Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday ruled out any political crisis, even as the rumblings within the ruling BJP have come out in the open during the visit of its national General Secretary in-charge of the State Arun Singh, amid speculations in some quarters about his replacement.

The Chief Minister said that the BJP high command will decide on action against party MLC A H Vishwanath for his recent “open statements,” as he rubbished as “baseless” his allegations against his younger son and party vice-president B Y Vijayendra of interference in administration and “kickbacks” in an irrigation project.

“There is no political crisis at all…what is happening is just because one or two people (legislators) are saying something in the media, it is creating misunderstanding…these one or two people speaking against me is not new, they have been doing it since the beginning and it is getting highlighted,” Yediyurappa said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, about 60 legislators have met national General Secretary Arun Singh on Thursday, but these one or two people who are making statements were not even allowed to meet him.

“There is no confusion or crisis, we are all together and united, and are focusing on the development work. None of my cabinet colleagues are disturbed by any of these things…

we will try and talk to one or two people who are involved in such activities, and try to resolve things,” he added.

Speculations have been rife for some time now that a section of the ruling BJP is trying to push for unseating Yediyurappa, despite Singh ruling out replacing the Chief Minister and asserting that the 78-year old Lingayat strong man will continue in the top post.

MLA from Hubli-Dharwad West Arvind Bellad and Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal who are said to be from the faction seeking Yediyurappa’s replacement did not meet Singh on Thursday.

However, Tourism Minister C P Yogeshwar, who is also reportedly disgruntled, held discussions with him.

Not willing to comment on Vishwanath’s statements, Yediyurappa said, the high command will decide on what action should be taken against him.

Regarding his allegation against his son and kickbacks in an irrigation project, the CM said, “these are all baseless allegations and the Irrigation Department Secretary will clarify everything…unnecessarily such allegations are being made, there is no basis for it. It is being done for political reasons.”

Vishwanath has openly demanded Yediyurappa’s ouster, and levelled allegations of corruption and interference in administration against Vijayendra.

This has resulted in a slugfest, as it elicited sharp reactions from the faction supporting the CM, especially his political secretaries M P Renukacharya and S R Vishwanath.

To add to this, allegations of phone-tapping and conspiracy to fix him by Bellad, had caused further embarrassment to the party and the government.

Amid speculations about replacing him, Yediyurappa had earlier said that he will continue in the top post as long as the BJP high command has confidence in him, but had subsequently asserted that there was no confusion on the issue of leadership and that he will work for the development of the state during the remaining two years of the term.

ByRushda Fathima Khan

The National Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) on 16 June issued orders against two Kannada news channels – News18 Kannada and Suvarna News, and one English news channel- Times Now over ‘inciting hatred’ through their coverage of the pandemic by falsely targeting and vilifying members of Tablighi Jamaat as well as the entire Muslim community.

News18 Kannada has been imposed a fine of Rs One lakh and ordered to air an apology in both text and voice-over on June 23, 2021, prior to the 9 pm news. Suvarna News has been imposed a fine of Rs 50,000.

Both channels have been ordered to immediately remove the ‘hateful’ broadcasts from their channel’s websites, Youtube and other platforms within 7 days.

The authority acted based on the complaints filed by the Campaign Against Hate Speech (CAHS) in 2020. 

“The programmes were prejudicial, inflammatory, and crossed all boundaries of good taste and sensibility without any concern for the feelings of a religious group,” NBSA noted in its order. 

It added that they were based “on pure conjecture” and that “the tone, tenor and language was crass, prejudiced and disrespectful”. 

Agreeing with CAHS’ observations that hate speech dehumanises entire communities and makes them targets of vigilante violence, NBSA said the programmes “promoted and spread hatred which may have affected people’s lives”

“The titles of the programmes has an insidious effect which would incite communal violence,” NBSA said, referring to programmes aired by Suvarna News.

The authority rejected the defense taken by the broadcasters to the right to free speech and the role of the media and stated that the “right to free speech came with reasonable restrictions”. 

NBSA has also issued a censure to Times Now “for telecasting…a programme on a sensitive issue which could create communal dissensions amongst communities” and the broadcaster has been advised to “to avoid those persons to be panellists who are known in the public domain to have rabid and extreme views”. 

The fines are in view of the channels’ violation of the Code of Ethics and Broadcasting Standards, and Principles of Self Regulation relating to impartiality and objectivity. The programmes lacked verification and were also in violation of the Guidelines relating to Racial and Religious Harmony.

CAHS was formed in February 2020 and has been tracking hateful media coverage, particularly targeted at minority communities. It has approached various media regulatory bodies such as the NBSA and Press Council of India with complaints against media publications and channels for the latter’s violation of media-related laws and guidelines.

CAHS had filed a complaint against News18 Kannada over two shows aired on 1 April 2020 titled “Do you know how is Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz which has spread coronavirus to the nation” and “How many have gone to Delhi’s Jamaat congregation from Karnataka”.

They also filed a complaint against seven shows aired between 31 March 2020 and 4 April 2020 on Suvarna News.

They had filed a complaint against Times Nows’ program titled “Is Tablighi Jamaat wilfully sabotaging India” aired on 2 April 2020 before the District Level Monitoring Committee and PIB Fact Check Unit, which forwarded it to the NBSA.

“These orders by the NBSA are extremely heartening and can instill faith among the general public as well as campaigns such as ours that self-regulatory media mechanisms can function to hold media organizations accountable,” a statement by CAHS stated.

BENGALURU: The State Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19, which seemed cautious earlier, at a recent meeting recommended that the State could reopen some economic activities like malls, dine-in restaurants, marriage halls, shopping complexes, shopping lanes and closed markets in unlock phase-2, starting from June 21, sources said.But the number of people at these places will be limited, the sources added. 

But Dr CN Manjunath, Director, Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, said, “If we do not follow Covid-appropriate behaviour we will be back to square one. Opening of closed markets, malls and shopping complexes should still be thought about. It can be allowed only if cases continue to drop in Bengaluru.”

Meanwhile, the Technical Advisory Commitee (TAC) on Covid-19 pandemic has recommended that night curfew should be continued till June-end and public rallies, dharnas, fairs and festivals should be banned for the rest of the year.While the second phase of unlocking will start from June 21, the third phase is expected to begin from July 5. Also, the number of people allowed in some of the restricted places will be relaxed depending on the situation.

Gyms and yoga centres, places of worship, cinema halls, sports clubs, clubhouses and public washrooms will have to wait till Unlock Phase-3.The committee has also recommended that the lifting of night curfew and opening of schools and colleges should be decided separately.