Archives for August 2024

Sharath Kalyani

Shivamogga: Sharath Kalyani, local BJP media department leader, has been taken into custody by the Shivamogga Women’s Police Station following allegations of rape and fraud. The arrest came after a 43-year-old divorced woman, who works in a private company, lodged a complaint against Kalyani, accusing him of deceiving her into a relationship under the pretense of marriage.

According to the complaint filed on July 26, 2024, the woman had known Kalyani since August 31, 2023. She claimed that Kalyani had concealed his marital status and engaged in a physical relationship with her, promising marriage. The woman also alleged that Kalyani convinced her to provide financial assistance, amounting to four lakhs, citing personal financial problems.

The situation escalated when the woman insisted on marriage, and Kalyani began avoiding her. When she visited his residence, Kalyani allegedly verbally abused her, physically assaulted her, and threatened to kill her if she came near his house again.

The police have registered a case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 376(2)(n) (rape), 420 (cheating), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 506 (criminal intimidation).

A team led by a female inspector arrested Kalyani in Vijayapura taluk and brought him in for questioning.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it has ordered listing of a plea challenging the verdict of the Bombay High Court which had upheld a decision of a Mumbai college to impose a ban on wearing of ‘hijab’, ‘burqa’ and ‘naqab’ inside the campus.

The high court had on June 26 refused to interfere with the decision of the Chembur Trombay Education Society’s N G Acharya and D K Marathe College imposing the ban, saying such rules do not violate students’ fundamental rights.

It had said a dress code is meant to maintain discipline which is part of the college’s fundamental right to “establish and administer an educational institution”.

Taking note of submission seeking urgent listing of the appeal, a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said it has already assigned a bench for the matter and that it would be listed soon.

Lawyer Abiha Zaidi, appearing for petitioners, including Zainab Abdul Qayyum, sought urgent hearing saying the unit tests in the college are likely to commence on Wednesday.

The top court is yet to conclusively decide the legality of such diktats issued by educational institutions.

A two-judge bench of the top court, on October 13, 2022, had delivered opposing verdicts in the hijab controversy emanating from Karnataka. The then BJP-led state government had imposed a ban on wearing the Islamic head covering in schools there.

While Justice Hemant Gupta, since retired, had dismissed the appeals challenging the judgement of the Karnataka High Court which had refused to lift the ban, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia had held there shall be no restriction on the wearing of hijab anywhere in the schools and colleges of the state.

The present controversy stems from the decision of a Mumbai college.

The Bombay High Court trashed the plea against the ban and said the dress code was applicable to all students irrespective of religion or caste.

The students, who were in the second and third year of the science degree course, had moved the high court, challenging a directive issued by the college imposing a dress code under which students cannot wear a hijab, naqab, burka, stoles, caps and badges on the premises.

The students had claimed it was against their fundamental right to practice religion, the right to privacy and right to choice.

The college’s action was “arbitrary, unreasonable, bad-in-law and perverse”, the plea had said.

The high court, however, had said it could not see how the prescription of dress code by the college violated Articles 19(1)(a) (freedom of speech and expression) and 25 (freedom to practice religion) of the Constitution.

“In our view, the dress code as prescribed cannot be held to violate the petitioners’ rights claimed under Article 19(1) (a) and Article 25 of the Constitution of India,” the HC had said.

The high court had also refused to accept the petitioners’ contention that wearing a hijab, naqab and burqa was an essential practice of their religion.

“Except for stating that the same constitutes an essential religious practice on the basis of the English translation of Kanz-ul-Iman and Suman Abu Dawud, there is no material placed to uphold the petitioners’ contention that donning of hijab and naqab is an essential religious practice. The contention in that regard, therefore, fails,” the HC had said.

Prescribing a dress code should be seen as an “exercise towards maintaining discipline”, and the right to do so flows from the fundamental right to establish and administer an educational institution under Article 19(1)(g) (right to practise any profession or run trade/business) and Article 26 of the Constitution, the HC had said.

The dress code was mandatory only within the college premises and the petitioners’ freedom of choice and expression was not otherwise affected, it had said.

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday told an all-party meeting that India has assured help to former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who arrived here on Monday evening, and given her time to decide the future course of action, sources said.

Briefing political party leaders in Parliament House, Jaishankar said India has spoken to the Bangladesh Army Chief to ensure the safety of over 10,000 Indian students in that country, the sources said.

Replying to questions from various leaders, including Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, the minister did not rule out the role of foreign governments in the unrest in the country but emphasised that the situation was too fluid, and the government has been keeping a watch on the evolving situation, they said.

At the meeting, Gandhi asked if foreign governments might be involved in fuelling the crisis there.

Jaishankar said that households and properties belonging to minorities were targeted by protestors in the neighbouring country.

Noting that it has been not even 24 hours since Hasina arrived in India, he said she is in a state of shock and the government is giving her time to recover before it speaks to her over various issues, including her future plans, the sources said.

The External Affairs Minister is scheduled to make a statement on the issue in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.

Various leaders, including Gandhi, conveyed their full cooperation to the government on the issue.

YSR Congress leader V Vijaysai Reddy said his party supports the government in the interest of the country.

“Briefed an All-Party meeting in Parliament today about the ongoing developments in Bangladesh. Appreciate the unanimous support and understanding that was extended,” Jaishankar posted on X after the meeting.

Congress leader Karti Chidambaram said the government had briefed an all-party meeting on the situation in Bangladesh.

“Congress party is fully with the government as far as national security and national interest are concerned,” Chidambaram told PTI. However, he was not present at the meeting.

Bangladesh plunged into uncertainty after extraordinary street protests over job quota forced Hasina to quit and flee.

The all-party meeting was attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Health Minister J P Nadda, JD(U) leader and Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘Lalan’, JD(S) leader and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, DMK leader T R Baalu, SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav, Trinamool leader Sudip Bandypapdhyay, NCP leader Supriya Sule among others.

Ahead of the meeting, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut had said that the rulers in India should learn lessons from the developments in Bangladesh.

“When democracy faces danger and those in power become dictators wearing a mask of democracy, the people of the country tolerate them for a while and then there is anarchy,” Raut said.

CPI(M) member P Santosh Kumar said the situation in Bangladesh was very volatile.

“We are with the people of Bangladesh, not with Jamaat-e-Islami, military or with Sheikh Hasina. We are with students of Bangladesh. This is the fate of all autocrats,” Kumar said.

Samajwadi Party member Virendra Singh said the situation in Bangladesh was a message for all countries which do not listen to people’s voices.

“Similar situations happen in countries where attempts to end democracy and bring dictatorship take place. It is very unfortunate,” Singh said.

BJP Rajya Sabha member Lahar Singh Siroya said the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are keeping an eye on the whole issue.

“They would have been taking necessary steps. Our country is capable of handling the issue,” the BJP Rajya Sabha member said.

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah

Kozhikode : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday shot off a letter to his Karnataka counterpart requesting him to resume the search operations for the lorry driver from here, who went missing following a landslide at a village there last month.

In a letter written to Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, Vijayan said the search operations which were halted earlier were supposed to resume today, but they haven’t.

“I write this to share the anxiety and sorrow of the family members of Arjun, as he is missing for quite a long time. I was given to understand that the search operations to find Arjun were to be resumed today. Information is reaching that the operations have not yet resumed,” he said in his letter.

Kerala CM sought the personal intervention of Siddaramaiah for the resumption of the search operations today itself.

Earlier in the day, Vijayan visited the house of Arjun and interacted with his family members.

Later, in a Facebook post, Vijayan said the concerns of the family on finding Arjun will be conveyed to the Karnataka government.

After a brief meeting with them, Vijayan returned, assuring the family that he would be there to support them through any difficulties.

Arjun was driving a lorry loaded with timber to Kozhikode when the landslide occurred on July 16. He has been missing since then.

Multiple agencies had conducted a search mission to find him at the landslide site in Uttara Kannada district.

Dhaka: At least 91 people, including 14 policemen, were killed and hundreds injured on Sunday in fierce clashes between protesters demanding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation and the ruling party supporters in different parts of Bangladesh, forcing authorities to cut off mobile internet and enforce a nationwide curfew for an indefinite period.

The clashes broke out Sunday morning when protesters attending the non-cooperation programme under the banner of the Students Against Discrimination with the one-point demand of the government’s resignation over a job quota system faced opposition from the supporters of the Awami League, Chhatra League, and Jubo League activists.

At least 91 people have been killed in clashes, shootings and counter-chases across the country surrounding the non-cooperation program, leading Bengali-language newspaper Prothom Alo reported.

According to the police headquarters, 14 policemen have been killed across the country. Of them, 13 were killed in Sirajganj’s Enayetpur police station. One person was killed in Comilla’s Elliotganj, the paper said. More than 300 policemen were injured, it added.

The fresh round of clashes erupted days after over 200 people were killed in violent clashes between the police and mostly student protesters demanding an end to the controversial quota system that reserved 30 per cent of government jobs for relatives of veterans who fought in Bangladesh’s War of Independence in 1971. Since then, more than 11,000 people have been arrested.

Officials claimed that today’s protests were joined by unidentified people and activists of rightwing Islami Shashontantra Andolon, which erected barricades on several major highways and within the capital city. The protesters attacked the police stations and boxes, ruling party offices and residences of their leaders and burnt several vehicles, they added.

The situation prompted authorities to order a curfew in major cities and small towns across Bangladesh for an indefinite period from 6 PM Sunday, mobilising troops, paramilitary border guards BGB, and the elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion alongside police.

The government ordered the shutdown of Meta platforms Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram. The mobile operators were ordered to shut down 4G mobile internet, the paper added.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Hasina said that those engaging in “sabotage” across the country in the name of protest are not students but terrorists and asked people to suppress them with a firm hand.

“I appeal to the countrymen to suppress these terrorists with a firm hand,” she said.

Hasina called a meeting of the National Committee on Security Affairs – the highest policy-making authority of national security – at Ganabhaban, the paper reported citing sources from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The meeting was attended by the chiefs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, police, RAB, BGB, and other top security officers. The meeting came as renewed violence spread to several parts of the country.

The government has announced a three-day general holiday on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to ensure public safety amid the ongoing violent protests across the country.

Giving details of casualties, the paper said eight people were killed in Feni, 22 including 13 policemen in Sirajganj, five in Kishoreganj, eight in Dhaka, five in Bogura, three in Munshiganj, four in Magura, three in Bhola, four in Rangpur, three in Pabna, five in Sylhet, three in Cumilla, two in Sherpur and two in Joypurhat. One person was killed in Keraniganj, one in Savar and one in Barisal.

Six Awami League leaders and activists were beaten to death and several others injured in a clash between the ruling party supporters and protesters in Narsingdi, the paper reported.

Citing Dhaka Medical College Hospital sources, the paper said 56 people were brought to the hospital with bullet injuries from Shahbagh, Shanir Akhra, Nayabazar, Dhanmondi, Science Laboratory, Paltan, Press Club and Munshiganj.

In a related development, a group of former senior military generals Sunday asked the government to withdraw the armed forces from the streets and send them back to barracks.

“We urge the government to undertake political initiatives to resolve the ongoing crisis. Do not destroy the good standing of our armed forces by keeping them engaged in a disgraceful campaign,” said former army chief Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan, who served as the army chief under Prime Minister Hasina’s government.

Reading out a statement at a media briefing here, he said, “The Bangladeshi armed forces have never faced off with the masses or trained their guns at the chests of their fellow citizens.”

Another former army chief, octogenarian general Nuruddin Khan, who also served as the energy minister in Hasina’s past 1996-2001 tenure, was one of those who joined the briefing along with fellow officers, some of them being 1971 Liberation War veterans.

“Time is ripe to immediately take the soldiers to barracks to prepare themselves for any eventuality as the time taken to transition from internal security mode to operational mode takes quite some time,” the statement read.

Most of the shops and malls in Dhaka were closed amid the protest. Hundreds of students and professionals had gathered at Dhaka’s Shahbagh, blocking traffic on all sides.

Protesters had also gathered at the Science Lab intersection of the capital on the first day of the non-cooperation movement. They chanted anti-government slogans.

According to the Daily Star newspaper, several vehicles at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) were torched on Sunday by unidentified people.

People carrying sticks were seen vandalising private cars, ambulances, motorcycles, and buses on the hospital premises, triggering fear among the patients, their attendants, doctors and staff, the paper said.

Nahid Islam, a coordinator of the anti-government protests, announced said they will stage a demonstration and mass sit-in on Monday to press home their one-point demand.

On Monday, they will unveil Martyrs’ Memorial plaques across the country in memory of people killed recently centring the quota reform movement, he said in a statement.

There have been reports of vandalism and arson attacks on police vehicles and government buildings in multiple locations.

In Chattogram, the residences of Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel and Chattogram City Corporation Mayor Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, as well as the office of AL MP Md Mohiuddin Bachchu were attacked.

In an apparent retaliation, the homes of several Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders, including Standing Committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, were targeted.

The BNP and its allies, along with numerous political, professional, and cultural groups have thrown their support behind the student-led movement that had been launched to demand reforms to quotas reserved for government jobs.

Prime Minister Hasina offered to sit for talks on Saturday with the coordinators of the movement. However, they rejected her proposal.

The government leaders earlier claimed that the “peaceful campaign” was hijacked by fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami and their student front Islami Chhatra Shibir being backed by ex-premier Khaleda Zia’s BNP.

Chandigarh: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday slammed the opposition parties for raising questions about the strength of the NDA government at the Centre, saying the alliance will not only complete its term but also form the government in 2029.

Shah made the remarks addressing a gathering here after inaugurating the 24×7 Manimajra water supply project.

Lauding the Modi government for its works, he said, “I want to say that the 10- year period from 2014 to 2024 will be inscribed in golden letters in history of our country’s development.”

Shah said in the past 10 years under the Modi government, the country achieved different types of successes as he spoke about surgical and air strikes, abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, building Ram temple in Ayodhya, setting up a road network and transformation of British-era railway stations.

In every field, people of the country experienced development, he said.

Shah said the country became a manufacturing hub with the Modi government’s initiatives, including Startup India and Digital India.

Because of this, people made Modi prime minister for a third time, he said, adding that in a way, people have put their stamp on works undertaken by PM Modi.

“I want to assure you (people) that let the opposition make a fuss, you do not worry. In 2029 also, the NDA will come (to power), (Narendra) Modi ji will come,” the Union home minister said.

“They (opposition) feel that with some success, they have won elections. They do not know that the BJP won more seats in this election (2024 Lok Sabha poll) than the number of seats the Congress got in the past three elections… The BJP alone has more seats than the total number of seats which their whole alliance has,” he said.

Attacking the INDIA bloc parties, Shah said they want to create uncertainty as they keep saying that this government will not complete its term.

“I want to assure the opposition that not only will this government complete its five-year term, the next term will also be of this government. Be ready to sit in the opposition and learn to work effectively in the opposition,” he added.

About the water supply project, Shah said over one lakh people in Manimajra area will get round-the-clock water supply.

He said a sum of Rs 75 crore has been spent on this project.

The Union minister said when Modi became the PM in 2014, he tried to uplift the standard of people’s living in cities by implementing the Smart City plan.

The Centre has spent over Rs 1,000 crore in Chandigarh under the Smart City project, he said.

Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, aimed to ensure clean drinking water, Shah said the work on ensuring water in 15 crore houses has been completed in less than seven years.

Clean drinking water has been ensured in 74 per cent of houses in the country, he further said.

After the start of Jal Jeevan Mission, there was a drop in the number of diarrhoea deaths.

Earlier there used to be four lakh deaths due to diarrhea and now there is a drop of three lakh in it, he said.

As far as Chandigarh city is concerned, five sewage treatment plants have been set up and an Integrated Command and Control Centre has also been established to streamline traffic movement, said Shah.

He said there is a reduction of 40 per cent in traffic related violations and 31 per cent drop in accidental deaths.

For the development of Chandigarh, the Centre spent Rs 30,000 crore in the last 10 years, he added.

Shah also praised former MP Kirron Kher for her efforts towards bringing the water supply project in the city.

The water supply project will benefit over one lakh residents of Manimajra, including those living in Modern Housing Complex, Shivalik Enclave, Indira Colony, and Shastri Nagar.

The project, a part of the Smart City mission, is aimed at avoiding wastage of water by minimising storage through continuous high-pressure supply.

The other objectives of the project include water resource augmentation through leakage reduction, smart metering, limited dependence on groundwater, and monitoring of energy consumption.

A total of 22 km water supply pipeline has been laid for this project and two underground water reservoirs, each with capacity of two million gallons per day, set up.

Later, Shah also inaugurated the e-evidence, Nyay Setu, Nyay Shruti and e-summon systems built to augment the criminal justice apparatus.

Venur: More than 15 families have been evacuated as the Belthangady-Moodbidri State Highway is covered in rainwater, forcing the Moodbidri Police, the linemen and the local youngsters to strive till 3 am on Thursday to ensure the people and their cattle reached safer venues. No casualty has been reported so far.

Rainwater is feared to have entered most of the houses near a temple and a mosque in Maruru village situated within the administration limits of Moodbidri Town Municipality limits, causing heavy losses for the people. The buses in the area were seen stranded in the rainwater near the Venur Church. As the rescue teams successfully continued their operation incessantly, the buses successfully reached the bus stand in Venur at 1.30 am on Thursday.

Farmers too are complaining of losses as an excessively high quantity of water from places like Venur, Hosangadi and Angarakari has slowed on the bridges and dams here and further seeped into plantations and fields situated in several areas. Loss of crop has been reported from Kajottu, Mattu Poocherlekki, Derar, Pade Arladka, Thorpu Anektu Peri, Jangar and Kodamani Kodingeri, as rainwater has entered not only house and huts but also the fields in these areas.

A minor bridge near Maladi Sonandur village of Belthangady taluk also collapsed in the rainwater flurry.

Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw faced fierce criticism and a wave of memes on social media after the Opposition branded him the “Reel Minister” during a heated session in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. The mocking label stems from accusations that Vaishnaw prioritizes his social media image over addressing critical safety concerns within the railway sector.

The Opposition’s barbs followed a series of recent train derailments, with the latest incident occurring on July 30 near Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, where 18 coaches of the Howrah-Mumbai Mail derailed, resulting in two deaths and 22 injuries. In response, the Congress and other parties have intensified their scrutiny, accusing Vaishnaw of neglecting essential safety measures.

During his speech in the Lower House, Vaishnaw, visibly angered, accused the previous Congress-led administrations of failing to implement Automatic Train Protection (ATP) systems. However, this did little to quell the criticism from the Opposition, who continued to highlight his perceived focus on social media.

Rashtriya Loktantrik Party MP Hanuman Beniwal further fueled the debate by calling Vaishnaw a “reel minister” and a “derail minister,” leading to a sharp retort from Vaishnaw, who told Beniwal to “shut up.” The exchange quickly went viral, sparking a meme-fest on platforms like Twitter and Instagram, where users flooded timelines with satirical content mocking the minister.

Congress representatives pointed out that Vaishnaw’s tenure has seen three major accidents in June and July alone, costing 17 lives. They argue that the lack of accountability and tangible improvements in railway safety infrastructure under his leadership is concerning.