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CM Kumaraswamy Says BJP Using ‘Dirty Tricks’ to Topple Alliance

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Former Karnataka chief minister and BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa rushed back to Bangalore from Delhi on Saturday morning amid speculation of renewed efforts by the opposition to topple the JD(S)-Congress government in the state.

Yeddyurappa was in Delhi to attend the two-day meeting of the party national executive when he made an unscheduled journey back to the state capital. Later, he clarified that he returned to attend to a family emergency and that it has nothing to do with state politics.

Trouble for the ruling alliance may come from another quarter: investigations by Enforcement Directorate against powerful Congress minister DK Shivakumar and his brother DK Suresh, who is also a Congress MP.

On Saturday, the brothers told media that the “desperate BJP hungry for power” was trying to “fix” them in a money laundering case to topple the government.

“The state BJP is using ED and Income Tax departments to harass us. They think that the government will collapse if they restrain us. But that will never happen. We will fight back and the government will be safe” said DK Shivakumar.

Speaking to News18, HD Kumaraswamy said that he was aware of the “dirty tricks” used by the BJP to unseat him and his government was not so weak to be demolished like this.

“We have done very well in the recently held Urban Local Body Elections. Congress and JDS together have won over 60% seats and got over 53% votes. The BJP is no longer a leading force in urban areas. If we continue in power till Lok Sabha elections next year, the BJP will bite the dust. That’s why they are back to old tactics. But we are prepared to fight them once again,” he told media.

The Karnataka Assembly has 224 members. At present, two seats are vacant.

The Congress has 79, JDS 36, BSP 1 and 2 Independents together form the ruling coalition, which has 118 MLAs. The BJP has 104 members.

BJP with 104 MLAs in the House can cross the half-way mark if it makes at least 15 legislators from the ruling coalition resign, thereby bringing down the total strength of the House to 107. This would also bring down the halfway mark for majority to 104.

Kumaraswamy has threatened that even he could “engineer” defections from the BJP to JDS, if the saffron party does not stop its “unconstitutional” methods to come to power.

The Karnataka BJP, meanwhile, said the “story of corrupt brothers now stays exposed in front of Kannadigas”.

(ANI)

Husband kills his wife

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Police arrested a man for killing his wife and trying to transport his wife’s body near Rama Mandira Road in Rajajinagar on Wednesday.

The suspect has been identified as Hiren, was employed in a private company.

It has been reported that he was staying with his wife Preethi (28) and a 16-year-old son in an apartment in Rajajinagar.

According to the police, Hiren would quarrel with his wife everyday suspecting her fidelity.

On Wednesday afternoon, he again picked up a fight with her and in a fit of rage, he slit her throat. After his son returned home from college around 4.30, he told him about the murder. He told his son that he would be abandoned if he goes to jail. The confused son then followed his father.

While the duo were trying to transport her body, the neighbours were alerted and police were called to intervene.

Further probe is on.

(PTI)

Police case against writer Girish Karnad

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A lawyer on Friday lodged a complaint against noted playwright and Jnanpith awardee Girish Karnad for holding a placard ‘Me Too Urban Naxal’ during an event organised to mark the first death anniversary of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh on September 5 in the city.

In his complaint, advocate Amruthesh NP said Girish Karnad sported a placard around his neck declaring himself as an urban Naxal.

“Urban Naxals are those who spread insurgency against the nation,” he said in his complaint and demanded that Girish Karnad be arrested immediately. By holding such a placard, “Karnad has tried to promote/abet and propagate the violent and criminal activities of Naxalism,” the advocate said.

Amruthesh NP said how can somebody carry a banner of a banned organisation and support it.

Vidhana Soudha (state secretariat) police said they have transferred the complaint to the Halasuru gate police station under whose jurisdiction the incident took place.

Girish Karnad along with many other activists took part in an event organised outside Lankesh’s residence on Wednesday.

The participants also staged a protest against the house arrest of five activists from across the country for their alleged links with Maoists.

(PTI)

5th Test: England reach 123/1

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England reached 123/1 in their first innings at tea on the opening day of the fifth and final cricket Test against India at the Oval here on Friday.

Veteran opening batsman Alastair Cook (66 not out) and Moeen Ali (23 not out) were at the crease for England at tea as the hosts added 55 runs in the second session without losing any wicket.

Cook, playing in his final international match, registered his 57th fifty in his 161st Test.

The 32-year-old left-hander, who resumed the session with an individual score of 37, got a reprieve at the same score. An away-swigning delivery from paceman Ishant Sharma was poked by Cook but Ajinkya Rahane dropped it at gully in the 31st over.

In the following over, Moeen too got a reprieve while batting on a personal score of 2. The left-hander got a thick edge off Jasprit Bumrah and captain Virat Kohli dropped the left-hander at third slip.

Cook and Moeen, then, batted with strong defences and played riskfree cricket to see off the session. They waited for the loose deliveries to score runs.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who took the wicket of Keaton Jennings (23) in the first session, was dealt with strongly by Cook and Moeen.

Brief scores: England: 123/1 (Alastair Cook 66 not out, Moeen Ali 23 not out, Keaton Jennings 23; Ravindra Jadeja 1/36) vs India at tea on Day 1.

(IANS)

RBI slaps Rs 1 cr penalty each on three public sector banks

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 crore each on three public sector banks for non-compliance with its directions on “Fraud – Classification and Reporting”.

According to the RBI, the penalty was imposed individually on all the three banks — Bank of Maharashtra, Bank of India, Union Bank of India — on August 30, 2018.

The apex bank took into account the delay on the part of these banks in reporting fraud in certain accounts.

(IANS)

Air India seeks Rs 500 cr short-term loans

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National passenger carrier Air India has invited bids from banks for Rs 500-crore government guarantee-backed “Short Term Loans (STLs)”.

The airline has called for financial bids by September 10.

“Air India is inviting bids for Government Guaranteed INR Short Term Loans (STL) totalling to Rs 500 crore to meet its urgent working capital requirements,” the airline said in a tender document issued on Thursday.

“The tenure of the loan will be for one year (renewable) from the date of availing the STL. The amount of Rs 500 crore will be drawn during September 2018 in one or more tranches.”

(IANS)

It’ll be Modi vs India in 2019, say opposition leaders

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Indian elections are based on ideologies and not personalities, said key opposition leaders on Friday and stressed that 2019 general elections will be a “Modi vs India” affair.

Speaking at the launch of Congress parliamentarian Kapil Sibal’s new book “Shades of Truth – A Journey Derailed”, they said that “a very broad-based strategic coalition” would be formed in “at least 25 states” to take on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2019 polls.

After a brief address by former Vice President Hamid Ansari, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.

Charting the “all-round failure” of the government, Singh charged that the country is facing “an agrarian crisis, economic turmoil and deteriorating ties with neighbouring countries”.

He accused the Modi government of ignoring the plight of farmers, which has resulted in numerous protests in state capitals as well as the national capital.

Singh, Ansari and Sibal together unveiled the book to a packed house at the Nehru Memorial Museum Library here.

The book launch was followed by a panel discussion participated by Sibal, P. Chidambaram, Sitaram Yechury, Chandan Mitra and Sharad Yadav. They discussed the prospects of a joint opposition front for the 2019 general elections.

The panelists agreed that the opposition unity would be vital in the coming elections, with Sibal asserting that in “at least 25 states” a “very broad-based strategic coalition” would be worked upon to counter the BJP.

Chidambaram recounted that even in 2014 general elections, despite the wind in its favour, the BJP failed to attract the masses in several states like Punjab, West Bengal, Kerala and Odisha.

Sibal also noted that the north Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, both currently ruled by the NDA, would have a decisive role to play in the next elections.

On the question of who will be the prime ministerial candidate of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) against Modi, all panelists, except Chandan Mitra of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), maintained that a prime ministerial face is not important.

Yadav recounted a series of elections where a joint coalition had formed the government without declaring their prime ministerial candidate in advance.

“But, much water has flown through the Yamuna since the time you are talking about,” interjected Mitra, who recently quit the BJP to join its adversary in West Bengal. He said the voters are much more aware today and therefore a prime ministerial candidate is important.

Mitra maintained that the prime ministerial candidate of the UPA must be from a regional party, whose credentials are well established.

Responding to an audience question, Sibal said that Congress President Rahul Gandhi has made it clear that he is ready to take on Modi, so there is no question of “whether or not he is up for it”.

“He is up for it and he has said that publicly,” Sibal quipped, adding that a prime ministerial face is not important before the elections.

He recalled that there was a debate before 2014 general elections that the country needs a strong leadership and a prominent face. “The great leader (Modi) has given us demonetisation,” he said.

“It will be Modi vs India,” said Yadav, as the panelists nodded in affirmation and loud claps by opposition leaders resonated in the packed hall.

On their projections for the 2019 general elections, the panelists reiterated that the coming together of the opposition parties at state level would result in their victory.

The attendees included opposition leaders across political parties, including Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference, Sitaram Yechury of the CPI-M, former JD-U members Sharad Yadav and Pavan Varma, TMC member Chanadan Mitra and a host of senior Congress leaders such as Mallikarjun Kharge, Saman Khurshid and Shashi Tharoor, among others.

Chopper with 7 people aboard goes missing in Nepal

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A domestic helicopter of Altitude Air airline with seven people on board went missing in central Nepal on Saturday, officials said.

The chopper, en route from Samagaun of Gorkha district to Kathmandu, went out of contact with the air traffic control tower at 8.05 a.m, the Kathmandu Post reported.

There were six passengers including a Japanese tourist and five Nepalis on board, said Nima Nuru Sherpa, Managing Director at Altitude Air Pvt Ltd.

Though some local media reported about the possible crash in Dhading district, 50 km away from Kathmandu, the authorities could not confirm as the search and rescue operation was underway.

Tribhuvan International Airport General Manager Rajkumar Chhetri said that the helicopter was supposed to land in the capital at 8.18 am.

(Ians)

Hurriyat activist shot in J&K

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A Hurriyet activist was shot on Saturday by unidentified gunmen in Jammu and Kashmir’s Sopore area, police said.

The gunmen fired at Hakim-ul-Rehman Sultani from close range in Bomai area.

“He was immediately shifted to a hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival”.

The slain activist was affiliated with the group led by Syed Ali Geelani and had been recently released from jail.

(IANS)

Filmland break-ups are like messy murders: The blood doesn’t wash

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I hate to say this, but I saw it coming. Film Producer Madhu Varma Mantena had been in pain for a while. A week before he told me he has something important to tell me.

Then came the announcement that he and his wife of three years, Masaba Gupta, are bringing their marriage to an end. The announcement came on social media. This is where lives and relationships are made and unmade these days. Long live the sanctity of privacy.

Prior to Madhu, it was another friend, Arjun Rampal, who quit his marriage by “mutual consent”. Arjun told me he and his wife — married for 20 years — had parted “as friends”.

This, I find hard to believe. The effort to make a ruptured, amputated marriage look like a clean split is plainly an eyewash. Filmland marriages want to look squeaky-clean when they break up. But they are like messy murders. You can’t wash away the blood no matter how hard you try.

Hrithik Roshan and his former wife go on vacations with their children even after their marriage ended. It’s just not real. If they wanted to go on family vacations, why break the marriage? And if they did decide to mutually break the marriage, why the show of togetherness with pictures going up on social media even before the vacation has started?

I am pretty sure Madhu won’t go on post-marriage vacations with Masaba. He isn’t the media-friendly type and will refrain from indulging in ironic acts of simulated intimacy in a dead relationship.

Madhu has been gifted in what he has done. He has been involved in production and distribution of films in Hindi, Telugu and Bengali. In 2008, he co-produced “Ghajini”, the year’s highest-grossing Indian film. Since then he has produced “Rakht Charitra” in three languages, a political thriller “Rann” and the Bengali film “Autograph”, which did well.

Madhu co-founded Phantom Films with Anurag Kashyap, Vikas Bahl and Vikramaditya Motwane, which brought out successes such as “Lootera”, “Queen”, “Hasee Toh Phasee” and “Bombay Velvet”. Madhu’s next film, “Super 30” — on the IIT success story — is awaited.

I have to admit, though, that Madhu has been singularly unlucky in love. He was in a very comfortable relationship with actress-author Nandana Sen for nearly eight years.

Madhu, Nandana and I had dinner once in Mumbai where they just couldn’t keep their eyes and hands off one another. When that relationship ended, Madhu, who always gets into relationships thinking they are for keeps, was determined to find love again. He got into another relationship with an author which ended as suddenly as it had begun.

Masaba seemed to be for keeps. Madhu just couldn’t get enough of her. Smothering your partner with love could create serious space problems. It did for Madhu’s marriage. He is now single and not quite ready to mingle. There is a lot of pain in the parting.

Madhu never wanted the marriage to end. But the show business saps you. Only the thick-skinned survive. Star-wives who have successfully managed to forge a life of their own, away from their star-husbands’ shadows have succeeded in keeping their marriages going. You think they don’t know about their husbands’ furtive flings?

Madhu’s marriage with Masaba was a fairytale coming together of two people. It soured because they never found a middle-ground between his targets as a producer and her goals as a dress designer.

Now as things stand, barring one, every one of the partners at Phantom — Anurag, Vikas and Madhu — has a broken marriage behind him.

If I was the fourth partner at Phantom, I’d seriously think about breaking away from the business, before another — a graver — break happens. But then you never know: Vikramaditya may turn out to be an outlier.

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