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Anti-corruption organization caught in corruption; Lokayukta’s house, office raided

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Lokayukta scam

Bengaluru: The ongoing probe with regard to the allegations of corruption taking place in the Lokayukta office, led the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to make a thorough search of the official residence and office of Lokayukta Y Bhaskar Rao. The team managed to procure certain documents.

The search at the residence and office took place in the absence of Bhaskar Rao. Officials, though confirmed the search, refused to state any details based on the documents recovered.

Officials state that investigations began after few touts were arrested. They also said that a deeper analysis of phone records revealed that conspirators were present at the official residence and at the Lokayukta’s office to plan the operations.

“Thus we have two places where crime has taken place,” said an investigating official.
Sources claim that a complaint was filed by an Irrigation Department employee, Chennabasappa against Ashwin Y.

According to the complaint, Chennabasappa had met Ashwin at the Lokayukta’s official residence. At present, Ashwin is the main accused in the case and is in the custody of SIT.

The team was successful in raiding many locations which include two places that belong to Ashwin’s father Bhaskar Rao. SIT has recovered few documents that were seized from Ashwin’s Hyderabad house.

(Agencies)

All-party delegation, CM Siddaramaiah to meet Modi over farmer suicides

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siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: “The state government has written to the Prime Minister’s office to finalise the date to discuss with all-party delegation the issue of farmer suicides, pending irrigation projects and financial assistance required for it”, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Wednesday August 5.

After meeting families of farmers who committed suicide, the CM said that he would lead a delegation of leaders of all parties and ask Prime Minister Modi to seek his intervention in view of the drought situation and increasing number of cases of farmer suicides.

He also mentioned that the state government has commenced a survey of districts which received scanty rainfall this year, adding that several taluks would be declared drought-hit soon. He assured early implementation of inter-state Kalasa-Banduri irrigation project with the intervention of Mr Modi.

“We are expected to go after August 10. All bottlenecks for Kalasa-Banduri project will be cleared soon,” he assured.

(Agencies)

IS abductors treated us with respect: Released Karnataka teacher

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Lakshmikant and Vijay Kumar, the two Indians who have been released.

Lakshmikant and Vijay Kumar, the two Indians who have been released.

Hyderabad: One of the two Indian teachers from Karnataka who was kidnapped in Libya, allegedly by Islamic State (IS) group and released subsequently, today said they were treated with respect by the abductors and not tortured in captivity.

Lakshmikant, from Raichur district in Karnataka, arrived at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) here.

“…Nobody tortured us…they did not harm…they gave respect,” Lakshmikant told reporters here.

Four Indian teachers working at University of Sirte in Libya, including two from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, were kidnapped in Libya allegedly by the ISIS while returning to India from Tripoli on July 29.

The Indian government had on July 31 said it had secured the release of two of them – Lakshmikant and Vijay Kumar.

“Four of us were together (during captivity). They released me and Vijay Kumar. I have been told that Gopikrishna and Balram are safe. I am requesting them that they too are released,” Lakshmikant said.

Lakshmikant’s wife Prathiba, who was among the family members who received him at the airport, said, “We are very happy and proud of the Indian government. We thank each and everybody, media and family friends.”

Vijay Kumar’s family hails from Kolar district in Karnataka.

Gopikrishna, an assistant professor at University of Sirte in Libya, is a native of Tekkali in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, while Balram, an English Professor, also works at the same University and hails from Karimnagar district of Telangana.

(Agencies)

Devraj Urs, former CM to be conferred with ‘Karnataka Ratna’ award

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Devaraj_Urs

Bengaluru: Karnataka government announced the ‘Karnataka Ratna’ award to former chief minister Devraj Urs here on Monday. The decision was taken at a meeting during the centenary celebrations at Vidhana Soudha.

The meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and attended by state ministers. The award has been declared posthumously. The state government has urged the centre to bring out stamps in honour of the former chief minister.

D. Devaraj Urs served two separate terms as Chief Minister for the state of Karnataka. His first term was between the 20th of March 1972 and the 31st of December 1977. His second term as Chief Minister was between the 28th of February 1978 and the 7th of January 1980.

He won the elections consecutively for a span of 28 years. He was repeatedly elected to the Legislative Assembly from Hunsur constituency between 1952 and 1980. His term as Chief Minister is also one of the longest terms in the history of Karnataka.

D. Devaraj Urs is held famously as the greatest social reformers ever from Karnataka. A follower of the late Indira Gandhi, Urs sought to implement the “elimination of poverty” agenda during his term as Chief Minister.

He addressed several questions such as,  education of the “backward” classes of the society, establishment and maintenance of hostels for members of the backward classes and minorities, allocation of stipend funds for the 16,000 odd unemployed members of the minority sections of society, abolition of bonded labor, night soil carrying duties allocated solely to members of the Dalit caste, Land reforms, according to which the tiller or the farmer became the owner, the Kali project for irrigation purposes.

(Agencies)

NHRC issues notice to Karnataka govt over farmers’ suicides

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farmers families

New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission has expressed ‘grave’ concern over alleged farmers’ suicides in Mandya district of Karnataka over low payment by sugar mills and issued a notice to the state government seeking a reply within four weeks.

Mandya, known as the ‘sugar bowl’ of Karnataka, has seen a spate of farmer deaths as the mills were paying them Rs 700-800 per tonne, despite the Chief Minister’s promise of purchasing at Rs 2,500 per tonne, the NHRC said.

The deaths due to suicides by farmers is of grave concern and calls for prompt and quick remedial steps by the government, the rights body said.

It has issued a notice to the Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka calling for a report in the matter within four weeks.

Referring to a media report in this regard, it said that the “negligence” by the state and Union governments in the matter of fixing fair price, payment of arrears by mills and a sugarcane glut are the main reasons for the sudden spike in the suicides.

(Agencies)

Lokayukta joint commissioner Syed Riyaz arrested

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Lokayukta scam

Bengaluru: Karnataka Lokayukta joint commissioner Syed Riyaz was arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Sunday night for his alleged involvement in collecting bribes from state officials.

“We have taken Riyaz into custody from a private hospital where he was taking treatment for blood pressure and diabetes,” said a senior investigating officer.

As part of its probe into the graft charges against some unidentified officials in the watchdog, though the SIT team summoned Riyaz for interrogation, he delayed by extending his leave from July 17 to July 31 on returning from pilgrimage to Makkah on July 19.

“Preliminary investigation and interrogation of three suspected extortionists whom we arrested last week revealed that Riayz was one of the kingpins in threatening many officials of booking graft cases and raiding their premises if they did not pay up over the years,” the officer said.

The SIT, headed by Additional Director General of Police Kamal Pant, was set up by the state government on the request of Lokayukta, Justice (retd.) Y. Bhaskar Rao on June 30 to probe the graft charges, including a bribe of Rs.1 crore sought allegedly by his son Ashwin Rao.

The SIT is also on the lookout for Riyaz’s brother-in-law Sadiq for allegedly being part of the extortionist gang.

The three co-accused in the scam are Ashok Kumar, Srinivas Gowda and Shankare Gowda, who used to threaten officials and extort money after collecting information against them through the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

(Agencies)

Extortion racket: SIT arrests Karnataka Lokayukta’s son Ashwin Rao

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Ashwin Rao

Bengaluru: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Monday arrested Karnataka Lokayukta Bhaskar Rao son, Ashwin Rao, for allegedly running an extortion from the ombudsman’s office. He was arrested by the team led by DCP Labhu Ram in Aurangabad, Maharashtra.

Ashiwn will be brought back to Bengaluru by evening. Meanwhile, his arrest has delivered a serious blow to embattled Lokayukta Rao, who has been refusing to quit despite protests from various quarters.

This is the second high-profile arrest in the case in less than 24 hours. On Sunday, Joint Commissioner (PRO) Syed Riyaz was held on the charges of the corruption by the SIT. He has been the PRO for the watch dog for 18 years now. So far six have been arrested in the case.

The SIT arrested Riyaz in connection with the FIR (56/2015) pertaining to threatening and attempting to extort money from PWD Executive Engineer M N Krishnamurthy. Though the SIT had already arrested three individuals, Riyaz is the first Lokayukta official to be arrested.

Sources said Riyaz had played a vital role in the Krishnamurthy case. Ashok Kumar, the first to be arrested by the SIT, had been in constant touch with Riyaz. Ashok, a realtor, had made several calls to Riyaz. The pattern of these calls is interesting as after each call from Ashok, Riyaz would immediately call Y Ashwin, son of Lokayukta Justice Y Bhaskar Rao. Ashwin was named accused number one by the Lokayukta police in the FIR registered on July 1.

(Agencies)

Former PM Deve Gowda begins hunger strike on farmers’ suicide issue

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Deve Gowda

Bengaluru: Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Monday began a hunger strike here demanding discussion in Parliament on the farmers’ suicide in the country.

Flanked by party MPs, MLAs, and Samajwadi Party supporters at Jantar Mantar here, the JD(S) leader said that his hunger strike will continue till a discussion takes place on the issue of farmers’ suicide in Parliament. Asked about Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh’s reply in Parliament on farmers’ suicide, he said it was the worst statement made by the Agriculture Minister.

“It is one of the worst statements made by the Agriculture Minister. It is unbecoming of the Agriculture Minister at the national level. I am so sorry, how Prime Minister Narendra Modi tolerated this type of statement,” Gowda said adding that it should be condemned. Stressing that it is the beginning of a struggle, he expressed concern over the death of thousands of farmers in the country.

“In particular, 16 farmers are committing suicide in Karnataka everyday. Even today nine farmers died,” Gowda said, SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, CPI(M)leader Sitaram Yechury, JD(U) Sharad Yadav, CPI leader D Raja have extended their support to the hunger strike.

(PTI)

Karnataka: Angry Siddaramaiah flings copy of budget into well of Assembly

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Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: Ruling Congress and BJP members were locked in a verbal clash in Karnataka Assembly today over alleged cut in funding of centrally-sponsored schemes, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, angry with disruptions, flinging a copy of the budget into the well of the House.

Amidst chaos and charges, the Assembly passed demands for grants by various departments and the money Bill by a voice vote.

The two parties sparred during the Chief Minister’s reply to the discussion as he accused the NDA government of reducing funding for centrally-sponsored schemes.

Angered by BJP’s repeated disruption and allegations of giving wrong information, Siddaramaih threw a copy of budget into the well of the House, which led to heated arguments between both sides.

Following this, the BJP members entered into the well of the House shouting slogans against the Congress government and the Chief Minister.

As repeated attempts by Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa to convince BJP members to allow Chief Minister to continue with the reply failed, he put the demands and money Bill to vote, and amidst protest and sloganeering they were passed by a voice vote.

In his reply, Siddaramaiah claimed his government is transparent and corruption free.

“Ours is a corruption free, pro-people government. There have been no allegations of corruption against our government in the last two years,” he said.

He also measured transparency standard of his government by pointing out that it has handed over six cases till date to CBI while the previous BJP government had not handed over even a single case.

(Agencies)

Karnataka government still for an apex court nod for BBMP poll postponement

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BBMP poll

Bengaluru: The state’s Congress government is still trying to postpone the BBMP Election. The calendar has been announced, but the government has not given up on getting the August 22nd election postponed.

Today, the apex court will be hearing a petition filed by the government that seeks explicit clarity on the deadline for holding elections, following its July 3 order extending polls by eight weeks.

Sources say the government will seek more time on the premise that it requires time to implement the recommendation of the BBMP restructuring committee. The committee recommended splitting the city into five corporations for better municipal administration.

Committee member V Ravichandar and Namma Bengaluru Foundation agreed that the bad move of postponing elections had the good motive of fixing the city’s crumbling governance.”The report is virtually useless if we don’t get time to implement its recommendations,” the minister said.

“I support the government wanting to postpone elections,” said TV Mohandas Pai, chairperson of Manipal Global Education Services. “For the past five years, we didn’t have a democratic institution. A mafia had captured the city. All this has to stop by having multiple corporations to help Bengaluru, in place of a single, monolithic institution like the BBMP.”

Namma Bengaluru CEO Sridhar Pabbisetty is firm on timely electoral process. “It is very important that we acknowledge that timely elections should have happened, and the derailment of elections has been schemed under various pretexts. To invoke the doctrine of mixed motives now would make the government’s earlier motives questionable,” he argued.

(Agencies)

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