Karnataka govt wants BPL cards taken away from those who own TV or two-wheelers

Administrative

The Congress called this move anti-poor, and said that the government should instead work towards recognising more needy beneficiaries.

PTI

The Karnataka government on Monday asked people who possess Below Poverty Line (BPL) ration cards will no longer be eligible for subsidies on account of owning either a two wheeler, a television, refrigerator or over five acres of land. To this effect, the government asked these beneficiaries to surrender their BPL cards before March 31 or face legal action. BPL card holders enjoy subsidised food supplies as part of the public distribution system. "There are parameters for possessing a BPL card. They should not have more than five acres of land, motorcycle, TV or fridge. Those who don't qualify on these parameters should return the cards or else we will do it," Food and Civil Supplies Minister Umesh Katti said at a press conference in Belagavi. He said anyone earning more than Rs 1.20 lakh annually should not use BPL cards and has to return it before March 31. Opposition Congress reacted strongly against this decision and party workers staged protests in front of various ration shops in Bengaluru. Party workers also protested in Dharwad, Mysuru and Tumakuru, a Congress leader said. Congress MLA and former minister UT Khader said the issue had come up before him when he was the Food and Civil Supplies Minister in the Siddaramaiah government and he had decided not to relax the norms as many poor people would be affected. He opined that when there are offers like interest free loans to purchase all these items, it was obvious that people would buy it. “The government is 'anti-poor',” he charged and asked them to focus on identifying more beneficiaries instead of 'snatching away' their BPL cards.

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Assets of billionaire BR Shetty frozen worldwide by UK court

Fraud

This was after the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, the entity with the largest exposure to the group, approached the court.

TNM Staff

The assets of BR Shetty, the founder of the troubled healthcare operator NMC Health, were frozen by a UK court. The freeze order reportedly applies worldwide, and was won by the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank as its exposure to the company is more than $1 billion. Apart from Shetty, assets of NMC Health’s principal owners and other company executives have also been frozen.  According to the Financial Times, other people whose assets have been frozen are former CEO Prasanth Manghat, Emirati investors Khalifa al-Muhairi and Saeed al-Qebaisi, and two other executives from the company. On April 15, 2020, the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank filed a criminal complaint against Shetty, Prasanth Manghat and others over allegations of serious fraud, and wanted the accounts of all the accused to be seized. As per the current sweeping order, the people named reportedly cannot sell their assets anywhere in the world.  NMC Health, founded in the 1970s, was the largest private healthcare provider in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and collapsed after allegations of accounting frauds. The company was placed into administration last year in the UK amid those fraud claims. The company was accused of understating its debt by $4.5 billion NMC Health used to be listed in London. The report said the bank had alleged that Shetty was the “chief protagonist” of the fraud, which the judge reportedly agreed with. The judgement cited a statement issued by current CEO Michael Davis that the alleged fraud was perpetrated by former executives. “Something had gone very wrong with the management and oversight” of the company, the UK judge said. The court’s judgement reportedly also had new details about the alleged fraud —  including two sets of inconsistent financial accounts being maintained. NMC employees had purpotedly uploaded a series of documents about NMC Health’s account balances for review, but ended up uploading two versions of the same document — the original as well as the fabricated version.  Prior to the UK court, court orders were also issued in India and in Dubai freezing assets in the countries after lenders brought charges against NMC as well as Shetty. In a statement in April 2020, BR Shetty had claimed that a probe conducted by his own advisors had found alleged fraud at NMC, as well as his payment services group Finablr. He admitted serious frauds in the company, but put the blame on a 'small group of executives', and said he had nothing to do with it. In November 2020, BR Shetty, who was in India since February that year, was stopped at the Bengaluru airport when he attempted to fly to the UAE. A consortium of Indian banks, including Bank of Baroda with $250 million in outstanding loans due from Shetty, had initiated travel restrictions on the NMC founder in an attempt to recover the debts. Several other Indian banks, including Federal Bank, have considerable exposure to Shetty-run firms.

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Protest in Bengaluru over move to allow Ayurveda docs to perform surgeries

Controversy

Doctors in Bengaluru were on a hunger strike, against a proposed move to allow Ayurveda doctors to perform surgeries after a training period of six months.

Shishir Rao

Doctors belonging to the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in Bengaluru submitted copies of a memorandum to local authorities on February 15, which demanded the revoking of permission for Ayurveda practitioners to perform surgeries. The doctors submitted the memorandum after a 14-day hunger strike, which they called ‘Save Healthcare India Movement’. This move by the doctors came amid country-wide protests against the National Medical Commission (NMC) Act, which provides provisions to allow community healthcare workers to practice primary care independently. The doctors have especially taken objection with the mixing of curriculum of different streams of medicine, as a circular from Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) allowed Ayurveda doctors to perform surgeries after a training period of six months. “We oppose this ‘mixopathy’ which the government is trying to bring about. Ayurveda doctors can now perform 53 surgeries, though Ayurveda doesn’t even have a concept of an anesthesia or an anesthetist. Without this basic requirement, how can you deem anyone fit to perform surgeries? This will end up turning into a serious hazard for public health,” said Dr Srinivasa S, former president and spokesperson, IMA Bengaluru. The other concern expressed by the IMA and other students’ organisations and medical forums is that combining the different streams of medicine, could turn them into legalised quackery. “This move by the Union government is absolutely unscientific. Each stream has its own set of rules and practices developed over centuries. Each of them has been time-tested. Modern medicine also has developed through a scientific process. Mixing all these fields will only destroy these processes and result in a public health crisis. Furthermore, this could lead to people losing trust in modern medicine altogether,” said Hanmanth SH, state convener of ‘White Sparks’ Medical and Dental Students Forum, Karnataka. 

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Social media hasn’t stopped anti-vaxxers. Now docs are fighting back.

Health care workers are organizing online networks to promote Covid shots, strategically aiming to drown out vaccine opponents active on those sites.

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From Siddharth to Chinmayi, celebrities condemn arrest of activist Disha Ravi

Disha Ravi arrest

Several actors, politicians and celebrities demanded Disha Ravi’s release after the 22-year-old activist was arrested from Bengaluru on Saturday.

TNM Staff

Facebook

Several actors and celebrities from across the country have strongly condemned the arrest of 22-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi. Support has been pouring in from all quarters for the Bengaluru-based activist ever since she was arrested from her Bengaluru home by the Delhi police on Saturday. Actor Siddharth extended his “unconditional support” to Disha Ravi on Twitter. Standing unconditionally in solidarity and support with #DishaRavi. I'm so sorry this happened to you sister. We are all with you. Stay strong. This injustice too shall pass. #shameondelhipolice — Siddharth (@Actor_Siddharth) February 14, 2021 Actor and politician Prakash Raj urged people to raise their voice against the activist’s arrest and demanded her release. #ReleaseDishaRavi #ReleaseNodeepKaur .... raise your voice against this intimidating fascists.. ... #justasking https://t.co/WCBQiFNGNR — Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) February 15, 2021 Carnatic singer and activist TM Krishna pointed out that the arrest is a cause for concern and questioned whether “we have descended into police state territory”. If arresting a 21 year old environmental activist for sharing a social media tool kit is not a sign that we have descended into police state territory, I don't know what is ? And the intention is also to threaten young people of this country#DishaRavi — T M Krishna (@tmkrishna) February 14, 2021 Playback singer Chinmayi was among the celebrities who raised her voice against the arrest, adding that she was “heartbroken”. I’m heartbroken. We ARE STILL are a democracy. Dissent is normal even if you don’t like it. In solidarity with the hero, Disha Ravi. pic.twitter.com/t0gSwdivdt — Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) February 15, 2021 Read: ‘Disha is a passionate environmentalist’: Friends, activists shocked at her arrest Actor Swara Bhasker who has been known to call out the government on various issues, also tweeted to support Disha. #ReleaseDishaRavi https://t.co/AtynglMLxr — Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) February 14, 2021 Kannada actor Chetan Kumar, better known as Chetan Ahimsa, strongly supported the young climate activist. “Centre that values profits over people & its violent appendage Delhi Police decimate our democratic ethos by tormenting fighters like Disha,” he tweeted. On Sat, Delhi Police arrested Bengaluru environment activist #DishaRavi for supporting our #farmers Centre that values profits over people & its violent appendage Delhi Police decimate our democratic ethos by tormenting fighters like Disha Khakis wielding lathis TERRORISE daily — Chetan Kumar / ಚೇತನ್ (@ChetanAhimsa) February 15, 2021 Hashtags such as #DishaRavi, #DishaRaviArrested, #ReleaseDishaRavi #IndiaBeingSilenced and #FreeDishaRavi are being used by celebrities and users alike, to stand in solidarity with the arrested activist. Various politicians too slammed Disha’s arrest. Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Arvind Kejriwal, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, P Chidambaram and Sitaram Yechury are some of the prominent politicians who have stood in solidarity with Disha. Youth-based environmental collectives issued a statement on Sunday condemning the arrest of the young activist. The Delhi Police accused the 22-year-old activist of “sharing” and “spreading” a ‘toolkit’ related to the farmers’ protest that was posted by international climate activist Greta Thunberg. An FIR was filed by the cybercrime unit of the Delhi Police against the creators of the toolkit on February 4. Though toolkits are Google documents used to prepare a social media campaign or plan protests, the Delhi Police have registered an FIR under sedition and conspiracy, alleging that this toolkit was being used to malign India. After she was produced before a Delhi court on Sunday afternoon, Disha was remanded to police custody for five days.

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28 residents in a Bengaluru apartment complex test COVID-19 positive

Coronavirus

BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad told TNM that more tests will be conducted on Monday and the premises of the complex had been sanitised.

TNM Staff

Representative Image

Twenty-eight residents of an apartment complex in Bengaluru’s Bommanahalli zone have tested positive for the coronavirus. The residents of the complex were tested on Saturday and Sunday, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner Manjunath Prasad told TNM. As many as 26 residents tested positive on Saturday while two more people tested positive on Sunday. A party hosted in the apartment complex is being considered as a probable cause for the cases. “There are 1,000 more residents who are yet to be tested, which will be carried out on Monday. The cause cannot be ascertained yet but a party hosted is being considered to be a probable reason. Among the five blocks, 533 residents in three units were willing to be checked,” the Commissioner told TNM. He further added that members who have tested positive are self-quarantining and that they are using the reverse isolation technique to limit the exposure of those who tested negative for the virus. In addition to this, the Bengaluru civic body has been carrying out health check-ups and maintaining the sanitation of the apartment complex. He added, “We are taking all precautions and have sanitised the premises. Surveys of the households are underway and we will also be sending samples for genome sequencing to NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences) on Monday.” Karnataka on Sunday reported 414 COVID-19 cases and two deaths, taking the total number of infections and death toll to just over 9.45 lakh and 12,265 respectively, the Health Department said. Bengaluru Urban district accounted for 241 of the fresh cases, Dakshina Kannada came next with 24 followed by Mysuru at 21, while the remaining cases were scattered over the state.  Cumulatively 9.45 lakh COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in the state so far, which includes 12,265 deaths and 9.27 lakh discharges, the bulletin said. Karnataka at present, has 5,836 active cases. One death was reported in Bengaluru Urban and the other in Kalaburagi. Four of the 31 districts, Bagalkote, Ramanagara, Haveri and Shivamogga, reported no new infections and fatalities. A total of 1.70 crore samples have been tested so far, including 60,876 on Sunday, the bulletin said.  

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Karnataka CM and son dividing Veerashaiva-Lingayats for political gain: BJP MLA Yatnal

Politics

Yatnal was recently issued a show-cause notice over allegations he levelled against the Chief Minister.

PTI

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Bharatiya Janata Party’s Basanagouda Patil Yatnal on Sunday, in Tumkuru, alleged that Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and his son BY Vijayendra, the state vice president of BJP, were making systematic attempts to divide the dominant Veerashaiva-Lingayat community for their political gain. He told the media that the CM does so every time he receives intimation of a threat to his position from the party high-command. “Whenever Yediyurappa gets an indication from the top that there is a threat to his chair, he uses the Veerashaiva-Lingayat issue for his benefit. His son, Vijayendra, acts on similar lines. Their intentions behind not granting the community Other Backward Class (OBC) status,” claimed Yatnal. He also made allegations that Vijayendra and Minister Murugesh Nirani were trying to divide the community systematically and that they would never succeed. Yatnal has often actively participated in the agitation by Basava Jaya Mrutyunjaya Swami of Kudalsangama mutt seeking OBC 2A category (non-creamy layer category) status to the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community. The seer last week started a padayatra from Kudalasangama to Bengaluru to press for the demand and is supported by various seers and leaders of the Veerashaiva and Lingayat communities. Yatnal alleged that Yediyurappa, a Lingayat himself, was not keen on granting 2A status to the community. The Vijayapura MLA said that no government order had been issued on the matter. To a question on the show-cause notice issued by the BJP high command for speaking against the Chief Minister and others, Yatnal said he was yet to receive it. He alleged that issuing the notice was part of false propaganda to stop other BJP MLAs from speaking. Yatnal has been up in arms against the Chief Minister and his son Vijayendra and has even said that Yediyurappa would be 'removed' from his position shortly. Yatnal's outburst against the CM intensified after a recent cabinet expansion, in which he was not included, despite being a senior party functionary and a former union minister. 

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