Newshangama

Wednesday, October 7, 2020

BJP divided over candidature for RR Nagar bye-elections

Politics

While the former Congress MLA Munirathna, who defected to the BJP is hoping for a ticket, the party is reluctant to offer him one.

Theja Ram

As the last date for filing nominations for the bye-polls is near, former Rajarajeshwari Nagar MLA Munirathna Naidu, who is now with the BJP, is allegedly unhappy about his predicament. Munirathna, who was promised a chance to contest bye-polls and a ministerial berth, is unhappy as the BJP is backtracking on giving him a ticket. Munirathna was one among the 17 legislators, who defected to the BJP after resigning from the Congress-JD(S) coalition in 2018. The BJP’s state unit sent a list of two names as options for the RR Nagar candidate. Munirathna, who was confident about being chosen as the candidate, has faced a setback as he is the party’s second choice. The BJP state President Nalin Kumar Kateel has rather thrown his weight behind Muniraju Gowda, who was the party’s candidate in the 2018 Assembly elections. The setback for Munirathna comes as the two warring factions within the BJP have been indulging in a game of one-upmanship. Besides, Munirathna and Muniraju have been archrivals in the region for years now. both have been involved in a lengthy legal battle after Muniraju accused Munirathna of voter fraud. Based on a complaint filed by Muniraju in 2018, the police and Election Commission officials had raided an office belonging to Munirathna and recovered fake voter IDs. Despite this, Munirathna had won the elections. A powerful figure in the RR Nagar constituency, the BJP leaders in the region were his rivals. “Now to give him a ticket is not acceptable. The party should give the chance to honest party workers instead of those who try to get tickets the easy way,” a senior BJP leader said. Sources said that Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa is trying to get the ticket for Munirathna while BJP National General Secretary (Organisation), BL Santhosh is backing Muniraju Gowda. Sources in the Congress said that Munirathna has approached his former mentor Siddaramaiah, hoping to rejoin the Congress party. However, the Congress has informed Munirathna that he would not be given a ticket as the party leaders in Karnataka want Kusuma Ravi to contest the bye-polls. “DK Shivakumar is against Munirathna rejoining. Even if he joins the party, he won’t be given a ticket for sure. We had warned him that the BJP would go back on its word if he left. Now he has to pay for it,” a Congress MLA said.

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Sandalwood drug case: Bengaluru cops raid ex don Muthappa Rai’s son’s house

Crime

CCB sources said that Ricky Rai was allegedly in touch with another accused Aditya Alav, who is absconding.

TNM Staff

Representation photo

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths on Tuesday raided several properties in Bengaluru and Bidadi belonging to Ricky Rai, son of the late Muthappa Rai in connection with the Sandalwood drug case. Muthappa Rai was once at the helm of the underworld in Bengaluru and had claimed to have reformed. CCB sources told TNM that Ricky Rai’s name cropped up in the drug case as he had been in touch with Aditya Alva, Vivek Oberoi’s brother-in-law, who is currently absconding. The CCB, which had procured call record details of Ricky Rai allegedly found that he had been in touch with Aditya Alva and other accused persons who are absconding in the case. “We questioned him to find out if he played any role in Aditya Alva’s disappearance. Whether he aided Alva in escaping,” the CCB source said. Investigators say that Ricky Rai allegedly attended parties hosted by Aditya Alva at his resort in Bengaluru’s Hebbal. The CCB conducted search and seizure operations at various properties belonging to Ricky Rai across the state. He was summoned for questioning for a few hours and was allowed to leave, a CCB official said. Police said that the raids were conducted at Rai's farmhouse in Bidadi in Ramanagara district and his house in Sadashivanagar in Bengaluru. The case pertains to drug use and distribution allegedly among bigwigs including Kannada film actors Ragini Dwivedi, Sanjjanaa Galrani, party promoter Viren Khanna and realtor Rahul Thonse. A few key accused in the case, including former minister late Jeevaraj Alva's son Aditya Alva are at large. So far, the CCB has electronic evidence against the actors. Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate is probing a money laundering case against the accused persons in the Sandalwood drug case. The ED sources said that the actors had assets worth more than they could have procured based on their income. The ED told the NDPS court in Bengaluru that it suspects the accused funnelled money procured by distribution of drugs.

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Will schools in Karnataka re-open? Expert committee to submit report

Education

Currently, the state government has said that schools will not reopen at least until October 15.

TNM Staff

Representation photo

The Karnataka Health Department on Tuesday held a meeting to look into the feasibility of reopening schools in the state. The Health Department said that it will discuss with medical experts and submit a list of recommendations by Friday. The experts will meet the Technical Advisory Committee, headed by professor MK Sudarshan, chairperson of the Technical Advisory Committee on COVID-19 management, "as soon as possible" to discuss the feasibility of reopening schools. Currently, the state government has said that schools will not reopen at least until October 15. While some medical experts suggested that all stakeholders would have to be consulted before giving an opinion, some said that reopening schools is inadvisable as the state government will have no time to gather resources to deal with the eventuality of children testing positive. The experts suggested that they have to discuss with stakeholders and decide whether the guidelines issued by the Union government would be feasible for Karnataka. "We have to look into what would be suitable for Karnataka. Every state's situation is different and we must not be in a situation where there is panic among parents. We will hold a meeting with the technical advisory committee, which will then submit the report to the health department," an expert, who attended the meeting on Tuesday, told TNM. Dr MK Sudarshan, Chairman of the Technical Advisory Committee, said, "The minister has asked the technical advisory committee to give its opinion about reopening schools. The meeting will be held this week and we will submit our report on Friday afternoon to the Health Department. We are looking at the situation in other states. The NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) has released an advisory and the Union government has given its standard operating procedure (SOP). We have to speak to schools, parents and other stakeholders to see whether it is feasible to reopen schools." The development comes at a time when the Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools, a collective of private schools in Karnataka, wrote to the state government asking it to allow the reopening of schools for students in classes 9 to 12. The letter, addressed to Karnataka Education Minister S Suresh Kumar, included suggestions on measures that schools can take to ensure the safety of students and teachers. Read: Private schools in Karnataka write to Education Minister to request reopening

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Tuesday, October 6, 2020

FDA says it's sticking to vaccine guidelines blocked by White House

The agency's decision to hold vaccine developers to the stricter criteria will likely push any vaccine authorization beyond Election Day.

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