Archives for April 2018

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) President Mayawati yesterday gave a clarion call to voters to keep both the Congress and BJP at bay and vote for the JD(S)-BSP combine to create an inclusive society.

Mayawati was in Mysuru yesterday to launch the campaign of the JD(S)-BSP combine ahead of the polls and she addressed a rally at Maharaja’s College Grounds. “I urge you to reject the Congress and the BJP which have neglected the poor, the Dalits and the backward classes.
The Congress, which had a stronghold over the Governments in the country for several decades, did not allow the downtrodden to prosper, for its political gains,” she charged.

“In view of promoting the welfare of the Dalits and backward classes, the BSP has formed a coalition with the JD(S) in Karnataka. When the BSP was in power in Uttar Pradesh, it strived for the development of all communities. If the JD(S)-BSP combine is voted to power, Kumaraswamy will give a pro-people administration,” she said.

She exuded confidence that the JD(S) and BSP combine is a winnable combination and Kumaraswamy will be the next Chief Minister of Karnataka. “The BJP and team were against the implementation of the Mandal Commission Report. The Congress praised Dalits but it didn’t implement the Commission Report. The Congress also failed to recognise the services of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar by giving him Bharat Ratna. It was the V.P. Singh Government that fulfilled both the wishes of BSP,” she stated.

In the days to come, B Sriramulu will play a bigger role in the Karnataka BJP. His responsibilities have already increased and there is a strong rumour that he is likely to be made the deputy chief minister candidate.
As of today, he is the most influential leader in the party after B S Yeddyurappa. Among the ST community, he is revered and also considered as one of their tallest leader. He is expected to consolidate the Dalit votes in these belts. If he is projected as a Deputy CM then this could have an impact in other parts of the state as well. Sriramulu would not just restrict himself to campaigning at his constituency and Ballari.
He would travel the state for the campaign. Sriramulu has been portrayed as the undisputed leader of the ST community. The party felt that such strong leaders must be moved out of their comfort zone so that they can influence a larger number of votes outside their original constituency. On the other hand, Sriramulu fits perfectly well into the scheme of things at a time when the BJP is trying to swing the pro-tribal votes in its favour. In a bid to do this Sriramulu is the star campaigner. Not only is his contest from Molakmuru expected to bring the votes from the constituency, but he would make a difference in Chitradurga, Davangere and Ballari. He has also been asked to fight in Badami against Chief Minister

Siddaramaiah and this is an indicator of how high he has risen in the party. That Sriramulu, considered close to mining baron G Janaradhana Reddy, has gained in importance became evident with the BJP fielding him from Badami against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and also asked him to campaign extensively in the region. The chief minister is also trying his luck from Chamundeshwari constituency while Sreeramulu has thrown his hat into the ring from Molakalmuru in Chitradurga district, a Congress bastion. US has new full-time secretary of state after a month; Mike Pompeo gets the job Supreme Court to hear review pleas on SC/ST verdict on May 3 Korean Summit: What media in Korean Peninsula said Featured Posts PTI reported that political analyst and professor of political science at Karnatak University Dr Harish Ramaswamy said that BJP faces a tough task of garnering tribal votes in North Karnataka.
He has considerable influence in Hyderabad-Karnataka and Chitradurga belt and his main task is to ensure that tribal votes get transferred to the BJP from Congress, he said. “It is a difficult job though,” Ramaswamy said. BJP expects to penetrate into the tribal support base of the Congress, including Chamarajnagar, Mysuru and Bagalkot districts, according to leading political analyst, Dr. Sandeep Shastri. Shastri said though the tribal population in Karnataka was not as large as North-Eastern states and Jharkhand, they can play an important role in a keenly fought election. Tribal communities have significant presence in 15 to 20 assembly constituencies in the state.

A war of words has broken out between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress ahead of the crucial Karnataka Assembly elections on 12 May. A day after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah trained guns at the BJP, even taking pot shots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah, his chief opponent BS Yeddyurappa came up with scathing counters.

Yeddyurappa is confident of his party gaining an absolute majority and forming a government in the state. Putting to rest all predictions, speculations and opinion polls projecting a comeback for the Congress party, the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate claimed that people are fed up with the current government and want a change of power. Reminding voters of the unpredictable victory of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, Yeddyurappa said that he is confident of recreating that magic in Karnataka.

(PTI)

IN A complaint to the Karnataka police on Thursday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s office said a New Delhi-Hubli special flight (VT-AVH) carrying him and four others suffered “unexplained technical failures” midair, and the matter should be probed as “intentional tampering” could not be ruled out.

According to the complaint filed by Rahul’s aide, Kaushal Vidyarthee, the flight took off around 9.20 am. Besides Rahul and Vidyarthee, an SPG officer was also on board the flight. “At around 10:45 am, the aircraft suddenly tilted heavily on the left side and the altitude dipped steeply, combined with violent shuddering of the aircraft body… The weather outside was sunny, normal and not windy… A clanking noise was clearly audible from one side of the plane throughout the shuddering of the aircraft body. It was also learnt that the autopilot of the aircraft was not functioning,” said the complaint, addressed to Karnataka Director General and Inspector General of Police Neelmani N Raju.

Vidyarthee said the aircraft landed in Hubli on the third attempt. “The plane landed at Hubli at around 11:25 am while continuously shaking and making unusual audible sounds. The whole flight experience left the passengers with a lot of anxiety and distress and positively fearing for the lives. The crew was also apparently petrified and admitted that the flight was particularly frightening and uncommon,” he said in his complaint.

“It was apparent from the suspicious and faulty performance of the aircraft that the incidents of shuddering and altitude dipping were not natural or weather related, but were due to some technical snags. Serious questions related to intentional tampering with the aircraft cannot also be brushed aside and are required to be addressed and investigated… The multiple unexplained technical snags during the flight coupled with the failure of the autopilot system raises serious issues of aviation safety and possible and intentional tampering with aircraft which endangered the life of its occupants,” he said.

Seeking a “thorough examination of the structural and mechanical elements of the aircraft” and “the persons attached with the maintenance of the aircraft”, the complaint urged the Karnataka police to ground the aircraft at Hubli and not allow it to fly till the investigation was over.”

According to the DGCA website, the aircraft VT-AVH, is a Dassault Falcon 2000 owned by Religare Aviation Ltd, which registered the aircraft in India on February 4, 2011.

Sources in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said the regulator would investigate the incident. “The operator has reported the incident to us. As per operator’s report, it was a snag of autopilot mode, and the pilot shifted to manual mode and landed safely. Shutdown of autopilot incidents are not uncommon. For any VIP flight, the DGCA conducts a detailed examination. We shall do so here also,” said a source in the DGCA.

Meanwhile, DCP (Law and Order), Hubli-Dharwad Police, Renuka Sukumar confirmed that an FIR had been filed against the pilots. “An FIR is being taken up in the Gokul Road Police Station against the pilots on the complaint of Sri Shakir Sannadhi, general secretary, KPCC, under Indian Penal Code Sections 287 and 336, read with Section 11 of the Aircraft Act 1934,’’ said Sukumar.

Section 287 of the IPC pertains to “negligent conduct with respect to machinery’’, Section 336 pertains to “endangering life or personal safety of others’’, and Section 11 of the Aircraft Act 1934 prescribes a penalty of two years imprisonment or a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh for flying an aircraft in a dangerous manner.

(PTI)

The Congress on Thursday complained to the Karnataka Police that the aircraft in which its party President Rahul Gandhi flew to Hubballi in the state earlier in the day suffered a snag mid-air.

“The aircraft on a special flight (VT-AVH) from New Delhi to Hubballi suffered serious malfunction and tilted heavily to one side during the course of the flight,” a party official and Gandhi’s aide Kaushal Vidyarthee said in the complaint.

The complaint, addressed to the state’s Director General Neelamani N. Raju, requested the state police chief to “ground” the aircraft at Hubballi and investigate its malfunction.

However, a Hubballi Police official told IANS over phone that no complaint has been received by the local police station on the issue so far.

The complaint letter, also shared by the Congress through its official Twitter handle, however, does not mention the exact make of the aircraft the Congress President flew in and whose it was.

According to the letter, there were a total of three other passengers in the aircraft besides Gandhi and the complainant Vidyarthee — Rampreet, Rahul Ravi and Special Protection Group officer Rahul Gautam.

Alleging the aircraft’s auto-pilot mode was not functional and the aircraft could be landed only after two unsuccessful tries as it was “shaking and making unusual audible sounds”, the letter pointed to a possible “intentional tampering” with the aircraft’s functioning.

“The technical snags coupled with the failed auto-pilot system raise issues of aviation safety and intentional tampering which endangered the life of the passengers,” it added.

Gandhi arrived at Hubballi airport at around 11.25 a.m. on Thursday on a two-day visit to the poll-bound state to launch the party’s campaign for the May 12 legislative assembly elections in the coastal region.

In New Delhi, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said that demanded a thorough investigation into the “serious case of aviation mechanics failure”, including the possibility of a “foul play”.

“Today Congress President Rahul Gandhi and other passengers were travelling by special flight from Delhi to Hubli. At about 10:45 am, the auto-pilot was lost off the flight. The flight tilted on one side and took a nosedive.

“For a few minutes, this special flight was off-the-radar. There was a lot of shuddering, although the weather outside was normal and sunny. On the third attempt, the flight finally landed at Hubli,” he said.

“It was then informed that the auto-pilot had failed, also the radars of the flight had partially failed.”

Surjewala also pointed out that usually when an SPG protectee is travelling, the complete details of the pilotsand the aircraft are submitted to the DGCA and the SPG.

“Only when all of these are cleared, then the flight plan is okayed. This is a serious case of aviation mechanics failure.

(IANS)

In a bid to retain power in Karnataka, the ruling Congress on Friday promised to create one crore jobs across the southern state in its manifesto for the May 12 Legislative Assembly elections.

“We aim to create at least 15-20 lakh jobs each year in the state and provide programmes for skill development, encouraging entrepreneurship and increasing youths’ employability quotient,” said the manifesto released by party President Rahul Gandhi in this port city.

Terming its 47-page manifesto a “people’s manifesto”, the party said it wants to create a hut-free Karnataka and would build 50 lakh houses in the rural parts of the state.

“We are committed to address the urban housing challenge and propose to build 15 lakh houses (3 lakh houses per year) for the people of the state,” it said.

Claiming to the first state in the country to roll out the “Arogya Karnataka” universal healthcare scheme, the Congress said it will increase the budget allocation for health from the current 0.9 per cent to at least 1.5 per cent.

On March 2, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had unveiled the state’s public healthcare scheme, that is expected to benefit about 1.43 crore households, by providing free treatment to all below poverty line (BPL) families at government hospitals.

The party also promised to provide free education to all students from grades 1 to 12 across all the state-run schools in the state. Presently, the state gives free elementary education to all children from class 1 to 8 in state-run and government-aided schools.

In a bid to promote girl child education, Siddaramaiah had said on February 16 while announcing the state Budget that all girls will get free education up to post-graduation in state-run institutions.

All college-going students in the state will receive a smartphone, the manifesto added.

Information Technology (IT) will be made an important driver of the state economy by increasing the field’s contribution from the current $60 billion to $300 billion, the ruling party said.

Currently, the state capital Bengaluru alone, which is home to over 750 multinationals and 2,000 IT firms, contributes about 40 per cent of the total IT exports done by the country.

“We will build a talent pool to cater to over 3 million IT jobs in the state by skill upgradation and IT-driven curriculum,” added the manifesto.