Archives for 2022

Belthangady: The apex court has upheld the Belthangady civil court judgment imposing three-month imprisonment and also a fine of Rs 4.5 lakh on Somanath Nayak, president of the Nagarika Seva Trust, Guruvayanakere, here.

Nayak is reported to have been charged with defamation of dharmadhikari of Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala D Veerendra Heggade and also disobeying an order of temporary injunction to not publish any statement that would harm the reputation of the dharmadhikari.

Justices M R Shah and M M Sundresh said in their order on October 19, “Having gone through the impugned judgment and order passed by the Karnataka High Court and the learned trial court, we see no reason to interfere with the same in exercise of powers under Article 136 of the Constitution of India.”

They also said that the earlier injunction had been violated repeatedly by the petitioner, said sources. The Belthangady court had rightly judged Nayak guilty for violation of the injunction, said the apex court judges, citing the application under Order 39 Rule 2A of Civil Procedure Code. “The Special Leave Petition stands dismissed,” the bench added.

Heggade had filed an original suit before the Additional Civil Judge and JMFC, Belthangady. He had also secured a temporary injunction order in November 2013 against Nayak and five other people to hold them from making or publishing any statement that would impact the reputation of Shri Kshetra Dharmasthala and Heggade himself.

Since Nayak continued to publish statements against Heggade, the dharmadhikari is learned to have filed an interim application against Nayak for violation of the injuction. The Belthangady civil court had sentenced Nayak to three months of imprisonment along with payment of a compensation of Rs 4.5 lakh.

While Nayak appealed against the order, his application was turned down by the senior civil judge and the JMFC, Belthangady, in March 2022 and the Karnataka High Court in May 2022.

Nayak had then filed a special leave petition before the Supreme Court, which, however, has now also dismissed his petition.

Book: Philosophy for Children
Author – Sundar Sarukkai
Illustration – Priya Kuriyan
Price – ₹175 Pages – 72
Published – 2021

Do we think while seeing, reading, and writing? Are our children engaged in many given activities that they do not have the leisure to think on their own? Writing a book for children is a very difficult task for even a seasoned author. It becomes even tougher when that book is on philosophy.

Philosophy for children is a beautifully crafted small 72-page book written by Sundar Sarukkai. He is currently a Professor of Philosophy at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore. He is the founding director of the Manipal Centre for Philosophy & Humanities, at Manipal University, from 2010-2015. Additionally, Dr Sarukkai is the founder of the Barefoot Philosophers initiative (https://www.barefootphilosophers.com).

This amazing book is divided into eight chapters. Those are seeing, thinking, reading, writing, mathematics, art, being good, and learning. Each chapter is prepared with children aged around 10 in mind. For example, “The funny thing about seeing is that we can also see when our eyes are closed! Try this exercise. Close your eyes. Do you see any shades of colour? When we dream, we do see many things. We can see people, we hear them talking. But when we are dreaming our eyes are closed.”

Each chapter provides us with different perspectives on the human senses. Let me quote another example from the chapter thinking. “Ask yourself these questions: Do you think differently in your Hindi class and your English class? Is that thinking different from what you think when you are learning science and mathematics?”. In this way, Sarukkai walks us through various situations and encourages children to ask questions. It is not often that one comes across classrooms that are question-friendly. “Pindrop silence” is considered the benchmark of a good classroom.

Priya Kuriyan has done exceptional work by adding a large number of colourful illustrations all throughout this book. These pictures play a vital role in making this book extremely children friendly. Priya is an alumnus of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. She has been awarded the prestigious Big Little Book Award for her contribution to the field of children’s literature.

The valiant effort of Sarukkai and Priya would have gone in vain but for Ektara’s production. Ektara is a group working in Bhopal towards enriching the child’s world. It is virtually impossible to make this striking book available for ₹175. If you love children and who does not? You cannot think of a better gift than ‘Philosophy for Children.

Dewas (MP): Enraged over not being allowed to light a cigarette, a group of five young men stabbed a petrol pump employee to death in Madhya Pradesh’s Dewas district on Diwali night, police said.

While the accused were arrested, the administration also initiated demolition of their houses, terming them unauthorized.

The incident of stabbing took place at Suryansh Sales Petrol Pump near Jetpura on Bhopal road, said a police official on Tuesday night.

A group of five young men arrived at the petrol pump to fill up the tank of their car. When one of them lit a cigarette, an employee named Rahul Singh asked him not to do so.

It angered them and they started a quarrel, the official said. When Jojan Singh Rajput (30), another employee, intervened, they attacked him and Rahul with a knife, he added.

Rajput succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital while Rahul Singh was shifted to Indore for treatment, said Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Manjeet Singh Chawla.

The accused, identified as Samir, Faizan, Firoz, Zafar and Irshad, were arrested, Chawla said.

Angry over the incident, local villagers blocked the Bhopal Highway near Khataba demanding demolition of the accused’s houses and an eatery run by them.

Police and local administration demolished the eatery claiming that it was illegal and have also started demolishing the houses of the accused persons, the official added.

Pune: A notice purportedly put up in the Pune district court asked women advocates not to “arrange” hair in the open court as it `disturbs the functioning of the court’.

While senior lawyer Indira Jaising flagged it on Twitter and later informed that it had been removed, the court registrar refused to comment on the issue.

The notice, dated October 20, is purportedly singed by the registrar.

“It is repeatedly noticed that women advocates are arranging their hair in open court which is disturbing the functioning of court. Hence, women advocates are hereby notified to refrain from such act,” read the text, as seen in the pictures of the notice which went viral on social media.

On Tuesday, Jaising informed on Twitter that the notice had been withdrawn, describing it as “success at last”.

Advocate Pandurang Thorve, president of the Pune Bar Association, said the association was not given any intimation about the notice.
Diwali holidays started on October 21 and the courts would resume on October 28, he said.

“After the notice went viral on social media, I went to the court today to verify it, but it wasn’t there,” Thorve said.

Emergency services personnel at the site after an LPG cylinder exploded inside a car in Coimbatore

Coimbatore: The stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act has been invoked in the case relating to a car explosion in the city that killed one person, while five others have been arrested over the incident and police have intensified the probe covering all aspects including terror angle.

The arrested were identified by the police as Muhammad Talka, Muhammed Azharuddin, Muhammed Riyaz, Firoze Ismail and Muhammed Nawaz Ismail, all in their 20s.

With some of them being enquired by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2019, the police were also probing their activities after that, City Police Commissioner V Balakrishnan said.

Hours after the Tamil Nadu BJP questioned why the police had not specified the reasons for the arrest of the five and the sections under which they have been detained, Balakrishnan said that besides the UAPA, other IPC sections like conspiracy have also been included in the case.

Police are also probing if the man killed in the gas cylinder explosion in the car on Sunday, Jemisha Mubeen had any links with Mohammed Azharuddin, an accused in the Easter Sunday bomb blasts in a Sri Lankan Church in 2019, which killed over 250 people.
The Kerala visits of the some of the arrested are also being investigated.

Further, 75 kg of potassium nitrate, charcoal and aluminium powder have been recovered from Mubeen’s house, Balakrishnan added. These chemicals are used in making country bombs, police had said earlier.

“UAPA has been invoked since there has been an explosion,” Balakrishnan told reporters here.

Three of the arrested were seen in a CCTV footage, along with Mubeen earlier, carrying two LPG cylinders and two small drums, the content of which has been sent for forensic examination, the Commissioner said.

While the three had helped Mubeen carry the items “with knowledge,” another person was apprehended for coordination. One man was arrested for providing the car, Balakrishnan added.

Asked if the police were probing a possible terror angle, Balakrishnan reiterated that the UAPA has been invoked since there was an explosion..”all angles are being probed,” he said.

Soon after the explosion on Sunday, the police took all steps to maintain law and order and this ensured Deepavali was celebrated peacefully on Monday, he said.

The number of checkposts in the city have been increased and pickets erected wherever required.

Meanwhile, theopposition BJP targeted the ruling DMK over the matter and said it exposed “intelligence failure.”

“How long will it take for the Chief Minister to accept the Intelligence has failed…bring professionals back to the force…the Home department had solid professionals, with those good in counter-terrorism, prior to 2021,” TN BJP president K Annamalai said, addressing a press conference in Chennai.

The DMK came to power winning the 2021 elections and chief minister M K Stalin holds the Home portfolio. After the DMK came to power, the priorities have changed, he indicated.

Annamalai expressed apprehensions if the Sunday explosion was some kind of a “suicide attack,” and claimed the western region of the state, comprising the industrial city of Coimbatore among others, was in the radar of “the ISIS.”

Without divulging details, he said he has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the explosion.

In an apparent response to Annamalai, state Minister V Senthil Balaji said following the incident, steps were taken to ensure peaceful Deepavali celebrations in the city.

“On the directions of the CM, the DGP visited the spot after the incident. Arrests were made and the police and the government acted diligently (following which), there was no flutter among people, he said in a tweet.

The Electricity Minister alleged some people wanted to gain “political mileage” over possible “communal riots” but that would not happen in Tamil Nadu.