Pramesh Jain

Many police personnel performing covid enforcement duty in West Division Welcome 23 year old Yogesh Jain and his friends.

Avanth jain 23,Nikhil jain 23,Inder jain 28 who walled to them every evening and with tea pot and offer hot tea and snacks.

They chat and try  to cheer the police personnel to bring smile on their face.

This small gesture is attempt to appreciate the hard work and to convey express our gratitude, Yogesh said .

Serving tea and snacks to Covid Warrior’s become norm for Yogesh and friends since day one of the lock down.

While yogesh,a journalist with NAI realized that how difficult for the cops on ground zero performing duties and struggle to get refreshment during the lock down.

He discussed this with his friend who readily agreed to do their bit and express support.

We arranged tea and snacks and carry around in bikes and serve the police personnel on duty.

This is the best work we think we are doing since lock down, the friends and we are happy to serve the frontline warriors who are deployed at checkposts and stations.

This gesture is not time bound and we decide to continue this till we can.

Many police officer appreciate the group stating that tea is the most needed refreshment they need after hard day work.

We look forward to meet these young group who served us tea with smile on their face, a policeman said.

A senior officer said,We thank NAI as Newspapers Association of India for their selfless service who has served tea and refreshments to our staff and I am grateful to NAI and their whole team for their selfless service all through this lockdown he said.

Pramesh Jain

Following High Court order,the traffic police on Saturday conducted a special drive against the usage of defective number plates and have booked around 85 cases.

The drive against vehicles with faulty registration plates,those illegally displaying name boards similar to the ones used by government agencies, and commercial vehicles such as cabs with boards of government agencies,began on Saturday.

The drive was conducted across the West Traffic Division which has around 18 police stations including,Upparpet,Basavanagudi,Jayanagar, Banashankari,Jalahalli,Yeshwanthpur, Byatarayanapura,Magadi Road,KR Market, Vijayanagar and other areas. 

Traffic police inspector of Magadi road M S Raju and his team as,ASIs,as,Siddalingaiah and Shivaswamy were seen enforcing the special drive near Magadi road police station in the morning.

They fined around 15 vehicles and removed the faulty number plate on the spot and even warned the drivers to not put anything on the number plate and the Inspector and his team even gave awareness and educated the drivers and asked them to pass the message to their friends and others to obey the order and follow traffic rules.

Vijayanagar Traffic police inspector,Giriraj Y and his team as PSI,Chandrashekhar and others conducted a drive near Tolgate circle removing the name plate fixed on the number plate of commercial and private vehicles.

The drive was carried at main junctions as many vehicles passes from main junctions to Vidhana Soudha and MS building and other government offices.

The total fine amount collected is around Rs. 42,500.All 85 defective number plate boards were removed at the spot apart with booking cases and collecting fines,The drive is going to continue in other parts of the city from Monday and action will be initiated as per IMV Act Police said.

Kuldeep Kumar R Jain,told reporters,Officials of West Division Traffic carried out the drive and booked cases against violators at locations such as,Magadi Road,Vijayanagar,Yeshwantpur, Tumakuru Road,Jayanagar, upparpet, and other areas and a Penalty of Rs.500 was imposed on each violator and the illegal registration plates and boards were removed on the spot.

As per the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, penalty of Rs.500 can be imposed for first offence and Rs.1,000 for subsequent offences. The drive will be intensified in the coming days, he said.

The High Court had given instructions to conduct a special drive against defective number plates following a writ petition.

According to police the defective number plates they caught on Saturday include those having names of organizations including Pro-Kannada, Anti corruption and human rights.

Even cabs which are taken by the government department on rent are also carrying the state government logo along with the number plates.

There has been rampant misuse of names that are similar to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC),Karnataka Human Rights Commission (KHRC),Central investigative agencies,and others.

While displaying the name boards, violators usually use the font size,emblem,and colour (red and green)used by government agencies.

Senior officer said,During the drive on Saturday, we booked many commercial vehicles such as cab for displaying boards of government agencies.These vehicles were hired by government agencies for ferrying officers.

As per the rules,commercial and private vehicles cannot display government boards.We also took action against private vehicle owners who had displayed name boards similar to government agencies or number plates in such a way that it appeared like those on government vehicles.

He even said the name boards are usually used to prevent checking by enforcement authorities and to avoid paying toll.

The motorists were warned not to put the names of their organizations or use fancy numbers which is violation according to the Motor vehicles Act.

Finally Bengaluru Police Commissioner,Kamal Pant,Joint CP Traffic,Dr BR Ravikanthe Gowda,has appreciated,DCP Traffic West, Kuldeep Kumar R Jain,ACPs,as,AB Sudhakar,Gopal Krishna Gowda,and all other PIs,PSIs,ASIs,and staff who has conducted a surprise special drive and gave a shock to commercial vehicle and private vehicle owners who were displaying the government of Karnataka boards on the number to avoid toll and the drive will be continued and we will take action if still they don’t abide the rules.

Finally we appeal to all the vehicle owners and authorities to remove the defective number plates on their own as the drive will be intensified in coming days and strict action will be taken he added.

Nasheman news

it helped many patients to recover by improving their oxygen spo2 levels. It can be taken along with
Alopathic medicine for cure. The medicine is made up of Olive Oil & Herbs. Initially disribution started in Hyderabad,
Telangana, AP and later to Karanataka and Ahamdulillah it is now being delivered in 23 states of India FREE OF COST.
In Kartataka alone more than 16000 bottles have been given to patients.

Maulana Sageer Ahmed Rasahdi Saab, Ameer e Shariyat also addressed the gathering. Refering to Janab Aakhil bhais
talk, Maulan mentioned it can help patients with Low economical background during this Pandemic and said Allah (swt) likes those who serves Mankind and those who have good attitude towards Humans. Maulana prayed for success of Team and for Pandemic to end soon.

This was followed by address from Dr Abdul Muqeet Madani Sab, Shaik Tarique Ashra Omeri Sab, Shaik Abdul Qadee Omeri Sab.
They explained the benfits of Tibbun Nabi and proof of its practice from the days of Probhet Mohammed (Sws) with reference and Quranic Verses
.

Guests & Dignetaries Attended:
Maulana Sageer Ahmed Rasahdi Saab, Ameer e Shariyat Karanataka
Janab Mohammed Aakhil Ahmed Sab,
Dr Abdul Muqeet Madani Sab,
Shaik Tarique Ashra Omeri Sab,
Shaik Abdul Qadee Omeri Sab
Hyderabad & Karnataka Volunteers Team of Tibbun Nabi Distribution

Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) on Sunday said it planned to operate about 3,000 buses initially from June 21, with the government relaxing COVID-19 restrictions and permitting bus operations with riders.

“The Government of Karnataka has issued orders relaxing the Covid-19 restrictions imposed in the state, except in Mysuru District and has permitted bus operations with 50 per cent seating capacity,” KSRTC said in a statement.

The Corporation said it will commence local and inter- district long route bus operations with effect from June 21, based on traffic density and need, except in Mysuru district, and initially it is planned to operate about 3,000 buses.

On inter-state operations, a decision will be taken in the coming days, keeping in view guidelines of the respective states, KSRTC said and requested passengers to compulsorily follow COVID-19 guidelines while travelling in the corporation buses.

In the fresh COVID guidelines announced on Saturday, the government had said buses are permitted to operate with 50 per cent seating capacity, strictly adhering to COVID appropriate behaviour, and no travel by standing would be allowed.

In Bengaluru, the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) will resume operations of about 2,000 on Monday from 6 AM to 7 PM, official sources said.

Metro Rail services have also been permitted, with 50 per cent occupancy, strictly adhering to COVID appropriate behaviour and SOPs issued by the concerned departments.

Taxis, and auto rickshaws that have been permitted to operate can carry a maximum of two passengers only. 

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Saturday announced further easing of lockdown restrictions in 19 of the 31 districts from June 21 in view of the positivity rate falling below five per cent and a decline in others.

“For the past one week, the COVID-19 positivity rate is less than five per cent in 16 districts, between five per cent and 10 per cent in 13 districts and above 10 per cent in Mysuru district.

We have taken certain decisions on easing restrictions, based on the advice of the Technical Advisory Committee on COVID-19 and after discussions with my cabinet colleagues,” Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa told reporters.

The 16 districts with less than five per cent positivity rate are Belagavi, Mandya, Koppal, Chikkaballapura, Tumakuru, Kolar,Bengaluru Urban (including BBMP limits), Gadag, Raichur, Bagalkote, Kalaburagi, Haveri, Ramanagar, Yadgir and Bidar, Yediyurappa said.

In these districts, all shops will remain open till 5 pm.

Hotels, clubs and restaurants without air conditioners will be allowed to operate with 50 per cent occupancy.

Outdoor shooting, bus and metro rail services with 50 per cent occupancy and outdoor sports without spectators will be allowed, he said.

The Chief Minister added that the government offices will be permiited to operate with 50 per cent occupancy.

Lodges, resorts and gymnasiums without ACs have also been given the nod to run their business with 50 per cent occupancy.

The restrictions as ordered on June 11 will continue in 13 districts with positivity rate between five per cent to 10 per cent.

These are Hassan, Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Shivamogga, Chamarajanagar, Chikkamagaluru, Bengaluru Rural, Davangere, Kodagu, Dharwad, Ballari, Chitradurga and Vijayapura.

The June 11 order said the restrictions will be eased from 6 AM to 2 PM, where the sale of essential commodities and delivery through e-commerce companies will continue.

The stringent restrictions in Mysuru will continue, the Chief Minister added.

However, state-wide night curfew from 7 PM to 5 AM every day would continue and weekend curfew from 7 PM on Friday to 5 PM on Monday will remain in effect till July 5.

The Chief Minister made it clear that easing the curbs should not be taken to mean that there has been a drastic reduction in infections.

“Easing restrictions should not be perceived as COVID-19 infections have reduced drastically.

The relaxation has been given because people are in distress, business activities have stopped, and livelihoods has become difficult,” Yediyurappa said.

He urged people to ensure this relaxation was a success by wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and hand hygiene.

The COVID-19 restrictions were imposed from April 27 when the daily infections breached the 50,000 mark.

When the cases did not come down, the government imposed a lockdown from May 10, allowing sale of essential goods from 6 AM to 10 AM.

It eased restrictions on June 11, allowing shops selling essential commodities from 6 AM to 2 PM after the number of cases started declining.

Due to the restrictions, daily infections have come down to 5,815, though active cases stood at 1,30,872 as of date, according to the health department.

Bengaluru: BJP national General Secretary in-charge of Karnataka Arun Singh on Friday warned of action against violation of party discipline as rumblings within played out in the open during his three day visit to the state, amid speculation about replacing Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.

Though Singh, who had earlier ruled out leadership change, did not make any direct comments on the issue, he is said to have made it clear at the Karnataka BJP core committee meeting that Yediyurappa will continue as the Chief Minister.

In a gesture signifying that things are in his favour, Yediyurappa, who did not make any comments on what transpired at the meeting on the leadership issue, flashed the victory sign as he departed from the state BJP office.

“The leadership issue was not discussed… Yediyurappa is our leader, there is no change in that. Our in-charge Arun Singh has asked me to make it clear,” Revenue Minister and core committee member R Ashoka told reporters, briefing them about the meeting.

There was no question of replacing Yediyurappa, he said.

“The government will function under his (Yediyurappa) leadership. This is the clear stand,” he said, adding that it has been decided to take strict action against those making open statements on the issue.

Yediyurappa earlier in the day had downplayed the dissidence against him as he ruled out any political crisis in the state.

“There is no political crisis at all…what is happening is just because one or two people are saying something in the media, it is creating misunderstanding…these one or two people speaking against me is not new, they have been doing it since the beginning and it is getting highlighted,” he said, pointing out that Singh did not even meet those involved in such activities.

“There is no confusion or crisis, we are all together and united, and are focusing on the development work.

None of my cabinet colleagues are disturbed by any of these things…we will try and talk to those who are involved in such activities, and try to resolve things,” he said.

Speculations have been rife for some time now that a section of the ruling BJP is trying to push for unseating Yediyurappa, despite Singh, party state President Nalin Kumar Kateel and other senior leaders ruling out replacing the Chief Minister and asserting that the 78 year-old Lingayat strong man will continue in the top post.

This is mainly because of repeated open statements by some disgruntled legislators against the functioning of the government and its leadership, party sources said.

Aimed at putting an end to activities by some legislators that are causing embarrassment to the BJP and the government, the party is likely to take action against a few of them soon.

“Everyone should work together for the party… there are only two-three people (legislators) who are causing damage to the party and have hurt workers…definitely action will be taken against them at the right time…

we will try to talk to them first and make them understand, action will also be taken if necessary,” Singh said.

He said BJP is the world’s largest party and has a goverment in the state. Everyone has to follow discipline, he said, as he evaded questions on the leadership issue.

Despite being warned not to make open statements, disgruntled BJP MLC A H Vishwanath today once again demanded Yediyurappas ouster and levelled allegations of corruption and interference in the administration against his younger son and party vice-president, B Y Vijayendra.

“The government has approved the Upper Bhadra Project worth over Rs 21,000 crore.Is there money with the government? This is being done just for kickbacks,” he alleged.

Not willing to comment on Vishwanath’s statements, Yediyurappa said the high command would decide on what action should be taken against him.

On the charge against his son and kickbacks in an irrigation project, the CM they were all baseless allegations, were being unnecessarily made and done for political reasons.

To add to this, charges of phone-tapping and conspiracy to fix him by Hubli-Dharwad West MLA Arvind Bellad,who is said to be from the faction seeking Yediyurappa’s replacement, had caused further embarrassment to the party and the government.

However, Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal and Tourism Minister C P Yogeshwar, who are also from the disgruntled group and had openly spoken against the government and Yediyurappa in the past, had maintained a low key during Singh’s visit.

These allegations against the government and its leadership had also resulted in a slug fest between the camps in favour of Yediyurappa and those seeking his replacement, even as Singh held a series of meetings with party leaders.

Singh had held meetings with Ministers and met 40-odd legislators individually from factions in favour of Yediyurappa, those against him and those seemingly neutral.

According to some BJP sources, he is likely to submit a report to the party’s national leadership.

A few legislators believe the party may go in for a cabinet shuffle, as many of them have complained about a lack of social and regional balance in the Yediyurappa ministry.

Briefing reporters about the decisions of the core committee meeting, Ashoka said it was decided to improve the image of the government and the party in the state and have a proper coordination between the two.

He said the party would hold its state executive on June 26 in Bengaluru, organise district executives from July 1 to 15 and mandal executive meetings from July 16 to 31.

Bengaluru: Former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday hit out at the ruling BJP for not taking up the issue of Mekedatu reservoir project due to internal squabbling in the party.

In a series of tweets, he said the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin recently initiated steps to block the project that is detrimental to the interests of Karnataka.

“The measure of the Tamil Nadu government with respect to Mekedatu reservoir as well as Cauvery river is detrimental to the interests of Karnataka,” the JD (S) leader said.

“Unfortunately, the BJP government in the State, which is supposed to look into such issues, has been debilitated by internal squabbling,” he tweeted.

According to Kumaraswamy, Stalin had recently appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to give permission to Karnataka to go ahead with the construction of Mekedatu reservoir.

“Such an important project is gripped by uncertainty though the BJP is in power both at the State and the Centre.

This has proved wrong the BJPs promise of creating a heaven by using the advantage of being in power at both the State and the Centre,” Kumaraswamy said.

He appealed to Tamil Nadu government to allow the Mekedatu reservoir project saying that it would not harm the interests of Tamil Nadu.

“The Mekedatu project is not for irrigation, but taking care of only drinking water requirements. Stalin should realise this and co-operate with Karnataka with respect to the construction of reservoir,” Kumaraswamy said.

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday ruled out any political crisis, even as the rumblings within the ruling BJP have come out in the open during the visit of its national General Secretary in-charge of the State Arun Singh, amid speculations in some quarters about his replacement.

The Chief Minister said that the BJP high command will decide on action against party MLC A H Vishwanath for his recent “open statements,” as he rubbished as “baseless” his allegations against his younger son and party vice-president B Y Vijayendra of interference in administration and “kickbacks” in an irrigation project.

“There is no political crisis at all…what is happening is just because one or two people (legislators) are saying something in the media, it is creating misunderstanding…these one or two people speaking against me is not new, they have been doing it since the beginning and it is getting highlighted,” Yediyurappa said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, about 60 legislators have met national General Secretary Arun Singh on Thursday, but these one or two people who are making statements were not even allowed to meet him.

“There is no confusion or crisis, we are all together and united, and are focusing on the development work. None of my cabinet colleagues are disturbed by any of these things…

we will try and talk to one or two people who are involved in such activities, and try to resolve things,” he added.

Speculations have been rife for some time now that a section of the ruling BJP is trying to push for unseating Yediyurappa, despite Singh ruling out replacing the Chief Minister and asserting that the 78-year old Lingayat strong man will continue in the top post.

MLA from Hubli-Dharwad West Arvind Bellad and Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal who are said to be from the faction seeking Yediyurappa’s replacement did not meet Singh on Thursday.

However, Tourism Minister C P Yogeshwar, who is also reportedly disgruntled, held discussions with him.

Not willing to comment on Vishwanath’s statements, Yediyurappa said, the high command will decide on what action should be taken against him.

Regarding his allegation against his son and kickbacks in an irrigation project, the CM said, “these are all baseless allegations and the Irrigation Department Secretary will clarify everything…unnecessarily such allegations are being made, there is no basis for it. It is being done for political reasons.”

Vishwanath has openly demanded Yediyurappa’s ouster, and levelled allegations of corruption and interference in administration against Vijayendra.

This has resulted in a slugfest, as it elicited sharp reactions from the faction supporting the CM, especially his political secretaries M P Renukacharya and S R Vishwanath.

To add to this, allegations of phone-tapping and conspiracy to fix him by Bellad, had caused further embarrassment to the party and the government.

Amid speculations about replacing him, Yediyurappa had earlier said that he will continue in the top post as long as the BJP high command has confidence in him, but had subsequently asserted that there was no confusion on the issue of leadership and that he will work for the development of the state during the remaining two years of the term.

ByRushda Fathima Khan

The National Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) on 16 June issued orders against two Kannada news channels – News18 Kannada and Suvarna News, and one English news channel- Times Now over ‘inciting hatred’ through their coverage of the pandemic by falsely targeting and vilifying members of Tablighi Jamaat as well as the entire Muslim community.

News18 Kannada has been imposed a fine of Rs One lakh and ordered to air an apology in both text and voice-over on June 23, 2021, prior to the 9 pm news. Suvarna News has been imposed a fine of Rs 50,000.

Both channels have been ordered to immediately remove the ‘hateful’ broadcasts from their channel’s websites, Youtube and other platforms within 7 days.

The authority acted based on the complaints filed by the Campaign Against Hate Speech (CAHS) in 2020. 

“The programmes were prejudicial, inflammatory, and crossed all boundaries of good taste and sensibility without any concern for the feelings of a religious group,” NBSA noted in its order. 

It added that they were based “on pure conjecture” and that “the tone, tenor and language was crass, prejudiced and disrespectful”. 

Agreeing with CAHS’ observations that hate speech dehumanises entire communities and makes them targets of vigilante violence, NBSA said the programmes “promoted and spread hatred which may have affected people’s lives”

“The titles of the programmes has an insidious effect which would incite communal violence,” NBSA said, referring to programmes aired by Suvarna News.

The authority rejected the defense taken by the broadcasters to the right to free speech and the role of the media and stated that the “right to free speech came with reasonable restrictions”. 

NBSA has also issued a censure to Times Now “for telecasting…a programme on a sensitive issue which could create communal dissensions amongst communities” and the broadcaster has been advised to “to avoid those persons to be panellists who are known in the public domain to have rabid and extreme views”. 

The fines are in view of the channels’ violation of the Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards, and Principles of Self Regulation relating to impartiality and objectivity. The programmes lacked verification and were also in violation of the Guidelines relating to Racial and Religious Harmony.

CAHS was formed in February 2020 and has been tracking hateful media coverage, particularly targeted at minority communities. It has approached various media regulatory bodies such as the NBSA and Press Council of India with complaints against media publications and channels for the latter’s violation of media-related laws and guidelines.

CAHS had filed a complaint against News18 Kannada over two shows aired on 1 April 2020 titled “Do you know how is Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz which has spread coronavirus to the nation” and “How many have gone to Delhi’s Jamaat congregation from Karnataka”.

They also filed a complaint against seven shows aired between 31 March 2020 and 4 April 2020 on Suvarna News.

They had filed a complaint against Times Nows’ program titled “Is Tablighi Jamaat wilfully sabotaging India” aired on 2 April 2020 before the District Level Monitoring Committee and PIB Fact Check Unit, which forwarded it to the NBSA.

“These orders by the NBSA are extremely heartening and can instill faith among the general public as well as campaigns such as ours that self-regulatory media mechanisms can function to hold media organizations accountable,” a statement by CAHS stated.

BENGALURU: The State Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19, which seemed cautious earlier, at a recent meeting recommended that the State could reopen some economic activities like malls, dine-in restaurants, marriage halls, shopping complexes, shopping lanes and closed markets in unlock phase-2, starting from June 21, sources said.But the number of people at these places will be limited, the sources added. 

But Dr CN Manjunath, Director, Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, said, “If we do not follow Covid-appropriate behaviour we will be back to square one. Opening of closed markets, malls and shopping complexes should still be thought about. It can be allowed only if cases continue to drop in Bengaluru.”

Meanwhile, the Technical Advisory Commitee (TAC) on Covid-19 pandemic has recommended that night curfew should be continued till June-end and public rallies, dharnas, fairs and festivals should be banned for the rest of the year.While the second phase of unlocking will start from June 21, the third phase is expected to begin from July 5. Also, the number of people allowed in some of the restricted places will be relaxed depending on the situation.

Gyms and yoga centres, places of worship, cinema halls, sports clubs, clubhouses and public washrooms will have to wait till Unlock Phase-3.The committee has also recommended that the lifting of night curfew and opening of schools and colleges should be decided separately.