Missing anganwadi worker found murdered at hotel in Bengaluru

Crime

Kamala M, a resident of Lalbagh Siddapura, went missing on Tuesday.

TNM Staff

An anganwadi worker from Bengaluru, who went missing on Tuesday was found murdered at a hotel room in JC Road on Friday. The police have booked the woman’s neighbour for murder after her husband filed a complaint, indicating his involvement.  Kamala M, a resident of Lalbagh Siddapura, worked at an anganwadi in Bengaluru’s Cement Colony, Times of India (ToI) reported. Deputy Commissioner of Police (West sub division), Sanjeev Patil, said that the woman’s body was discovered by the staff at the lodging facility after they opened the door to the room which Kamala had rented, as a foul odour was emanating.   The hotel staff contacted Kamala’s family members and after they arrived, the door to the room was opened, only to find that she was dead.  Kamala, who used to go back home from work at around 5.30 pm every day, did not return home on the evening of November 24, Deccan Herald reported. Her husband Obalesh L, had filed a missing persons complaint with the Siddapura Police on November 25. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sanjeev Patil, Kamala entered the lodging facility with her neighbour Dileep Kumar, who is  a tailor by profession, at around 11.30 am on Tuesday.  According to CCTV footage obtained by the police, Kamala and Dileep can be seen entering the lodging facility at 11.30. However, Dileep can also be seen leaving the hotel alone at around 2.30 pm.  In a statement, the West division police said that Obalesh had in his complaint suspected that Kamala was having an affair with Dileep and also accused Dileep of killing his wife. According to the ToI report, Kamala was a mother of five girls and Dileep too, was married and has two children.  Sanjeev Patil said that preliminary investigation revealed that Kamala was allegedly strangled to death and then hung from the ceiling fan. He said that it was an attempt to make it look like a suicide. “We don’t know what exactly happened between the victim and the accused person. Dileep Kumar locked the hotel room from outside before leaving. He switched off his cellphone at around 2.30 pm,” he added.  Dileep Kumar has been booked for murder at the Kalasipalya Police Station and the investigators are trying to trace him.  

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Three out of 60 centenarian patients have succumbed to COVID-19 in Karnataka

COVID-19

Except the 100+ age group, mortality is seen to increase gradually with seniority.

Soumya Chatterjee

Representational image/PTI

All but three out of 60 centenarians who had COVID-19 in Karnataka till Friday survived the disease. A comparison of mortality rates shows that the 5% mortality rate in the 100+ age group is lower than the mortality rate of other 60+ age groups among coronavirus patients since the onset of COVID-19 in the state. Mortality rate is the number of deaths for every 100 cases. The average mortality rate of all 60+ age infected patients is at 5.3%. The average mortality rate of all age groups for the state is at 1.3%. While those in the 60+ age group are considered more vulnerable to COVID-19, the lower mortality rate of the senior-most age group comes as a surprise even for doctors. Incidentally, except for the 100+ group, the mortality rate increases gradually with seniority across age groups. According to data tabled by the state COVID-19 War Room, the 90-99 age group has 11.5% fatality rate, which is highest among all age groups. This is followed by the 80-89 years group with a fatality rate of 9.1%. The 70-79 age group has a fatality rate of 9.1%, and the 60-69 group has a 4% fatality rate. According to the War Room report, while the number of patients in the 100+ age group is 60, the number of COVID-19 patients in the state of the previous age groups is much higher. The number of patients of age group 60-69 is 88,055; 70-79 is 39,818; 80-89 is 11,008; 90-99 is 1,292. The mortality rate of the below 60 age group was also found to lower with decreasing age. For the age group 51-60, the mortality rate is 2.4%, and it is 1% for those in the 41-50 age group. Further, the mortality rate dropped to 0.4% among 31 to 40-year-olds and 0.1% in the 0 to 21 age group.

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Bengaluru airport sees seizure of 500 kgs of prohibited items from flyers

Airport

The items that are seized range from hand tools and toy guns to coconuts and ghee.

TNM Staff

Representational image

Bangalore International Airport Limited, which manages the Kempegowda International Airport in the city, said that they are witnessing an increase in the collection of prohibited goods from passengers amid the pandemic. These prohibited items include hand tools, blades, lighters, coconuts, toy guns, ghee packets and spices, which an increased number of passengers have been carrying over the last few months. In a statement given on Friday, they said, “The security team at BLR Airport receives an average of over 500 kgs of prohibited articles each week. These items are confiscated by the CISF at the security screening area. Passengers are unaware of the prohibited objects which potentially impacts the security frisking process, resulting in delays due to the manual examination of such baggage.” This increased confiscation comes at a time when the airport has been seeing its lowest footfall in recent times, owing to the pandemic. International air travel remains restricted to only union government-regulated ‘air bubble’ countries; however, domestic passengership is slowly recovering since the COVID-19-induced lockdown. As reported earlier this week, between April and October, the footfall in the airport had reduced to 35,47,644 from 1,93,06,980 in April-October 2019, due to the pandemic. Domestic operations had resumed on May 25 post the lockdown. However, the airport has seen gains on the cargo front. Incidentally, the international airport at Bengaluru witnessed its highest-ever domestic outbound tonnage of 8,117 tonnes in October, largely driven by e-commerce shipments. For the benefit of flyers, they listed some commonly prohibited items. These include: - Lighters - Scissors - Toy weapons - Sharp metal objects - Sporting Goods - Guns and firearms - Tools - Self Defense equipment - Explosive materials - Flammable items - Chemicals - Aerosols and liquids - Any other items which are deemed security hazards by local law For the full list, passengers can go to their official website. 

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Governments around the world weigh thorny question: Who gets the vaccine first?

Different countries are coming up with different answers to that question.

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'Arishadvarga' review: A clever, unpredictable thriller

Review

With unreliable narrators and the story changing depending on who's narrating it, this thriller keeps you guessing till the end.

Sowmya Rajendran

Arishadvarga, directed by Arvind Kamath, is that kind of delicious whodunit which invites the viewer to participate in the investigation. With unreliable narrators, coloured narratives and refurbished truths, the screenplay is a mix of fact and inventive fiction that the viewer has to navigate, much like the dour-faced police officer Ashok (Nanda Gopal). It's unconventional to discuss the ending of a film at the beginning of a review. But then, it is the ending which also makes sense of the title, where it all begins. 'Arishadvarga' are the six enemies of the mind -- kama (lust), krodha (anger), moha (attachment), lobha (greed), mada (pride) and matsarya (jealousy) -- which must be conquered for a person to attain moksha or salvation. Each of the characters who are on this chessboard represent these emotions. But who is moving the pawns in the game? Like a magician slyly hiding the cards in the sleeve of his cloak, Arvind reveals one secret after another. You pick sides, you settle on a hero, only to discover that you were made the joker. Anish (Mahesh Bung), a gigolo, discovers a dead body in his client's home. An aspiring actor Saakshi (Samyukta Hornad), also lands up there and the two of them are threatened to stay where they are by a woman on the phone. Other characters emerge as the story unravels. A thief, a mystery man who runs away, a lower rung cop, a domestic worker and so on. However, it's an excellent Anju Alva Naik, playing film editor Kruthi Bhat, who becomes the fulcrum. The choice of profession in itself is unique for a woman character but it isn't just a gimmick -- it also ties in with the story. Between her and an equally good Avinash, who plays producer Manjunath Bhat, the truth tantalisingly oscillates. For a long time, women on screen have been trapped in the Madonna-whore dichotomy. Kruthi, however, breaks more than one stereotype. Beyond being a well-told mystery with original twists and turns, Arishadvarga is also unapologetic about adult desires and relationships. In Kannada cinema, Nathicharami explored the sexual desires of a widowed woman, and now Arishadvarga looks at older women and their sexuality with a non-judgemental tone. Like Badla, where you see different accounts of the same crime depending on the perspective offered, you keep altering what happened in your mind. This is confusing at times but the challenge makes you watch the film more closely. The camera (Balaji Manohar) too participates in the characterisation. Who is in focus when a certain narrative is being created and what does the person say? Can we trust this or is this too manipulation? Udit Haritas's background score reiterates the intentions of the film. There are many moments which could have been milked for melodrama, instead the mood that the music largely generates is that of watching a fast-changing game. The ending left me gaping, forcing me to rethink all that I had watched. It also made me wonder about the title. Though Arishadvarga is about conquering the six enemies of the mind, the script largely offers a sympathetic rendering of most of the characters. And the treatment is suitable for this day and age when we have learnt to accept characters with grey shades and moral lapses as protagonists. However, the ending made me question this -- the discomfort was sharp especially with what happens to Anish. Are the characters being unfairly punished for their all too human faults or will the puppeteer pulling the strings liberate them from their traps with another masterstroke? And can someone so invested in other people and their sins attain moksha themselves? After all, moksha is about fighting inner demons, not exterior ones. The ambiguity, however, is what makes you want to rewatch the whole film again immediately. To piece together the evidence from the beginning, in the light of what you now know. And very few thrillers can have that effect -- where the answer has been revealed but you are still interested in investigating again. Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the series/film. TNM Editorial is independent of any business relationship the organisation may have with producers or any other members of its cast or crew.

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Bengaluru to get two waste-to-energy plants to deal with city's garbage problem

CIVIC

Though WTEs are permitted by the union government, experts point out that they cause significant pollution to the environment.

TNM Staff

In order to reduce dependency on landfills, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is working on setting up two waste-to-energy (WTE) plants to solve the city’s mixed waste problem.  At present, Bengaluru generates about 2,800 tonnes of mixed waste on a daily basis; this is dumped in landfills which are unhygienic, unsustainable, and are under scrutiny from the Karnataka High Court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT). According to officials, the plants will take at least a year to be ready to start processing waste. Waste-to-energy is a method of waste management wherein waste is incarcerated, which is then harvested as electricity and distributed to consumers. BBMP officials say that the first such plant will come up in Bidadi (in Ramanagara district) on the outskirts of Bengaluru, which will have a capacity of 11.5 megawatts. The plant will be set up jointly by the government-run Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) and the BBMP.  The plant can process up to 600 tonnes of waste, according to the project plan. The other plant, which can process 1000 tonnes, is likely to come up in another year’s time in Kannahali, at the other end of the city’s periphery.  Read: The problem of Bengaluru's waste: Old landfills at capacity, new ones not enough Notably, while WTEs, unlike landfills, are allowed according to union government Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, there has been no success story in India owing to the nature of waste generated in the country. In fact, in most instances, experts point out that the cost of producing electricity/running these plants is also found to pollute the environment. In 2016, the Okhla plant in the national capital region Delhi was fined Rs 25 lakh by the NGT for polluting the environment and releasing toxins in the air, which affected the health of those living around the plant. Incidentally, plans for a WTE plant, which was earlier planned to be ready in Electronic City by the end of this year through an Indo-French government-government (2018) deal, was dropped. This was done as the French firm 3Wayste found it financially unfeasible to run the plant without any money from the BBMP as agreed in the deal, a source said. Since the time of the proposal, the project was opposed by local residents, who feared environmental pollution.  “Work on the Bidadi plant will commence within a month. We will also have a similar plant in the Kanhalli plant. We will follow the SWM rules, we will try to segregate as much as possible, and only burn waste that cannot be recycled and has dry combustible value,” Randeep D, Special Commissioner of Solid Waste Management, BBMP, told TNM. He added, “Despite its demerits, there is no alternative to WTEs as even though mixed waste generation is reducing, we cannot expect not to generate mixed waste at all.” Incidentally, the BS Yediyurappa-led government is mulling setting up a dedicated waste processing agency like the BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board) for city’s water and sewage management. Sandhya Narayan, a member of the Solid Waste Management Round Table, which is a panel of experts working with the BBMP, said that instead of WTEs the BBMP should focus on recycling, composting and bio-mechanization. She said that when all of these options to deal with garbage are exhausted, then it can be used to generate fuel or sent to cement units.

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Decision on Veerashaiva-Lingayat community after Delhi meet: Karnataka CM Yediyurappa

Politics

Yediyurappa also said that the final list of candidates for cabinet expansion will be ready in two days.

TNM Staff

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurapa on Friday said that a decision regarding categorising the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community under the Union government’s OBC list would be taken after discussion with leaders in New Delhi. Yediyurappa is set to discuss several important issues during the cabinet meeting and one among them is to recommend the inclusion of Veerashaiva-Lingayat community into the Union government’s list of Other Backward Classes (OBC).  CM Yediyurappa said that he would fly to New Delhi in three days, to discuss the issue with the BJP’s national leaders. “This is a very important issue and it needs to be discussed with national leaders. I will be holding a meeting with them in three days in Delhi. We can only decide what to do after that. My cabinet colleagues are also of the same opinion,” BS Yediyurappa said, when asked whether a decision would be taken regarding the inclusion of Veerashaiva-Lingayats into the OBC category.  Yediyurappa said that the matter has been referred to the Attorney General, who will have to submit his opinion, after which he could take up the suggestions with the leaders in New Delhi.  Two days ago, the state government issued an order and appointed BS Paramashivaiah as the Chairperson of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat Development Corporation. Paramashivaiah is also the President of the Karnataka Veerashaiva Development Organisation.  Speaking to the media, seer of the Balehosur Mutt in Haveri district, Dangaleshwara Swamy, said that the members of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community are happy with the Chief Minister’s decision. “Of course, setting up the board is a big step. But if our long-standing demand of being included in the OBC list comes true, we would have Yediyurappa to thank for it. This has been a struggle for many years. If this does happen, then we will be able to get more representation in gram panchayat or local elections,” Dangaleshwara Swamy said.  Cabinet expansion in two days Yediyurappa also said that the final list of new ministers to be inducted to the cabinet would be ready in the next two days. Speaking to the media ahead of the state cabinet meeting, BS Yediyurappa said, “I have discussed the issue of cabinet expansion with Amit Shah (Union Home Minister). The final list of candidates will be ready in two days. After that, an announcement will be made.”   

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