Bengaluru godown fire: Police arrest owners of chemical unit

Crime

A major fire had broken out at a godown housing chemicals on Wednesday causing loss of property valued at over Rs 3 crore.

IANS

The Bengaluru police have arrested the three owners of a chemical unit of Rekha Chemicals and Rekha Chemical corporation on Wednesday where a major fire had broken out causing huge loss of property valued at more than Rs 3 crore. The chemical unit was located in Bapujinagar near Hosaguddadahalli in West Bengaluru and the fire department took more than six hours to douse the fire on Tuesday. While 15 fire engines were sent to the spot at around 11:45 am, the fire was not completely extinguished even by 6 pm. Officers at the South Fire Station’s control room said that they had to ensure that the fire did not spread into households located in the vicinity. Police arrested the owners Sajjan Raj, 66, Kamala, 60, and Anil Kumar, 30, for conducting their business from a thickly populated residential locality and without obtaining any requisite permissions from Karnataka Pollution Control Board, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) or Fire and Emergency Service departments. Deputy Commissioner of the Police West division, Sanjeev M Patil said that Sajjan Raj had been into the Chemical supplies business for nearly three decades in the name of Rekha Chemicals, and his wife Kamala is the owner of Rekha Chemicals Corporations. "Whereas their son, Kumar has been running this business for quite some time," he explained. The DCP added that nearly 64,000 litres of 16 highly inflammable types of chemicals were stored in more than 320 barrels. Police said that the fire broke out when one of their employees was transferring chemicals from one barrel to the other. "As these chemicals are highly inflammable, transferring the chemicals produced static charge due to a hot, sunny day and a fire of this magnitude broke out," the police said. Preliminary investigations by the police further revealed that the fire broke out and went out of control as an adjoining godown had stored large quantities of plastic material.

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Video of Karnataka BJP MLA pushing and assaulting a woman goes viral

Controversy

Despite the attack the police have not registered an FIR against MLA Siddu Savadi.

TNM Staff

Screengrab

A woman can be seen entering a building. She is surrounded by police. As she begins to climb the steps of the building, BJP MLA from Terdal, Siddu Savadi can be seen charging at her and stopping her from entering the building. Soon, Siddu Savadi and his supporters begin pushing the woman and assaulting her. The police meanwhile, stand in the periphery of the men who have surrounded the woman, in a weak attempt to curtail the assault.  Legislator Siddu Savadi pushes the woman and she falls on the staircase. The police finally pick her up and never let her in a bid to protect her. But one of the MLAs supporters can be seen grabbing her by the hair before the police stop the assault.  This brutal attack occurred in Karnataka’s Bagalkot district on November 9, where legislator Siddu Savadi and his followers assaulted Chandni Naik, a councillor with the Mahalingapuram Municipal Council.  Although the incident occurred on November 9, it came to light on Wednesday after the video went viral.  On November 9, elections were held for the position of President and Vice President of the Mahalingapura Municipal Council. Councillors Chandni Naik, Saraswati Hurkadali and Godavari Baat had approached MLA Savadi, requesting a chance to contest for the post. As they were turned down, the three women had decided to vote for the Congress candidate, Chandni Naik told the media on Wednesday.  The 23-member council has 13 BJP members and 11 Congress members. Councillor Chandni alleged that when legislator Savadi learned that the women were going to vote for the Congress candidates, he assaulted and pushed them near the Municipal Council building in a bid to stop them from exercising their vote.  “I always looked up to MLA Savadi as an elderly figure and a mentor. I never even dreamed that he would behave this way. I was very shocked when none of our (the women councillors’) words were respected. I have suffered both physically and mentally,” Chandni Naik told the media.  Meanwhile MLA Siddu Savadi issued a statement to the press and outright denied his involvement in the case despite the video showing otherwise. “I respect all women and I would never behave in such a way with any woman. This is being done to tarnish my reputation. The entire thing is fabricated. Why should I apologise when I have not done anything wrong?” Siddu Savadi claimed. When TNM called the Mahalingapura Police Station, the officers said that no FIR was registered against the legislators or the other men who attacked Chandni Naik.  “I filed a complaint and the police have not registered a case. They are not even willing to investigate it,” Chandni added.  The police, meanwhile, claimed that they are verifying the veracity of the video before taking any further action. Watch the video here

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Fauci and Biden team steer clear of each other — for now

Biden’s transition team must plan for a crisis response without access to essential information about the nation’s supply chains and testing supplies.

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Moderna close to revealing first data on whether its vaccine works

The news comes days after Pfizer revealed that initial data suggest its vaccine is more than 90 percent effective.

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Karnataka bye-polls didn’t adversely affect COVID-19 infection rate: Technical committee

COVID-19

Between Nov 6-10, the positivity rate of these two areas were below the state average, said the committee.

Soumya Chatterjee

Representational image

The November 3 Assembly bye-polls in Karnataka to the two seats of RR Nagar in Bengaluru and Sira in Tumakuru have not adversely affected the COVID-19 infection rate in those two constituencies. The Technical Advisory Committee of the state government on COVID-19 management said that the positivity rate in these two areas between November 6 and November 10 were less than 1% and remained less than the state average. In RR Nagar, there were a total of 14,727 tests conducted over four days with 84 testing positive -meaning a positivity rate of 0.57%. Similarly in Sira, the number of tests conducted over four days were 15,874 with 103 returning positive. This meant a positivity rate of 0.65%. The positivity rate for the entire state for November 10 was 2.35%, noted the members of the TAC and concluded that conducting the elections has not resulted in an increase of cases in these two areas. Incidentally, as reported earlier, former Minister and Congress candidate for the bye-polls in Sira constituency TB Jayachandra on Monday said he had tested positive for the coronavirus and has been hospitalised since then. His wife, who also tested positive for the virus was also hospitalised. Due to this he had to withdraw himself from the counting process.  Results of the two bye-polls were declared on Tuesday. In both the seats, the BJP emerged victorious with former Congress MLA and now BJP candidate Muniarathna winning from RR Nagar while Dr Rajesh Gowda, a political novice winning from Sira.   The bye-poll in RR Nagar was conducted following the resignation of Munirathna, who was the sitting MLA when he crossed over from Congress to the BJP. Sira went to polls following the  death of JD(S) legislator B Sathyanarayana in August. As of Tuesday evening, cumulatively 8,51,212 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 11,430 deaths and 8,08,700 discharges,

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Students in St Joseph's Bengaluru, Manipal institute raise concerns about offline exams

Education

The exams at St. Joseph’s are scheduled to start from November 17 while the laboratory examinations in Manipal are from November 30.

Sreedevi Jayarajan

Representative image

Colleges in Karnataka are set to open from November 17 but issues have cropped up between students and institutions- especially in those colleges that have a considerable number of outstation students-  over whether online exams will be held or whether students will have to mandatorily attend examinations at the college campus. A decision by the St. Joseph’s College of Arts and Sciences in Bengaluru and Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) in Manipal to not hold online exams during the pandemic has prompted thousands of students to travel to Karnataka for the examinations. This comes at a time other premier institutions like Indian Institute of Management - Bengaluru (IIM-B) and National Law School of India University (NLSIU) are holding online examinations. The examinations at St. Joseph’s are scheduled to start from November 17 while the laboratory examinations in Manipal are from November 30 and the end semester examinations are from December 21. While St Joseph’s has plans to start its classes only by January, Manipal has said that students can take classes offline or online, this means students have to come back from their native place just for writing exams. Students in Manipal have a number of options to return to the campus including one option which asks them to return by November 21. Students from St. Joseph’s in Bengaluru say that their options are limited with just a week to go for their examinations. Several students who went back home in March during the lockdown  have written to the college about their difficulties of travelling to Bengaluru to take their exams. Those who cannot make it have been told that they could write the exam at a later date, but they may have to pay additional exam fees. “The problem with the ‘later date option’ was that the notice did not mention when this test would take place. A later date could mean post vaccine, post one-month etc. It could also mean taking these exams along with our next semester exams, which would become too much of a burden on the students,” Harini*, a B.Sc second year student told TNM.  A Letter of Undertaking which parents have been asked to sign before they send their students for the exam says that “additional fees (if needed) is to defray the extra cost incurred by the institution.” The letter also says that the college gets to decide when they will hold the alternate exam, and that students “cannot make any demands to the college authorities to schedule these examinations/ practical sessions at a particular period during the year.” Several out-station students from St. Joseph’s reside in the college hostel or in private PGs in the city. “The students, especially from northern and north eastern states will have to hunt for PGs or hotels to stay in, after reaching the city. It is not pocket friendly and is also risky, as several other people would be living in PG accommodations,” Harini adds.  Students are also concerned about going to testing centres and getting their covid tests done as mandated by the Karnataka government. St. Joseph defends decision to hold offline exams The institute, in a response to TNM, defended its decision to hold offline examinations. “Currently we are holding exams for the third and fifth semester students. Following this we will be conducting exams for the first semester students. We are going to follow the blended system of classes as per the Karnataka government rules. We expect to start by January, but the date has not been set yet,” St Joseph’s public relations officer said. According to the college management, they decided to hold offline exams as they did not “want to take the risk of the validity of the students degree being questioned by conducting online exams.” The college stated that the Bengaluru University and the Bengaluru City University are conducting offline tests “for over a month now”.  Manipal students urge institute to hold online exams Various institutes under the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) have written to students giving them options about the way they want to restart their classes. At the Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), an engineering institute, one option states that students can arrive at the institute on November 20, attend online theory classes and offline laboratory exams before writing the end semester exams at the institute from December 21. A second option allows students to arrive at the institute directly for the end semester exams from December 21 while a third option states students can write make-up exams later. “The theory classes will be both offline and online. However, physical presence of the student is required for the University exams...Incase if a student wishes to continue attending the classes online from home, then, your laboratory/practical classes /clinical postings will be conducted on a later date. End semester exam/university exam will be conducted along with the makeup exam schedule,” reads an email sent to students in college affiliated to MAHE. However, a section of students and parents have written to the institute to consider conducting online examinations next month. Even though the current set of options allow students to skip the examinations and clear it at a later stage, some students say that this would put them in a disadvantageous situation.  MP Tejasvi Surya asks Manipal to consider online exams A written request was also sent by  Bengaluru South MP and the National President of BJP Yuva Morcha President Tejasvi Surya.  “In light of the pandemic the country is going through, I request you to provide the option of offline and online examination at Manipal Academy of Higher Education,” read a letter from Tejasvi Surya addressed to Lt. Gen MD Venkatesh, Vice Chancellor of MAHE. In the letter, Tejasvi Surya asked the institute to explore the option of having online examinations similar to the one proposed at Christ University in Bengaluru.  Concerns were raised about the large number of students arriving in Manipal over the next month. “The institute is asking a large number of students to arrive at the campus at around the same time even though there are different phases mentioned. We want the option of having an online examination since it would mean that the students do not have to come to the institute for another couple of months till the start of the next semester,” a student from MIT told TNM.   “Even though there is an option to take up the examinations next year in July,  the problem with this is that it would affect our prospects of securing jobs and admissions in colleges since these deadlines will not be extended,” a seventh semester student in MIT said.  Another student pointed out that students arrive in Manipal from all over the country and from abroad unlike other institutes nearby. “Students will be sharing hostel rooms and there is still the risk of the virus spreading. We have been asked to report to a fever clinic and screen for COVID-19 symptoms. We have to get tested if there are symptoms,” a student from MIT added.  The students added that UGC guidelines of having only 50% of students on campus at a time should be followed.

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Karnataka man arrested by NIA in connection with terror case in West Bengal

Crime

He was produced before a local court in Uttara Kannada to seek transit remand so that he could be produced before a Kolkata court.

TNM Staff

Representational image/PTI

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday said that they have arrested one 28-year-old man from coastal Karnataka in connection with a case registered in West Bengal in March involving terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba. The accused has been identified as one Sayyad M Idris, son of Ibrahim Sab and a resident of Uttara Kannada in Karnataka. He was produced in a local court to seek transit remand so that he could be produced before a Kolkata court. The NIA said Idris was allegedly part of various social media groups run by Pakistani-based LeT handlers in their effort to recruit individuals for sleeper cells and for furthering terrorist activities.  In a statement, the NIA said, “The case arose out of West Bengal, Baduria PS FIR No. 150/2020 dated 18.03.2020 pertaining to Pakistan-based handlers belonging to proscribed terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba using various social media platforms to radicalize and recruit vulnerable youth for sleeper cells, to propagate their ideology and for abetting and advocating unlawful activities.”  The accused was produced before a local court in Uttara Kannada and a transit remand was taken to produce him before NIA Court, Kolkata. In this case, a chargesheet has already been filed against accused Tania Parvin, a resident of  Kolkata earlier on September 10. At the time, the NIA had said she allegedly got radicalised in cyberspace by Pakistan-based cadres of LeT. She gradually became part of about 70 jihadi groups on social media, which propagated a terrorist ideology advocating a skewed version of Islamic Jihad with an aim to further radicalise and recruit impressionable Muslim youth. Other than this she was also tasked with making fake profiles on social media to honeytrap Indian armed forces personnel and  obtain sensitive strategic information. According to the NIA, she was handled by Hafiz Saeed, the founder of banned terror outfit Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD).

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