Newshangama

Friday, February 12, 2021

Karnataka BJP MP Yatnal finally gets show cause notice for tirade against CM

Politics

However, not everyone is convinced that the show cause notice will invite any real action against Yatnal.

File image

For weeks now, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa's biggest critic has been his senior BJP colleague and MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal. From claiming Yediyurappa was being blackmailed by other MLAs to accusing that the CM's son was running a parallel government- Yatnal has levelled many allegations against Yediyurappa. However, it was only on Friday that the BJP high command finally sent Yatnal a show cause notice for his constant tirade against Yediyurappa. Yatnal has been given 15 days to reply to this notice. However, not everyone is convinced that the show cause notice will invite any real action against Yatnal. “This may be just posturing by the party high command as it has been alleged often that much of the dissent against Yediyurappa is fuelled by the high command only. Yatnal's reply to this show cause notice may also be worth noting if he states that Yediyurappa has already become CM 4-times and is trying to instill dynastic politics in the state,” Mahadev Prakash, a senior political analyst told TNM. Yatnal is an MLA from the Vijayapura constituency and is believed to be close to the RSS. It was in October 2020 that he first targeted the Chief Minister and said that Yediyurappa would not remain Chief Minister for long and the high command had decided that his successor would be from the north Karnataka region. While many alleged that the RSS had propped up Yatnal to take on Yediyurappa, others pointed out that Yatnal being a member of the Panchamasali community, the largest subsect within the various subcastes of the Lingayat community, stopped the BJP from acting against him. Though BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel, BJP National General secretary CT Ravi and others, considered to be close to BL Santosh, supported Yediyurappa, the party refrained from acting against Yatnal. Read: The quota conundrum in Karnataka poses threat to Yediyurappa's legacy Recently, Yatnal said that a new Chief Minister will assume office after Ugadi on April 13. This statement on January 30 had come even after senior leaders of the party both in the state and central unit had warned leaders not to make such statements. Following Yatnal's repeated assertions, Arun Singh, BJP General Secretary In-charge of Karnataka stated that there will be no change in Karnataka's CM.

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Bengaluru Shivananda steel flyover to be completed by May, BBMP instructs officials

Transport

A 493-meter long overpass is being constructed on 16 pillars at Sivananda Circle, of which nine pillars have been completed and six are in progress.

TNM Staff

The Shivananda flyover in Bengaluru’s Central Business District, which has already faced many delays, has been given a new deadline after Bengaluru Bruhat Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Administrator Gaurav Gupta visited the construction site and instructed that the construction of the flyover be completed in three months, that is, by May 2021. Gupta has instructed that all pending issues including land acquisition, water pipe displacement and others, which are leading to the delays, be sorted out within three months. A 493-meter long overpass is being constructed on 16 pillars at Sivananda Circle, of which nine pillars have been completed and six pillars are in progress. However, work on one pillar has been delayed since there is a 700-mm water pipeline that needs to be shifted. Officials said that 450-mm of the water pipeline located in front of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) has been shifted. The BBMP administrator has instructed that the pipeline elsewhere after obtaining permission from the traffic police department, as the work may hamper traffic movement in the area. The authorities are likely to ask the police to divert traffic for seven days. For the flyover, 579 metres of land from seven properties is to be acquired and Gaurav Gupta has directed the officials to complete the process by issuing a transfer of development rights (TDR) to the owner of the seven properties. The administrator has also asked the Railways to develop a concrete box near the railway underpass where the construction is taking place, in order to ensure smooth traffic flow. Some of the trees on the roadway have to be shifted elsewhere, an official said. The rulers responded and instructed the forest officials to take up the tree transplant immediately. The flyover is being developed by the Bangalore Metropolitan Planning Division and Joint Commissioners Pallavi Sivaswamy, Deputy Commissioner (Land Acquisition) Harish Naik, Chief of the Planning Division Ramesh, Superintendent of Engineers Lokesh, Deputy Forest Conservator Ranganathaswamy and other relevant officials were present with Gaurav Gupta for the inspection. The Shivananda flyover has faced delays as well as protests by the residents of Bengaluru, who say that the flyover may not really change the city’s traffic problem and that the flyover is being built at an environmental cost.

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11 students arrested for allegedly ragging five juniors in Mangaluru

Crime

The students who were harassed approached the college management, following which a police complaint was filed.

TNM Staff

Eleven students were arrested on Thursday for their alleged involvement in ragging in Kanachur Institute of Medical Sciences, a private college in Mangaluru. All the arrested were natives of Kerala and had allegedly ragged five freshers from their state by assaulting them, Mangaluru City Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar told reporters. Shashi Kumar said that the accused had allegedly forced the first year students to shave their mustaches and have a hair cut. Other than that, they were also made to count the number of matchsticks in a matchbox and measure a room using matchsticks. The students who were harassed approached the college management, which in turn filed a police complaint. "After interrogating 18 students in this connection, we have arrested 11 students," the Commissioner said, adding they had been booked under sections 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the State Education Act. Those who refused to obey the diktat by the accused were physically assaulted and locked in a room. Further they were also threatened not to report this ragging incident to the college management, police said. The Hindu identified the accused as Mohammed Shamos (19), Asin Babu (19), both from Kozhikode, Akshay KS (19), Robin Biju (20), Alwyn Joey (19), Jerome Cyril (19), all from Kottayam, Abdul Ananas (21), Jayfin Roichanna (19), both from Kasaragod, Mohammed Suraj (19) from Pathanamthitta and Zubin Mehroof (21) and Abdul Basit (19), both from Malappuram. Addressing reporters, the Police Commissioner warned students not to get involved in ragging and stated that it will damage their careers. He also urged students subjected to ragging to report the incidents to their college management, teachers or directly to the police. According to reports, another incident had been recently reported in the district where nine senior students of a pharmacy college in the district were arrested for assaulting a first year student. (PTI Inputs)

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Just 21 of Bengaluru’s 210 lakes have water fit for drinking: CSIR-NEERI report

Water

The report was submitted in the High Court this week and it will be discussed in the coming weeks.

Prajwal Bhat

Representational image

As many as 19 lakes in Bengaluru have been encroached and only 21 lakes have water fit for drinking, a new study submitted in the Karnataka High Court this week has found. The study was conducted by CSIR-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and it suggested long-term and short-term measures to rejuvenate Bengaluru's lakes. CSIR-NEERI was asked to submit a report by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) after it was directed by the Karnataka High Court which is hearing a batch of petitions related to the condition of lakes in the city. CSIR-NEERI's report stated that only 21 of the 210 lakes in Bengaluru have water fit for drinking purposes. Among this, 11 lakes are in the Yelahanka zone of the city and includes the Agrahara lake, Ramagondanahalli lake and Thirumenahalli lake that have been developed. In the rest of the city only 10 out of 178 lakes have water fit for drinking. Discussing the popular Ulsoor Lake, the report stated that the water quality of the lake was only good enough for domestic, industrial and irrigation purposes. Ït stated that the water in the Kaggadasapura lake is unsuitable for drinking purposes. Only 1 of the 48 lakes in Bommanahalli zone had water fit for drinking - Nyanappanahalli Lake - while 3 lakes in Mahadevapura zone had water fit for drinking. In many cases, it was not possible to measure the water quality since the lake surface was covered with water weeds. The report also stated that 19 lakes in the city were encroached upon. Out of the 205 lakes, 19 lakes are being termed as disused lakes. All these disused lakes are encroached except Arehalli and Tavarekere," states the report. The Lingarajapura, Doresanipalya, Geddalahalli, Arehalli and Bilekahalli lakes were encroached by the construction of Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) layouts. The report suggested that desilting and dredging are essential to restore the water in lakes. The High Court of Karnataka will study the issue of the condition of Bengaluru's lakes beginning next week. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum will hold sittings twice a week and focus on rejuvenation of few lakes including the Kamakshipalya, Arehalli and Tavarekere lakes.

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