Archives for May 2019

Bangalore May 8 : EaseMyTrip (EMT), one of the leading Online Travel Aggregators of India has come up with the best deals for its Karnataka users.
At present EaseMyTrip receives around 13.5 per cent users from Karnataka with Bangalore alone contributing to 12.59 per cent. With a strong presence through agent network, offices and franchises in every pin-code, the company is planning to increase this number by 25% at least, by the end of this year.
The ASI has collected a total revenue of Rs.3.89 crores – Rs. 2.22 crores from domestic and Rs.1.66 crores from foreign tourists from 2018 to 2019. Knowing the significance of tourism in Karnataka, the self-funded company will be offering a discount of flat Rs. 500 on domestic flights and Rs. 2000 on International flights, exclusively to Karnataka customers. “All they need to do is book a flight through EaseMyTrip and apply the promo code “EMTKARNATAKA” to avail attractive discount on their flight bookings.” EaseMyTrip spokeperson and Vice President Rolly Sinha Dhar said here in a press conference.
Commenting on the same, Rikant Pitti, Co-Founder & COO, EaseMyTrip has said,”We have high hopes from Karnataka. That’s why we are offering exclusive promotional offers to the customers of Karnataka and will be introducing many such offers, services in this region to increase our customer base here.”
In the last few years, the multi award-winning travel agency has seen a significant growth in its business due to its USP of charging zero convenience fees and maintaining transparency in pricing.

PM Modi while taking a jibe at Congress president Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh had termed Rajiv Gandhi as a ‘corrupt’ leader.

A Karnataka BJP leader has emerged as one among the many to express his objection over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “corrupt No 1” remark for late Congress leader Rajiv Gandhi.

He said although he respected Narendra Modi, he did not agree with the PM’s remarks on the former PM.

The LTTE planned and assassinated Rajiv Gandhi. He did not die due to corruption allegations. Nobody believes that, even I don’t believe it. I have a lot of respect for Modi ji, but it was not necessary for him to speak against Rajiv Gandhi,” former Union minister Srinivasa Prasad was quoted as saying by media.

Prasad, who served as a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, had joined the Congress and was a state minister. He rejoined the BJP in 2017.

PM Modi, taking a jibe at Congress president Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh on Saturday, had said: “Your father was termed ‘Mr. Clean’ by his courtiers but his life ended as ‘bhrashtachari’ (corrupt) number 1.”

The comment has earned condemnation from a united opposition and several leaders said the statement lowered the dignity of the PMO.

Doubling down his charges of corruption against Rajiv Gandhi, PM Modi on Monday dared the Congress to fight the elections in the name of the former prime minister.

Again on Wednesday, PM Modi fired another salvo at Rajiv Gandhi saying that he used warship INS Viraat as his “personal taxi” for a holiday when he was the PM.

New Delhi, May 9 Refuting allegations of circulating ‘derogatory’ pamphlet against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) East-Delhi Lok Sabha candidate Atishi, cricketer-turned-politician and BJP’s nominee for the parliamentary seat Gautam Gambhir on Thursday alleged it to be a conspiracy by AAP to win elections.

Reacting on AAP’s allegation, Mr Gambhir in a series of tweets, charged AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal of ‘outraging a woman’s modesty’
“I abhor your act of outraging a woman’s modesty Arvind Kejriwal and that too your own colleague. And all this for winning elections? You are filth Mr CM and someone needs ur very own ‘Jhaadu’ (broom) to clean your dirty mind,” Gambhir tweeted.
Challenging Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Ms Atishi to prove that he has done this, Gambhir said that if it was proved he will withdraw his candidature and asked them whether they will quit politics if they were proved wrong

“My Challenge no 2 @ArvindKejriwal @AtishiAAP I declare that if its proven that I did it, I will withdraw my candidature right now. If not, will u quit politics?,” Mr Gambhir said.

Expressing dissapointment over the same, Mr Gambhir said, “I feel ashamed to have a CM like @ArvindKejriwal.”

Earlier in the day, AAP east Delhi candidate Atishi broke down during a presser here, and alleged that a ‘derogatory ‘ pamphlet against her is being circulated by rival party BJP nominee and cricketer turned politician Gautam Gambhir against her in the areas falling under the parliamentary constituency.

Addressing a joint press conference here along with senior party leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Ms Atishi broke down while reading the ‘derogatory’ pamphlet against her, and questioned Mr Gambhir what he would do for the women of east Delhi.

“My only question if he (Gambhir) can circulate such pamphlet against me. What will he do for the women of East Delhi?,” Ms Atishi asked.

Elections to seven parliamentary seats in Delhi will be held on May 12.

New Delhi, Mar 9 : Senior BJP leader and Union Minister for Road Transport Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said that the saffron party would come back to power at the Centre for a second consecutive term with a bigger majority.
Mr Gadkari said this disagreeing with the comments of BJP general secretary Ram Madhav that the BJP would need support of allies to form Government after elections.

Talking to UNI in an interview at his residence, Mr Gadkari charged the opposition of dividing people on the basis of communities and castes and creating fear among minorities for electoral gains.
He made it clear that the BJP is against terrorists and not Muslims.
He also made it clear that the people of the country do not have faith in the NYAY scheme of the Congress.

Describing legislature, executive, judiciary and the media as four pillar of democracy. Mr Gadkari said all these four pillors need to work together to check the fall in the level of public discourse.

Asked about the statement by BJP general secretary that he would be happy if the BJP is able to get 271 seats on its own, Mr Gadkari said,”I do not agree with the assessment that the BJP would find it difficult to form a government. I feel that the BJP will come back to power with a full majority based on the work doen by the Narendra Modi government in the last five years. Infact, it is my belief that the BJP will form Government at the centre with a bigger majority compared to the 2014 Lok Sabha election.”

In a recent interview, BJP general secretary ram madhav had said that the BJP could fall short of majority in the coming elections and would need support of allies to form a Government at the Centre.

On political pundits projecting that in case the NDA feels short of a majority, he could emerge as a Prime Ministerial face of the BJP, Mr Gadkari said, “I am a loyal soldier of the party. I am confident that the BJP will get a full majority and that Mr Narendra Modi will be the Prime Minister. I never had any ambition of becoming Prime Minister nor do I have any such ambition now.”

He said that he would be happy if he is given the same portfolio in the BJP Government so that he can carry forward his unfinished work in the next five years. At the same time, he added that it was the prerogative of the Prime Minister to allocate a portfolio.

Mr Gadkari said that in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had come to power riding on the negativity that had been prevailing during the UPA rule following scams like the Commonwealth games scam, the 2G scam. It was a positive vote for the BJP. In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he said the BJP would return to power based on the tremendous work doen by the Narendra Modi Government at the Centre.

Mr Gadkari said the NDA Government had done a lot of work for the benefit of all sections of society in the last five years.

“We will come back to power based on the tremendous work done by the NDA Government in the last five years. In fact, the work that we have done in the last five years was not done in the last 50 years.”

I feel that the face of the Nation has been changed in the last five years. A lot of work has been done in the social sector. A lot of economic and administrative reform measures like the GST have been taken during the NDA rule. After teething problems witnessed in the Goods and services tax regime, the process of GST has been simplified,”Mr Gadkari said.

New Delhi, May 9 : The political temperature in the National Capital is soaring along with the mercury level ahead of the May 12 Lok Sabha elections, with AAP calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi chief of ‘fenkupanthi’ (braggart) community.
The AAP statement comes a day after the Prime Minister, while addressing a rally at Ramlila Maidan here in support of the BJP candidates in an apparent reference to AAP, said the ‘nakampanthi’ model has destroyed the people of Delhi.
Attacking Mr Modi over his ‘nakampanthi’ jibe, senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh
said that it is not a ‘nakampanthi’ government but a ‘karampanthi’ one.
“Hum nakampanthi nahi, karampanthi sarkar hein. Humare Pradhan Mantri fenkupanthi sampraday ke pramukh hein . (We are not failure but hard working government. Our PM is chief of ‘tall promises’ community). Whatever he (Modi) said yesterday there was no facts and truth, only false allegations,” Mr
Singh told reporters here.
Claiming that 2019 Lok Sabha elections is a fight between ‘fenku sampraday (braggart community) and ‘karampanthi’ ( hard working), the AAP leader said, the May 12 elections will be in favour of ‘karampanthi’ and against ‘fenkupanthi’.
Charging the BJP with cheating people of Delhi, Mr Singh said,”for years you have made statehood issue. In last elections (2014), Mr Modi himself promised to give full statehood to Delhi but in yesterday’s rally, he did not speak even a single word on this.”
He also attacked the Congress on the issue of full statehood.
Taking a dig at PM’s nakampanthi jibe, Mr Singh highlighted various works done by AAP in last four years.
“To hide your (Modi) failures, you are levelling false allegations on AAP government. Despite of your various obstacles in our work what we have done you don’t know,” he said.
Elections to seven parliamentary seats in Delhi will be held on May 12.

While granting damages, the court said that “reputation is the most valuable asset of a person.”

A Bengaluru court has found news media giant Asianet News Network and its Kannada news channel Suvarna News liable for defaming actor-politician Divya Spandana by wrongfully telecasting news stories linking her to the IPL spot-fixing scam in 2013. The court has ordered the news channel to pay damages worth Rs 50 lakh to the actor.

In the order dated April 26, the VIII Additional City Civil Court and Sessions Judge Patil Nagalingegouda also restrained Asianet and Suvarna News from telecasting any programs linking her to the match-fixing and spot-fixing scandals without any proof.

“On perusal of the records, it is clear that plaintiff has a blemishless record and known as a good actress in the Kannada film industry and she has also worked as a Member of Parliament,” the court observed.

Divya Spandana had filed a defamation case against Asianet News Network Pvt Ltd and Suvarna News 24×7 in 2013 after the Kannada news channel telecast a news segment alleging her involvement in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal. Suvarna News had run news segments containing visuals of Divya Spandana at various IPL matches and had alleged that she was involved in the spot-fixing scandal. Divya Spandana was the brand ambassador of Royal Challengers Bangalore team for the first five IPL seasons.

During the trial, Divya Spandana’s legal counsel Pramod Nair had contended that she was not involved in IPL in 2013 in any manner, as she was then campaigning for Karnataka assembly elections that year.

Asianet and Suvarna News contended that news channels were entitled to broadcast news relating to public events and public figures and that they had not made any direct reference to Divya Spandana. The channel’s representative also argued that the broadcast had not caused her any damage. They also stated that the inquiry by police in the case had revealed the involvement of two Kannada film stars in the scam.

The 2013 Indian Premier League spot-fixing and betting case came to light when the Delhi Police arrested three cricketers, S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, on the charges of spot-fixing. All three of them were a part of the IPL team Rajasthan Royals. Suvarna News in its news segments alleged that one of the cricketers had revealed to the police that two Sandalwood women actors were also involved in the scam.

However, the court noted that Divya Spandana was not associated with the IPL in 2013 and that the persons nabbed by Delhi and Mumbai police in relation to the scam had not named her as the actor involved in spot-fixing. The court observed that the channel had telecast the news with Divya Spandana’s pictures at IPL events.

“There are no records produced on behalf of the defendant to show plaintiff being a brand ambassador of Royal Challengers Bangalore Team was involved in betting and spot-fixing scandal as transmitted in the questioned program by the defendants. Hence, this Court is of the opinion that act of defendants is in complete violation of the journalistic ethics and deliberately to destroy the popularity of the plaintiff and act of defendant is mala fide with an intention to defame her dignity,” he further observed.

The court also stated that the “reputation is the most valuable asset of a person” and is “much more valuable than any amount of money.”

“When the above said questioned program/still images do have the tendency to destroy such reputation, the injury complained of by the plaintiff would be irreparable,” the court said.

Agencies