Chikkamagaluru minor’s rape: Home Min Bommai accepts lapses by govt

Sexual Assault

Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai was speaking in the Council when the matter was raised by opposition leaders.

TNM Staff

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Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday accepted that there were lapses from the part of the government while probing the recent case of rape and sexual abuse of a minor in Chikkamagaluru district. He was speaking in the Council (Upper House of Karnataka State Legislature) when the matter was raised by opposition leaders. Bommai said that the Station House Officer will be suspended as there are allegations of him delaying the registration of the case despite the survivor approaching him. SR Patil of the Congress, who raised the issue, said that the police have failed to arrest all the 17 accused named by the survivor in the case until now. It was reported that according to the first information report (FIR), the survivor was trafficked by her aunt and was allegedly raped and sexually abused over the last five months since September. Some of the opposition leaders also alleged that some of the accused in the case are members of the Sangh parivar. The Times of India quoted Bommai as saying that this incident has shaken his conscience and he will ensure that all “culprits” in the case are not only arrested but also be given the harshest of punishments, including death sentence. He said he has ordered a probe led by Chikkamagaluru SP Hakay Akshay Machindra. Read: Six held for rape and trafficking of 15-yr-old girl in Karnataka’s Chikkamagaluru The Hindu quoted Bommai as saying that he had considered resigning over the development but chose to continue and ensure the strongest action against the accused. He also said that he has also ordered a probe by the zonal Inspector General of Police into other lapses alleged against the Home Department.  The 15-year-old survivor was also engaged as a child labourer and Bommai said the Labour Department will also probe lapses on that account.  He assured that the government will ensure that the survivor is given security and that she gets a government job when she turns an adult. In the meantime, the government has assured that efforts will be taken to rehabilitate her.

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After JD(S)-BJP tie-up, Pratap Shetty resigns as Karnataka Legislative Council head

Politics

Senior JD(S) leader Basavaraj Horatti is likely to succeed him, as the BJP and JD(S) have formed a new alliance.

TNM Staff

PTI

In an expected development, Karnataka Legislative Council Chairman K Pratap Chandra Shetty of the Congress resigned from his post on Thursday. Senior JD(S) leader Basavaraj Horatti is likely to succeed him as the BJP and JD(S) have formed a new alliance to outnumber the Congress. MK Pranesh of the BJP was elected as the Deputy Chairman of the Council on January 29 as part of the same arrangement. The election for the Deputy Chairman was necessitated due to the recent death of former Deputy Chairman SL Dharmegowda of the JD(S). Currently, the ruling BJP is the single largest party in the Council with 31 seats, followed by Congress with 29, including Shetty, and JD(S) has 13 seats. Shetty had previously voiced his desire to resign in December (2020) after the Congress lost the tag of the largest party in the Council. But due to the insistence of Congress Legislature party leader Siddarmaiah, he had continued in the post. It was reported that following the December 15 ruckus in the Council that Shetty had mulled resigning. That day, the BJP-JDS and Congress members hurled abuses and pushed each other. Some even pulled down the Deputy Chairman from his seat over a row pertaining to the no-confidence motion sought to be moved against Prathap Chandra Shetty. With a no-confidence motion moved against Shetty, it was clear that he had to discontinue from his position. In his farewell speech in Kannada addressing Council members, Shetty stated that with Gowda's sudden demise, and as a result of this, he had to continue "unwillingly". On December 29, Gowda's body was found on a railway track in Chikkamagaluru, a few kilometres away from his farmhouse. This further complicated the matter, with both the ruling and the opposition parties trading barbs against each other on this death. "I am deeply hurt by the unsavoury incidents that took place from December 7 to 12, and December 15 last year. One of the oldest Upper Houses, which has a history of 113 years... this House was never a witness to such unpleasant scenes. This will remain the saddest moment of my life. This was not the case when I had joined politics 37 years ago and most of my contemporaries will surely agree with my viewpoint," said Shetty. "The floor strength alone cannot be the only yardstick to assess one's popularity or reputation. The politics is always decided by the majority, whether inside the House or outside. But I wish for the House to deliberate more about issues concerning the country's majority — Dalits, backwards, and farmers instead of focussing more on just floor strength," he added.

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Parts of Bengaluru to see water disruption on Friday: List of areas

Water

Another water outage has been scheduled for Saturday for Cauvery Stage 1 areas.

TNM Staff

Representational image

Water supply will be disrupted in several parts of Bengaluru, which come under Cauvery Stage 4 (Phase2), on Friday, February 5. A statement from the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) said this disruption is due to the emergency work to repair a leakage in one of the lines at TK Halli. The water supply in these areas will be set right by Friday.  Here are the areas in Bengaluru that will have water disruption on Friday: RR Nagar,  Nandini Layout, Rajajinagar,  Nagarabhavi,  Yelahanka,  Byatarayanapura,  Dasarahalli,  Chandra Layout,  Kengeri, Banaswadi and entire North Division, Anjanapura and surrounding areas, Jambu Savaari Dinne, Kothnur Dinne, Kodichikkanahalli, Bommanahalli, Kudlu, Hongasandra, Mangammanapalya, Marathahalli, Hoodi, A Narayanapura, B Narayanapura, KR Puram, Ramamurthy Nagar, Whitefield, CV Raman Nagar, Old Airport Road, HRBR Layout, HBR Layout, OMBR Layout, Ramaiah Layout,  Banaswadi and surrounding area. The BWSSB had already announced a water outage between 8 am and 6 pm in several parts of Bengaluru coming under Cauvery Stage I on Saturday.  Here is the list of areas that will see water disruption on Saturday.  The areas that will be affected under this are Jayanagar and surrounding places Tilak Nagar, SR Nagar, Adugodi, Nethajinagar, KP Agrahara, New Binny Layout, Raghavendra Colony, Tippu Nagar, Chamarajpet, Ramchandra Agrahara, Adarsh Nagar, Padarayanapura, Anjanappa Garden, Binny Layout, Srinivasanagar, Bank Colony, ITI Layout, Gururaja Layout, Vivekanada Nagar, Kathriguppe, Thyagaraja Nagar, Basavanagudi, Shastrinagar, N R Colony, Mount joy Extension, Kumaraswamy Layout, ISRO Layout, Shrinapr, Vittal Nagar, Shanthala Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar, Neelasandra, Austin town, Ejipura, Vivekanagara, Ashok Nagara, Richmond Town, MG Road, Brigade Road, HAL 2nd Stage, Kodihalli, Ulsoor, Murphy Town, Jogupalya, Rajendra Nagar, Nanjappa Reddy Layout, Koramangala surrounding arca, KHB colony, Venkateshwara Layout, Kaveri Layout, Jogi Colony, Domlur, Brundawana Nagar, Maruthi Nagar, AK Colony, Netravati I to 10 blocks, Nanjappa Reddy Layout, Bhovi Colony and surrounding places.

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Johnson & Johnson files for emergency use of Covid-19 shot

The vaccine is a single dose shot that experts say is key to vaccinating vulnerable, hard-to-reach and even skeptical people.

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Biden health team hatches new vaccine strategy as variant threat builds

The agency's acting director, Janet Woodcock, said in a statement Thursday that the agency would release updates soon.

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Karnataka asks movie theatres to collect contact details of movie-goers

Coronavirus

Theatres in the state will be allowed to have 100% occupancy till the end of February, starting from Friday.

TNM Staff

Image for representation: PTI

A day after the Karnataka government announced its decision to allow 100% occupancy in cinema halls for the month of February starting from Friday, a revised set of SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) guidelines have been issued. The revised SOP is in line with that issued by the Union government earlier on Saturday. However, in Karnataka, the state COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) has recommended that certain guidelines will receive special attention for implementation. These guidelines include collection of name and contact number of moviegoers to allow contact tracing and testing for COVID-19, having two intervals per show to reduce possible exposure to the virus and allow ventilation, and compulsory wearing of masks at all times, including while watching the film. Cinema halls will be required to strictly comply with Central Public Works Department (CPWD) guidelines for air conditioning, and this will be monitored by authorities. These recommendations will be reviewed in the first week of March, according to a circular issued by Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar. The revised SOP was finalised after a meeting of the state COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee held on February 3, 2021. Announcing the decision to allow 100% occupancy in theatres on Wednesday, state Health Minister K Sudhakar said that February would be a trial period for the move. In case a spike in COVID-19 cases is observed during this period, Sudhakar said that the government may roll back the decision.  Earlier, the state government had announced its decision to continue to limit occupancy to 50% till the end of February. However, the Kannada film industry protested the decision and appealed to the Chief Minister to allow full seating capacity as per Union government guidelines. The guidelines issued by the Union government include physical distancing of at least 6 feet to be followed outside the movie halls, common areas and waiting area, use of masks, and thermal screening of visitors at entry points. To allow staggered entry and exit of audience members, ample time intervals between show timings across various screens must be provided, the guidelines stated. Individual states were told that they could consider additional measures based on field assessment.

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Bengaluru suburban project: Union govt to allocate minimum Rs 300 crore this year

Railways

Other than Bengaluru dedicated suburban project, SWR has got 20% more allocation compared to last year.

TNM Staff

The dedicated Bengaluru suburban project will get a minimum of Rs 300 crore allocation from the Ministry of Railways according to the South Wesern Railways ‘Pink Book’ this financial year. Railway officials said an equivalent amount from the Government of Karnataka is also expected to be spent on the project apart from loans from the market. Pink Book is the document that mentions all budgetary allocation for the current financial year. It is made public every year following the announcement of the union budget.   This long awaited project is being carried out by K-RIDE (a joint venture by Railways and the state government). The project was finally approved by the union government in October, 2020 after years of dilly dallying. “As emphasized by Hon'ble Minister of Railways in last review meeting of Bengaluru Suburban project, this is one of the top most priority projects of Railways, will be given tremendous thrust and any amount of capital will be pumped into the project as per requirement and pace of work,” E Vijaya, Deputy General Manager, South Western Railways, told reporters on Thursday. Other than the suburban rail project, SWR zone has also seen substantial increase in allocations to doubling (178%) road safety works –Level crossings (67% ) passenger amenities (25%) compared to last year. Total grant to SWR has increased by Rs.536 crore which is approximately 20% more than last year. Out of this, the South Western Railways will spend Rs 3,245 crore as capital expenditure.   SWR said that they will complete two ongoing projects of s Yelahanka - Penukonda and Arsikere - Tumakuru. Rs 365 crore, the highest allocation has been made for doubling the Hospet-Hubballi-Londa-Tinaighat-Vasco-da-Gama line. Rs 336 crore has been allocated to doubling of Hubli-Chikjajur line and Rs 250 crore has been allocated for a new line between Rayadurg and Tumakuru among other projects. The projects that have got major funding also include a third coaching terminal in Baiyyappanahalli, quadrupling of Bengaluru-Whitefield lines) in Bengaluru.  

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