Online event brings citizens, ex-corporators together to discuss Bengaluru governance

Civic Issues

The event organised by the non-profit Janaagraha saw participation from citizens, ex-corporators and ex-mayors of the BBMP.

Prajwal Bhat

A citizen, a journalist and a civic official bouncing off ideas about governance and administration should be a routine thing in a democracy. However, in the last six months, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, these interactions which were rare to begin with have reduced to none.  But on Saturday, an online event attempted to bring together citizens and corporators in Bengaluru together to discuss broad questions about the city. The group of corporators who attended the online event included a number of leaders who stepped down following the completion of their five-year term in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) council on Thursday. Janaagraha, a non-profit organisation, organised 'Namma Naayakaru' (our leaders) bringing together corporators cutting across party lines in the city.  Janaagraha held a survey this week on Bengaluru's infrastructure which received 1,100 responses. 42% of the respondents said that the condition of the city had regressed over the last five years and around 50% said that garbage management in the city was 'bad' or 'very bad'. This set the basis for the conversation among corporators and citizens. The event was also attended by two prominent ex-BBMP mayors. Corporators also spoke about collaboration across varying political affiliations. Abdul Wajid, who was the corporator of Manorayanapalya (Ward 33) and the leader of the opposition in the BBMP Council, recounted how corporators came together to oppose hoardings being put up in the city in July 2019. They united to reject draft advertisement rules notified by the urban development department.   "Even now, I urge the government that it should not bring back hoardings, especially not in a public-private partnership model. We need to consider how useful hoardings are to citizens. Is it disseminating government messages? In many cases this isn't the case," Abdul Wajid stated.  Shilpa, another corporator, who has been hailed for her use of social media to address civic issues, stated that new corporators should be given time to implement ideas. "In our ward, we made a WhatsApp group with ward residents. We decided to be proactive in attending complaints of citizens," she said.  Goutham Kumar, the ex-mayor of Bengaluru, said that the term of the mayor should be extended from one year to two-and-a-half years. "Mumbai's mayor gets two-and-a-half years’ time and this allows for implementation of long-term plans," Gautam said. Another former mayor, Gangambike Mallikarjun, highlighted the waste segregation in Bengaluru and called for stricter enforcement of the ban on plastics.  Citizens and journalists asked questions to the corporators at the event as well. One question posed by a citizen was about whether ward committees will continue to function until corporators are elected again. To this, Abdul Wajid replied that there are others in charge of running the ward committees and that meetings will continue.  Srinivas Alavilli of Janaagraha said that Bengaluru's cosmopolitan population often ignores local politics. A conscious effort was made by organisers to switch between English and Kannada and important conversations were translated into the other language as well.  "Bengaluru has a sizable population of residents from other states but they do not often get involved in local civic administration. This is something that needs to change," Srinivas said.     

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Nikhil Kumaraswamy’s first look in ‘Rider’ released

Sandalwood

Kashmira Pardeshi is playing the female lead in the film directed by Vijay Kumar Konda.

Digital Native

YouTube/Lahari Music | T-Series

It was reported a few months ago that Nikhil Kumaraswamy will be joining hands with Tollywood director Vijay Kumar Konda for a new project titled Rider. On Friday, the makers released the first-look motion poster of the film.  Sharing the poster and the link to the Kannada motion-poster of the film, Nikhil wrote, "Presenting #RIDER first look (sic)." Presenting #RIDER first look https://ift.tt/2ZqZSzd @ArjunJanyaMusic@LahariMusic @LahariFilms pic.twitter.com/EoAlltgC96 — Nikhil Kumar (@Nikhil_Kumar_k) September 11, 2020 According to sources in the know, Rider will be a sports drama with an interesting narrative. The film went on floors before the COVID-19 pandemic, and was halted due to the lockdown. The team has nearly 32 days of shoot left, with shooting expected to resume soon. The film has Kashmira Pardeshi playing the female lead. Watch the First Look Motion Poster for Rider: In his latest interview to Cinema Express , speaking about Rider, Nikhil was quoted as saying, “It is a light-hearted story, and it’s been more than 10-15 years since we were treated to such a subject. Vijay Kumar Konda’s entertainer comes with a lot of commercial aspects." Director Vijay Kumar Konda has Telugu films like Oka Laila Kosam and Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde to his credit till date. He is now foraying into the Kannada film industry with the Nikhil Kumar starrer. The film is jointly produced by Lahari Music and T-Series, and also stars Sampada Hulivana, Dattanna, Achyuth Kumar, Chikkanna and Shivraj KR Pete in supporting roles. Nikhil had taken a short break from his film career and contested in the Lok Sabha polls in 2019, from the Mandya parliamentary constituency. He lost to Sumalatha Ambareesh,who contested as an independent candidate. Nikhil recently married Revathi, the grand-niece of former state Housing Minister M Krishnappa.  Nikhil’s last film to release was Kurukshetra, which was directed by Naganna. Darshan played Duryodhana in this historical drama. Jayanan Vincent was the cinematographer for this film, with Jo Ni Harsha doing the editing. Inspired by the poem Gadhayuddha written by the Kannada poet Ranna, the screenplay for the film was written by JK Bharavi. It was recently reported that director AP Arjun will be collaborating with Nikhil for a new film. The film will reportedly be bankrolled by the actor’s home production company NK Entertainments.  There have also been reports of Nikhil soon working with producer Munirathna, with whom he was associated with for Kurukshetra. Reports are that this entertainer will star Nikhil as a police officer. Nikhil’s film with AP Arjun will commence after he completes these projects, say sources.

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Rs 1 crore ecstasy seizure: Bengaluru Customs officials arrest Nigerian national

Crime

The ecstasy pills were found inside a massage machine at the Kempegowda International Airport.

TNM Staff

The Bengaluru Customs officers on Friday arrested a Nigerian national residing in the city in connection with the Rs 1 crore worth MDMA pills seized at the airport recently. The Customs’ Cargo Intelligence Unit on Tuesday seized 1,980 ecstasy pills hidden inside a German-made massage machine at the air cargo complex at the Kempegowda International Airport.  Kudos to Officers at B'lore Int'l Courier Centre for detecting 1980 gms (Rs 1 Cr (Approx) of MDMA / Ecstasy pills - concealed inside electric massager, attempted to be smuggled in to India, from Belgium. @cbic_india @ianuragthakur #saveyouth pic.twitter.com/aDPUcrcOAz — Bengaluru Customs (@blrcustoms) September 8, 2020 The arrested accused is Sylvester Henry Owen, a 41-year-old Nigerian national, who was living in Bengaluru’s Bannerghatta Road for a few years. Sylvester Owen claimed to work for a company involved in import-export of hair to make wigs, Times of India reported.  On Friday, Sylvester Owen went to the airport and attempted to take delivery of the parcel that had arrived through DHL couriers from Brussels, Belgium. The sleuths with the Customs’ Cargo Intelligence Unit immediately nabbed Sylvester and also searched his home located along Bannerghatta Road. They found an additional 200 grams of marijuana at his residence.  The package arrived at the Kempegowda International Airport on Tuesday, which caused the Customs sleuths to grow suspicious. When the package was passed under the scanner, the sleuths suspected that the massage machine was tampered with and they could see multiple coloured spots inside the machine. Suspecting foul play, the sleuths opened the package and found violet and green pills inside the machine. The customs sleuths sent samples for testing and determined it was MDMA, Indian Express reported. Sylvester Owen was produced before the magistrate and remanded to judicial custody. The investigators believe that he had been procuring drugs through the dark web for quite a while and was selling it in Bengaluru. The officials are also probing his links with the city’s drug network as the Narcotics Control Bureau too, had arrested three people last month with MDMA pills that were bought from Brussels.    

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Trump officials interfered with CDC reports on Covid-19

The politically appointed HHS spokesperson and his team demanded and received the right to review CDC’s scientific reports to health professionals.

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Bengaluru riots: NIA to take over investigation into violence at DJ Halli and KG Halli

Crime

The NIA told the Karnataka High Court on Friday that it had received oral intimation from the Centre regarding the same.

TNM Staff

The National Investigation Agency on Friday told the Karnataka High Court on Friday that the agency would take over two cases pertaining to the Bengaluru riots where FIRs were registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. This, it said, will be after the Centre passes an order, expected to be in a few days. The two FIRs were registered at the DJ Halli and KG Halli police stations after the riots that took place on August 11.  Special Public Prosecutor for NIA P Prasanna Kumar told the division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Sreenivas Oka that he received oral communication from the Centre that the case would be transferred to the NIA and sought a week’s time to place the order on record before the court, Deccan Herald reported. In response to a petition filed by Girish Bharadwaj requesting the transfer of the riots case to the NIA, Advocate-General Prabhuling K Navadgi said that the Additional Chief Secretary (Home Department) had written to the Secretary of Union Ministry of Home Affairs on September 3 regarding invoking UAPA in the two cases registered in Bengaluru.  “The Central government has under the provision of the NIA Act, 15 days time to take a decision to transfer the investigation. I am told some decisions have been taken," the Advocate-General said, reported LiveLaw.  The NIA’s counsel also submitted compliance reports regarding the appointment of retired Justice HS Kempanna as Claims Commissioner to estimate the damages caused due to destruction of public property.  The mob gathered at DJ Halli and KG Halli set the police stations on fire, burned police vehicles and also caused damage to civilian property. A nodal officer has also been appointed to assist the Claims Commissioner, reports said.  Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court Abhay Sreenivas Oka instructed the NIA’s counsel to place on record the Centre order to transfer the case at the next hearing slated to be held on September 21.  On the evening of August 11, a mob had gathered outside Pulakeshinagar MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy’s residence after his nephew put up a derogatory Facebook post against Prophet Muhammad. The mob mobilised outside the DJ Halli Police Station demanding that the MLA’s nephew Naveen be arrested and booked immediately. By 9 pm, the mob had begun pelting stones and setting vehicles on fire outside the police station and later set fire to the basement of the building. Three civilians died after police opened fire to control the mob and around 60 police officers were injured.   

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An online event that will let you ask questions to Bengaluru corporators

Politics

Janaagraha, a non-profit organisation, is organising an online event in which members of the BBMP Council who stepped down will be taking part.

TNM Staff

As a resident of Bengaluru, did you ever have questions you wanted to ask your corporator? Did you ever wonder about the changes you have seen in your ward in the last five years? With the five-year term of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Council having ended on Thursday (September 10), an online event scheduled for Saturday gives citizens the opportunity to ask questions to the corporators who served in the city in the last five years.  Janaagraha, a non-profit organisation, is organising an online event in which members of the BBMP Council who stepped down will be taking part. The event titled 'Namma Nayakaru' (our leaders) will begin at 11 am on Saturday.  Srinivas Alavilli, an activist who works with Janaagraha says that the event is an opportunity for residents to understand how the city works. "More and more people are now working with the system with ward committees or WhatsApp groups or good old phone calls.  But even the so-called ‘active citizens’ don't really know what happens behind the scenes – how the budget gets allocated, how projects are prioritised etc. We experience the lack of services or bad quality of them but we don't know why things are the way they are," Srinivas says. Janaagraha will bring together corporators cutting across party lines and from across the city to discuss their work in the past five years. "It is designed to be a productive, cordial conversation with the elected leaders of the city. When citizens and politicians work together, good things are bound to happen as we've seen time and again. This time, we will focus on Bengaluru governance and what the people that have been part of it, have to say," Srinivas adds. Presently, senior IAS officer Gaurav Gupta is in charge of administration in Bengaluru city while BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad reports to him until the new group of corporators are elected.  Details of the event can be found here

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Bengaluru drug case: Police custody of Ragini, Sanjana extended by 3 days

Crime

The CCB has made another arrest in connection with the case on Friday

TNM Staff

A Bengaluru court, on Friday, extended the police custody of Kannada film stars Ragini Dwivedi and Sanjana Galrani by another three days in the high-profile drugs bust case. Along with Ragini and Sanjana, police custody was extended for four of their associates and co-accused till September 14. The four others include Ravi Shankar, Rahul Shetty, Niyaz and Loum Pepper Samba.  This after the Central Crime Bureau (CCB) of the Bengaluru Police, earlier on Friday, said they have arrested an alleged habitual drug peddler, Prateek Shetty, in connection with the high profile case. Shetty is allegedly involved in procuring and selling banned drugs during high-end parties in the city allegedly involving Sandalwood celebrities. Pratheek has been named as accused number 15 in the FIR registered at the Cottonpet Police Station.  As earlier reported by TNM, the CCB arrested Pratheek Shetty based on the confession procured from Ragini Dwivedi's friend Ravi Shankar. The CCB says it found chats between Ravi Shankar and Pratheek Shetty where the duo allegedly exchanged pictures of contraband. CCB sources have accused Ravi Shankar of procuring drugs from Pratheek for a few years now, which he, allegedly, then supplied to parties attended by Sandalwood celebrities.  Pratheek Shetty was also one of the three accused persons arrested by the Banaswadi Police in 2018 and 1,290 gm of cocaine and 1,930 gm of MDMA pills were seized. Three men including Faith Chucks, a South African national, Kante Hery from Guinea and Pratheek Shetty, a resident of New Thippasandra, was arrested then.  At the time, Pratheek Shetty was allegedly selling drugs to Ravi Shankar but had not disclosed the information to the police.  Pratheek Shetty allegedly came to Bengaluru in 2010 when he got a job as a software engineer. He lived in Karachanahalli and allegedly began consuming synthetic drugs. Police say that he turned to peddle drugs in the subsequent years after he came into contact with student dealers, who were from African countries. "He developed contacts of peddlers in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, where he used to source drugs from. He has been doing this since 2010," a CCB officer said.

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