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Modi reaches Bengaluru for BJP national executive meet

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Photo: PTI

Photo: PTI

Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived here on Thursday on a three-day visit to attend the BJP’s national executive meeting, which got underway at a hotel in the city earlier in the day.

Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Bharatiya Janata Party’s national vice president B.S. Yeddyurappa and state unit president Prahlad Joshi received Modi after he landed at the HAL airport.

As hundreds of BJP cadres and supporters waited in the hot sun outside the airport to greet the prime minister, Modi suddenly alighted from the car and walked up to them, waving and smiling at them.

“We are humbled by Modi’s gesture to get down from his car and greet us in person. He is our party’s true leader and connects well with the workers,” an elated party worker told IANS.

Amid tight security, Modi drove to Raj Bhavan in a convoy, which was escorted by a fleet of police and VIP vehicles that blocked vehicular traffic on the 8-km route.

After resting for some time, Modi will drive to the Lalit Ashok hotel, two km from Raj Bhavan, to address party members in the evening.

On Friday, Modi will participate in the inaugural meeting of the party’s national executive at the same venue and later address a public meeting at the National College grounds.

“Modi will also attend the second day’s executive meeting on Saturday and address party members in the afternoon before lunch and leave for Delhi later,” a party official told IANS.

Though the national executive meeting is the first after the BJP came to power at the Centre in May 2014, it is the fourth time the meet is being held here after the first in 1993, second 1999 and the third 2008, when the party was in power in the southern state for five years.

“Modi will also interact with the BJP’s members in parliament and state legislatures on the margins of the meet and collect feedback from them on the people’s perception of the 10-month-old NDA government at the Centre,” the official said.

Keeping in view Modi’s penchant for his pet project Swachch Bharat Abhiyan (or Clean India Mission), the cash-starved Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) swung into action and spruced up some of the thoroughfares, roads and footpaths Modi will pass through during his stay in the city till Saturday afternoon.

In view of the presence of senior party leaders L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, party president Amit Shah, union ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, M. Venkaiah Nadu, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Rajiv Pratap Rudy, security has been tightened in the city, especially around the venues where Modi will visit.

(IANS)

Saina in quarters, Prannoy, Kashyap lose in Malaysia Open

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Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP

Photo: Ben Stansall/AFP

Kuala Lumpur: World No.1 Saina Nehwal reached the quarter-finals while men’s singles shuttlers H.S. Prannoy and Parupalli Kashyap suffered crushing defeats in the second round of the $500,000 Malaysia Open Superseries Premier at the Putra Stadium here on Thursday.

Olympic bronze medallist Saina registered a facile 21-13, 21-9 win in 30 minutes against Chinese qualifier Xue Yao in the second round of the women’s singles event.

In the last eight stage, the 25-year-old Hyderabadi, who currently trains under Vimal Kumar in Benagluru, will face World No.15 Sun Yu. The Chinese worked hard for her 21-17, 20-22, 21-17 victory over Malaysian Beiwen Zhang.

Prannoy, who jumped three places to be 14th in the World rankings on Thursday, lost 15-21, 14-21 in 52 minutes to five-time World champion Lin Dan of China.

World No.17 and Commonwealth Games champion Kashyap received a 10-21, 6-21 thrashing in 35 minutes at the hands of reigning World champion Chen Long of China.

In another heartbreak for India, leading Indian women’s doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa lost 23-21, 8-21, 17-21 in 58 minutes to the Indonesian pair of Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii.

In the quarter-finals, World No.1 Chen will face Kento Momota, who crushed Hu Yun 21-6, 21-9. Two-time Olympic champion Dan awaits the winner between India’s Kidambi Srikanth and Chinese Tian Houwei.

(IANS)

Scientists record warmest day ever in Antarctica

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The unprecedented highs occurred nearly three months past the usual warmest time of the year in the Antarctic Peninsula

An aircraft en route from Antarctica's Esperanza Base to Marambio Base. (Photo: Sebazac/flickr/cc)

An aircraft en route from Antarctica’s Esperanza Base to Marambio Base. (Photo: Sebazac/flickr/cc)

by Deirdre Fulton, Common Dreams

Two Antarctic weather stations recorded unprecedentedly high temperatures in March—offering grim evidence of accelerating climate change.

A potential Antarctica record high of 63.5 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded on March 24 at the Esperanza Base, just south of the southern tip of Argentina—a temperature exceeding any figure yet observed on the Antarctic landmass or Peninsula, according to the Weather Underground blog. The previous record high at the base, of 62.7 degrees Fahrenheit, was recorded in 1961.

The Esperanza reading came one day after a nearby weather station, at Marambio Base, saw a record high of its own: 63.3 degrees Fahrenheit.

“One surprising aspect of the temperatures measured recently at Esperanza and Marambio are that they occurred in autumn, nearly three months past the usual warmest time of the year in the Antarctic Peninsula,” notes Weather Underground.

The Guardian further explains:

[W]hether the recent readings represent records for Antarctica depends on the judgment of the World Meteorological Organization, the keeper of official global records for extreme temperatures, rainfall and hailstorms, dry spells and wind gusts. The WMO has recorded extreme temperatures in Antarctica but not settled the question of all-time records for the continent,according to Christopher Burt of Weather Underground.

One complicating factor is debate about what constitutes “Antarctica”. Both Esperanza and Marambio lie outside the Antarctic circle, though they are attached to the mainland by the frozen archipelago that is the Antarctic peninsula.

A separate study published in the journal Science at the end of March found that some ice shelves in the western part of the continent have lost up to 18 percent of their thickness in less than two decades.

The floating ice shelves surrounding the Antarctic Ice Sheet act as a “buttress to the ‘grounded’ ice, helping slow the flow of the ice sheet’s glaciers into the ocean,” Science journalist Carolyn Gramling explained.

She continued: “But warming ocean waters have been eating away at the underside of these ice shelves, thinning them in many places and reducing their ability to buttress the ice. This effect is particularly apparent in parts of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), long regarded as the more vulnerable part of the continent to climate change. Two regions of the WAIS, the Amundsen and Bellingshausen seas, have experienced especially dramatic losses of ice over the last couple of decades.”

Buhari wins – but the new president of Nigeria faces an enormous challenge

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by Catherine Gegout, The Conversation

Second time round for Buhari. EPA/STR

Second time round for Buhari. EPA/STR

Nigerians have chosen General Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler, over incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, to be their president. Following an election that saw 41 people killed in the north of the country, Goodluck conceded defeat, and congratulated Buhari on his victory.

Buhari’s military regime from 1983 to 1985 was draconian: he systematically repressed freedom of expression through the jailing of journalists, radical public intellectuals, and student protesters. He is now saying that “the global triumph of democracy has shown that another and a preferable path to change is possible”.

Nigerians decide. EPA/Tife Owolabi

Nigerians and the international community will be watching whether this time around Buhari will work for the common good in Nigeria.

Corruption and crisis

The general political and economic situation in Nigeria is problematic. Nigeria is home to a corrupt government. According to Transparency International, Nigeria is ranked 136 out of 175 states in terms of perceptions of corruption. Women are underrepresented in political affairs: until now, the House of Representatives had only one female principal officer, and only 7% of the 362 members were women. The House of Representatives committee on women has called for more participation from women in the nation’s politics. We will now see if the new government responds to this demand.

The economy is in crisis: Nigeria has an unhealthy dependence on its oil exports, which represent more than 80% of its national income. There has now been a drop in oil prices, which means that public sector jobs will have to be cut; 24% of Nigerians are unemployed. Nigeria must double its investment in infrastructure, and improve its power sector, the water and sanitation sector, its road networks, and its air transport safety.

Nigeria has to be serious about health. The World Health Organisation recommends that governments spend 15% of their budget on health, but Nigeria spends only 6% of its budget. Nigeria had 40,000 pregnancy-related deaths a year account for approximately 14 percent of the world’s total in 2012.

Northern exposure

The situation in northern Nigeria is critical. Since 2014, more than 6,000 civilians have been killed by Boko Haram. Around one million Nigerians have been forcibly displaced within the country, and 200,000 have fled to Cameroon, Niger or Chad. Colonel Joseph Nouma of the Maroua Defence Regiment in the Nigerian army told the IRIN news service:

When you go to border villages, all you see are women and children and old people. Young [men], between the ages of ten and 45 are no longer there. They are across the [Nigerian] border with Boko Haram militants.

In the north, regional actors have been more active than the Nigerian government in fighting Boko Haram. With the approval of the African Union, Nigeria and its neighbours – Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin – have deployed a 8,700-strong Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) to fight around 4,000-6,000Boko Haram Islamist militants.

Presidents from the Economic Community of Central African States (ECOWAS) pledged in early 2015 to create a US$87m emergency fund for military, medical, and logistical support for the MNJTF. Nigeria’s current president expects Boko Haram to be defeated within a month. However, even with the presence of regional allies, Boko Haram is likely to go into hiding and conduct a guerrilla campaign.

Past policy vacuum

The way the government has addressed violence in the north has been abysmal: very few measures have been taken. Muslim clerics identified lack of good governance as the primary reason Boko Haram succeeded in recruiting members. According to a US official, “they warned that similar crises would occur if the government failed to address social problems”.

In terms of social measures, when Boko Haram started fighting in 2009, a “societal reorientation programme” was created in the north. However, according to one US official, this programme only made it possible for Boko Haram to “recruit more members”, as it had no impact on the population’s well-being.

Military action against Boko Haram has been deplorable, probably because Boko Haram had clear connections to the government. The Nigerian army committed serious human rights violations in its response to Boko Haram. Hundreds of civilians and suspected Boko Haram members have been killed, and detainees have died in military custody.

In 2015, President Jonathan’s national security adviser, Sambo Dasuki, only mentioned the creation of a single social policy – in Kuje prison in the capital Abuja which aims at deradicalising former insurgents. The new government will have to develop social policies to reduce inequalities in order to prevent further violence.

What the new government has to do

The economic involvement of the Nigerian government is inadequate. Only half of the investment projects in the north were completed in 2014.

In 2015, the government created a US$133m emergency fund for the north in order to finance 94 different projects such as road construction, railways, energy and agriculture, but the precise use of this fund remains to be seen.

The new president will have to address three long-standing and critical issues in the north: economic development, education and health. Economic development is needed to counter Boko Haram, which is paying men around US$700-a-month to join its ranks.

The economy

The new government must tackle the difficult issue of unemployment which, among all age groups, is at least 75%. Many young people, especially recent graduates, say it is impossible to find decent work. For the few who do have a job, the minimum wage is US$70 a month. The new government will also have to address the lack of economic resources and food in the north.

GDP Index (per capita). UNDP (2009) Human Development Report Nigeria 2008-2009

The map above of GDP per capita, and below for malnutrition, show the important north-south economic divide.

Severe acute malnutrition: 2015 burden and prevalence in the Sahel. OCHA 2015 Humanitarian Needs Report

Education

The new Nigerian government will have to prioritise education. When Boko Haram started attacking civilians in 2009, it was known to oppose “western education models”. However, young men fighting for Boko Haram could not have had much knowledge of education. In 2011 in northern Nigeria, half of the men had no education at all, only 7% completed primary education, and only 6% completed secondary education. Education in the north should therefore be a priority for whoever has power next. This is important not only for men, but it is also essential for women: in 2011, 65% of women had no education, 6% completed primary education, and 3% completed secondary education.

Health

The new president will be held accountable for improving health in the north, as clinics are under-staffed, and women are ten timesmore likely to die in childbirth than in the south.

With these conditions Boko Haram filled a vacuum. The militants will now be much harder to remove but ultimately, the next government can take steps to start tackling the problems that allowed them to gain a foothold.

Catherine Gegout is a Lecturer in International Relations at University of Nottingham.

The Conversation

IAF plane carrying 168 Indian nationals from Yemen lands in Kochi

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indians-yemen

Kochi: An IAF plane carrying 168 Indian nationals evacuated from Yemen landed in the government’s first major mission to rescue Indians stranded in the strife-torn nation.

The Indian nationals, including nurses and workers, among others, reached home by the special flight–Indian Air Force’s C17 Globemasters– bringing an end to their about a week-long ordeal.

The flight landed at 2 a.m.

The evacuees were welcomed at the airport by Kerala Minister for Diaspora K C Joseph, PWD Minister Ibrahim Kunju and Ernakulam District Collector M G Rajamanikyam.

They were part of as many as 350 Indians who yesterday reached at Djibouti after being evacuated on a Navy vessel from Aden, the seaport city of Yemen.

Parents of Jincy and Tincy, two nurses working with government hospitals in Yemen, are concerned about their elder daughter whose flight from Sana’a was cancelled even after a boarding pass was issued.

Talking to PTI from Kochi airport, mother of the nurses, Omana, hailing from Vadakkancherry of Palakkad district, said only Jincy, working in Aden, could reach home safely.

“We are happy that our daughter Jincy is coming back on the special flight. But we are concerned about the safety our elder daughter Tincy who is in Sana’a. We hoped that she would also be reaching safely tonight.

“Jincy could not come as the flight did not take off because of the last minute developments at Sana’a airport,” said Omana who came to the airport along with her husband Soman to receive their daughters.

A Kerala government official said the Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (Norka) cell would give Rs 2000 each to the people who returned from Yemen at the airport besides providing them free transportation facilities to reach home.

A spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry has said of 350 evacuees, 206 belong to Kerala, 40 are from Tamil Nadu, 31 from Maharashtra, 23 from West Bengal and 22 from Delhi besides other states.

Another Air Force flight with 190 Indians evacuated from strife-torn Yemen landed at Mumbai airport at 3.30 a.m. on Thursday.

The Central Railway is providing food and assistance with ticketing and is making arrangements for their further journey home.

The Indians were evacuated late on Monday night by INS Sumitra, which was diverted from its anti-piracy patrol in the region. It waited for hours to get local clearances as heavy fighting was reported in the city.

(PTI)

Two minor sisters kidnapped, gang-raped by 5 at gunpoint in Badaun

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rape-case

Badaun: Two minor girls, both cousins, were allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped at gun point by five persons in Jareef Nagar area here, almost a year after a similar incident in the district had stirred Uttar Pradesh and opposition had attacked the government over law and order.

The accused, two of them brothers, held the girls captive at gun point when they had ventured out of home for some work last night, Senior Superintendent of Police Saumitra Yadav said here today, adding the girls were gang-raped by them.

The accused were later nabbed by the villagers when the victims raised an alarm and handed over to police, the police officer said.

“A case has been lodged and the girls were sent for medical examination,” the SSP said. Their medical examination report is awaited, he said.

Last year, two cousins, aged 14 and 15, went missing from their house on the night of May 27 and their bodies were found hanging from a tree in the village in Ushait area the next day.

They were allegedly raped and hanged with a tree.

However, later, CBI in its probe said that the girls were neither murdered nor raped and had committed suicides. The case is sub judice.

(PTI)

Moment truly painful: IAS officer Khemka on 45th transfer in 24 years

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Ashok Khemka

Chandigarh: Terming his transfer as “painful”, whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka, who shot into limelight after he questioned Robert Vadra’s land deals in Haryana, said he tried to address corruption and bring reforms in state transport department despite “severe limitations and entrenched interests”.

“Tried hard to address corruption and bring reforms in Transport despite severe limitations and entrenched interests. Moment is truly painful,” 49-year-old Khemka said in a tweet a day after he was moved to Archaeology and Museums Department by the Manohar Lal Khattar government.

Meanwhile, Haryana’s Health Minister Anil Vij came out in Khemka’s support, saying he will talk to the Chief Minister regarding the officer “who had worked to weed out corruption during the previous Congress regime”.

Khemka has been transferred 45 times in his nearly 22-year long career, with the officer not occupying any post beyond few months.

When asked about the decision, Vij told reporters in Ambala, “I will talk to the Chief Minister regarding Khemka’s transfer.”

Vij, an outspoken BJP leader and Ambala Cantt MLA, said that he had always stood by Khemka, “who had worked to weed out corruption during the previous Congress regime”.

The BJP Government in the state had last night issued transfer and posting orders of nine IAS officers including Khemka with immediate effect.

Khemka, who was in November last year posted as Transport Commissioner and Secretary, Transport Department, has now been posted as Secretary, Archaeology and Museums Department and Director General, Archaeology and Museums, a posting considered as “low profile”.

The government did not mention any reason for his transfer. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s OSD Bhupeshwar Dayal termed it as an administrative matter.

However, Haryana’s Transport Minister Ram Bilas Sharma maintained that “transfer is not a punishment” and stressed that it was a “routine” matter.

“Transfer is not a punishment, a promotion or demotion. Transfer of senior officers is a routine matter. There is nothing special or extraordinary about it,” he said while replying to queries on the issue.

He said decisions are taken after the chief minister holds consultations with his council of ministers.

Notably, as Transport Commissioner, Khemka had refused to issue fitness certificates to over-sized trucks and trailers for carrying automobiles leading to a truckers’ strike in January.

Later, the truckers in Haryana withdrew their strike after the state government gave them one year’s time to get their vehicles modified as per the Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR), 1989.

Khemka, in a tweet then, had said that “60 per cent of road accidents due to overloaded and over-sized transport vehicles. Industry cooperation needed to stop this road menace.”

The Transport Minister denied that the move to replace Khemka as Transport Commissioner was related to his decision reagrading truckers.

“No. Nothing like that. It is a routine matter,” he said to a query on the issue.

In one of his tweets last week, Khemka while quoting Rabindranath Tagore had mentioned “If no one responds to your call, then go your own way alone”.

Earlier in 2012 when he was posted as Director-General of Land Consolidation and Land Records-cum-Inspector General of Registration, Khemka had brought land deals of businessman Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi, under the scanner.

During the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government, the official had cancelled the mutation of the multi-crore land deal between Vadra’s company Skylight Hospitality Pvt Ltd and DLF, terming it as illegal. However, the previous Hooda government gave clean chit to Vadra in the land deal.

Last week, Khemka in a tweet had said that his action in Vadra-DLF land-licence deal has been “vindicated in the CAG report..”

“Undue favours” to builders, including Robert Vadra’s Skylight Hospitality, by the Haryana Government during the Congress regime has come under attack from the Comptroller and Auditor General.

(PTI)

IGP Mohammed Wazir Ahmed: A valiant cop, a voice for the oppressed and voiceless

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Mohammed Wazir Ahmed

by Qaisar Mahadi

Mohammed Wazir Ahmed Born on 12th March 1955 at Amruthur Village in Kunigal Taluk of Tumkuru District. He had his early education at Government High school, Amruthur followed by Pre-University education at Government Higher Secondary school, Kunigal. An Alumnus of Bangalore University. He has completed his Master Degree from that university and joined the challenging career of Police force during the year 1980 as probationary Deputy Superintendent of Police.

He held the position of Deputy  Superintendent of Police with distinction and worked in places like Madhugiri, Challakere, Chikkabellapur, Kolar & Hospet. After his promotion to the cadre of Superintendent of Police he was drafted for duties to nab the notorious forest brigand Veerappan and he worked in this Special Task Force from 1982-1992. During his stint in this task force he had encounters with the gang of Veerappan and in the process he had the distinction of nabbing many of Veerappan associates of the forest brigand and seizing fire arms etc. During his stint in the special task force he was responsible for seizing loads of Sandalwood from the gang of Veerappan which is having Cores of rupees. As Superintendent of Police COD he had to deal with the murder of a Press Reporter in Mandya district. As a competent police officer known for impartial investigation he is responsible for arrest of sitting MLA  in the said murder case and he has been charge sheeted along with his associates.

Sri Mohammed Wazir Ahmed was promoted to IPS in the year 1995 and was posted as SP(Lokayukta) and posted to Bangalore & Chittardurga. During his long service of 34 years as police officer. He worked as S.P. Hassan as long as 3 years and had the rare privilege of earning the goodwill of public on the one hand and respect from his senior officers on the other hand.  From the beginning of the service he is in the habit of giving respect and cordial relation with his superior officers of the Department, as well as guiding the sub-ordinate officers.  He also worked as Deputy commissioner of Police(Administration) Bangalore City &  AIGP (Crime), Bangalore.

During the year 2004, he was promoted and posted as Dy.Inspector General of Police, Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement, Bangalore. Thereafter he was deployed as Director, Personnel and Environment in KSRTC, Bangalore. Additional Inspector General of Police (Crime) Bangalore, DIG (CRE Cell) Bangalore, DIGP (KSRP), DIGP(Fire Force) Bangalore. In the year 2009 he was promoted as IGP & posted as IGP(CRE cell) Bangalore. As IGP Karnataka Human Rights Commission he had the distinction of undertaking innumerable cases of enquiries relating to Human Rights Violations. He was awarded President’s Gold Medal for his meritorious service from His Excellency, Hon’ble President of India. He has served as IGP North-Eastern Range, Kalaburagi  for a period of about 2 ½ Years   and he came down heavily on anti social elements,  particularly the rowdy sheeters in Kalaburagi Range.  Later he was transferred and posted as Inspector General of Police (Training),  Bangalore where in he worked there for a period of 10 months and later he was promoted and posted as Additional Director General of Police (Civil Rights Enforcement ) Bangalore.

Sri Mohammed Wazir Ahmed was a voice for the voiceless, oppressed and harassed people of the society. Any oppressed person can  simply and frankly walk into the chambers of Sri Mohammed Wazir Ahmed regardless of his position of IGP and put forth their grievances for redressal. It should be told to the credit of this great police officer who had ears to listen to the problems of weaker sections and downtrodden of the society. After completion of 35 years of service in the cause humanity he is laying down office on superannuation on 31st March 2015. On this occasion it is our moral responsibility to salute this great police corp.  We are missing his service to the Police Department consequent to his superannuation which is inevitable.

We wish him and his family members a happy  and peaceful life. The almighty God be bless him and his family members a good health and cheerful retire life.

“Friend- Tere Jaisa Yaar Kahan” gets best children's film Award at “7th Nashik International Film Festival”

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Producer Raju Pachghare & Child artist Chinmay Deshakar & others at 7th Nashik International Film Festival, Nashik.

by Sanjay Sharma Raj

Movie’ Friend-Tere Jaisa Yaar Kahan’, made under the banner of Navdeep Film Creative has won the best Childrens movie Award & film’s Child artist Chinmay Deshakar ( Best Dramebaaz Fame) has won Best Child Actor Jury Award at the 7th Nashik International Film Festival”. The producer of the movie is Raju Pachghare and director is Jagadish Watharkar. Parents are busy with work and pay less attention towards their children and it affects them in different ways. The movie is themed on this factor. The 7th Nashik International Film Festival was held on March 22, 2015 at Sula Swine, Nashik.

Producer Raju Pachghare said “I thank the Jury and will request the people to watch the move which releases during summer holidays. Parents will see where they are wrong and how to improve.”

Director Jagadish Watharkar says “We are trying to make the move taxfree. This movie is based on children.”

Girl shot dead inside Bengaluru Residential school

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bangalore-shooter

Bengaluru: A Pre university student was shot dead and her frend injured when an attender opened fire at them at the hostel, in kadugodi, today morning . The deceased has been identified as Gouthami, a student of Pragathi College and a native of Tumukuru. The accused Mahesh who was on the run has been arrested, as per the police sources.

The Management of the residential hostel informed the police at around 10.30 AM. According to sources, the parents of Gouthami were informed that their daughter has slipped and fallen and was injured only to find out that she was shot dead, when they rushed to the spot. There were heated arguments between parents and the hostel Managment.

Currently the girl’s friend who was injured in the attack is said to be critical.

Karnataka Home Minister K J George, City Police Chief M N Reddi and other senior officials rushed to the spot.

(Agencies)

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