BENGALURU: It is just the beginning of summer and already, Bengaluru is experiencing power cuts stretching for an entire day, especially during weekends. There is more pain to come as Bescom officials said that scheduled and unscheduled power cuts in different areas will continue for another six to eight months as they are racing against a deadline to shift all overhead cables underground before the onset of monsoon. 

The power supply company is resorting to power cuts despite the state reporting surplus production of power.  While the work continues during the week, the major part is taken up during weekends leading to power cuts from 10 am to 7 pm, they explained.

“It has been the third consecutive weekend where there have been power cuts. While Bescom announces the power cut till 5 pm, it continues till 7 pm or 8 pm. They say it is because of scheduled maintenance works,” said agitated Pradeep K, a resident of Magadi Road. 

Bengalureans irked by frequent power cuts

Another Bengalurean and a resident of Yeshwanthpur said the daylong power cut spoils the entire weekend. “Since we are a working couple with school-going children, all weekday work gets piled up for the weekend and power cuts hamper all those activities.

With UPS we cannot use the washing machine and geyser. We have also stopped inviting guests home because of power cuts,” said Seema L. Power outages during weekends are being reported from Indiranagar, RR Nagar, Peenya, Mysuru Road, Sarjapur, Kanakapura, Majestic, Rajajinagar, HSR Layout, Attiguppe and many others.

“This has come at a time when the government has repeatedly stated that they have surplus power and assured people of no power cuts. It is just the onset of summer and we have not yet reached the peak demand. One only wonders if the state is saving power for drier and worse times ahead,” speculated a power expert, working closely with the government.

According to the government, power generation from state units on Sunday was 4488 MW and the total power, including that sourced from the central grid, worked out to 9,046 MW. Bescom’s actual load was 4,143 MW against the scheduled 3,741 MW. A senior Bescom official told TNIE, “So far, 80 per cent of works are completed. Our priority is to shift all overhead cables underground.

Based on the availability of time, less traffic movement and load on the grid, area-wise works are being taken up. More stress is being laid during the weekends as offices are shut and load on the grid is less. At present, the state peak load is 14,000MW and 50 per cent of the load is in Bengaluru. Citizens will have to bear, as we do not want any untoward incidents during monsoon.”

BENGALURU: The State Government on Friday informed the Legislative Council that it wants to hold elections to local bodies soon with reservation for Other Backward Communities (OBCs) and it has asked the Panchayat Raj Delimitation Committee, which is tasked with redrawing zilla and taluk panchayat boundaries, to submit its report at the earliest.

Replying to a question by JDS MLC Marithibbegowda, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister K S Eshwarappa said the government intends to hold the elections soon, but wants the reservation for OBCs to stay. 

“The Chief Minister has discussed the matter with legal experts. Also, the Panchayat Raj Delimitation Committee is yet to submit its report. Once the report is submitted, we will initiate further process to hold the elections,” the minister said. He noted that the government had written to the Election Commission earlier to hold the ZP-TP polls, but had received 888 objections against the delimitation. 

Opposition leader B K Hariprasad asked him to consider the Kantharaj committee report and submit it to the Supreme Court, which had ruled holding elections without reservations for OBCs, but only for SCs and STs. 

In response, Eshwarappa targeted former CM Siddaramaiah. “When I was the opposition leader, I repeatedly requested then CM Siddaramaiah to submit the report, but he didn’t. He cheated the OBCs,” Eshwarappa said, adding that the government was also considering the Kantharaj committee report and whether its data was useful now.

BENGALURU: A day after the BJP victory in four of the five state Assembly elections, the party announced the list of candidates for the Legislative Council polls, expected to be held in June or July.

Out of four MLC seats going to the polls, the BJP announced the candidates for three — two sitting MLCs, Arun Shahpur (North West Teachers’ constituency) and Hanumant Rudrappa Nirani (North West Graduates’ constituency), and former MLC M V Ravishankar (South Graduates’ Constituency).

The party is yet to announce the candidate for the West Teachers’ constituency, which is presently represented by Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti (JDS).

A senior BJP leader said there are attempts to lure Horatti into the BJP fold, but he has not made his intentions clear. Even the party top brass is keen on this. However, there is also opposition to giving a ticket to Horatti from the West Teachers’ constituency. “While BJP leaders are keen on inducting him, local party workers are against it. This has not been resolved. Once it is done, the name will be announced,” sources said.

Rumours of Horatti jumping ship to the BJP have been doing rounds for several months now. “There is also a demand from Horatti to allow him to continue as Council Chairman. This is also under consideration. But it all depends on Horatti and the Central leaders,” sources said.

Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said that the body of Karnataka students who was killed in Russian shelling in Ukraine has been kept at a mortuary there.

“The dead body of Karnataka-based medical student Naveen, a resident of Haveri, who was killed during the Russian shelling attack has been kept at the mortuary in Ukraine”, he said.

The CM who spoke about this at Bengaluru also said that he had already spoken to the centre’s minister Jai Shankar in this regard.

“Naveen’s dead body has been found and taken to the mortuary. The war is still continuing, and I am in touch with the officials at the Raibhar office. Discussions are underway regarding bringing the body”, he added.

The pandemic, if not anything, has given us all a perspective on the hardships every person faces in their lifetime. This prompted us to provide a platform to those who not only survived their personal battles but simultaneously fulfilled their duties and chased their dreams. We, at Orchids – The International School, salute their courage and the management has also presented them with a small token of gesture for their extraordinary zeal for life.

This Women’s Day, here are the stories that we would like to share with you of their challenges and how they made their way through those barriers. We hope to bring these stories of courage, never-dying-spirit and optimism to millions of fellow Indians through your platform

Ms Veena Bakhle, English Teacher, Ambegaon Branch

The pandemic turned Ms Veena Bakhle’s life upside down when she suffered an irreparable loss during the 1st wave of pandemic. She lost her husband to the fury of Covid-19, but it has not deterred her from facing life head-on. Despite the tragedy, Veena says that the children she has been teaching, her schedules and the mentorship program she has been a part of for many years helped her cope with the loss.  She now says ‘when you don’t have – give’, be it love, care or even attention, this would make someone somewhere feel better and supported.

Ms Garima Sawlani, Principal, Kharadi Branch

Challenging times began for Ms Garima when her marriage of 13 years fell apart due to infidelity and violence and she became a single mom. Her profession as an educator became a driving force helping her understand the dynamics of raising a child. The result is, now her son has graduated with flying colors from Bengaluru’s top B-School and is pursuing his passion in photography and filmmaking. Ms Garima stands in support of women being financially independent, brave, decisive and have faith in their choices.

Rebeca Nagaraj S, Primary English Teacher, Mahalakshmi Layout Branch

Ms Rebeca’s father met with an accident 10 months after the pandemic began and has been bedridden ever since. The challenge for Rebeca was not just supporting her family financially but also to look for a job that would give her space to forget her worries and up skill herself with self-exploration. Ms Rebeca believes that Orchids helped her train and implement it, practically giving a sense of satisfaction. Her interaction with children kept her motivated and made her stronger and that endurance gave hope to go on.

BENGALURU: Terming Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s maiden budget as lacking in vision, Opposition leader in the Assembly, Siddaramaiah, said that he was hoping it would have former CM SR Bommai’s influence, but has more of RSS imprint. “I was disappointed,’’ he remarked.

Siddaramaiah said that in order to cover its mistakes, the BJP government is blaming the Covid-19 situation. Citing the lockdowns, the government said it was not able to collect taxes and therefore, went for borrowings. Even the Fiscal Responsibility Act was amended to facilitate this.

“The double engine government has failed miserably’’ he asserted. Till 2018, the state had loans of Rs 2.42 lakh crore which will increase to Rs 5.18 lakh crore by the end of March 2023. This year alone, the State Government has to pay more than Rs 43,000 crore including Rs 27,000 crore interest on the loans, he noted. Training his guns on the Centre, Siddaramaiah said Karnataka pays more than Rs 3 lakh crore in taxes but, in return, gets only Rs 44,000 crore. 

Outsider who?
When Siddaramaiah began his speech, he said there were many leaders with RSS background “including you (referring to Revenue Minister R Ashoka) and KS Eshwarappa. But ignoring them, Bommai, who was not even in touch with the RSS or BJP till 2008, was made CM”. To this, Ashoka retorted saying Siddaramiah himself was also not from Congress, but was made CM in 2013.

Belagavi: Raichur S.L.N College’s B.E Civil Engineering department’s student, Bushra Mateen has won a total of 16 gold medals from the VTU and created a new record. 

Prof. Karisiddappa, Chancellor at Visvesvaraya Technological University, called a press conference regarding the VTU’s Annual Convocation event and said that the University’s 21st Annual Convocation program would be conducted on March 10th at the Jnanasangama Campus, he informed.

Bushra Mateen who has won a total of 16 gold medals has reportedly created a new record, which is the first record in the history of the VTU. The University’s Chancellor also said that to date the record of the maximum number of gold medals won had been at 13, he informed. 

Bengaluru B.N.M Technological Institution’s Swathi Dayanand from the E and C Department, Belagavi K.L.E. Dr. M. S. Sheshagiri Engineering College’s Vivek Bhadrakali from the Mechanical Department, Bellary Institute Of Technology and Management’s Chandana M. from the E & C Department have each won 7 gold medals, it is learned. 

Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot is scheduled to preside over the event. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will be delivering the Convocation address and Minister of Higher Education Dr. C. N Aswathanarayan will be participating as the chief guest at the event, the University’s Chancellor informed.

Bengaluru: The COVID-19 cases in Karnataka further declined from 278 cases on Saturday to 229 cases on Sunday while 3 deaths were reported on the day taking the infection tally and fatalities to 39,42,575 and 39,991 respectively, the State health department said.

In its daily COVID-19 bulletin, the department said 264 people were discharged, taking the total number of recoveries to 38,99,298. Active cases stood at 3,248.

Bengaluru urban district reported 146 infections and two deaths.

Other districts too had fresh cases including 13 in Tumakuru, 12 in Mysuru, seven in Ballari and six each in Belagavi and Shivamogga.

Kalaburagi reported one death while, 29 districts had zero fatalities on Sunday.

The positivity rate for the day was 0.47 per cent and the case fatality rate was 1.31 per cent.

As many as 48,318 tests were conducted including 37,584 RT-PCR tests taking the total tests so far to 6.48 crore.

There were 13,384 inoculations done taking the total vaccinations so far to 10.13 crore, the department said.

Hubballi: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday said efforts are on to airlift nearly 200 students from Karnataka who are stranded in the bunkers in Kharkiv in war-torn Ukraine.

“There are 200 students from Karnataka stuck in the bunkers in Kharkiv. The Indian Embassy in Ukraine is working hard to bring them to India. We are also in constant touch with the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is personally monitoring the rescue operation and efforts are on to bring students to India,” Bommai told reporters here.

The Chief Minister welcomed Chaithra Gangadhar Saunshi from village Yaraguppi in Kundakol in Dharwad district, who returned from Kharkiv.

According to the Chief Minister’s office, Saunshi was studying in Kharkiv Ukraine when the war broke out between Russia and Ukraine and Kharkiv was among the worst affected places.

The CMO said Saunshi was holed up in a bunker for a week and then she walked for nine kilometres and reached Poland.

After crossing the Ukraine border the Indian embassy authorities helped her fly to India. After reaching New Delhi she arrived in Karnataka.

Saunshi’s parents have thanked the Indian government for bringing their daughter back to the country.

The Chief Minister said there were four people from Dharwad stranded in Ukraine of which two have returned while the remaining two have crossed the Ukraine border.

Regarding bringing back S G Naveen’s body, a fourth year medical student in Kharkiv who died in the shelling in Kharkiv on March 1, Bommai said the Indian Embassy in Ukraine has been working there.