday.

TNM Staff

The Bengaluru Police, on Monday, arrested a BJP party worker for commenting against former Rajarajeshwari Nagar MLA Munirathna Naidu, bringing to fore the feud within the party. Tens of BJP party workers flanked by BJP leader from RR Nagar, Muniraju Gowda, staged a protest outside the police station after the party workers were arrested. Muniraju Gowda was the BJP's candidate for RR Nagar segment before Munirathna's defection to the party. He has had a long-standing feud with Munirathna, especially since the party is not willing to offer him a ticket to contest the bye-election, which is yet to be held.    The RR Nagar seat is currently vacant as Munirathna, who was in the Congress, defected to the BJP in June 2019. The bye-polls have not been conducted yet as Munirathna was earlier accused of voter fraud and the case is currently being heard in the Karnataka High Court.  What happened on August 31? On Sunday, legislator Munirathna wrote in a Facebook post that he had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. "My sincere request to residents of Rajarajeshwarinagar Assembly Constituency. Today tested positive for Covid-19, hopefully will come back safely & continue to serve you, in case otherwise my humble apologies," he had written.  While wishes poured in and his supporters wished him a speedy recovery, a BJP party worker named Badrinath had uploaded a comment to this post, accusing Munirathna of corruption and thuggery. Badrinath had also stated that he "hoped" Munirathna would not return from the hospital. "Coronavirus (sic) is the reason to divert the issue of threatening calls from people (referring to Munirathna), who do not have the guts to face election after being rejected by the party and party workers and proved themselves as corrupt," Badrinath commented, while adding, "Muniraju Gowda will emerge as the MLA and corner those who cheated RR Nagar residents and vidhana sabha constituents by cheating, rowdyism, looting (sic) etc." Badrinath further stated that those who cheat constituents would be punished, while adding, "Hope we will not see them come back after being admitted as a COVID-19 (sic) patient."  One of Munirathna's supporters filed a complaint against Badrinath with the Rajarajeshwari Nagar Police, alleging that Badrinath's post was threatening the legislator's safety. The RR Nagar Police arrested Badrinath on Monday afternoon and produced him before a magistrate. He was granted bail soon after. However, on Monday night, Muniraju Gowda and his followers went to the RR Nagar Police Station and filed a complaint against Munirathna. Muniraju accused Munirathna of getting his followers to intimidate "loyal BJP party workers" and issuing death threats.  "One of the BJP party workers', a loyal party worker, Badrinath was arrested. He was responsible for bringing to fore, the corruption that the former legislator (Munirathna) was involved in. Badrinath has not mentioned the MLA's name at all in his comment. Badrinath received a death threat at 8 pm today (Monday). He claimed to be Shivakumar, a leader from Laggere and a supporter of the disgruntled MLA Munirathna. But Shivakumar has not yet been arrested," Muniraju Gowda said.  Old v/s new: The rift within the BJP Muniraju, on Monday, alleged that Badrinath was responsible for bringing down flex banners of Muniratha that were defacing the ward and alleged that Munirathna's supporters were trying to extract revenge against Badrinath for bringing down the flexes. Ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections, the BJP had procured videos and pictures of 9,746 fake voter IDs, at an apartment in Jalahalli. Two days after the visuals went viral, Munirathna was named as one of the accused in the fake voter ID scam by the Jalahalli Police. The BJP had accused Munirathna of indulging in voter fraud. At the time, Badrinath was one of the BJP party workers involved in filing the case against Munirathna. The former CEO of the Election Commission, Sanjiv Kumar, had at the time said that the accused were allegedly involved in a "cash for votes" scam.  Read: Fake voter ID cards seized: Sitting Cong MLA booked by B’luru police ahead of polls Munirathna, however, won the RR Nagar polls in 2018 on a Congress ticket. The BJP candidate at the time was Muniraju Gowda. In 2019, 17 Congress and JD(S) MLAs defected to the BJP and brought down the coalition government. Munirathna was one of these 17 rebels. In 2019, he was officially inducted into the BJP and ever since, there have been rifts between the old BJP leaders and Munirathna and his supporters, who now form the new BJP cadre in the constituency.  Muniraju Gowda on Monday accused Munirathna of threatening and intimidating the old party workers and also trying to control the RR Nagar Police. "When a loyal party worker was issued a death threat, why are the police not registering an FIR and arresting the accused? Munirathna wants to control the police so he can walk free," Muniraju Gowda alleged.  TNM tried to reach out to former MLA Munirathna. However, due to his ill health, we were unable to obtain a comment. 

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‘Is govt hiding Bengaluru’s COVID-19 deaths?’: Congress leader HK Patil demands probe

Coronavirus

HK Patil said there was a 32% increase in the overall deaths in Bengaluru in the first six months of 2020 compared to the corresponding period of 2019.

TNM Staff

File image

Senior Congress legislator HK Patil on Monday raised questions over the number of COVID-19 deaths being reported in Bengaluru. Pointing out considerable differences in the overall deaths reported (including deaths due to COVID-19 and road accidents, among others), Patil compared the data from the first six months of 2019 and 2020.  Citing data from the crematoriums and burial grounds in the city, the former minister said that a total of 49,135 deaths had been reported in Bengaluru between January and July this year, compared to 37,001 in the same period in 2019. He also pointed out that the official data showed only 1,886 people had died of COVID-19 between March till date in Bengaluru. This also shows that only 3.83% of the deaths reported this year so far are due to COVID-19.  The Congress leader then pointed out that there has been a 32% increase in the number of deaths in the first six months of 2020, as compared to the same period in 2019. Alleging that COVID-19 deaths have not been accounted for under this increase, HK Patil asked the government if it was hiding actual COVID-19 deaths. "Is the government hiding something? Is this being one out of malicious intent to show less COVID deaths?" asked Patil, who is also the Chairman of Public Accounts Committee of the state legislature.  Patil also urged the government to constitute a team for a "quick study report" to assess causes for the increase in deaths. As of August 31 evening, cumulatively 3,42,423 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 5,702 deaths and 2,49,467 discharges. Bengaluru Urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 1,29,125 infections. The city has reported 1,965 deaths and 90,043 discharges so far. As per the official data of August 31, the COVID-19 mortality rate of Bengaluru is 1.52% compared to the state average (1.7%) and the national average (1.8%).  However, a high number of cases in Bengaluru has meant that the city has the highest number of COVID-19 deaths per million as well, at 201.4. The state average is at 91 deaths per million while the national average is 53.3 deaths per million.

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'If metro rail can operate why not theaters?' Sandalwood film industry, theaters ask

Sandalwood

While theater owners are willing to reopen at 50% capacity, film producers want theaters to open at 100% capacity.

Theja Ram

Representation photo

As the Union government announced further relaxations under Unlock 4.0, theaters and multiplexes have not been allowed to open yet. Concerned for the sustenance of cinema halls, theater owners and film producers in Karnataka say that the both the Centre and the state government have perpetually neglected the film industry’s pleas, which has led to a loss of over Rs 1,000 crore in the last five months.  With metro rails being allowed to operate from September 1 in many states, the Karnataka Film Exhibitors’ Association, questioned why the government is not allowing theaters to open and if the situation persists, over 650 single screens would have to shut down permanently.  “Metro is being allowed to operate in many states. It uses air conditioning and over 4 lakh people travel on these trains. If you put together all the single screen theaters with 50% capacity, it amounts to anywhere between 50,000 to 60,000 people at any given point of time. So, people can travel by metro and the government doesn’t care about the spread of coronavirus but it has a problem with theaters?” questioned KV Chandrashekar, President of the Karnataka Film Exhibitors’ Association.  Theater owners say that over the last five months, the single screens alone have suffered losses amounting to Rs 150 crore per month. And that the differences between the demands of theater owners and film producers has led to differences in opinion on how theaters should operate if they reopen.  “The problem we have is that theater owners are fine with reopening at 50% capacity in order to maintain distancing. But we want them to open at 100% capacity. When films are made and budgets are set, we would have made them on the assumption that theaters will operate at 100% capacity. Producers would have taken loans for big budget films amounting to Rs 40 to 50 crore per movie. We want the theaters to open at full capacity. We have suffered over Rs 1,000 loss already,” said GK Ramakrishna, President of the Karnataka Film Producers’ Association.  Producers say that at least 8 to 10 big budget films are ready to be released in theaters. Some of the movies awaiting release include Robot, Kotigobba 3, Salaga, Yuvaratna, Pogaru, Kabja and several others. Apart from these big budget films, Ramakrishna said that at least 100 low budget films are awaiting release. He also said that Sandalwood producers are not very keen on releasing films on OTT platforms and without theaters, they would suffer more losses.  “We have to pay a fixed cost to the electricity board. It comes up to Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 per theater, per month. Besides, there are maintenance costs and also employees have to be paid. This comes up to Rs 2 lakh per month. Theater owners have to pay Rs 1 lakh to renew their licence every year in January. The government has taken the money and yet has not announced any concessions on electricity bills or whether they would give us leeway to carry forward the amount we have paid for licence next year,” Chandrashekar said.  Theater owners say that even if the government allows them to reopen, only the ones in Bengaluru city would have the capacity to open and that those in other districts would have to wait to see whether distributors would want films to be released in these theaters. “There are many theater owners who have decided to shut down completely. Around 100 of them outside Bengaluru don’t have the capacity to continue,” Chandrashekar said.  The producers, however, maintained that reopening theaters should be done at the same time nationwide. This is because regional language films, bollywood and hollywood films are released in theaters across the country.  “There is a huge market for Telugu and Tamil movies in Karnataka. There is also a market for Malayalam films. Besides, Bollywood and Hollywood movies are released across the country. When producers and distributors rent theaters for their films, we have to keep in mind how many movies in how many languages are getting released. If Tamil Nadu does not allow theaters to open, then Tamil films cannot be released in other states without being released in Tamil Nadu first. This is why theaters across the country should open at once,” GV Radhakrishna. 

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Bengaluru has 15229 active containment zones, East has most at 3418

Coronavirus

Yelahanka is the only area which has less than 1,000 active containment zones at 944.

TNM Staff

Image for representation: PTI

Bengaluru East has the most active containment zones at 3,418, followed by Bengaluru South at 3,005 and the city's West zone at 2,648, authorities of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) said in their daily COVID-19 bulletin. So far, the city has reported 38,231 containment zones, out of which 15,229 are active while 23,002 have returned to normal. Of the total containment zones,  61% have returned to normal while 39% are active, authorities said. RR Nagara has 2,074 active containment zones, while Mahadevapura and Bommanahalli have 1,555 and 1,000 respectively. While Dasarahalli has 1,079 active containment zones, Yelahanka is the only area which has less than 1,000 active containment zones at 944. While 7,102 containment zones have returned to normal in Bengaluru South, the figures for Bengaluru East and Bengaluru West are 5,141 and 4,345 respectively. Meanwhile, with 7,238 patients discharged from hospitals after treatment, recoveries exceeded new cases at 6,495 in Karnataka on Monday. "The fresh positive cases pushed the state's COVID-19 tally to 3,42,423, including 87,235 active, while 2,49,467 were discharged till date, with 7,238 during the last 24 hours," said a state health department official in Bengaluru. The coronavirus pandemic, however, has claimed 5,702 lives across the state since March 8, with 113 during on Monday alone. Bengaluru accounted for over 40% of the state's total cases, with 1,29,125 people testing positive for the coronavirus, out of which 37,116 were active cases. 90,043 were discharged so far in the city, with 2,422 in the last 24 hours. With 27 patients succumbing to the infection in the city on Monday, the death toll rose to 1,965 till date. Of the 747 in the intensive care unit (ICU) across the state, 284 are in Bengaluru Urban district hospitals, followed by 92 in Hassan and 74 in Dharwad. In another development, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar was discharged after he was treated for the virus at a private hospital in the city's eastern suburb where he was admitted on August 25 as he tested positive. With IANS inputs

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Karnataka records 113 COVID-19 fatalities on Monday, 27 from Bengaluru

Coronavirus

Bengaluru has the highest COVID-19 deaths among all Karnataka districts at 1938 followed by Mysuru at 438.

TNM Staff

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Karnataka reported 113 COVID-19 related fatalities on Monday, one of the highest number of daily deaths since the onset of the pandemic. The highest number of daily deaths reported in the state so far is 148.  According to the bulletin, 27 out of total 113 deaths reported on Monday are from Bengaluru Urban, followed by Dakshina Kannada (12), Dharwad (9), Davangere and Mysuru (6), Ballari, Belagavi and Haveri (5). Kalaburgi, Mandya and Shivamogga (4 each), Tumakuru and Vijayapura (3), Chamarajanagara, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Raichur, Ramanagara and Udupi (2), and Bagalkote, Bengaluru rural, Bidar, Chikkaballapura, Gadag, Kolar, Koppal and Uttara Kannada (1 each), were the other districts with fatalities. Most of the dead are either with a history of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) or Influenza-like illness (ILI). With these new deaths confirmed on Monday, Bengaluru has the highest COVID-19 deaths among all Karnataka districts at 1938 followed by Mysuru at 438, and Dakshina Kannada at 354. On the same day, Karnataka reported 6,495 new cases of COVID-19 taking the total number of infections to 3,42,423. Out of 6,495 fresh cases reported on Monday, 1,862 cases were from Bengaluru Urban alone. Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru Urban accounted for 1,862, Mysuru 405, Ballari 365, Tumakuru 316, Chitradurga 286, Dharwad 279, Dakshina Kannada 270, Davangere 257, Hassan 217, Koppal 200, followed by others. Bengaluru Urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 1,29,125 infections, followed by Ballari 21,341 and Mysuru 17,949. Among discharges too, Bengaluru Urban tops the list with total 90,043 discharges, followed by Ballari 15,974 and Mysuru 12,753. A total of 28,95,807 samples were tested so far, out of which 43,132 were tested on Monday alone. Among the tests done on Monday, 13,056 were rapid antigen tests. Cumulatively, among the 3,42,423 COVID-19 positive cases, there have been 5,702 deaths and 2,49,467 discharges, the health department said in its bulletin.

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