Bengaluru police to resume drunk driving checks in city

Drunk driving

The move comes after the reopening of bars, theatres, restaurants, and malls in the city.

TNM Staff

Image for representation: Picxy.com/abhishekchinnappa

After a gap of nearly a year, the Bengaluru Traffic Police has decided to restart special drunk driving checks across the city after taking cognisance of increased instances of fatal accidents, where motorists were later found to be driving in an inebriated state. BR Ravikanthe Gowda, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) said that it was necessary they start the drive. “The drunk drive checks were stopped last March owing to the enforcement of COVID-19 guidelines while keeping in mind the safety of the traffic personnel. However, with the increase in accidents and drunken driving cases, the decision of resuming the drives with a set of safety guidelines was taken,” the Joint Commissioner (Traffic) told The Hindu. The move comes after the reopening of bars, theatres, restaurants, and malls in the city. The officials are confident that the safety protocols and guidelines devised will assist in mitigating the risk of COVID-19. The police personnel involved in the drives have to mandatorily wear masks, gloves and face shields, apart from sanitising their hands after every check. The breath analyser, the guideline says, should be sanitised and only one instrument should be used for one motorist. The guidelines also state that the traffic police must sanitise their hands in front of motorists before they conduct the breathalyser test, to ease their fears. Traffic police had suspended the use of breath analysers, a device used to ascertain alcohol content in person, fearing transmission of coronavirus during the checks. Despite the easing of the lockdown, the procedure hadn’t resumed owing to health protocols. The permissible limit of Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) is 30 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood. The Additional Joint Commissioner of Police (law and order) had recently issued a circular, directing the police to step up enforcement and minimise fatal road accidents. He had also given targets to the police, warning that disciplinary action will be taken if the enforcements are not strictly implemented. He had also asked personnel to crack down on negligent and rash drivers. Moreover, he directed them to book cases against the parents of minor motorists who were caught.

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Age, gender, profession irrelevant: Amit Shah justifies Disha Ravi’s arrest

Disha Ravi arrest

The Home Minister commented on the 22-year-old climate justice activist Disha Ravi's arrest saying that the case must not be judged on ‘extraneous factors.’

TNM Staff

PTI photo

Justifying Delhi Police’s arrest of 22-year-old climate justice activist Disha Ravi in the ‘toolkit’ case, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that age, gender and profession are not relevant in assessing the culpability of the crime.  The minister said that the Delhi Police are handling the merits of the case “meticulously” while not elaborating on what these ‘merits’ were. He added that the case must not be judged on “extraneous factors” and asked how crime or culpability can be decided on the basis of age, gender or profession, in response to questions about the activist’s arrest.  Speaking to the media, Amit Shah said that the Delhi Police have been given a free hand to deal with the case and there is no political pressure on them, therefore he will not comment on the merits of the case. He added that there was little margin for error by the Delhi Police and one always has the option of approaching the courts if they feel that there is no evidence for the case against the activist.  The Home Minister asked, “What kind of trend is this that people start talking about profession, association and age in terms of a case?” He criticised the media for questioning why one 22-year-old was singled out. The Minister also said, “There might be many 22-year-olds who may have been arrested. There must be some evidence on which the Delhi Police had taken action. Delhi Police is acting as per the law. It has already given details of the IPC Sections which have been used in the case.”  Disha Ravi was arrested on February 15 from her home in north Bengaluru by the Delhi Police for editing parts of a toolkit shared by Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg. The toolkit was a Google document on farmer’s protests and the Delhi Police filed an FIR under sedition and criminal conspiracy. Disha’s five-day remand in police custody ends on Friday and the activist might be produced in Court.   

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Bengaluru had third worst air pollution among Indian cities in 2020: Greenpeace

Health

Greenpeace estimated that Bengaluru saw 12,000 deaths due to air pollution.

TNM Staff

Bengaluru emerged as the third worst city in India to be affected by air pollution in 2020 with 12,000 estimated deaths, according to a Greenpeace Southeast Asia analysis. Delhi fared worst with 54,000 such estimated deaths followed by Mumbai at 25,000 deaths. Greenpeace said these numbers were reached using live air quality data collected by IQAir, an air quality monitoring technology provider. The tool also quantifies economic cost due to air pollution on a real-time basis. Globally, approximate 160,000 deaths have been attributed to PM2.5 air pollution in the five most populous cities of Delhi (30 million), Mexico City (22 million), Sao Paulo (22 million), Shanghai (26 million) and Tokyo (37 million), it said. These mortality and cost estimates are based on the total impact attributable to PM 2.5 over a full year. Daily figures are calculated by apportioning the annual costs day by day according to each day’s recorded pollutant levels. Details of the methodology can be found here. PM2.5 refers to fine particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter. Exposure to PM2.5 is considered the most important environmental risk factor for deaths globally, and was attributed to 4.2 million premature deaths in 2015, the study said.  Greenpeace advocated for a shift to cleaner and greener fuels and other sources of energy to minimise these loss of lives and the economy too. “Despite recording relatively better air quality this year due to strict lockdown, air pollution continues to be a serious public health issue which also drastically impacts our economy. For the governments of the day, it is crucial that investments are made towards green and sustainable solutions. When we choose fossil fuel over clean energy, our health is put at stake. Polluted air increases the likelihood of deaths due to cancer and stroke, spike in asthma attacks and worsens severity of COVID-19 symptoms,” said Avinash Chanchal, Climate Campaigner, Greenpeace India. "We need to ensure our growth demand is fuelled by sustainable and cleaner sources of energy and cities should promote low cost, active and carbon-neutral transport options that prioritises walking, cycling, and public transport, the increased use of clean energy and clean transport will not only improve the public health but it will also strengthen the economy and public money" added Chanchal.

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Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa to present budget on March 8

Budget

A two-day special session on ‘One Nation One Election will be convened on the eve of the budget.

IANS

File image

The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday decided to present the annual budget for the year 2021-22 on March 8 and prior to that it will also convene a two-day special session on ‘One Nation One Election, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Basavaraj Bommai said. After the cabinet meeting, Bommai told reporters that while the budget will be tabled on March 8, the budget session will go on till March end. He added that the session will commence on March 4 and there would be a debate on "One Nation, One Election" till March 5. Apart from this, in a bid to win over farmers, the Yediyurappa-led cabinet also decided to amend relevant sections of the Karnataka Money Lenders Act, to enhance punishment from six months to one year for first time offenders and two years and above for repeated offence. We have come across a lot of cases regarding money lenders harassing the poor and farmers. We need to deal with an iron fist. Therefore, the cabinet decided to increase the quantum of fine from Rs 5,000 to Rs 50,000, he explained. Boammai added that Karnataka has given its approval to increase Suvarna Arogya Scheme (Golden Health scheme) which was aimed at providing financial assistance to those who are infected with the coronavirus. "As many as 1.35 lakh patients were treated in government as well as private hospitals till January 11 and we are expecting some more might be treated till March, the quantum of Covid fund rose from 620 crore to Rs 700 crore," he explained The state government has decided to upgrade eight maternal child hospitals and two general hospitals for which Rs 199 crore sanctioned under the National Health Mission. During the meeting, Bommai said that the cabinet gave its nod for road construction under the Phase-3 of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana at an estimated cost of Rs 1,848.95 crore. "Under this scheme, 2,201.74 km road laying work will be taken up in the rural areas of the state," he explained. The state government also resolved to increase the compensation to land owners giving up their land for industrial projects. "We have decided to increase the land component from existing 40% to 45% who lose their land for projects," he said.

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Wistron to resume operations in iPhone plant near Bengaluru soon: Karnataka Minister

Business

The plant run by Wistron was shut in December 2020, after some distressed workers took to vandalism.

TNM Staff

The production at the Apple iPhone manufacturing plant in Kolar district near Bengaluru run by Taiwanese manufacturer Wistron is set to begin in the “next few days”, according to Karnataka Industries Minister Jagadish Shettar. The facility has been shut since December 12, 2020 after some workers at the facility took to vandalism after their repeated complaints about pending salaries and indiscriminate pay cuts were ignored.  “It is a matter of happiness that the re-appointment process has started, and the production is ready to resume.  All support will be pursued by the state government and the Industries Department,” Minister Shettar said on Thursday. This statement by the minister on Thursday came following a meeting by government officials led by Shettar and company officials.  Read: Wistron looking to resume operations in Apple iPhone plant near Bengaluru Sudipto Gupta, Managing Director of Wistron also said  the reappointment process has begun, according to a joint statement released by the state industries department.  It may be recalled that subsequent scrutiny of the violence and its causes found Wistron guilty of violating several labour laws and saw its Vice President (innovation business group) Vincent Lee removed in disciplinary action. The company had also set up a 24-hour grievance helpline as a corrective measure. As a fallout of the same, Apple had also demoted Wistron to probationary status for violating its ‘Supplier Code of Conduct’. Earlier this month talks about reopening the facility were being discussed by Apple and Wistron. In a statement on February 9, Apple had said that the company along with independent auditors, was working with Wistron to make sure the necessary systems and processes are put in place before the factory starts operating again. The new system will also mean enhanced training and support for workers. The new training will also cover everyone at the facility will undergo a new training program to ensure they understand their rights and how they can raise any concerns.  Read: Wistron admits lapses at Kolar iPhone plant, sacks India Vice President Read: Apple puts Wistron on probation, no new business till corrective actions are taken Read: Losses from Wistron violence drastically downgraded from Rs 437 cr to Rs 52 cr. Here's why

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Karnataka minister Narayana Gowda to be investigated for disproportionate assets

Crime

Karnataka Minister Narayan Gowda to face investigation for allegedly not disclosing his entire income in his affidavit before election.

Shishir Rao

Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala, on Thursday, sanctioned the government to probe a complaint against Municipal Administration and Horticulture Minister of Karnataka, Narayana Gowda. The sanction came after a disproportionate assets complaint was filed by an activist Dinesh Kallahalli who alleged that the minister had not disclosed all of his assets in his election affidavit. Narayana Gowda was one of the MLAs who defected from the JD(S) to the BJP, toppling the Congress-JD(S) in July 2019. Dinesh had filed a complaint on January 13, 2020 with the Governor with details about the alleged disproportionate assets acquired by Narayana Gowda. The alleged increase in wealth was found in an affidavit on April 23, 2018. The previous disclosure was from the past year. In a year his own wealth had reportedly gone up from Rs 24,68,148 to 5,89,98,719, Narayana Gowda’s wife’s assets in the same period reportedly went from Rs 5,08,953 to 2,96,198. While his first daughter’s income went from Rs 2,40,759 to 22,70,586, his second daughter had gained Rs 22,44,087 from no income declared before. The complainant alleged that the increase in wealth this year was not consistent with the past figures starting from 2013 and indicated that he had resorted to immoral means to gain this wealth. “I got to know from many of my friends in Mandya about the disproportionate increase in wealth of minister Narayana Gowda. I wanted the public to know about this and we painstakingly gathered information about his assets. Once we had gathered the necessary information, I submitted a complaint to the honorable Governor. I hope the public comes to know of his immoral ways of making money and I hope he either resigns or the Governor to strip him of his post. In a democracy, these kinds of acts must not be tolerated.” said Dinesh Kallahalli, the social activist who filed the complaint.

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U.S. won’t share vaccine before all Americans receive shots, officials say

Poor countries and global health advocates have been pushing wealthy nations to share some of their supply, warning that the inequitable vaccine rollout could leave them playing catch-up for years.

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