Van crashes on Karnataka highway leaving 3 dead, one critical

Accident

The Tempo Traveller was going from Coimbatore to Srirangapatna and crashed near Chamarajanagar.

Soumya Chatterjee

Image for representation

Three persons of a family—a young girl, her mother and father—were killed in a road accident in the early hours of Friday in Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka. The accident occurred on National Highway 209 (Bengaluru-Coimbatore), wherein the driver is suspected to have lost control of the vehicle after driving at high speeds. The family was traveling from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu to Srirangapatna near Mysuru in a Tempo Traveller. Another person who was travelling in the vehicle is in critical condition and is being treated in the district hospital. Another 10 persons who were in the vehicle were also injured, but they are all in a stable condition and are recuperating in the same district hospital. The incident occurred near the Suvarnavathi Dam, which is around 15 km away from Chamarajanagar town centre. The group of 14 travellers were reportedly on their way to a temple and had started from Coimbatore at around 11.30 pm. Police suspect that the driver was over speeding to make up for a late start. District Superintendent of Police, Divya Sara Thomas told TNM that the exact reason of the accident is yet to be established. She said, “There were a total of 14 persons in the vehicle. Out of them, three persons have succumbed to their injuries. One more person is critical. According to preliminary findings, it seems that this is a case of rash driving. But we are yet to ascertain the details and investigate the incident further. The driver may have fallen asleep at the wheel too.” “We suspect that the driver lost control over the curve as the vehicle was going at a high speed. That part of the road has been recently redone,” she added. According to local reports, the two adult deceased have been identified as Subramanya (65) and Amaravati (55). This incident comes after three persons were killed on the same day in two separate accidents in the district on the same day last month. That time too, two residents of Coimbatore including an infant succumbed to their injuries.

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Bengaluru residents to be charged 2% 'road transport cess' on property tax from April

Civic

The BBMP said that the amount collected will be used for upkeep of pedestrian infrastructure in the city.

TNM Staff

Representational image

Starting this April, residents of Bengaluru have to shell out extra money as the city’s civic body will start charging property owners a 2% ‘road transport cess’ on their property tax. Two years after the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) first passed a resolution to impose the same, it will be implemented in the coming financial year starting from April. When the BBMP council had first passed a resolution on the issue, the state government did not go through with the move, fearing public backlash. But now, both BBMP Administrator Gaurav Gupta and the Urban Development Department of the state government have approved the council’s decision. The Times of India reported that the amount collected by BBMP for this will be transferred to the Directorate of Urban Land Transport, which will use that money for upkeep of pedestrian infrastructure. Deccan Herald reported that the BBMP has lost out on revenues to the tune of Rs 95.63 crore between 2013-14 and 2016-17 citing the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) findings for not imposing this cess. At the start of 2020, the BBMP council led by Mayor M Goutham Kumar passed the resolution on the issue but it was pending approval from the state government. At that time, it was said an amount of Rs 150 crore is expected to be collected through this. Incidentally this 2% additional cess was opposed by BJP corporators in the council in the past. At the time, activists had pointed out that the BBMP should work on collecting taxes more efficiently first before adding additional burden on those who are already paying taxes. In fact, BBMP currently sees a property tax compliance rate of a little over 80%. Some said that if such a transport cess is imposed then all public transportation in the city should be made free to justify a transport cess. The transport cess has also been mentioned in the newly passed Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Act 2020 as a means of additional revenue generation

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8 Democratic governors demand HHS release more vaccine doses

The federal government has held back doses equal to the amount it has shipped out, to ensure that everyone who is vaccinated completes the recommended two-shot sequence.

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HHS working to replace potentially faulty Covid tests used by Congress

Accurate testing for the House and Senate took on even greater importance after waves of maskless pro-Trump rioters breached the Capitol building.

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Karnataka Law Minister caught on camera abusing officials in Tumakuru

CONTROVERSY

JC Madhuswamy had courted controversy in May 2020 for abusing a woman who questioned him about lake encroachment in Kolar.

TNM Staff

Karnataka Law Minister JC Madhuswamy was caught on camera abusing officials, on Thursday, calling them “rascal”, among other things. In a video of the incident that is being circulated, the minister is also heard saying that he will kick them if they do not do their jobs well. The incident took place in Tumakuru while Madhuswamy was addressing a Karnataka Development Programme (KDP) meeting on Thursday. In the video, the minister is heard to be saying, “If I kick you, do you know where you will land, rascal? Am I here to tend donkeys? What did I tell you? You did nothing. Why didn't you do it? Which soap do you buy to wash your wife's clothes? Rascals-- what have you thought? Last time, I had told you (to finish the work). Why wasn't it completed?” He added, “Please write a resolution. Suspend all these fellows, keep them under suspension. Tell them to suspend that Tumkur guy”. In the video, the minister while alleging that the engineering department was not doing its job well is heard saying that he would transfer their work to another department if they don’t buck up. During the KDP meeting, Madhuswamy was questioning why the department was not performing well.  So far, there has been no response from either the minister in question or the Karnataka Government.  Read:Karnataka minister JC Madhuswamy caught on video verbally abusing woman in Kolar This is not the first time that the minister has courted controversy by verbally abusing people. In May 2020, a video had gone viral when Madhuswamy had visited a lake in Kolar. A woman had come up to him and alleged encroachment of the lake, to which the minister responded, “Aye, muccho bayi rascal (Aye, shut your mouth, rascal)”. Several people shared the video online, condemning the minister. Opposition leader K Siddaramaiah had called for B S Yeddiyurappa to drop Madhuswamy from the cabinet. This was not the first time that his removal from cabinet was called for, however. In November 2019, when he was the MLA of Chikkanayakanahalli in Tumakuru, members of the Kuruba community reacted angrily when he allegedly dropped the name ‘Kanakadasa’ from a circle in Huliyar. Though Madhuswamy was urged to apologise by B S Yeddiyurappa, he refused, earning the ire of the public.   

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Vaccine dry run in 263 places in Karnataka on Jan 8

Health

It will be held in at least 7 locations in each district of the state.

TNM Staff

PTI : Image for representation

Karnataka will carry out a second COVID-19 vaccine dry run in 263 places in the state on Friday, Health and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said."We are conducting a vaccination dry run at 263 places on January 8. Earlier it was planned at 3 locations in each district, but we have prepared to conduct at 7 locations in each district," Sudhakar said. In all, 24 district hospitals, 20 medical colleges, 43 taluk hospitals, 31 community health centres, 87 primary health centres, 30 urban primary health care centres and 28 private health centres will carry out the dry run of the vaccine. The dry run with a dummy vaccine shot will familiarize the state, district, block and hospital level officers on aspects of the COVID vaccine roll out. It is being conducted to check the operational hurdles of a COVID-19 vaccination drive. This comes a week after a dry run was conducted in five districts including in four primary healthcare centres in Bengaluru. " 6.30 lakh healthcare workers serving in both government and private sector have registered for vaccination, Sudhakar said. He added that  the window for registration is still open. The central government has provided 24 lakh syringes for the exercise. The vaccine dry run is being conducted across India except in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana on Friday. A dry run was conducted in UP on Tuesday while Haryana conducted a dry run in its state on Thursday. On Sunday, the country's drugs regulator had approved Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield and the indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country. Sudhakar K also said that Karnataka was on alert for cases of bird flu. "6 crows have died in Dakshina Kannada district and samples are sent for testing. Precautionary measures have been taken in border districts to prevent bird flu," Sudhakar said.

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Include Kannada in ATMs, banking systems: Pro-Kannada groups warn of protests

Language

The call for protests comes in the wake of the Kannada Development Authority’s direction to banks to include Kannada language as an option in ATMs across the state.

Theja Ram

Karnataka Rakshana Vedike Protest/ Image for representation

The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), a pro-Kannada organisation, has warned of protests across the state in the next 15 days if banks do not include Kannada language in ATMs and banking systems like mobile banking and net banking. The KRV’s call for protests comes in the wake of the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) directing banks to include Kannada language as an option to operate the banking systems in order to make it accessible to all people residing in the state. “This system is there in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Why not in Karnataka? If the banks do not implement this across ATMs in the state in the next fortnight, we will organise a massive protest. ATMs may be vandalised or rendered inoperable. Anything can happen and we will not be to blame,” T Narayanagowda, KRV President, said. On Wednesday, KDA Chairman TS Nagabharana wrote to the State Level Bankers’ Committee, asking them to include Kannada language in banking systems. “We have also met with the committee members and informed them that Kannada must be included in order to make the system more inclusive. How will a farmer in interior Karnataka access ATMs and net banking if they can’t understand the language?” TS Nagabharana questioned. He said that the banking committee members have assured KDA that they would begin processes to include Kannada language as an option in ATMs to start with. “They have not given a set timeline for this yet,” he added. Narayanagowda said that this is not the first time that the KDA or pro-Kannada groups have demanded the inclusion of Kannada in banking systems. “Just one month ago, a farmer in Malavalli went to the State Bank of India branch there. He wanted to deposit money and asked the person at the counter. The bank employee could not speak Kannada and this farmer didn’t know Hindi. When both of them couldn’t understand each other, an argument ensued. Neither are the forms in Kannada nor do the people working in banks speak Kannada. How can you expect a farmer from Mandya to know Hindi? Shouldn’t the system be more inclusive?” Narayanagowda said, while adding that those residing in rural Karnataka have a hard time navigating through an ATM as they cannot understand English or Hindi. Nagabharana, however, said that there was no need for protests as the banks had promised KDA that they would implement the new system at the earliest. He said that the KDA would follow up with the banking committee in another seven days and would do so regularly until the Kannada language option appears across ATMs in the state.

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