Bengaluru student trying to avoid potholes dies after coming under BBMP truck

Accident

The incident occurred at 11.45 am on Saturday on Hennur Main Road.

TNM Staff

Image for representation

A 19-year-old medical student in Bengaluru was killed on Saturday when she came under the wheels of a Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) truck while negotiating a bad stretch of road in Hennur on her two-wheeler. The incident occurred at 11:45 am on Saturday when Tasdeeq Bushra was riding her scooter on Hennur Main Road.  A police officer told The Hindu that the deceased was a first-year medical student and a resident of Lingarajapuram. She was returning home after attending classes when she was hit by the BBMP truck. When she reached St Charles High School on Hennur Main Road, she had to negotiate a pothole-ridden stretch. At this time, the truck hit her scooter from behind her, Times of India reported. On impact, she fell from the scooter and came under the wheels of the truck.   Following her death, a protest was held by angry local residents demanding action against the civic body. Pulakeshi Nagar police officials are investigating the case. They have arrested the 50-year-old truck driver Palani Muniswamy, and booked him for death due to negligence and for reckless driving. Police officials investigating the case said that the BBMP will also be charged in the case. For the last few years, residents in Hennur have protested against the bad state of roads in their area.  Read: Renovated a month ago, B’luru’s Hennur-Bagalur road already a nightmare for commuters  The residents have repeatedly raised the complaint that the roads in their area are a safety hazard.  Read: 2 months on, road dug up in B’luru to make way for mammoth Hanuman statue not repaired  BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said senior engineers will visit the accident site and submit a report. He promised stringent action will be taken over the issue.

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Comedian Munawar Faruqui released from Indore jail only after call from SC judge

Court

Jail officials reportedly delayed Munawar’s release for some hours, saying that they had not received official communication to let him out of jail.

PTI

Munawar Faruqui

Jail officials reportedly delayed Munawar’s release for some hours, saying that they had not received official communication to let him out of jail.  Stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui walked out of Indore central jail late on Saturday night, a day after the Supreme Court granted him bail in a case for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. Jail officials delayed his release claiming they had not received the Supreme Court’s order, but after intervention from a Supreme Court judge, Munawar was released late Saturday night. Indian Express reported that earlier in the day, jail authorities refused to release Faruqui, saying that they had not received official communication from the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) to release him. However, an official told the newspaper that a Supreme Court judge made a late-night call to the CJM, and eventually, Munawar was released on Saturday night around 11 pm.  Eyewitnesses said that the comedian walked out of the jail silently and quietly possibly to avoid a backlash in the wake of accusations made against him. Media persons also flocked outside the jail after getting the news of his release.  Arrested for allegedly hurting religious sentiments, Faruqui was in Indore jail since January 1. On Friday, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail after the Madhya Pradesh High Court had rejected his bail plea on January 28. The Supreme Court also stayed the production warrant issued against Faruqui by a court in Prayagraj in connection with an FIR lodged there.  His arrest had attracted widespread criticism after the Indore police chief Vijay Khatri admitted that it did not matter whether Munawar cracked the alleged joke that saw him jailed. The police chief also praised the pro-Hindu vigilantes including Gaur, son of an Indore Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA, Malini Gaur, who complained to the police. UPDATE: In late night drama, #MunawarFaruqui has finally been released from Indore Central jail minutes ago. Jail SP Rakesh Bhangre tells me they were waiting initially for UP court order but ultimately decided to follow SC order and release the comic right away @Article14live https://t.co/yvCSFxc6s0 — Kunal Purohit (@kunalpurohit) February 6, 2021  

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Karnataka IPS officer alleges dowry harassment, physical abuse by diplomat husband

Crime

Other than her husband Niteen Yeola, Vartika Katiyar IPS has named six others in her complaint.

Geetika Mantri

Soumya Chatterjee

File image

A 2010-batch Karnataka IPS officer, Vartika Katiyar, has filed a complaint of dowry-related violence and harassment against her husband, IFS officer, Niteen Subhash Yeola and his family in Bengaluru. Vartika, who is superintendent in the KSRP Research Centre has said in her complaint that she allegedly underwent years of financial, emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her husband, a Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, and his family, which also resulted in an injury in 2016. Based on her complaint, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered on February 1 at the Cubbon Park police station.  Other than Niteen, six other family members have been named as the accused in the case. His father Subhash Yeola, mother Amol Yeola, and relatives Sunita Yeola, Sachin Yeola, Prajakta Yeola and Pradnya Yeola have been named as accused. The financial abuse According to Vartika’s complaint, she married Niteen in 2011 in a ceremony the expenses of which were borne by her family. However, she alleges that Niteen and his family compelled her family to give gold ornaments too.  The harassment continued after the marriage as well, she alleged, with Vartika stating that she was subjected to verbal abuse and “mental torture” for “no reason”.  Vartika has alleged that multiple times in the last few years, her marital family demanded lakhs of rupees from her family. The first instance, according to the complaint, occurred three months after the wedding. Rs 3 lakh was allegedly demanded by Niteen’s family, who threatened to break the marriage if the amount was not given.  “Hence, due to fear of breaking off marriage the complainant and her parents fulfilled their demands right from the beginning. (sic)” the complaint states.  In another instance in 2012, Niteen allegedly went to Uttar Pradesh to Vartika’s grandmother’s house and demanded Rs 5 lakh from her, which was given to him in the form of  a cheque.   The complaint makes many similar allegations. Physical abuse  Vartika has also alleged that Niteen started physically abusing her.  She has also recounted an incident from 2016 which resulted in her fracturing her hand. She has alleged that she and Niteen were visiting Colombo when the latter hit her with a marble box, breaking her hand.  The alleged abuse did not stop during her pregnancy as well, the complaint says, and Vartika was sent to her parents’ home by Niteen and his family who also “abused and tortured” her.  All the accused have been booked under section 3 and 4 (penalty for taking dowry) of the Dowry Prohibition Act and multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code. Other than the Dowry Prohibition Act, they have been booked under sections 506 (criminal intimidation), 509 (intending to insult the modesty of any woman, 34 (common intent), 498A (Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty),  384 (Punishment for extortion), 420 (cheating) and 326. (Voluntarily causing grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.

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President Kovind inaugurates former Army Chief General Thimayya’s museum in Kodagu

Musuem

"Sunny Side", the erstwhile ancestral house of General Thimayya, who served as the Chief of Army Staff from 1957 to 1961, has been renovated and converted into the museum

PTI

A museum celebrating the life of former Army Chief General Kodandera Subayya Thimayya, housing a variety of antique weaponry and war relics, was inaugurated on Saturday by President Ram Nath Kovind. "Sunny Side", the erstwhile ancestral house of General Thimayya, who served as the Chief of Army Staff from 1957 to 1961, has been renovated and converted into the museum in Kodagu, the hill district of Karnataka. "General Thimayya is the pride of Kodagu and the memorial museum aims to retell the life-story of the General in an inspiring manner,” a district official said. Glad to inaugurate the General Thimayya Museum at Madikeri in Kodagu, Karnataka. It has preserved special aspects of the extraordinary character and contribution of one of the finest soldiers in the history of our army. pic.twitter.com/OWqWs3Ihh4 — President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) February 6, 2021 A statue of the General from Kodagu in uniform greets as one enters the museum, which also showcases a slice of Indian military history. To guide the visitors, there is a first person narration, explaining the articles and artifacts kept there. Reflecting on the humility of the great son of the soil of Kodagu, or the erstwhile Coorg, there is a picture showing him riding a Lambretta scooter. There is also a mural showing Field Marshal Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, who was a British Army Commander during the second World War, coming down to "Sunny Side" to meet General Thimayya. The museum also acknowledges the contribution of General Thimayya's siblings, including two of his brothers, who too were Army officers, and his wife Nina, who was bestowed with 'Kaiser-e-Hind' award in recognition of her work in public service. Key attractions on the premises of this war memorial include a battle tank, one of those used by the Army during the war with Pakistan in 1971. Decades-old arms and mmunition, Army guns and rifles and a decommissioned MiG-21 fighter jet, besides a collection of artwork featuring the valour of soldiers on the battlefield, books and articles are among the things on display. The President also paid his respects at the war memorial. Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat was among those present at the inauguration. Earlier, Kovind visited Talacauvery, the origin of the river Cauvery, in the district and offered a special 'Pooja'

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Republicans seek to pin California’s Covid-19 problem on Biden’s HHS pick

Becerra provided legal muscle for the state's pandemic restrictions.

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Farm laws protest: Anil Kumble faces ire from activists, writer for supporting govt

Farm Laws

Kumble had taken to Twitter using #IndiaTogether and #IndiaAgainstPropaganda.

IANS

Former Indian cricket captain and legend Anil Kumble faced backlash for supporting the union government regarding the ongoing farmers' protests. Kumble like many other of his former teammates like Sachin Tendulkar  with #IndiaTogether hashtags to counter international voices speaking in support of the farmers' protest. Samyukta Karnataka Horata, an umbrella forum of farmers, workers and Dalit organisations in Karnataka, said in its tweet, "More than 100 farmers have died ever since farmer organisations launched protests in Delhi. Even farmers in Karnataka had been protesting against the state and central government amendments to the farm laws, since September. Dear Kumble, did you ever ask these farmers as to why were they protesting? Why are you tweeting now? Your stand in the matter is very painful." Three days ago, condemning famed singer Rihanna and activists like Greta Thunberg who had tweeted in support of the protesting farmers, Kumble took to Twitter using the Union government's hashtag campaign #IndiaTogether and #IndiaAgainstPropaganda over the ongoing farmers' protests. Since then, there has been increasing international support for India's farmers' movement, with many international celebrities, politicians and social workers openly coming out in support of the Indian farmers. Renowned Kannada writer Srinivasa Karkala said, "Human rights violations are not the internal affairs of any country." Chetan Krishna asked, "Being a Kannadiga, how could you be a mouthpiece of this vicious government?" Rekha Srinivas, a social activist wrote, "No one said a word when Trump called India dirty. It is amusing to hear all the noise against the international celebrities who are empathetic with the farmers' cause. May there be some loyalty towards farmers who toil hard to feed you." Kannada activist Dinesh Kumar said, "Didn't you think of the prestige and reputation of the country when you read about hundreds of farmers who died because of the cold at the protest sites? Where was your 'self respect' when farmers were attacked and fake cases being filed against them? You should be ashamed of yourself for selling yourself to the ruling party."

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Bengaluru’s 88-km elevated corridor project revived by govt, activists oppose

Elevated corridor

The matter is likely to be mentioned in the Karnataka High Court, which had stayed the elevated corridor in 2019.

Soumya Chatterjee

File image of protest against elevated corridor

Activists in Bengaluru who have raised their voice and hit the streets in recent times over the controversial 88-km elevated corridor project have vowed to oppose it yet again. This after the project was once again given the go-ahead by the state government. The first phase of the project was stalled by the BS Yediyurappa government as he had cancelled the tender  consisting of 21 km and costing Rs 6,8885 crore citing irregularities in June, 2019. Now, a year-and-a-half later, the state government has okayed the project as part of the Comprehensive Mobility Plan for the city without an official announcement. Incidentally, the BJP which is in power had seen several of its senior MLAs including present-day ministers like R Ashoka oppose the elevated corridor project in the past. TNM reached out to Revenue Minister R Ashoka for a comment, but calls to him went unanswered. Read: U-turn by BJP: After protesting Bengaluru elevated corridor, govt likely to okay project? The issue of elevated roads has been a topic of debate in recent years among Bengaluru residents with a section seeking such roads as a measure to fix the city’s traffic problem while another vocal group calls it a “flawed” solution. Other than the massive financial and environmental cost, in terms of felled trees, increased concretisation, damage to lake ecosystems—- activists and a section of experts point out that the solution of increasing road capacity may in fact be counterproductive. They cite the theory of induced demand where many western mega cities saw growth in traffic with increasing road capacity and are now focussing on public transport. Tara Krishnaswamy, co-founder of Citizens for Bengaluru, which had spearheaded the movement against the Steel Flyover project, said it is strange how the BJP, including current ministers who had opposed the project when they were in opposition, is now re-introducing this project and that too surreptitiously. “Our position has not changed. This was never needed and it will be a tremendous waste of money and degrade life in Bengaluru and the construction itself will cost a lot of inconveniences. This will make Bengaluru further a pedestrian-unfriendly city and damage the remaining greenery. We instead believe that the money should be spent on public buses, suburban rail, and pedestrian facilities,” she said. She added, “Other than the specific case of elevated corridors, we believe that the CMP itself is illegal as it has been done by the BMRCL (metro rail authority)  without any authority to do so. We demand that this plan is done by Bengalureans for Bengaluru through the proper public consultation process and not by some private contractor or a particular transport body.” Sandeep Anirudhan, Convenor - Citizens Agenda for Bengaluru termed the project problematic. “In the background of both the 74th Amendment and the National Urban Transport Policy, the CMP is illegal. The CMP ought to be a subset of the Masterplan which again is to be authored by the Metropolitan Planning Committee.  So we are several steps away from both a legal CDP as well as a legal CMP.” Alleging nepotism and corruption in the adoption of the CMP, Sandeep said, “It is a plan decided by contractors and service providers to benefit themselves.  It is not a plan for the city or its citizens.  It needs to be thrown in the dustbin, where it deserves to be.” Legal hurdles The elevated corridor issue was also included as part of an ongoing litigation at the Karnataka High Court which had stayed the project in April 2019 for the first time. The project has not been given a clear go-ahead by the court yet. The HC was hearing a petition by Citizens Action Forum which had sought the formation of a functioning Metropolitan Planning Council as stated in the 74th Constitutional Amendment. According to the 74th Constitutional Amendment, all town planning activities have to be done by the Metropolitan Planning Committee, of which two-thirds of the members have to be elected corporators. Incidentally, the Namma Bengaluru Foundation, an NGO founded by BJP Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar had also joined as a party to the case making the same demand. The elevated corridor was mentioned in the case as the petitioners wanted all large scale projects like the elevated corridor to be okayed only through the MPC followed by the mandated public consultation process. Speaking with TNM, VIjayan Menon of CAF, said, “The Constitution says that all city wide plans like the city-wide Master Plan or the CMP have to be okayed by the MPC and all sectoral plans have to be coordinated under the MPC. So the problem is that if a CMP is done in isolation, then none of the other aspects are taken care of.” He added, “We will bring the issue of CMP to the court’s notice. We are not opposing the elevated corridor on its merits or demerits but the Constitutionality and due process behind approving these big-ticket projects.” This is, however, not the only legal hurdle, some activists have also mentioned that the project has been approved in contravention of Section 14A of the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act. Section 14A of the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act deals with changes in land use plans with a detailed public consultation process.

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