Archives for August 2024

Minister for Large and Medium Industries M B Patil

Bengaluru: Minister for Large and Medium Industries M B Patil said that Rashtrotthana Parishat, an RSS body, hadn’t utilized five acres of land granted at Hi-Tech Defense Park for a multipurpose commercial complex. Let the BJP leaders demand for its return, he challenged. He was addressing a press-meet at Vidhan Soudha on Thursday.

“Rashtrotthana Parishat was granted the five acre land at the Hi-Tech Defense Park for a multipurpose commercial complex in 2013. They have not done anything there yet”, he said.

Patil said that the RSS body had repeatedly demanded for more time in the pretext of Covid pandemic. Parishath had requested for two more years of time recently, he said. “BJP leaders Lehar Singh and Chalavadi Narayanaswamy must tell us if the land should be recovered or not”, he demanded.

Shedding light on other irregularities, M B Patil said that former Minister of Industries Murugesh Nirani had allotted 25 acres for himself at the Navanagara industrial area in Bagalkot on March 12, 2012 where he had built Thejas International School. “That was the plot reserved for an agro-tech park. When he was re-elected to the post, he acquired another 6.17 acres of land at the same location again on December 19, 2022 and then wrote himself a congratulatory letter”, he said.

The Minister said that if the Chanakya University didn’t use 51% of land out of 116 acres allotted by the government within June 2025, it would be recovered. “Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) had incurred a loss of 137 crore rupees by selling the land to the University for a mere 50 crores. Why hasn’t Narayanaswamy complained to the Governor about this?” he questioned.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Council of Heads of Government meeting to be held here in October.

Pakistan holds the rotating chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government (CHG) and in that capacity, will be hosting the two-day in-person SCO Heads of Governments Meeting in October.

“Invitations have been sent to the heads of countries to participate in the meeting which will take place on October 15-16. An invitation has also been sent to the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi (too),” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told the weekly press briefing.

Some countries have already confirmed participation (for the meeting), which will be informed in due course, she said.

When asked about ties with India, the spokesperson said, “Pakistan does not have direct bilateral trade with India.”

The Islamabad summit meeting will be preceded by a ministerial meeting and several rounds of senior officials’ meetings focused on financial, economic, socio-cultural, and humanitarian cooperation among the SCO member states.

The SCO, comprising India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, is an influential economic and security bloc that has emerged as one of the largest trans-regional international organisations.

As part of this key regional group, both Pakistan and India can hold summit meetings.

India hosted the SCO Summit last year, organised in a virtual mode, and attended by Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif through a video link.

However, Pakistan’s then foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited India in May 2023 to attend the in-person two-day meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers in Goa, which was the first Pakistani foreign minister to visit India in almost 12 years.

Islamabad and New Delhi have a long history of strained relations, primarily due to the Kashmir issue as well as the cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

India has been maintaining that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment that is free of terror and hostility for such an engagement.

Pakistan downgraded its ties with India after the Indian Parliament abrogated Article 370 on August 5, 2019.

New Delhi: Aviation watchdog DGCA on Thursday decided to place crisis-hit SpiceJet under enhanced surveillance that will entail increased spot checks and night surveillance to ensure safety of the airline’s operations.

Based on reports of cancellation of flights and financial stress being experienced by SpiceJet, DGCA said it conducted a special audit of the airline’s engineering facilities on August 7 and 8 and certain deficiencies were found during the audit.

“In light of the past record and the special audit carried out in August 2024, SpiceJet has once again been placed under enhanced surveillance with immediate effect.

“This would entail an increase in the number of spot checks/night surveillance with a view to ensure safety of operations,” the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a release.

In 2023 also, the regulator had placed SpiceJet under enhanced surveillance.

After a series of occurrences reported on the Spicejet fleet in 2022, a special drive of spot checks was undertaken during which the airline was permitted to release aircraft for operations only after confirming to DGCA that all reported defects/malfunctions had been rectified, the release noted.

Earlier in the day, SpiceJet said its scheduled flights from Dubai are operating normally now after flight cancellations due to operational reasons.

According to reports, the airline had to cancel flights over non-payment of certain dues to Dubai airport.

The no-frills carrier has been grappling with multiple headwinds, including financial and legal woes, and is also in the process of raising funds.

Former JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna

Bengaluru: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Thursday requested the Karnataka High Court to conduct an in-camera hearing for the bail and anticipatory bail applications of former JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna, who faces accusations of rape and sexual assault of several women.

During the hearing, Special Public Prosecutor Ravivarma Kumar, representing the SIT, sought in-camera proceedings to protect the identity of the prosecutrix.

Justice M Nagaprasanna said a decision on the plea must be taken by the Chief Justice. Prajwal’s legal counsel also sought more time.

Consequently, the court adjourned the hearing to September 5, while observing that this was not a case where leniency could be granted.

Prajwal Revanna is in judicial custody since May 31 on charges of sexual assault following his return from Germany.

Recently the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Criminal Investigation Department filed a charge sheet against former MP Prajwal Revanna for rape and his father and MLA H D Revanna for sexual harassment.

The charge sheet comprising statements of about 150 witnesses was submitted in a special court for public representatives and it pertains to one of the cases involving alleged sexual assault of a domestic help of the family.

While Revanna has been booked under section 354 and 354 (A) of the IPC, his 33-year-old son Prajwal has been charged under sections 376, 376 (2)(K), 354, 354(A) and 354(B) of the IPC.

The first complaint against the father-son duo was registered based on a complaint by the domestic help at their residence.

The victim, who was also a relative of the MLA’s wife Bhavani, alleged that she was sexually harassed multiple times.

The Central and Western Railway zones reported a decrease in the number of deaths over time.The Railways notified the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that over 52,300 people have passed away on Mumbai’s suburban train network in the previous nearly 20 years, according to Live Law.The high death rate among Mumbai local train commuters was being discussed by a bench led by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya.

Yatin Jadhav, the petitioner, had highlighted a number of issues that contribute to fatalities on the suburban train system.

In response to orders the court had issued in June, the Western Railway and the Central Railway filed affidavits on Tuesday and Wednesday. Local trains in the Mumbai Metropolitan Area are run by the two railway zones. According to The Indian Express, almost 23,000 people lost their lives on Western Railway routes between June 2024 and 2005. Between June 2024 and June 2009, there were almost 29,300 fatalities on Central Railway lines.

According to India Today, the Western Railway told the court that fewer people had died in previous years. In 2023, 936 people had died and 984 had been injured, compared to 1,084 deaths and 1,517 injuries in 2016.

According to an affidavit obtained by India Today, Santosh Kumar Singh Rathore, the senior divisional security commissioner for the Western Railway, stated that while the administration is sensitive to every incident involving injury or death, its efforts will not be successful until the passengers cooperate better.

It further stated that no new services could be introduced and that more than 100% of the train’s capacity is now being used.

According to India Today, the Central Railway notified the court that there is an issue with widespread trespassing on the tracks.

The extra divisional railway manager (administration) of Central Railway’s Mumbai division, Shashi Bhushan, told the court that there is a considerable risk of mortality due to slums being too close to the railway tracks.

According to Central Railways, during the past 15 years, fewer people have died while the railway network’s capacity to carry passengers has grown.

1,782 people died and 1,614 people were injured in 2009. In 2023, these figures dropped to 1,221 fatalities and 938 injuries, according to the Central Railway.

According to The Indian Express, during the June hearing, the court ordered the general managers of the two railway zones to investigate the issue and requested affidavits regarding the precautions taken to prevent similar mishaps.

Tel Aviv: A 3,500-year-old jar from the Middle Bronze Age, once used for oil and wine in ancient Canaan, was accidentally shattered by a young boy at Israel’s Hecht Museum in Haifa last week. The incident occurred when a 4-year-old curious child, visiting the museum with his family, tried to peer inside the jar, causing it to topple from its metal stand and break into pieces.

The Hecht Museum is known for its practice of displaying priceless archaeological items without glass barriers to enhance visitor experience. “The jar on display at the Hecht Museum, however, was intact, and its size made it an impressive find, positioned at the entrance of the museum,” Dr Inbal Rivlin, the museum’s general director, said in an emailed statement on Wednesday, as mentioned by The New York Times.

The Hecht Museum, part of the University of Haifa, said the pitcher, dating from between 2200 and 1500 B.C., predating the era of King David and his son and successor, King Solomon would be professionally restored in a process that would also be open for the public to watch, according to the report.

Despite the accident, Dr Rivlin noted that the museum will continue to maintain its open-display policy for artefacts. “There are instances where display items are intentionally damaged, and such cases are treated with great severity, including involving the police,” Dr Rivlin said. However, this incident was not intentional, he added. The family, who was not identified, has been invited back for a visit to see the restored piece.

Dr. Reuben Hecht, who passed away in 1993, was an influential Israeli industrialist and philanthropist who donated his extensive collection of Middle Eastern archaeological artefacts and 19th-century paintings to the museum.

New Delhi: The online platform for passport applications will be temporarily shut down from August 29 to September 2 for a maintenance exercise, according to a statement from the External Affairs Ministry. During this period, no new appointments can be made, and previously scheduled appointments will be rescheduled.

“Passport Seva portal will be down for technical maintenance from 29th August 2024, Thursday 20:00 hrs IST to 2nd September, Monday 06:00 hrs IST. System will not be available during this period for citizens and for all MEA/RPO/BOI/ISP/DoP/Police Authorities. The already booked appointments for 30th August 2024 will be suitably rescheduled and informed to applicants,” a note on the Passport Seva portal said.

To minimise public inconvenience, contingency plans have been established. “For rescheduling of appointments, we always have contingency plans. The maintenance activity for a public centric service (like Passport Seva Kendras) is always planned in advance so that no inconvenience is meted out to public. So rescheduling an appointment will not be a challenge,” a source from the External Affairs Ministry

The Passport Seva portal is used for booking appointments at centres nationwide for passport issuance or renewal. On appointment day, applicants must visit the center with required documents for verification, followed by a police verification. Passports are then issued either through the regular process, which takes 30-45 working days, or the Tatkaal mode for expedited processing.