Karnataka CM Yediyurappa brings back Bhrungeesh as media advisor

Politics

He has served under 10 CMs of Karnataka under various roles has over 30 years of experience in the Information Department.

TNM Staff

Bhrungeesh N, the recently retired Director of Department of Information and Public relations of Karnataka, has been appointed as the Media Advisor to the Chief Minister, a government order said on Wednesday. This, after Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa's media advisor Mahadeva Prakash resigned on Sunday making it the second such high profile exit from his close quarters within a month from his media team. Bhrungeesh had served as media secretary to Yediyurappa in his tenure as CM between 2008-11. He has served under 10 CMs of Karnataka under various roles in the CMO. He has over 30 years of experience in the Information Department. Prior to this, he was the press secretary to two Chief Minister’s SM. Krishna and N Dharam Singh.  In his letter addressed to Yediyurappa dated November 18, Prakash cited "personal reasons" for his resignation. Prakash, a senior journalist, who was appointed in August 2019 after the BJP government came to power, thanked Yediyurappa for giving him an opportunity to serve as the Chief Minister's media advisor. According to sources in the CM’s office, the CM and his team was not happy with the Mahadeva’s reactive approach to the CM’s media management. This is the most important reason leading to the change in personnel in the media advisory role. The issue had come up in the fore during the recent controversy involving alleged illegal gains made by one of CM’s family members through kickbacks from a government contractor .  The issue had blown up after Power TV, a private Kannada television channel, ran a series of sting operations allegedly done by an official in the channel on the member of the CM's family. Later one BJP worker C Nagaraja Gowda had obtained a temporary injunction from a Bengaluru court prohibiting reporting on the matter. In connection with the same incident, Vijayendra, son of CM Yediyurappa had filed a defamation case against  three officials from Power TV - Rakesh Shetty, managing director and editor-in-chief; and anchors Chandan Sharma and Rehman.  Recently another veteran journalist MB Maramkal was removed as the chief minister's political advisor. Media reports had cited Maramkal's alleged fallout with Yediyurappa's family members as the reason for his removal.

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Rs 80 cr spent on repairs, but roads still a nightmare: Residents in Bengaluru’s Gottigere

Civic Issues

Residents say that many roads have turned into mud paths, and several others sport potholes making it a nightmare to navigate.

TNM Staff

Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party

Roads turning into mud paths, potholes the size of craters, and leaking storm drains have sadly been a reality in Bengaluru for many years. Plumes of dust rising into the air every time a vehicle moves, and motorists struggling to navigate among potholes is not a pleasant reality; however, it is precisely one that the residents of Bengaluru's Gottigere ward have been facing over the last five years. Although the city's civic body, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, says that over Rs 80 crore has been spent on repairs related to roads and storm drains in the wards over the last five years, residents lament that there is no visible change in the condition of the roads in Gottigere.  According to Bengaluru NavaNirman Party's (BNP) data, which is also available on the BBMP's new website, a total of 405 projects were approved for Gottigere over the last five years amounting to Rs 172 crore. Of this, Rs 80,37,54,203 has been sanctioned for road and storm drain repairs. Residents say that despite multiple complaints to the local corporator, their pleas are met with a singular response: No funds. “South Avenue Layout (in Gottigere) is neglected like other areas. The roads in disrepair, strewn with potholes and jostling alongside drains that overflow in the monsoon. We have been approaching our corporator for years, seeking that the roads be fixed. The corporator’s constant response, again all-too-familiar, was a lack of funds,” said Aparna Kishore, a resident of the area. According to the information provided by the BBMP, Rs 2 crore was allocated for repair of roads in South Avenue Layout. However, residents questioned that if the project was approved and sanctioned, why the works were not carried out at all. “We were not given any information by the corporator over the last five years despite repeated efforts and now to our shock, we learned from the BNP Citizen Portal that an amount of Rs 2 crores has been sanctioned for maintenance of roads in South Avenue Layout. We are completely clueless on what has happened to this money," Poongothai, a resident of Gottigere said.  Srikanth Narasimhan, General Secretary of BNP, said in a statement that the residents were not consulted or informed about the alleged repairs which happened in Gottigere, and questioned where the funds for these projects went. “Citizens are neither consulted nor kept informed about what is happening in their wards/localities, despite them paying their taxes. It is time for citizens to be consulted and allowed to participate in the process of ward-level projects approval and execution, which is the only way to remove corruption, inefficiency and bad work quality in these projects," he said.  Speaking to TNM, BBMP Chief Engineer (Roads) Pralhad said that a major road issue is the ongoing works to provide drinking water and sanitation facilities to the 110 villages which were added to the BBMP limits in 2005. These 110 villages do not have Cauvery water connections or sewage connections. He said that the digging works for these projects have led to damaged roads.  Watch: Bad roads make navigating through Bengaluru's Gottigere a nightmare for motorists BBMP officials said that the pipeline construction work would take longer, due to which the residents are now facing the issue of bad roads. They also said that many properties in Gottigere ward came up on land belonging to the Revenue Department illegally. As a result, many homeowners who pay property tax have constructed houses without BBMP sanction, and without paying betterment charges. "Road repairs, drain repairs are done in areas where people have constructed properties legally. This is supposed to be revenue land. How can we provide more funds when people have not tried to pay betterment charges and fines for illegal constructions? Besides, the digging work by BWSSB (Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board) is still going on. We have sanctioned funds for road repairs even in areas where illegal constructions have come up. But first the BWSSB must finish laying the pipelines," a senior BBMP official said. 

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K’taka Min leads state delegation demanding ST status for Kurubas, meets Union MoS

Politics

Congress leader HM Revanna and former MP K Virupakshappa among others, were part of the delegation that met Union MoS for Tribal Affairs Renuka Singh.

TNM Staff

A delegation led by Karnataka Rural Development Minister K S Eshwarappa on Tuesday called on Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Renuka Singh and demanded that the Centre include Kuruba (shepherds) community in the scheduled tribe (ST) category. Kuruba community seer Kaginele Niranjananadapuri Swami, Congress leader H M Revanna and former MP K Virupakshappa among others, were part of the delegation. The delegation made a representation to the Tribal Affairs Minister to consider the state's long-pending demand to include the Kuruba community in the ST group, according to the state government officials. Kurubas are the third biggest community in the state. They subscribe to teachings of Kanakadasa who was a renowned composer of Carnatic music, poet, philosopher and saint. Notably, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also belongs to the community. Kaginele Kanaka Guru Peetha in Haveri district is a spiritual and cultural centre of the Kuruba community. As reported earlier, Kurubas are estimated to form a little more than 9% of the state’s population and come under the backward classes category sharing 15% reservation with 104 other castes.  From pre-Independence till 1977, the community enjoyed the ST status. In 1977, Justice L G Havanur, who headed the backward class commission, removed the ST tag, moving the Kurubas to the ‘most backward classes’ category, and brought in an area restriction stating that those living in Bidar, Yadgir, Kalaburagi and Madikeri with Kuruba synonyms can continue to avail the ST benefits. In the early 80s with Siddaramaiah making his debut in the legislative assembly, the Kurubas came into prominence once again. During the Janata Party government, then Social Welfare Minister V L Patil, a Kuruba himself, issued an order stating those who had already obtained the ST status in the community can continue to enjoy the benefits, irrespective of the area restrictions stipulated in the Havanur Commission. But this was struck down by the court. Since then, the demand for ST tag has been alive.

Body 2: 

(PTI inputs)

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Karnataka CM Yediyurappa names chief of newly formed Lingayat corporation

Politics

BS Paramashivaiah, the president of the Karnataka Veerashaiva Vidyabhivruddhi Samsthe, will now be the Chairperson of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat Development Corporation.

PTI

File image/PTI

The Karnataka government on Tuesday appointed the first chairperson of the newly constituted Veerashaiva-Lingayat Development Corporation, as it announced political appointments to various statutory bodies in the state, including the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA). Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has appointed BS Paramashivaiah, the president of the Karnataka Veerashaiva Vidyabhivruddhi Samsthe as the Chairperson of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat Development Corporation, a day after the government allocated Rs 500 crore to it. Considered as the core vote bank of the BJP in Karnataka, the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community is estimated to form about 16% of the state’s population. The corporation is seen as a move by Yediyurappa to further consolidate his position as a "Lingayat strongman", as he belongs to the community, amid talks of leadership change in the state BJP circles. BJP legislators from the community had put pressure on the government to set up a corporation for the dominant community days after Yediyurappa ordered the establishment of a Maratha Development Corporation for the Maratha community. In another key appointment, BJP's Yelahanka legislator SR Vishwanath has been named as Chairperson of the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA). BJP Ramanagara district president M Rudresh has been made chairperson of the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL), while party’s Yuva Morcha leader Thammesh Gowda is the head of the board of directors at the Karnataka Vidyuth Karkhane Ltd. Other appointments include former MLC and Kannada film actor Tara Anuradha as the chairperson for the Karnataka Forest Development Corporation Ltd, Raibhag MLA Duryodhan Mahalingappa Aihole to Dr BR Ambedkar Development Corporation, and Kiran Kumar KS as the head of the Karnataka state biofuel development board. Appointments made to bodies that come under Backward Classes Welfare Department include- Raghu R for Backward Classes Welfare Department, Babu Pattar to Karnataka Vishwakarma Communities Development Corporation Limited, G K Girish Uppar to Karnataka Uppara Development Corporation, and S Naresh Kumar to Karnataka Savitha Samaja Development Corporation Limited. These appointments have come amids talks within BJP circles that the much awaited expansion or reshuffle of Yediyurappa cabinet is likely to take place soon.

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Karnataka to introduce anti-cow slaughter Bill during Assembly winter session

Politics

If the law is enacted, along with prohibition on slaughter, sale and use of beef as well as illegal transportation of animals for slaughtering will be stopped.

PTI

Representational image

Karnataka Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chavan on Tuesday said that the anti-cow slaughter bill will be introduced during the winter session of the state legislature starting from December 7. "It has been a desire to implement anti-cow slaughter law in Karnataka since I took over the responsibility of this ministry and the time for it has come now," Chavan said in a release. Stating that he has held discussions with the Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on this, the Minister said during the legislature session, the anti-cow slaughter bill will be tabled and necessary preparations have been made in the matter. "Similar acts implemented in other states have been studied and deliberations have taken place in this regard with officials and experts about further strengthening it in our state compared to others. In the future, cow slaughter will be banned in the state and also its sale or purchase of beef both from within and outside the state," he added. According to the release, Chavan said, if the law is enacted, along with prohibition on slaughter, sale and use of beef, illegal transportation of animals for slaughtering will be stopped. The BJP, in its manifesto ahead of the 2018 assembly election, had promised prohibition of cow slaughter. Despite resistance from the opposition, the then BJP government led by Yediyurappa in 2010 had got the controversial Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill passed that proposed to replace the Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Act, 1964. The bill had widened the definition of ''cattle'' and imposed a blanket ban on cattle slaughter, coupled with stringent penalty clauses for violation.  However, the Congress government headed by Siddaramaiah that came to power in 2013, withdrew the bill that went to the President for his assent. After the BJP came back to power in the state, several party leaders have been making a pitch to re-enact the anti-cow slaughter law. The Minister said Karnataka Animal Welfare Board in the state is empowered to prevent any form of animal rights violations.

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Medical students of Karnataka's RGUHS demand postponement of exams

Education

Exams are scheduled to be held from January 2021 and students complain that they do not have enough time to prepare.

Shishir Rao

Medical students belonging to Rajiv Gandhi University Health Sciences staged a protest and urged the university to postpone the exams. The worry about writing exams is majorly focused on not being able to complete practical classes. Students feel that the practical experience is particularly vital in a field like medicine, where human lives are involved.  “Once the college starts they plan on doing the whole year’s internal assessment. Also, final years, in general, need one month to finish revision itself. How do we study in such a short period?” asked Monica*, a final year medical student from Bengaluru. She further added, “Medicine is learning through treating patients. If this step is fast-tracked, what kind of doctors will we be by the time we graduate?”  It was recently declared in a circular by RGUHS dated November 18 that the colleges would start from December 1 and exams would commence from January 19. This has left students worried as they have been given a short period to study, especially for medical exams. On November 23, medical students participated in a Twitter storm with the hashtag #PostponeMBBSexams, which had more than 20,000 tweets. Students across Karnataka participated in an online protest on Tuesday too and in a few districts like Ballari, Vijayapaura, Kalaburai, students took to streets to protest. In a few other districts, students submitted a memorandum to Principals and Deans of colleges. AIDSO, a student organisation, conducted an online survey consisting of several questions and presented the data. For the question ‘Is one and a half months of the class is enough before exam’ an astounding 97.4% of students among nearly 9,500 responded with a ‘No’. AIDSO also released a statement demanding that the RGUHS postpone the examination and involve all the stakeholders including students in the decision-making process. “Our primary problem is that for eight months, we have not treated even a single patient and none of our practical classes have been completed. So without attending classes, how do we write exams? Also, the other problem is that they intend to finish all the internal assessments that were to be done since March are all being done at once in December,” said Hemant Desai, a final year medical student studying in MR Medical College Kalaburagi. He further added, “This becomes much more difficult for students who have failed as the supplementary exams go on till mid-December.” One more difficulty the students expressed was that online classes have not been effective “I was able to attend all the classes but it was not very useful as there used to be breaks of audio and we also couldn't get our doubts cleared properly. Another problem is most students haven't taken their books home to study… although we have PDF it is not possible for too long in front of a screen,” said Aishwarya*, a second-year medical student studying at Raichur Institute of Medical Sciences. *Names changed on request

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TNM Impact: Civil society groups ask K’taka govt to probe funds misuse in Akshaya Patra

TNM Impact

The complaint states that if charges of misuse and diversion of government funds and violations of FCRA are found to be true, criminal proceedings should be initiated.

TNM Staff

After allegations of possible misuse and diversion of funds and resources in the Akshaya Patra Foundation (APF) came to light, civil society groups working on the issue of malnutrition amongst women and children have filed a complaint with the Chief Secretary of Karnataka. The three-page complaint asks the government for “an impartial inquiry to be instituted in this matter against APF and if charges of misuse and diversion of government funds and violations of FCRA are found to be true, criminal proceedings should be initiated against the organisation”. The complaint, which extensively cites TNM reports from the last few days, further asks the government that “Pending this inquiry, all contracts with Akshaya Patra Foundation should be cancelled and no disbursal of government funds under any scheme should be permitted”. The complaint copy has been acknowledged by the Chief Secretary’s (CS) office. Sources in Karnataka government told TNM that the CS will bring this to the notice of CM Yediyurappa before initiating any action.  READ| TNM Exclusive: Internal report questions missionaries’ use of Akshaya Patra funds APF was started in the year 2000 as a public-private partnership by International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) to provide mid-day meals to schools within a 10-km radius of ISKCON temples across the country. It receives donations from individuals as well as CSR (corporate social responsibility) wings of private companies.  The former independent trustees who resigned recently allege that the power of balance and accountability is further skewed as the board is currently not just insider-heavy but with the chairman and vice-chairman being close relatives (brothers-in-law), it further raises questions of lack of neutrality.  The complaint letter states that APF is a major recipient of government funds under the mid-day meal scheme and as per the “Financial Statement submitted by the Foundation, for the Financial Year ending in March 2019, Akshaya Patra Bangalore Branch alone received financial assistance from government sources worth Rs 34 crores in the form of both grants as well as subsidies...Since APF receives substantial funds from international donors, possible violations of provisions under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act and Rules thereunder also needs investigation.” The complaint letter has been signed by: 1.Vinay K Sreenivasa Advocate, Bengaluru 2. Siddharth K J, Independent Researcher, Bengaluru 3. G Ravi Fourth Wave Foundation, Bengaluru 4. Dr. Sylvia Karpagam. Public Health Doctor  5. Dr Veena Shatrugna, Medical Scientist, and Head Clinical Dept.(Rtd.), National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad 6. Savithra Bhai Phule Fathima Sheikh Makkala 7. Dr. Alwyn Prakash, Member, Health for All Sangha, Karnataka 8. Swarna Bhat, Grameen Koligarara Sangha (GRAKOOS) 9. Rajesh, Slum Jagatthu, Bengaluru

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