Karnataka

Police said the decision to extend Section 144 throughout the state will lie with the district police chiefs and local magistrates taking a call on the local conditions.

IANS

Karnataka state witnessed no untoward incident on Saturday, post Supreme Court's landmark verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute, said a police official."No violence or any sort of untoward incident occurred in Karnataka or Bengaluru. Absolutely peaceful," Karnataka Additional Director General of Police Amar Kumar Pandey told IANS. Neither violence nor any rally of any sort was reported from across the state or in Bengaluru following the verdict on the decades-long dispute, Pandey said. Interestingly, the top police official confirmed that no party erupted in joy with pyrotechnics or sweets distribution in the light of the Supreme Court decision. Earlier in the day, a five-member Constitutional bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, delivered the judgement in New Delhi, directing the central government to hand over the disputed land to the Hindus for building a Ram temple by a state-run trust. Pandey said the decision to extend Section 144 throughout the state will lie with the district police chiefs and local magistrates taking a call on the local conditions. Similarly, the decision on the liquor ban across the state will also be taken by local district authorities, factoring in the prevailing situation, added Pandey. BCP has made elaborate security arrangements in view of #AYODHYAVERDICT as a precautionary measure to ensure safety and security of the citizens. For any emergency inform Dial-100 or nearest Police Station. pic.twitter.com/tJkSBFWMdZ — BengaluruCityPolice (@BlrCityPolice) November 9, 2019 Aiming at thwarting any untoward incident on Friday after the Supreme Court verdict, security has been tightened across the city and state. All Bengaluru schools and colleges were shut and Section 144 of the CrPC (Criminal Procedure Code) was in force from 7:00 a.m. to be continued till midnight on Saturday to prevent assembling of more than five persons in public places. Bengaluru police deployed 15,000 policemen and women with additional 50 platoons of Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP), 30 platoons of the City Armed Police (CAR) and 20 platoons of home guards were roped in to be deployed in sensitive areas. Despite the heightened security, life was normal in Bengaluru like any other Saturday.

Body 2:

Crime

The move comes after the CBI on Friday conducted raids on two IPS officers in the state.

TNM Staff

Just a day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided IPS officers in Karnataka, including Hemant Nimbalkar and Ajay Hilory, in the I-Monetary Advisory (IMA) scam, a case has been registered against IAS officer BM Vijay Shankar. Vijay Shankar was the Deputy Commissioner for Urban Bengaluru district when the scam broke out. Other than Vijay Shankar, the CBI has booked LC Nagaraj, the then Sub-Division Officer, Bangalore North Division; Manjunath, Village Accountant, officiating at Sub-Division Office, Bangalore North Division; among others. All of them have been booked under Section 7 (Public servant taking gratification other than legal remuneration); Section 7(A) (taking undue advantage of public), Section 8 (Taking gratification, in order, by corrupt or illegal means, to influence public servant) and Section 12 (Punishment for abetment of offences defined in section 7) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. In a release, the CBI said. “Vijay Shankar and Nagaraj accepted illegal gratification from the Directors of IMA Group of companies through Manjunath who acted as a mediator for the transaction. The illegal gratification was demanded and accepted by the above two public servants for forwarding a favourable report to Government in an enquiry into the illegal activities of IMA Group of Companies which was under their consideration.” It added, “The illegal gratification of Rs 1.5 crores demanded by Shri. B.M. Vijay Shankar was delivered to a real estate.” Further, Nagaraj obtained an illegal gratification of Rs 4 crores and Manjunath, who acted as a mediator for these transactions, accepted Rs 8 lakhs as illegal gratification from the Directors of IMA Company, the CBI said. IMA has allegedly duped over 40,000 investors to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore under the pretext of ‘halal’ investment. The scam broke out on June 10, after thousands of investors accused the Managing Director of IMA, Mohammed Mansoor Khan, of cheating them. While the investigations were started by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) as ordered by former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, the CBI is currently probing under the orders of current Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. Incidentally, this is the third FIR registered by the CBI in the case.

Body 2:

Politics

The SC will announce its verdict on the rebel MLAs case on November 13

TNM Staff

The Election Commission of India on Sunday announced that the byepolls in 15 Karnataka Assembly seats will be conducted on December 5 as earlier announced. For the same, the Model code of conduct will come into force from Monday in the district(s) in which the whole or any part of the Assembly constituency going for election is included, subject to partial modification. The announcement by EC comes after the Supreme Court on Friday said the fate of the 17 disqualified Karnataka MLAs will be decided on November 13. These MLAs of the former JD(S)-Congress coalition government had resigned from their positions to pave way for the BJP to form a government in the state. The MLAs are hoping for a favourable verdict as they want to contest the bye-elections in the 17 constituencies. The bye-elections to 15 constituencies were initially scheduled for October 21 but it was later deferred until the three-judge bench decides on the petitions by the 17 disqualified legislators. Bye-elections to RR Nagar and Maski are yet to be announced. The bye-elections were first rescheduled for December 5 but the disqualified MLAs once again moved the SC to further defer the polls until the case is resolved. The polling will happen in 4185 polling stations. The 17 rebels include Pratap Gouda Patil, BC Patil, Shivaram Hebbar, ST Someshekhar, Byrati Basavraj, Anand Singh, R Roshan Baig, Muniratna, K Sudhakar, MTB Nagaraj, Shrimant Patil, Ramesh Jarkiholi, Mahesh Kumatahalli and R Shankar from the Congress and JD(S) legislators AH Vishwanath, Gopalaiah and Narayana Gowda. For the byepolls, the EC said an integrated Complaint Monitoring and Media Monitoring centre has been established in the O/o Chief Electoral Officer, 2nd floor, East Wing, Khanija Bhavan, Race Course Road, Bengaluru. Other than letters and email at ceo.karnataka@gmail.com, voters can complain of violations through National Grievances Redressal System (NGRS) web portal, or by calling 1950 toll free number for District Voter Helpline and 1800 4255 1950 for State Voter Helpline.

Body 2:

Transport

Alternate BMTC Metro feeder buses will be provided on all four days for the benefit of passengers affected by the suspension of services.

TNM Staff

File photo

Bengaluru Metro train services between Yelachenahalli and RV Road on the Green Line will be suspended for four days, from November 14 to 17. Normal train services will resume from the morning of November 18. The suspension of services is to accommodate the work being undertaken to convert the RV Road Metro station into an interchange station between the Green line and the proposed Electronic City Metro Corridor. Alternate BMTC Metro feeder buses will be provided on all four days for the benefit of passengers affected by the suspension of the services. These buses can be availed at the affected metro stations and will stop at the intermediate Metro stations – Banashankari and JP Nagar. The buses will be available from 4.45 am onwards from the Yelachenahalli Metro station and from 5.30 am onwards at the RV Road Metro station. They will be available up to 10.30 pm at the Yelachenahalli Metro station and up to 11.45 pm at the RV Metro station. However, on Sunday, November 17, the bus services will start later in the morning; at 6.30 am from Yelachenahalli and at 7.15 am from RV Road. The work being undertaken is to launch viaduct superstructures south of the RV Road Metro station. Viaducts are structures that are designed to cross waterbodies and valleys with several short arches without the construction of a bridge. BMRCL expects to finish the scheduled work within the four days. This work comes close on the heels of the Karnataka government’s decision to extend the service of the state-run Metro network to 300 km from the current 119 km. This comes at a whopping cost of Rs 30,695 crore. The service is expected to take thousands of vehicles off the road. All other Metro services will continue as usual next week. The Purple Line will not be affected by this work.

Body 2:

Crime

While the Bangalore Cantonment Police registered a case, it was transferred to the Jolarpettai Railway Police Station based on jurisdiction.

Soumya Chatterjee

Image for representation

The Tamil Nadu police detained a man after a 28-year-old Bengaluru marketing executive accused him of groping her while she was asleep when travelling by train last week. This after she confronted the alleged assaulter with the help of her friends after a chase through the train’s compartments, despite no immediate help from the police or rail officials. According to the FIR which TNM has accessed, Christina* (name changed) boarded coach S-8 of the Kochuveli-Mysore Express at Ernakulam along with her friends on November 5. The alleged groping occurred around 5 am the next day. The accused has been identified as 32-year-old Sunish V. While the Bangalore Cantonment Police registered a case under IPC section 354A (Sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment), it was transferred to the Jolarpettai Railway Police Station based on jurisdiction. The police have taken down the details of the accused and are likely to arrest him based on further investigation, sources said. The official transfer of the case will take 10 days. The FIR read: “Midway through her journey on 06-11-2019 early morning 04.45 am to 05.30 am between Salem and Tirupattur she was awakened from her sleep to find the accused who touched her back and bottom in a sexually intended manner. She immediately got up and the accused began to quickly walk away to the next coach. She followed him whilst raising an alarm for help and finally caught hold of him in the adjacent coach. When confronted, the accused feigned innocence, but she did not receive immediate help.” It added, “Then she went back to her coach to find help during which the accused managed to slip away. Along with her fellow travellers and friends traced him down to a few coaches away and confronted him again. They immediately tried to find TTE or the police but to no avail and had to wait till the next station Tirupattur to get help. Here, they got off to look for help but did not find any immediately. Due to the lack of immediate available of help and lack of time her friend pulled the emergency chain, till we got help. Only after this did the GRP police and RPF Tirupattur arrived and the accused was handed over to them at Tirupattur (sic).” The woman could not register a complaint with the local police immediately due to lack of time, and lodged a complaint with the Bangalore Cantonment Police after she alighted. Vadivukarasi, Inspector at Jolarpettai Railway Police Station, said, “We were not able to take further action since a complaint was not registered. If the complaint was filed with the Bengaluru Cantonment Railway Police, they should have reached out to us to know about the accused so as to make the arrest. Immediate communication would have meant that we could have handed him over.”

Body 2:

Transport

Railway officials said that the Bengaluru-Whitefield train will have a composition of two motor cars and six trailing cars.

TNM Staff

PTI/ File image

Rail users from Bengaluru and nearby towns and cities have reasons to cheer with the recent upgradation of infrastructure undertaken by the South Western Railways. While a new train suburban service from Whitefield was flagged off on Saturday, traveling on trains between Bengaluru and Mysuru will take 30 minutes less than it used to take before. Benefiting a lot of people commuting between Bengaluru Central Business District areas and Whitefield, the South Western Railway has started an additional train service between City Railway Station (Majestic) and Whitefield. The train will start from KSR Bengaluru at 5.50 pm and reach Whitefield at 6.40 pm and will run via Bengaluru Cantonment, Bengaluru East, Baiyappanahalli, KR Puram, and Hoodi. In the opposite direction, the train will depart from Whitefield station at 6.50 pm and reach Cantonment at 7.25 pm. Railway officials said that the train will have a composition of two motor cars and six trailing cars. While the motor cars can carry 226 passengers – 155 sitting and 121 standing – the trailing cars can carry 325 passengers Flagging off the train, Bengaluru Central MP PC Mohan said, “In response to demand of commuters, I am happy to inform additional trains will commence operations. I thank the Minister of State, Railways, Suresh Angadi for agreeing to my request and sanctioning additional trains.” According to officials, automatic signalling works have facilitated this addition of service. Krishna Prasad, a veteran suburban rail activist, said, “This is a long standing demand and it will benefit a lot of IT/BT professionals, students, domestic and factory workers alike.” This announcement comes after similar addition of services between Tumakuru-Yeshwantapur line. Bengaluru-Mysuru The electrification and doubling of tracks between Bengaluru and Mysuru will see as many as 11 trains to reduce the travel time between the two cities. For this, the departure time of these trains have been deferred by 30 minutes. With the use of electric engines, the railways will also save a lot of financial resources otherwise used as fuel expenses as trains with 24 coaches need two engines in this route due to the undulating terrain.

Body 2:

Birth Anniversary

With no state sponsored celebrations this year, a few private celebrations were held in Mandya and Mysuru districts, the seat of Tipu's erstwhile Mysore kingdom.

TNM Staff

Scores of people paid tributes to 18th century controversial Mysore ruler Hazrath Tipu Sultan (1750-1799) in Karnataka's Srirangapatna on his 270th birth anniversary. This included Congress legislator Tanveer Sait who paid tributes to Tipu Sultan in Srirangapatna. "Though the BJP government discontinued Tipu Jayanthi from this year owing to opposition from its legislators and right-wing groups, Sait, cadres and religious leaders paid tributes to the erstwhile king by offering flowers and a shawl (chadar) to his tomb at Gumbaz in Srirangapatna," party's state unit spokesman Ravi Gowda said. Hundreds of Muslims celebrated it along with Prophet Mohammed's birthday on Eid-Miladin-Nabi across the southern state amid tight security. Tanveer, a four-time lawmaker from the Narasimharaja assembly segment in Mysuru, is also chairman of Tipu's Saheed Wakf Estate in the state's cultural capital. Inayath ur Rahman Rizvi, Shahi Imam, Masjid e Aqsa, Gumbaz, prayed and read some verses of the Holy Quran. There were no celebrations in Kodagu district of Karnataka. The celebrations, which were held by the state government from 2015, were discontinued this year after an interim order was passed by the BJP-led government on July 30, just days after the party came to power in the state. In the first year of celebration, two persons were killed in Kodagu district after violent clashes. The order by the BJP-led government was challenged in the Karnataka High Court and on November 6, the high court's division bench, headed by Chief Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice S.R. Krishnakumar, directed the state government to reconsider its July 30 cabinet decision and respond by third week of January 2020. The bench also said that private celebrations of Tipu Jayanti were allowed and asked the state government to place on record the order cancelling Tipu Jayanti celebrations in the state. The previous Congress government revived Tipu Jayanthi in November 2015 and continued till 2018 when it was in the 14-month coalition government with the Janata Dal-Secular (JD(S)) till July 23 despite opposition by the BJP then. The ruling BJP and its right-wing allies consider Tipu a tyrant, religious bigot and anti-Hindu who forcibly converted hundreds of Hindus to Islam and persecuted those who opposed. Every year since 2015, the BJP ran a campaign criticising Tipu for killing Kodavas and Mangaluru Christians, and pillaging temples in south India. The opposition Congress, however, claim Tipu was a valiant hero, secular and a freedom-fighter who fought the British to protect his kingdom and its people from the invaders. The developments also come at a time when Appachu Ranjan, the MLA of Madikeri in Kodagu, has petitioned the Karnataka Education Department to remove all references to Tipu Sultan in textbooks printed in the state. With IANS inputs

Body 2:

Agriculture

So far, Fundmycrop has worked with fruit and vegetable farmers in Dharwad, Belagavi and Mysuru.

Geetika Mantri

Some farmers associated with Fundmycrop

Crowdfunding has become a result-oriented new way of raising awareness about everything from social issues, natural disasters, urgent requirements of those in need, and even business ideas. And now, a young duo from Karnataka is using the concept to help farmers in the state earn a steady income and eliminate middlemen. Fundmycrop, a platform started by 23-year-old Nithin Bhat and 24-year-old Sharath aims to combine a subscription-based advance payment model with crowdfunding to not only help urban families and millennials connect with farmers, but to also enable the latter to earn assured salaries for their fruit and vegetable crop. The cofounders The initiative was started by the engineering graduates in January this year, and has also found some backing through government schemes. Incubated at Manipal Universal Technology Business Incubator (MUTBI), Fundmycrop has been selected under the National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (NIDHI-EIR) Scheme of the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Department of Science and Technology. MUTBI at Manipal is one of the Program Execution Partners of the NIDHI-EIR Scheme. It has also been selected to receive a grant under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana-Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied Sector Rejuvenation Scheme (RSVY-RAFTAAR). How it works Fundmycrop tweaked their business model just a month ago to make it more sustainable. Sharath explains how it will work: If a farmer has an acre of land and can grow 10,000 kilos of tomatoes, this information will be made available on Fundmycrop. “If you want to buy five kilos, you pay for that much in advance. Similarly, someone else can book two kilos. This way, we hope to ensure that the entire 10,000 kilos has takers.” “This is called advance buying,” adds Nithin. “You are helping the farmer grow what you require.” This quantity is then delivered directly to your home weekly, he adds. In doing so, Sharath says that they hope to remove middlemen, and also make urban populations connect with the farmer. “You can go to the field, which will likely be around 30 kilometres from the city, see the crops and so on. Gamification of anything makes it appealing to urban millennials,” Nithin points out. So far, Fundmycrop has worked with fruit and vegetable farmers in Dharwad, Belagavi and Mysuru. Presently, they have around 19 subscribers for this model – mostly apartment dwellers and families – and deliveries of the produce are likely to start by November 15. At the time of writing, the co-founders said that they are focused on Mysuru. Why the earlier model was ditched Earlier, Fundmycrop’s model allowed people to invest anywhere from Rs 2000 to Rs 5 lakh in a farmer of their choice on their platform. This was the crowdfunding aspect – where people could pledge their desired amount. These funds would be used by the farmer to cultivate crops, which would subsequently be sold by Fundmycrop to B2B clients. While 70% of the profit earned would go to the farmer, investors would get 5% interest after three months on their investment. However, Nithin and Sharath realised that this was not a sustainable model. “There were many hidden costs that we had not taken into account,” explains Nithin. “Sometimes, the produce was not good, or even if the crop failed, we had to get it from elsewhere for the B2B clients. We would also have to return the money to the investors with 5% interest regardless of anything. Profits would vary based on the market price at the time too.” At the time, Fundmycrop was looking at a demand of 400 kg from various companies that provide grocery items and delivery. Further, after surveying around 750 farmers, the co-founders realised that initial investment was not really a problem for fruit and vegetable farmers. Their earlier model was seeking to provide cultivators with the funds even before they sowed the crop. “The real issue farmers were facing was that of good prices for their produce, and assured returns,” the co-founders say. Therefore, Fundmycrop decided to change things up. Now they assure a fixed price per unit of the fruit or vegetable to the farmer – this depends on the market price too. The farmer gets whichever is higher. Once the funds are received through crowdfunding, Fundmycrop disburses the amount to the farmers in pre-decided monthly instalments. “Like a salary,” notes Sharath, “which is what we learnt during our surveys. The farmers wanted a steady source of income.” By next year, Fundmycrop hopes to have anywhere from 100 to 1,000 subscribers on board to “adopt” these farmers, be involved with them, and help them earn steady incomes.

Body 2:

Civic

The corner bund of Hosakerehalli lake in south Bengaluru breached at 2 am on Sunday.

TNM Staff

Authorities were immediately notified of the breach on Sunday and after several hours working with earthmovers, sandbags and stones, the gap was filled. Low-lying areas adjacent to Hosakerehalli lake in south Bengaluru were flooded after the corner bund of the waterbody breached at 2 am on Sunday. Residents living in the low-lying Pushpagiri Layout, which is adjacent to the lake, were up in arms against the contractor working for the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) for negligence, which caused the breach. They said that the contractor had cut open a part of the bund and laid a pipeline to connect it to a stormwater drain. Due to heavy rains on Saturday night, the water in the lake increased and the lake bund breached, residents told The Hindu. Authorities were immediately notified of the breach and with earthmovers, sandbags and stones, the gap was filled after several hours. The city civic body, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner BH Anil Kumar said that a case would be registered against the contractor for his lapses. He confirmed that the BDA had employed a contractor for restoration work at the lake and that the contractor had cut open the bund to lay a pipeline. But due to the faulty work and the heavy rains on Saturday, the lake bund breached. Commuters on the underpass of Kerekodi Road were also affected as the breach made the road slushy. Traffic movement was restricted on the road for a few hours. Hosakerahalli was chosen by the BBMP to store rainwater run in Bengaluru (South). Following the breach on Sunday, BBMP Mayor Gautam Kumar said that he is convening a meeting involving BDA, BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board) and BBMP officials, reported Deccan Herald. This is the second such incident in Bengaluru in a month after a similar breach occurred at the Doddabidarakallu lake in October. The breach affected hundreds of houses and led to the loss of properties as well.

Body 2:

Bangalore Lit Fest

Sharda Ugra, a senior editor with ESPNCricinfo, was speaking at the Bangalore Literature Festival, alongside former Australian umpire Simon Taufel and Indian cricketer Mayank Agarwal.

Prajwal Bhat

Twitter: Bangalore Literature Festival

What makes a writer follow a story? Ask sports writer Sharda Ugra and the reply comes almost immediately: "Curiosity". Explaining this, she states an example: Almost 30% of footballers in India come from the northeastern states."Why is a relatively small region with a fraction of our population contributing so many players? Journalists need to ask these questions and have the curiosity to find answers," said Sharda, who was speaking at the Bangalore Literature Festival, alongside former Australian umpire Simon Taufel and Indian cricketer Mayank Agarwal, at a panel discussion on 'Writing Sport'. Sharda is a senior editor with ESPNCricinfo and has been a journalist for three decades now. She began her career in November 1989. In April 2018, she reported on the state of football in the northeastern states of India. She specifically focused on Assam, where she found that the league football was not developed and that young footballers subsequently left to other states in their teenage years. Sharda is among the few women sports journalists to report on cricket, which is her forte, and just as easily, she covers football, tennis and basketball. She also recollected an incident from one of her first stories as a sports journalist in 1989 for the audience. "It was the time when Sachin Tendulkar was making his test debut in Pakistan. I looked up a telephone directory in Mumbai and found the landline number of his family. I called the number up and spoke to his (Tendulkar's) brother and parents for a quote on how they feel," she said explaining the difference in how sports journalism has changed today. To this, Simon Taufel wondered if Tendulkar's phone number will be available anywhere now. Taufel, who won five consecutive ICC Umpire of the Year awards between 2004 and 2008, and is considered one of the best cricket umpires of his time. He spoke about the mental aspect of being a cricketer and a cricket umpire. Indian cricketer Mayank Agarwal, who is from Karnataka, also received a warm response from the audience at the festival. He shared his experience of struggling in the Ranji Trophy before making his surprise debut in the Indian test team in December 2018.

Body 2:

Politics

Speaking to TNM, Raju Kage said that he would like to contest on a Congress ticket from Kagwad.

TNM Staff

Former BJP MLA from Karnataka’s Kagwad, Raju Kage, is all set to quit the party and join Congress on Tuesday. Raju Kage held talks with Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly – Siddaramaiah, on Monday and announced his decision. Speaking to TNM, Raju Kage said that he would like to contest as a Congress candidate from Kagwad. “I have spoken to Siddaramaiah and I will contest from Kagad on a Congress ticket if the party gives me a ticket,” Raju Kage said. Raju Kage is yet to tender his resignation to the BJP state President Nalin Kumar Kateel. He had come down to Bengaluru on Sunday and held talks with former Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar before making the decision. Kage had openly expressed his disappointment at not being allotted a ticket to contest from Kagwad. The BJP has not yet announced its candidate list for the December 5 bye-elections as the Supreme Court has not yet delivered its verdict in the disqualified MLAs case. The 17 disgruntled leaders from the Congress and JD(S) had resigned en masse in July this year, which brought down the Congress-JD(S) coalition government. These rebel leaders had decided to join the BJP and contest bye-elections. However, former Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar had disqualified them, which led the renegade leaders to move the Supreme Court, seeking its order to quash the disqualification. The court’s judgment will be pronounced on Wednesday. Raju Kage was the BJP’s face in Kagwad, and is an arch rival of Srimanth Patil, the disqualified MLA from this segment. Raju Kage has been vocal about his disappointment with the BJP for not offering him a ticket to contest the bye-polls. Kage has also been campaigning against Srimanth Patil in Kagwad. He has alleged that Srimanth Patil faked an illness and got out of the resort where Congress leaders were lodged. Srimanth Patil was one of the legislators, who was cooped up in Golden Palms resort in Bengaluru ahead of the vote of confidence. Srimanth Patil had left the resort and was flown on a private jet to Mumbai’s Renaissance Hotel, where the rebel leaders were lodged. Srimanth Patil’s picture, where he was lying on a stretcher with cables monitoring his heart rate, had gone viral. Patil had also written an email to the Speaker saying he would not be able to attend the session as he was unwell and was on his way to Mumbai for treatment. Speaking to TNM, a senior Congress leader said that the party will decide whether or not Kage must be given the Kagwad ticket depending upon the Supreme Court's judgment in the rebel MLAs' case. Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, speaking to the media, said, "It does not matter who joins or leaves the party. BJP will win the bye-elections in at least 13 out of 15 constituencies."

Body 2:

Infrastructure

The BBMP will conduct a structural audit on these buildings and decide whether they have to be demolished.

TNM Staff

Representation Photo

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike or BBMP, Bengaluru's civic body has started issuing notices to owners of 178 buildings across the city and asking them to vacate the premises. The BBMP officials say that these 178 buildings are “on the verge of collapsing” as they have structural flaws. Of the 178 buildings, the BBMP issed notices to 77 building owners on Monday and have asked them to vacate the premises immediately and make way for structural audit of the building. BBMP officials say that notices to the remaining building owners would be issued by the end of Tuesday. Of the 77 buildings, 30 are located in the South Zone, 6 in the West Zone, 33 in East Zone, 8 in Yelahanka and 2 in Mahadevapura Zone. In July this year, the Karnataka High Court had taken suo motu cognisance of unauthorized and illegal constructions in Bengaluru after two buildings collapsed in Cooke Town and killed five people. The Karnataka High Court had pulled up the BBMP for not taking action against unauthorized and illegal constructions and it was then that the BBMP conducted a survey based on the court's directions. “The court had asked us to conduct a survey of all buildings in Bengaluru and come up with a list of structurally unsafe ones. Each zonal chief engineer was directed to conduct a survey and so far the survey has been completed in five zones,” said Prasad, BBMP Additional Commissioner of Town Planning. Once the structural audit is complete, the chief engineer of each zone has been instructed to write up reports stating whether the structural defects in each building can be repaired or not. “The owners, whose buildings can be repaired, can make the necessary repairs and only then can people occupy the building. If the building cannot be repaired, the BBMP will demolish such structures," Prasad added. The survey revealed that the buildings had either not complied with prescribed norms during the stage of construction or used substandard materials. In the Cooke Town building collapse case, the builder had constructed one additional floor without approval. The foundation and the building plan were flawed. The strength of the building could not withstand the weight of the additional floor and the people and items lodged in the building; Additional Commissioner Prasad says. “In most of the cases, the building plans show two or three floors and the actual structure has more number of floors. There are a lot of such constructions in Bengaluru but in the ones we have identified, the structural integrity of the building cannot withstand the weight of the additional floors like the Cooke Town case,” Prasad said. Speaking to TNM, head of BBMP Legal Cell Keshav Deshpande said that the Karnataka High Court had instructed the BBMP to conduct an audit in July. The survey was completed last week and the details were also submitted to the High Court on Friday.

Body 2:

Cricket Betting

A local court remanded Sayyam to nine days' police custody, for his role in the J.P. Nagar case, related to the KPL betting scam.

IANS

A Haryana-based cricket bookie has been arrested in connection with an old Karnataka Premier League (KPL) betting case, an officer said on Monday."Sayyam has been arrested, however, we are not able to extract much information from him yet, the interrogation is continuing," Central Crime Branch ACP S.M. Nagraj told IANS. A local court remanded Sayyam to nine days' police custody, for his role in the J.P. Nagar case, related to the KPL betting scam. Police arrested Sayyam in Bengaluru on Sunday, however, no valuables such as cash or others were confiscated from him, Nagraj said. Two cricketers accused of receiving money in the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) betting case were remanded to seven-day police custody for interrogation on Friday. Former Karnataka Ranji wicketkeeper-batsman C.M. Gautam and his team batsman Abrar Kazi were arrested early on Thursday under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code. Since the investigation began after Belagavi Panthers' owner Asfaq Ali Thara was arrested on September 25, six persons have been taken into custody -- Gautam, Kazi, Nishant Singh Shekawat and Vishwanathan of Bengaluru Blasters, their bowling coach Vinu Prasad and Tuskers drummer Bhuvenash Bafna. The KSCA runs the KPL T20 tournament every year on the lines of the popular Indian Premier League (IPL) of the cash-rich Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The KPL tournament for 2019 was held from August 16-31. The KPL has seven teams representing prominent cities and towns across the southern state, including Bengaluru Blasters, Bellary Tuskers, Bijapur Bulls, Hubli Tigers, Mysuru Warriors and Namma Shivamogga squad. KSCA suspended Gautam and Kazi from all activities in the state and barred both of them from using its facilities at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium in the city.

Body 2:

Bangalore Lit Fest

The two venues at the festival were named after Karnad's plays, 'Tughlaq' and 'Yayati.'

TNM Staff

Discussion by Jayant Kaikini, B Jayashree and K Marulasiddappa

The influence of Girish Karnad and his work were ever-present at the 8th edition of the Bangalore Lit Fest which concluded on Sunday. The literature festival celebrated the eminent theatre personality with sessions revolving around his work. Two of the three venues at the festival were named after Karnad's plays, Tughlaq and Yayati. "We had a remembrance for him and he is Bengaluru's own. So, therefore we named our two stages after his plays to honour him," says Shinie Antony, Founding Trustee and Director of the festival. Karnad passed away in June this year after a career spanning over six decades. He is considered one of India's most noted playwrights, and is a recipient of the Jnanpith, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awards. He wrote his first play, the critically acclaimed Yayati (1961), when he was still at Oxford University. A session was also held on Saturday title 'Writer, Playwright, Humanist: The Life and Work of Girish Karnad'. It was a discussion between Jayant Kaikini, noted poet and short-story writer, B Jayashree, actor and theatre personality, and K Marulasiddappa, a Kannada writer. It was moderated by Preethi Nagaraj. In the session, Jayant spoke about his experiences and encounters with Karnad. "We generally read or see his fiction works in the form of books and movies which gives us exposure to his excellence of creation while his non-fiction provides an extended glimpse of Karnad as a person," he said. Jayashree meanwhile sang a song written by Karnad from the play Nagamandala. Jayashree and Karnad acted together in the film based on the play. A four-minute speech by Karnad from the Amar Ujala Awards, which was his last time on camera, was also screened at the festival. In 2017, Girish Karnad was a panelist at the Bangalore Lit Fest. He spoke alongside Guillermo Rodriguez, who edited a book on late poet-scholar AK Ramanujan. The topic of the panel discussion was 'The World of AK Ramanujan' in which Karnad paid tribute to the poet-scholar who was his personal acquaintance.

Body 2:

Animal Cruelty

The dog, which was lying in a pool of blood, was rushed to the hospital by Bengaluru residents.

Alithea Stephanie Mounika

A stray dog was shot at three times with an air gun in Bengaluru’s Jayanagar 5th block on Monday morning. The police have arrested a 75-year-old man in connection with the incident. A group of citizens noticed the brown stray dog lying in a pool of blood. They called for help, and then rushed the dog to Jeeva Pet Hospital in JP Nagar in an auto. The x-ray reports showed three air-gun pellets in three different places in the dog’s body. The images also showed that there was a long superficial cut on the dog’s body near the chest area. Visuals of the dog show it lying on a stretcher, with an IV line connected to its paw, in a semi-conscious state. The dog is currently out of danger. However, the dog is on IV to maintain its fluid levels while it recovers from the shock. Jayanagar MLA Soumya Reddy also visited the dog in hospital and promised that the offender would be brought to book. The Jayanagar police have filed an FIR against a couple. Police said that the wife is a former military officer and is permitted service weapons. The Jayanagar Police said that Dr C Shyamsundar allegedly shot the dog as it was dirtying the spot outside his house. "He told us that he shot the dog as it had been dirtying the spot right outside the gate to his house. We have arrested him and booked him under relevant sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act," the Jayanagar Police said. In December 2017, an ex-army man in New Delhi allegedly shot dead a dog with his rifle. A video of the crime went viral on social media. The dog had allegedly bitten his prize buffalo and the man wanted to take revenge on it. On Sunday, a pregnant cat was found hung to death in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. Read: Pregnant cat found hanged to death, Kerala police register FIR

Body 2:

Bangalore Lit Fest

Vaibhav Purandare, author of 'Savarkar: The true story of the father of Hindutva', discussed the Hindutva leader at Bangalore Lit Fest.

Prajwal Bhat

Photograph via Bangalore Literature Festival

While the BJP-led government has been making efforts to position Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (also known as Veer Savarkar) and his ideologies as their guiding principles, an author of a recent biography revealed that Savarkar also held views that wouldn’t necessarily be endorsed by the BJP today. Author and editor Vaibhav Purandare recently made this point during a discussion with journalist Varghese K George, an associate editor with The Hindu, at the Bangalore Literature Festival. Vaibhav is the author of 'Savarkar: The true story of the father of Hindutva', a biography of the Hindutva leader. “Savarkar seems to be steering the Indian government at present because he was very clear that the concept of religion is implicit in the definition of who is an Indian citizen,” Vaibhav said, referring to the National Register of Citizens (NRC), and the proposed amendments to the Citizenship Bill. However, at the same time, Savarkar was averse to religious ritualism and was an atheist towards the end of his life, according to Vaibhav. "Towards the end of his life, he was a complete atheist. For him, Hindutva was more about regaining Hindu spaces from British invaders and the Muslims who had desanctified and destroyed them," he said. Vaibhav also said that Savarkar was not a proponent of protecting cows. "Even his stance on cow protection has been misinterpreted by most. Contrary to popular belief, his principles of Hindutva condemn the killing of a cow only when it is motivated by spite, not for dietary causes," Vaibhav said. "He (Savarkar) said that if the cow is the mother of anything then it is the bullock", he added. Vaibhav described Savarkar as a complex person and someone who would “often plunge into an activity just simply because he very strongly believed in something.” This applied to the change in his ideologies through his lifetime. According to Vaibhav, Savarkar advocated Hindu-Muslim unity for the first half of his life, and later embraced Hindutva and aggressive Hindu assertiveness in the second half of his life. He put this change down to "30 years of inhumane living conditions, torture, and debasing at the hands of Muslim, Pathan, and Baluchi jailors in the Cellular Jail,” Vaibhav said. Savarkar was imprisoned in the Cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar Islands for the first time in 1911. Varghese however pointed out that another eminent freedom fighter of that time, Bal Gangadhar Tilak also went to prison, and instead came out a strong advocate of Hindu-Muslim unity. However, the brutality at the Cellular Jail prompted Savarkar to shift ideologies. He had also submitted mercy petitions to the British upon his arrest. Varghese contrasted Savarkar's plea for mercy with Bhagat Singh's martyrdom and sacrifice. Vaibhav responded by stating that the two situations were from different points of the freedom struggle."Savarkar, you see, was a person who was convinced that he was a leader of a movement. He was not a mere foot-soldier. He felt that his leadership was necessary to guide people, and so he didn’t want to end his own life," Vaibhav added. While in prison, Savarkar codified the Hindutva philosophy in a book, Hindutva: Who is a Hindu.

Body 2:

Crime

The youths have been given bail.

Theja Ram

In the '90s Kannada horror films, a ghost typically wore white robes and a wig with long hair that covered its face - and many of us may have scared a sleeping sibling by taking inspiration from the screen. But these seven Bengaluru men took it a notch higher and tried to scare unsuspecting late night commuters in the city. They have now landed in the police net. The Bengaluru police on Monday arrested seven men for dressing up in white robes, wearing wigs covering their faces and scaring commuters on the road in Sharifnagar near Yeshwanthpur. Videos of the pranks they pulled on several homeless residents and commuters went viral soon after the arrest. In one of the videos, two men dressed like ghosts are seen running towards an autorickshaw in an attempt to scare the driver. The autorickshaw driver is seen reversing his vehicle and driving away with fear. Several other videos of the group trying to scare motorists have also gone viral. Around 2 pm on Monday morning, 20-year-old Shaan Kalik and his friends tried to pull pranks on unsuspecting commuters. While they scared a few of them, an auto driver, whom the group targeted, reported the incident to a beat constable attached with the Soladevanahalli Police Station, who was deployed for duty."The auto driver was scared. He initially said that there were ghosts on the road. Soon after he complained, several other commuters too complained of a few youths who were pranking commuters. We arrested seven men later in the day after obtaining some CCTV footage," DCP North Sashikumar said. Shaan Nallik (22), Nived (20), Sajeel Mohammed (21), Mohammed Akhyub (20), Saakhib (20), Syed Nabeel (20) and Yousef Ahmed (20) are the arrested accused. “The boys were trying to pull pranks. They are young and wanted to have some fun but scaring people and causing mischief is illegal and since the auto driver filed a complaint, we had to take action,” a senior police official said. The seven accused have been booked under sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 504 (insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. “They procured station bail and have been let off since the offences are bailable,” the Soladevanahalli police said.

Body 2:

Civic Issues

On November 1, the BBMP had announced that it had set a deadline for themselves to fill all the potholes in Bengaluru by November 10.

TNM Staff

Representation photo

There are 742 potholes yet to be fixed in Bengaluru, announced the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner BH Anil Kumar on Monday evening. On November 1, the BBMP had announced that they had set a deadline for themselves, to fill up all potholes in the city by November 10. The data released by the Commissioner shows that the civic body had identified 10,656 potholes in Bengaluru, which includes East, West, South, Bommanahalli, Dasarahalli, Yelahanka, Mahadevapura and RR Nagar. Of the potholes identified, 9,914 were fixed before the self-imposed deadline. A total of 742 potholes are to be filled, it claimed. “Despite unexpected rains, very few potholes are left to be filled. They will be attended to soon,” the Commissioner said. However, these are official figures only, which means that it need not necessarily reflect the ground reality. For instance, TNM had reported earlier that sources within the BBMP have estimated 15,000 potholes in Bengaluru. The official figure — 10,656 — is, however, around several thousand lesser. Read: Bengaluru civic body promises to fill around 15,000 potholes in 10 days This update from Bengaluru’s civic body comes a day after the missed deadline of November 10, to fill up thousands of potholes in the city. TNM had also previously reported that all the contractors who miss the deadline would be blacklisted. However, according to a report by the Bangalore Mirror, the civic body Commissioner said that the deadline was only to ensure that the engineers would take up the work on a priority basis. He also added that pothole repair work is a routine matter for the BBMP, and that it is constantly battling potholes in all wards of the city. When BBMP made the announcement, residents in the city had questioned the impact that the cursory pothole filling exercise would have. Most requested that the government look into major road work, and not the futile exercise of repairing potholes that need to be repaired again after a few days.

Body 2:

Civic Issues

The court warned the BBMP that action would be initiated under contempt of court if it failed to compensate victims rightfully.

TNM Staff

The Karnataka High Court on Monday pulled up the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for not complying with its order to compensate victims of accidents caused due to potholes. A two-judge bench of Chief Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice SR Krishna Kumar was hearing a PIL filed by a resident of Koramangala -- Vijayan Menon and four others, who had stated that BBMP's negligence in filling up potholes had led to residents losing their lives in accidents, Deccan Herald reported. Justice Oka also warned the BBMP that action would be initiated under contempt of court if it failed to compensate victims rightfully. The court also directed the civic body to file an affidavit on non-compliance of the order, TOI reported. The court directed the BBMP to impose a fine on contractors who are responsible for maintaining the roads and use that money to compensate the victims, the report added. The BBMP's counsel told the court that between October 1 and November 8, a total of 9,319 potholes were filled of the 10,665 potholes that were identified. The BBMP also claimed that heavy rains were a major impediment to fill up the potholes. The engineers are working day and night and would complete the work by the end of November, it said in an affidavit, The Deccan Herald report said. The Palike's counsel submitted that there were no specific guidelines in the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act regarding the compensation for victims of pothole accidents. It told the court that new guidelines had to be framed and that the Palike is consulting with experts concerned and that evidence is needed to prove that the accidents happened due to potholes, due to which there were delays in compensating the victims. The BBMP also told the court that it was making efforts to ensure that the roads have no potholes, the report added. According to TOI, the court had pulled up the BBMP on July 31 and had asked the civic body to consider claims for compensation filed by victims of pothole-related accidents. On September 9, the court had asked the civic body to give publicity to the same. Earlier in October, the court had once again pulled up the BBMP for not advertising the court order that pothole accident victims could claim compensation. The BBMP's counsel had told the court at the time that it would comply with the court's order.

Body 2:

Court

DK Shivakumar's business associate Sachin Narayana, had approached the Karnataka High Court in July last year, seeking to quash the I-T case.

TNM Staff

The Karnataka High Court on Monday dismissed the petition filed by former Water Resource Minister DK Shivakumar’s associate, who had sought to quash the Income Tax Department’s investigation against him regarding alleged tax evasion and money laundering. The court dismissed Shivakumar’s business associate – Sachin Narayana’s petition in the wake of the Enforcement Directorate’s probe, into Shivakumar’s alleged money laundering activities. The Karnataka High Court had granted a stay on the Income Tax Department’s probe against Shivakumar on July 30 this year. One of the accused in the case – Sachin Narayana, DK Shivakumar’s business associate, had initially filed a petition to quash the Income Tax Department’s investigation with a Bengaluru sessions court in July this year. However, the sessions court had dismissed his petition. He had then moved the Karnataka High Court and on July 30, the court had issued an interim stay on the Income Tax Department’s probe. The High Court had then issued a common stay order for all accused in the case including DK Shivakumar. However, on August 17, Justice B Veerappa had modified the stay order and had only stayed the probe against one of the accused in the case – Sachin Narayana. The High Court modified the interim order after Additional Solicitor General of India (Karnataka HC) Prabuling Navadgi, who appeared for the Income Tax Department, told the court that the interim stay order was obtained by “suppressing” the fact that the Economic Offences Court had registered a criminal case and issued summons to all the accused much before the petition was filed before the High Court. The I-T Department filed the criminal case against DK Shivakumar, Karnataka Bhavan employee Anjaneya, Sunil Kumar Sharma – the proprietor of Sharma Travels and Sachin Narayana, for recovering alleged unaccounted cash of Rs 8.59 crore during search and seizure operations conducted at four apartments belonging to Shivakumar and his business associates, in Delhi in 2017.

Body 2:

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75-year-old Bengaluru man arrested for allegedly shooting dog with air gun

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Prank goes awry: Bengaluru youth dress up as ghosts to scare people, get arrested

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Karnataka HC raps BBMP for not compensating victims of pothole accidents

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