Bengaluru: Karnataka topped the COVID vaccination drive in the country on Friday by administering 26.92 lakh doses till 9 PM, Minister for Health & Family Welfare and Medical Education K Sudhakar said.

The State stood first in the country ahead of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which achieved over 26.62 lakh doses and 24.86 lakh doses respectively, his office said in a release.

According to data released by the state health department at 8:30 pm, Karnataka had achieved 85 per cent coverage by administering 26,92,955 doses, against the target of 31,75,000.

“I would like to thank all the health workers and other staff who have been involved in this historic vaccination drive,” Sudhakar said.

It is a phenomenal effort by Karnataka to administer more doses today than Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which have several times more population, he said, adding that “It is really apt that this effort coincides with the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has led the war on Covid from the front.”

Meanwhile, the state on Friday also crossed the “milestone” of administering over five crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine till date.

According to the release, the districts that topped in Karnataka during the drive are Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike- BBMP area (3.98 lakh doses), Belagavi (2.39 lakh doses), Dakshina Kannada (1.33 lakh doses), Ballari (1.33 lakh doses), Tumkuru (1.24 lakh doses) and Mandya (1.15 lakh doses).

Bengaluru Urban, Shivamogga, Dharwad, Ramanagara, Hassana, Davanagere, Chikamagaluru and Haveri districts achieved more than 100 per cent of the day’s target.

The vaccination drive, also called “Mega Vaccination Mela” was conducted in over 12,000 Covid vaccination centres across the State.

With today’s performance, total doses administered in the State in September have gone up to 87 lakh.

Karnataka administered a total of 5.12 crore doses till 9 PM on September 17.

“We are very confident of crossing the target of 1.5 crore that we have set ourselves for September, the minister said, also expressing confidence about vaccinating the entire adult population in the State by the end of November.

India today administered a “whopping” 2.25 crore doses today till 9 PM. The total doses administered in India till September 17 has crossed 79 crore.

Hassan: An earthquake of 2.3 magnitude on the Richter scale was reported in Hassan district, officials of state Disaster Management Authority said on Friday.

The earthquake occurred at 17:32:25 IST, epicentred 1.5 km NNE (North North East) of Rayapura of Salagame Hobli in Hassan Taluk, they said.

“The seismic intensity map of the earthquake from the epicentre is presented, wherein intensities observed are very low.

This type of earthquake do not create any harm to the local community, although there may be slight shaking observed locally. The community need not panic as the intensity observed is low and not destructive,” an official note said.

Bengaluru: The Karnataka assembly on Friday passed the ‘Identification of Prisoners (Karnataka Amendment) Bill,’ which seeks to include collection of blood, DNA, voice and iris scan samples as “measurements” of offenders for effective surveillance and prevention of breach of peace and crime.

The bill, which amends the Central act of Identification of Prisoners with respect to its application to Karnataka, also empowers Superintendent of Police or Deputy Commissioners of Police, in addition to the judicial magistrate first class, to order for collection of measurement to avoid delay and workload.

Piloting the bill for the consideration of the House, Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said “till now foot-print impressions were collected. Now we have added blood, DNA, voice, and iris scan samples to it. Earlier the measurements were collected for those with rigorous imprisonment for a term of one year, now it has been changed to a term of one month.”

He said the bill empowers SPs and DCPs to order destruction of measurement after a period of 10 years, unless otherwise directed by the court or any other competent authority.

Participating during the discussion on the Bill, Congress MLA Tanveer Sait sought to know whether collecting measurement was necessary when such details are available in an individual’s Aadhar data.

Another Congress MLA Priyank Kharge said the government intends to create a database of biometrics and forensic tools needed for investigation and also sought to know whether the necessary infrastructure was in place. “Also, has the government thought about the right to privacy?”

Responding to the queries, the Minister said measurements were collected for those with Rigorous Imprisonment for a term of one month and above and it will be stored in the criminal tracking system in Bengaluru, so there will be no concerns of any breach.

He said it would also be helpful in identifying habitual offenders.

Also passed was a bill providing for the constitution of the Karnataka Prison Development Board for strengthening prisons and initiating correctional administrative measures.

Titled ‘Karnataka Prison Development Board Bill’, it also provides for initiating measures for skill improvement, welfare of prisoners and prisons’ staff and expanding prison industries.

The bill, in its statement of objects and reasons, said “it is considered necessary to provide for the constitution of the prison development board for development of modern prison industries and formulate a plan for job oriented technical programmes in different areas, to earn incentives.”

The board can suggest ways and means for improving coordination between different stakeholders, examine the present setup of prison industries and formulate a plan for modernisation and to start job oriented programmes including technical oriented ones, keeping in view the needs of prisoners after release, it said.

Participating during the discussion on the bill, several legislators, including Congress’ U T Khader said reforms are needed, but prisons should also be a place of deterrent for prisoners, while highlighting several illegal activities taking place in them.

Pointing out that the Minister for Prisons and other members of the board were all officials, some MLAs wanted non-official members like representatives of social organisations or journalists to be made members to have effective reforms, while others questioned powers of acquisition, maintenance and disposal of land and building given to the board.

The Minister, in his reply, said the board has been constituted for all-round reforms of prisons and representatives from various departments will be its members and added that experts can be invited for its meetings to take inputs.

“States like Haryana are generating revenue of about Rs 600 crore from Prisons. Manpower at prisons should not go waste,” he said.

He also made it clear that there should be no doubts about disposing of immovable properties, as it cannot be done without clearance from the government, and there is a clause for it. “The committee will rather look into effective utilisation of prison lands that have been lying unused.”

Another bill passed today is ‘The Code of Criminal Procedure (Karnataka Amendment) Bill’ that provides for recording of the evidence of the witness by audio-video-electronic means in the presence of the advocate of the person accused of the offence.

BENGALURU: Lending more grist to talk that the JDS  is leaning towards the BJP,  former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Thursday refused to attack the government on the price rise by saying “it is wrong to make allegations against one another to gain political mileage.”

Terming price rise as a “continuous process”, the JDS leader asked the State Government to use the revenue generated from levying cess and taxes of fuel and other products, to rebuild the lives of the poor who are battered by both inflation and the Covid-19 pandemic.

During a debate on price rise in the Assembly, he said, “It is wrong to make allegations against one another to gain political mileage. We should look at what can be done to help the poor,” he said. Kumaraswamy also said he will not insist on a resolution in the House — as suggested by Opposition leader Siddaramaiah— to appeal to the Union Government to reduce taxes on fuel.  Siddaramaiah had demanded that the State Government  cut taxes on fuel. Many states, including Tamil Nadu, have cut  taxes on fuel.

“It is not just a BJP government… it is our government representing 6.5 crore Kannadigas. I urge Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to make best use of the revenue generated to rebuild the lives of the weaker sections affected by Covid-19 and price rise,” he added.  Asking Karnataka to become a model for the entire country, he urged the State Government to announce a special package of Rs 25,000 each to about 55 lakh affected families.

Kumaraswamy also demanded that the government drop populist schemes, including ‘Amrith’, to come to the rescue of the affected. Citing the CAG report, he slammed the State Government for borrowing Rs 48,499 crore during 2019-20 for development works.

Meanwhile, what was more surprising was that a senior Congress leader too was sympathetic towards 
the State Government. Former speaker Ramesh Kumar said that any one party or the government cannot be blamed for the price rise. “All of us are responsible for privatisation of essential services which is benefiting traders. These traders are those who give money for parties. It is inter-linked.

There is no point in blaming one party or government,” he said. “Those who are speaking here (MLAs) should reveal their property details that were filed during  polls. The price hike will not affect them. Gone are the days when MLAs used to voice common people’s concerns. Just 30 years ago, hardly a few MLAs used to come in cars… the remaining in cycles or buses. But now, they come in Audis… what can you expect from them,” he rued.

Sullia: Sullia court has issued a warrant against KPCC President D. K. Shivakumar for not complying with previous summons orders related to a case that was made against the Congress leader when he was the Energy Minister. During his tenure as the Minister for Energy DK Shivakumar had gotten into a conflict with a man from Ballary, who had contacted him regarding energy-related issues. He had been issued several summonses related to the case but the Congress leader had been a no-show, it is learned.

The Judge has declared the case of miss-attendance to the court summons by DK Shivakumar as a serious matter and also sent an order to the IGP and DIGP to present him before the courts. The next session of the court has been scheduled for September 29. 

On February 28th of 2016, the former President of Ballary’s Association of Traders Sai Giridhar had phoned D. K. Shivakumar who was the Minister of Energy during the time, to relay about the relentless power cuts happening in the region. It is learned that a war of words had ensued between the two and that some unsavoury words were also used in the altercation. Concerning this, Energy Minister D. K. Shivakumar had facilitated the MESCOM MD through the then Sulya Mescom’s A.E.E Harish Naik to register a complaint with the police against Sai Giridhar. The police who had registered the complaint against Giridhar had then arrested him. 

In this case, DK Shivakumar had been a witness but he had not attended the court session to give his witness statement, it is learned. Three summons had been issued for his attendance in this regard and a warrant had also been issued. However, he had still not presented himself before the court. Now, the newly appointed judge has issued an order for D. K. Shivakumar to present himself before the court.

Bengaluru: Conceding that the delay in installing LED streetlights in Bengaluru has created “dark spots” in the city, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said three lakh such streetlights will be installed by December.

The Chief Minister, who is also in-charge of Bengaluru City Development, was replying to a question raised by Dasarahalli JD(S) MLA R Manjunath in the state assembly on the delay caused in the project to replace all street lights with energy-efficient LEDs, and the inconvenience caused to people at night due to dysfunctional streetlights.

The project to replace all streetlights with LEDs was approved in 2019, and the government entrusted this work to BSPL, a consortium of Shapoorji Pallonji, SMC Infrastructure and Samudra Electronics Systems, under a public-private partnership.

“This issue came up when I reviewed projects relating to Bengaluru after taking over as the Chief Minister. I had clearly said during the review that there is a delay in starting the work, it has to start immediately. They (company) have said the project will be completed in five phases, and it is decided that by December 31, three lakh LED bulbs have to be installed,” Bommai said.

He said the work has begun in some places, while it is yet to start in a few places due to various reasons.

As per the project pact, 4.85 lakh street lights in the city’s municipal limits are to be replaced with LEDs in five phases, and the work was to be implemented in 30 months.

It is said that the project will lead to energy savings of up to 85 per cent.

Responding to Manjunath’s question as to what action will the government take in case of failure on part of the company, Bommai said, as per the clause of the agreement the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in case of delay or damage can impose a penalty of Rs 1 lakh per week.

Senior Congress MLA from BTM Layout Ramalinga Reddy, noting that it is the issue of all the 28 assembly constituencies in Bengaluru, pointed out that for the last three years, constituencies have not received any grants for streetlights citing the global tender for the LED project. “You can ask any MLA from the city.” BJP MLAs Ravi Subramanya (Basavanagudi) and Arvind Limbavali (Mahadevapura) seconded Reddy’s statement.

The Chief Minister, conceding that two years of the project went into approvals and contracts, said “This was not right. This has created several dark spots in all the wards under BBMP limits.” “I have asked officials to take up all five phases at once immediately and in case of delay, measures will also be taken to re-examine the contract. I will also issue instructions to the BBMP to do repairs and maintenance of existing streetlights,” he added.

Bengaluru: In protest against the “imposition of Hindi”, Kannada organisations on Tuesday held a twitter campaign and picketing in front of banks in several parts of Karnataka, on the occasion of Hindi Diwas.

The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) has organised a Twitter campaign with hashtag “#StopHindiImposition” from 10 am to 10 pm on Tuesday, while its activists staged picketing in front of banks in different parts of the State.

KRV has tweeted pictures of its activists staging picketing in Sedam, Chincholi, Ron, Hungund, Hiriyur, Pandavapura, Bengaluru, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi, Chikkaballapura, Thirthahalli, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Kolar, Mandya and Dharwad, among several other places.

They submitted a petition to managers of the banks urging them to stop alleged Hindi imposition and to provide services in Kannada.

According to Arun Javgal, state organisation secretary of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), the intention behind conducting protests in front of nationalised banks is also to raise awareness among the masses and thereby tell the people of Karnataka about the way, “Hindi Imposition” has snatched thousands of jobs from Kannadigas in Banks operating in the state.

“Using the Taxpayers money from across the country and yet, giving undue importance only to Hindi in a multilingual country like India is something KRV opposes vehemently,” he said in a tweet.

KRV state President Narayanagowdru T A termed Hindi Diwas celebrations as “anti-democratic and immoral”.

“It (Hindi Diwas) is against the intent of the constitution which says all citizens are equal ,” he said, as he called on all non-Hindi speaking communities and those Hindi speakers, who believe in equality, to oppose it.

Coming in support of voices against Hindi Diwas celebration, JD(S) leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy in a tweet said “Kannada is first in Karnataka. Hindi Diwas celebration is unnecessary. Let’s not disturb the peace in multilingual India by imposing Hindi.” Several other organisations like Karnataka Janaadhikaara Paksha observed it as ‘Black Day’.

Bengaluru: A research scholar at the prestigious Indian Institute of Science here, allegedly died by suicide at his hostel room in the campus, police said on Tuesday.

The victim, hailing from West Bengal, in his twenties was having some health issues.

As there was no response to the repeated knocks on the door of his room on Sunday, the IISc authorities with the help of police broke open the door and found him lying dead. According to IISc officials, the student committed suicide by consuming poison.

Later, the institute in a press release said, “It is with deep sorrow that we announce the death of a student by suicide on 12 September 2021 at IISc. The student was pursuing PhD from the Department of Organic Chemistry. We express our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the student.”

BENGALURU: Demolition of religious structures has taken a twist with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday directing officials across the State not to demolish temples in a hurry. Bommai said he will answer the issue of demolition of temples in Mysuru district on the floor of the House. 

After legislators from all parties and Hindu organisation protested against the demolition of Hucchagani Mahadevappa temple at Nanjangud in Mysuru district, the State Government on Tuesday decided to halt all demolitions across the state.

Revenue Minister R Ashoka told The New Indian Express that the Supreme Court order on the demolition of places of worship, including temples, constructed unauthorisedly, is not new as the directions came 12 years ago. “Officials in Mysuru have taken action based on the court order. But at the same time, people’s sentiments should have been respected,” he added.  

“The apex court order states that temple authorities should be allowed to shift places of worship on their own. Officials were supposed to convince them. But without doing that, officials in Mysuru proceeded to demolish the temple, which is not right,” he said. 

“They should follow the same guidelines for all places of worship, including temples, churches and masjids. The court kept asking about the number of illegal structures demolished and that might have put pressure on the officials,” Ashoka said.

The government cannot appeal before the Supreme Court as it is the final order. “We can relocate temples that were constructed after 2009. We will take a decision on that soon,” he said. Chief Secretary P Ravikumar directed deputy commissioners to file an affidavit before the High Court on their action plan on illegal religious structures.

The Supreme Court has asked the Karnataka High Court to monitor the demolition of illegal structures. “DCs should identify these structures on government properties, tell the High Court what is their action plan, how many are demolished and what the status is, ‘’ he added.

In Mysuru, Deputy Commissioner Dr Bagadi Gautham said that the demolition of illegal religious structures will be stopped temporarily and the district administration will wait for government orders. On the demolition of Hucchagani Mahadevappa temple in Nanjangud, he said, “The government has sought a report from us.”

Recently, the Hindu Jagaran Vedike had announced that it will launch a protest against Mysuru district administration officials on September 16. Senior JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy said, “In the name of Supreme Court order, Mysuru administration is gearing up to demolish 92 temples. BJP is behind this. If the government decides, it can stop demolitions. Let the government file an affidavit before the Supreme Court and call an all-party meeting.”

In 2009, the Supreme Court had ordered the demolition or relocation of illegal religious structures in public places. In 2019, the Karnataka High Court took up a suo motu petition to supervise the state government’s implementation of the apex court order. Last year, the High Court had rapped the state government for not implementing the Supreme Court’s order.

46 places of worship to be removed in Belagavi, says DC
Belagavi Deputy Commissioner MG Hiremath on Tuesday said that there are 46 places of worshi situated over roads in Belagavi city limits that have been identified for removal. Among these, 17 have already been removed, the DC said. “We are taking all precautions to remove and relocate these temples, ensuring that they don’t suffer any damage duirng the process,” Hiremath said.

BENGALURU : In a shocking murder that was committed in broad daylight, a rowdy-sheeter was chased and hacked to death by a gang of armed assailants inside a referee’s room at the Bangalore Football Stadium in Ashoknagar on Sunday afternoon. 

Following the murder, the Karnataka State Football Association’s (KSFA) Sporting Planet Trophy Prospective Women’s ‘A’ Division league — the second match of which was about to commence at 4 pm when the shocking incident occurred — was postponed by a few days.

After the match, he was drinking juice with his friends by the roadside when the gang attacked him. Trying to escape, Aravind ran across the road into the KSFA Stadium and went into the stands. But the assailants chased him inside the stadium.

“Aravind escaped from the stands too and got into a referee’s room before locking himself inside. The gang, however, broke open the door and hacked him to death with deadly weapons. They immediately escaped from the spot,” the police said. The police are verifying the CCTV footage to identify the killers. DCP (Central) MN Anucheth said a murder case has been registered at the Ashoknagar police station and two special teams have been formed to nab the assailants.

Aravind was a rowdy sheeter of Bharathi Nagar police station and had 13 cases, including two attempts-to-murder, registered against him at various police stations. 

Cops suspect rival’s role in murder

Aravind had been detained by the Bharathi Nagar police under the Goonda Act in May and was released two months ago. The advisory board which approves detention under the Act had given him relief as there were no suf ficient grounds to detain him under Goonda Act.

The police investigating the case suspect the role of another rowdy-sheeter Stanley behind Aravind’s murder. Sources said Stanley, also a rowdy sheeter in Bharathi Nagar, had an ongoing enmity with Aravind. Meanwhile, KSFA Secretary Satyanarayan clarified that neither the deceased nor the killers had any connection with the association.