Bengaluru: A 40-year-old BMTC bus driver died of a heart attack while driving the vehicle in the city on Wednesday, officials said.

The incident occurred at 11 am while the bus was en route from Nelamangala to Dasanapura.

A video of the incident shows that after the driver collapsed from the heart attack, the bus brushed past another Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus. The conductor quickly jumped into the driver’s seat and took control of the vehicle.

According to BMTC officials, Kiran Kumar was operating vehicle number KA 57 F-4007 on route 256 M/1, during its final trip from Nelamangala to Dasanapura.

While on duty, Kumar suffered a heart attack and collapsed. In a courageous act, the conductor, Obalesh, immediately brought the vehicle to a safe halt, ensuring the safety of all passengers and preventing any accident.

Subsequently, Obalesh rushed Kumar to the nearby hospital, where doctors, after examination, confirmed that the driver had succumbed to a heart attack.

It is with great sadness that we announce the untimely demise of Kiran Kumar, a driver from Depot 40, who passed away due to a sudden heart attack on November 6. The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) expresses its deepest condolences to the family of Kiran Kumar.

“The corporation prays for the peace of his soul. Senior officials from BMTC visited the family, offering their sympathies and providing an ex-gratia payment to help with the final rites,” the BMTC said in a statement.

Bengaluru: Heavy rains on October 23 led to severe waterlogging and brought traffic to a halt in Bengaluru’s Electronic City area, causing hours-long delays for commuters. The Bengaluru Traffic Police were forced to close the inbound side of the Electronic City flyover due to water accumulation at Roopena Agrahara, although the outbound lane remained open.

Frustrated tech employees, stuck in traffic for over two hours, began walking home, abandoning company-provided transportation.

This traffic disruption follows a series of similar incidents across Bengaluru, with earlier rain-induced congestion reported in areas like Yelahanka, Hennur, Horamavu, and Agara. Despite the Karnataka government’s advisory for private companies to implement work-from-home policies to ease traffic during the ongoing monsoon season, the unexpected downpour and subsequent waterlogging still caught many by surprise.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: CM Siddaramaiah has appealed to the High Court questioning the Governor’s permission to prosecution against him in the alleged MUDA scam, on Thursday.

The CM has approached a divisional bench of the court, questioning an earlier order passed by a single judge bench in the case.

The bench had upheld the decision of the governor’s consent to prosecution, after hearing the CM’s plea. It has rejected the application while declaring that the governor’s consent had been legally valid.

The CM has now approached the divisional bench questioning the order of the single judge bench. The court is yet to hear the appeal.

Bengaluru: A seven-year-old boy died after he allegedly fell into an open pit meant for a lift to be installed in an under-construction building at Kadugodi here, police said on Thursday.

Suhas Gowda was playing with his friends near the five feet deep pit, which got filled with rain water, when he suddenly fell into it leading to his drowning on Wednesday.

Local residents pulled him out and rushed him to a hospital where he was declared brought dead, a senior police officer said.

Based on the complaint filed by the victim’s mother, a case under section 106 ( Causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered against two people, including the building’s caretaker, he said.

Kishore Kumar Botyadi

Mangaluru: In the recently held by-election for the Dakshina Kannada Local Authorities Legislative Council seat, BJP candidate Kishore Kumar Botyadi emerged victorious. The by-election was conducted on October 21 following the resignation of Kota Srinivas Poojary.

The vote counting took place today (October 24), where Kishore Kumar Botyadi defeated Congress candidate Raju Poojary by a margin of 1,697 votes.

Out of the 5,912 votes cast, Kishore Kumar Botyadi secured 3,654 votes for the BJP, while Raju Poojary received 1,957 votes for the Congress. Anwar Sadat of the SDPI obtained 195 votes, with 9 other votes cast, and 87 votes declared invalid.

Channapatna : Former Minister C P Yogeshwara, who joined the Congress after quitting BJP, on Thursday filed his nomination as the grand old party’s candidate for the November 13 Assembly by-poll from Channapatna, amid a show of strength.

He was accompanied by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, state Congress President and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and district in-charge Minister Ramalinga Reddy, among other party leaders.

Yogeshwara along with Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar, Reddy, former MP D K Suresh and several other Congress leaders held a massive road show in which a large number of party workers and supporters had gathered.

Yogeshwara on Wednesday quit BJP and joined the Congress, hours before the party fielded him as its candidate from the high profile Channapatna segment.

Channapatna bypoll is necessitated as the seat fell vacant following the election of its representative — JD(S) state President and now Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy — to Lok Sabha from Mandya parliamentary segment.

The by-poll will see a straight contest between Congress and NDA partner JD(S), which is in an alliance with the BJP, in the segment.

Addressing the gathering, Yogeshwara said Siddaramaiah’s personal presence and blessings, and Shivakumar and Suresh’s support and cooperation are a “big strength” for him.

“I have come before you as your candidate to join hands with Shivakumar in his efforts to develop the taluk….I appeal to you to make me win with a record margin to serve you,” he said.

Siddaramaiah said Yogeshwara is a popular leader in Channapatna and he has made efforts for the development of the constituency as a five time MLA and a Minister, and people acknowledge his work in filling up lakes in the taluk.

“Let whoever the JD(S) field as its candidate, let Kumaraswamy himself contest or let him field his son or wife, our candidate Yogeshwara will win hundred per cent. He is a winning horse,” he said.

Charging Kumaraswamy with “not doing anything for the development of Channapatna,” the CM said: “he did not make visits to the constituency. Kumaraswamy is a central minister now, he is not going to any part of the country other than the Mandya segment he represents…”

Shivakumar said, the government is undertaking works to the tune of Rs 500 crore in Channapatna, adding, if the Congress candidate wins here, the segment can witness changes for good. “I request you to give Congress victory with a huge margin.”

Hitting out at Kumaraswamy for quitting as Channapatna MLA and contesting Lok Sabha polls from Mandya, he said: “You (people) should ask him — you were twice MLA from here and also became CM — what have you done, release the list.”

Ahead of joining Congress, Yogeshwara, the actor-turned-politician, had appealed to leaders of the alliance to consider giving him a ticket from the saffron party. He had also said he had plans to contest as an independent if he didn’t get the ticket.

There were plans to field Yogeshwara on a JD(S) ticket, but he was not interested in it, sources said. “Instead, he wanted Kumaraswamy to support him as BJP candidate, which was not acceptable to the latter and his party.”

With this by-poll, “D K Brothers” — Shivakumar and Suresh — are hoping to regain Congress’ ground in the Vokkaliga dominated region, which is their home turf, after the Lok Sabha poll debacle in which the latter lost to BJP-JD(S) joint candidate and Kumaraswamy’s brother-in-law Dr C N Manjunath in Bangalore Rural, under which the Channapatna Assembly seat comes.

According to JD(S) sources, Kumaraswamy did not want to cede the Channapatna seat that he had represented to Yogeshwara or BJP.

Kumaraswamy had won the Channapatna seat in 2018 and 2023. Before that Yogeshwara had represented the seat from BJP and Samajwadi Party. He had earlier also represented the seat both as an independent and from the Congress.

Kumaraswamy’s actor-turned-politician son Nikhil Kumaraswamy’s name has been doing the rounds as JD(S)-BJP alliance’s candidate for Channapatna seat. Nikhil had lost the 2023 Assembly polls from neighbouring Ramanagara.

Kumaraswamy had won Channapatna in the 2023 assembly polls, with 96,592 votes against Yogeshwara (then in BJP) who got 80,677 votes. The Congress candidate had then secured 15,374 votes.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday announced that 100 new police stations would be established in the state, while 10,000 police quarters would be constructed by 2025.

Siddaramaiah was speaking at the police remembrance day where he paid homage to 216 policemen who laid down their lives in line of their duty in the country including 12 in Karnataka.

“It is the government’s duty to provide houses for policemen. We will build 10,000 residential quarters by 2025 for which Rs 2,000 crore has been allocated,” the CM said.

He added that 100 new police stations will be built for which Rs 200 crore has been sanctioned.

The Chief Minister also announced opening seven new public schools and promised setting up more such institutions in the coming years.

Underscoring the importance of law and order to maintain peace in society, Siddaramaiah said peaceful society attracts investment, creates more job opportunities, increases per capita income and improves the economy.

To curb unlawful activities and for quick response in the event of accidents, 200 vehicles are patrolling Highways and 6,000 CCTV cameras are used for monitoring public spaces, he informed the gathering.

On the occasion, the CM assured the policemen that the state government will provide all the facilities to them to discharge their duties.

plea of former Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, who is currently in jail in connection with a rape case.

A single-judge bench of the High Court also rejected his anticipatory bail application.

Prajwal Revanna had approached the High Court after his bail plea was dismissed by the lower court in the rape case registered at the Hole Narasipura police station in Hassan.