The plan would tie payments for certain Medicare drugs to the significantly lower costs the treatments sell for abroad.
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Monday, September 14, 2020
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Drugs case: K’taka Home Min says laws, probe agencies will be strengthened
HM Bommai said that the Intelligence Department will be involved in solving drug-related crimes.
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Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday said the coming week is going to be crucial in the government's crackdown against drug peddling and substance abuse, as it will take certain key decisions by strengthening agencies and laws to fight the menace. He said the intelligence department will also be involved in a big way, while the Central Crime Branch (CCB) will be further strengthened. "We have decided to further strengthen the crackdown against drugs and narcotic substances. The coming week is crucial, as we have decided to give instructions to police in border districts for more stricter measures against drugs coming into the state from inter-state borders," Bommai said. Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said it has been decided to involve the intelligence department in a big way in this fight against drugs. Also, there is need to further strengthen the CCB that is investigating the case in Bengaluru, Bommai said, as the CCB is under the burden of several cases, its purview and base need to further strengthen by posting more officials and providing more facilities. "We will be making certain decisions in this regard in the coming days," he added. Further noting that state has the powers to frame rules for the implementation of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS), which is a central act, he said to resolve implementational issues and regarding changing rules, we will be discussing with legal experts and take the decision to further strengthen. CCB police investigation into the drugs case has led to several arrests so far including actresses Ragini Dwivedi, Sanjjanaa Galrani, and high-end party planner Viren Khanna among others. Stressing the need for concerted effort and an aware society to fight the drugs, Bommai said we are open for all suggestions and advice in this regard. "I have told police officials, especially CCB, that any information from anywhere, whether it is media or any statement, should be taken seriously and investigated for necessary further action," he added.
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Activists demand compensation for metro construction worker who died in Bengaluru
Dhananjay Kumar (24) hailing from Bihar died on Wednesday while on duty at the Jayanagar construction site.
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Activists in Bengaluru have alleged irresponsibility and apathy on part of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited over the death of a 24-year-construction worker in the previous week. The victim, Dhananjay Kumar, hailing from Bihar died on Wednesday while on duty at the Jayanagar construction site of the metro after a beam that was being erected fell on him. The All India Central Council of Trade Unions pointed out that Dhananjay’s family is yet to be paid any compensation and objected to the BMRCL being left out of the police case. Demanding immediate relief of Rs 50 lakh for the victim’s family and corrective action on part of the metro authority, AITTUC has written to the Labour Department and the Karnataka Buiding and other Construction Workers Welfare Board. AICCTU demanded that BMRCL be held responsible as it is the principal employer and has pointed out that there have been 20 such deaths during metro construction work since 2013 due to alleged negligence and violations of norms. Responding to the issue, BMRCL chief spokesperson Yashwant Chavan said that every worker is insured and his family will get the compensation amount after the formalities are over. “Already the investigation over the accident is underway. The concerned Executive Director will look into the accident and there will be independent scrutiny by the state Labour Department,” he said. Dhananjay was one of the many workers who were subcontracted by construction majors URC for this stretch of the metro work. After Dhananjay was declared brought dead by a hospital, police registered a first information report (FIR) against four officials of URC working in the site but did not name any BMRCL official as the accused. As part of its letter, the AITTUC, said, “Another unfortunate aspect of the matter is that reportedly, a case has been filed only against three members of the contractor, and not against the BMRCL itself. It must be noted that the BMRCL, as a principal employer, is equally liable for having caused the death of Shri Dhananjay by negligence, and the appropriate official would be liable to be punished under section 304A of the IPC.” The letter added, “Pertinently, the Employees Compensation Act, 1923 makes it very clear in section 12 that the Principal Employer and contractor would both be liable to compensate for accidents arising out of and in the course of employment of the worker. It may also be noted that section 44 of the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Al, 1996, it is provided that an employer shall be responsible for providing constant and adequate supervision of any building or other construction work in his establishment as to ensure compliance with the provisions of this Act relating to safety and for taking all practical steps necessary to prevent accidents.” The full list of AITTUC demands have been reproduced below 1. Compensation of Rs. 50 Lakh to be paid by BMRCL to the family of the deceased. 2 Further compensation to be provided by the Kamataka Building And Other Construction Workers Welfare Board. 3 Criminal complaint to be filed against the BMRCL for its numerous statutory violations including criminal negligence leading to the untimely demise of Shri Dhananjay Kumar. 4 A complete audit of safety mechanisms adopted by BMRCL to be conducted by the Monitoring Committee. 5. Action to be initiated against BMRCL and contractors in terms of sections 47 and 50 read with section 53 of the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996.
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17 acres of green space at Bangalore Uni to be cleared for CBSE, Yoga institute
The park is home to 600 endangered species of trees.
Facebook page of BU biodiversiy park
In yet another assault on the last remaining green spaces of Bengaluru, a part of the green space inside Bangalore University’s Jnanabharathi is being sacrificed to make way for two new buildings. This after 17 acre of the bio-park has been allocated for University of Yogic Sciences and to CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) to build a Centre for the organisation in south India. Activists, students, professors and neighbourhood walkers are unhappy after authorities greenlighted the two projects, especially given it is also one of the last few biodiversity-rich college campuses that are left in India. They have questioned why vacant government land could not be used for the same purpose. “The entire Bangalore University had been declared as Biodiversity Park by the Government of Karnataka in 2017 and had been communicated to the Bangalore University. Keeping this in mind 14 additional bio-park patches have been developed by individuals and non-government bodies," said TJ Renuka Prasad, former coordinator of the bio-park and a professor at the university. “The 100-acre park was set up in 2001 and is home to 600 species of endangered species trees, most of which are anti-viral. To destroy them during the COVID-19 pandemic is criminal,” he added. Incidentally, the work has already started in the first of the 14 additional patches of the park. "We had created Bengaluru's largest carbon sink with over 25 years of hard work. Neither the state government nor the university has spent a rupee on it. People have contributed and participated in planting. We cannot lose this lung space," said Yellappa Reddy, former top IFS officer and founder of Bangalore Environment Trust. Joseph Hoover, a former member of the State Wildlife Board and green activist said other than endangered trees, activists say that the park has 148 species of butterfly and 149 species of birds and along with other animals. “There are hundreds of peacocks. Black-naped hare in this biodiverse landscape,” Hoover added. TNM could not reach V-C KR Venugopal for a comment.
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1350 kg ganja bust: Five policemen in Karnataka suspended for lapse in vigilance
The suspension comes after the Bengaluru police searched a goat farm in Kalaburagi and seized 1,350 kilograms of marijuana.
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After the Bengaluru police unearthed 1,350 kg of marijuana at a farm in Kalaburagi district, five policemen attached to the Kalagi police station were suspended on Saturday. Kalaburagi Superintendent of Police, Simi Mariam George, suspended Inspector Bhojaraj Rathod, Sub-Inspector Basavaraj Chittakote, Assistant Sub-Inspector Neelakantappa Hebbal, beat constable Sharanappa and constable Anil Bhandari. Speaking to TNM, Deputy Superintendent of Police for the Shahbad division, Venkannagouda, said that the five police officers were suspended for “lapses in vigilance”. The goat farm, located in Lakshman Nayak Tanda, is within the Kalagi police station’s limits. “Since it was within their jurisdiction, they had to watch for such illegal activities. There were vigilance lapses,” DySP Venkannagouda said. The Seshadripuram police on September 8, raided a goat farm in Kalaburagi and unearthed 1,350 kilograms of marijuana. The police had received a tip that an auto driver had stashed marijuana in his auto rickshaw. Jnanashekar, the auto driver, was arrested and 2 kg of marijuana was seized. The police tracked down Jnanashekar’s suppliers and also the distributors in the case. The police arrested Siddunath Lavate, a 22-year-old from Vijayapura’s Sindagi and owner of the 30-acre plot, who was living in Bengaluru. He was allegedly supplying the marijuana to Jnanshekar. He was arrested for allegedly supplying the contraband. Subsequently, the alleged distributors, Naganath and Chandrakanth Chauhan, were arrested. The duo allegedly travelled to Andhra Pradesh to procure huge amounts of marijuana for distribution. The packages were stored in an underground storage space at the goat farm. The investigating officers had taken permission from IGP Western range, Soumendra Mukherjee, to search the goat farm. “A big amount of ganja was found within their jurisdictional limits. Since the farm was under Kalagi police’s jurisdiction, they were supposed to have been vigilant,” a senior police officer said.
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Bengaluru’s containment zones remain at 29588, RR Nagara has highest active areas
Among the 29,588 containment zones identified so far, 67% are active zones while 33% have returned to normal.
PTI
As on September 11, Bengaluru has a total of 29,588 containment zones. According to the civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), there has neither been an increase nor decrease in the number of containment zones across zones in the last two days. While RR Nagara zone recorded the highest number of containment zones, Bommanahalli zone saw the highest number of areas that have returned to normal. Among the 29,588 containment zones identified so far, 67% are active zones while 33% have returned to normal. RR Nagara recorded 6,376 containment zones so far, which is the highest among other zones under BBMP. After RR Nagara zone, Bommanahalli and South have recorded over 5,000 containment zones so far: 5,313 and 5,159 respectively. Among the active containment zones — areas that have restricted activities and movement due to a high number of COVID-19 cases — RR Nagara zone tops the list with 4,689 areas, followed by South (2,960), West (2,881), Bommanahalli (2,880) and East (2,111). The other zones have less than 2,000 containment areas. Among the zones that have returned to normal, 2,433 among 5,313 zones in Bommanahalli are no longer containment areas. The South zone, which had the highest number of containment zones two months ago, saw 2,199 areas reporting normalcy. Containment zones in Bengaluru across zones under BBMP According to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Yelahanka and West zones accounted for 16% of the positive cases in Bengaluru in the last 24 hours. This is followed by East (15%), South (14%), Bommanahalli (13%), Mahadevapura and RR Nagar zones (11%) and Dasarahalli (4%). BBMP has identified 10,14,552 contacts of various COVID-19 patients so far: 4,51,459 primary contacts and 5,63,093 secondary contacts. South zone has the highest number of contacts at 2,49,638, followed by West (1,69,807) and East (1,54,257) zones. In August, the total number of containment zones stood at 40,563, while it was 21,863 in July, 487 in June and 63 in May. In the last 24 hours, 3,552 people tested positive for coronavirus. A total of 3,538 recovered and 21 deaths were reported in Bengaluru. According to the bulletin issued by BBMP, a total of 1,190,672 tests have been carried out, of which, 29,955 were carried out on September 11. While the positivity rate (percentage of people who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 among a given number of people who have been tested) stands at 14.04%, the recovery rate and death rate are at 74.09% and 1.43% respectively.
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Actor Ragini Dwivedi mixed water in urine sample during drug test, say cops
The sample was meant for a toxicology test to determine whether she had consumed drugs.
South Indian actor Ragini Dwivedi, who was arrested on September 4 by Bengaluru’s Central Crime Branch in connection with the drug racket, allegedly mixed water in her urine sample at KC General Hospital last week. The actor was taken to KC General hospital after her arrest so a urine sample could be taken to determine whether she had consumed any drugs listed in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. CCB sources said that the doctors at KC General Hospital were able to detect that water was mixed in the urine sample as the temperature of the sample was different. The temperature of human urine lies between 90 F and 100F, CCB sources said that the temperature was lesser, which led the doctors to believe that she may have mixed water with her urine sample to possibly avoid detection of drugs in the toxicology test. Ragini Dwidevi was made to drink more water and give another urine sample. However, sources say that she initially consulted with her lawyer before giving her sample. “We have also informed the court about this incident. However, the toxicology report will reveal the truth,” a CCB official said. CCB sources said that they retrieved chats between Ragini Dwivedi and a man named Simon, who the investigators believe is from an African country. “There were chats where she has asked Simon for drugs in code language. This is common lingo for those who procure opioids. Hence we wanted to take a urine sample,” the CCB source added. Different categories of drugs listed under the NDPS Act stay in the human body for different periods of time. This also depends on a lot of factors including the type of drug, body mass, metabolism rate, medical condition, hydration levels and gender among other things. Marijuana can be detected in a urine sample within 30 days of consumption and within 90 days in a hair sample. Opioids like cocaine can be detected with a urine test within three days of consumption while it can be detected within 90 days with a hair sample. Methadone can be traced within 12 days in a urine sample, while MDMA can be traced within four days. However, CCB sources did not confirm whether Ragini’s hair samples were collected. Section 53 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973, authorises a police officer to obtain assistance of a medical practitioner for the purpose of the investigation. The CrPC (Amendment) Act, 2005, has brought two new sections which authorise the investigating officer to collect DNA samples from the body of the accused and the victim with the help of a medical practitioner.
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