JD (S) MLAs to fly to Pune for a jaunt

Ahead of the scheduled cabinet reshuffle in Karnataka, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy is taking his flock of JD (S) MLAs by a chartered flight for a two-day jaunt to a resort in Pune on January 5 and 6.

Though Kumaraswamy admitted that the meeting of JD (S) MLAs at a resort in Pune away from Bangalore would discuss “politics”, he refused to buy the argument that the exercise was aimed at preventing dissidence raising its ugly head in the party after the expansion of the coalition ministry.

A large number of JD (S) MLAs are aspiring for ministerial berths and the party leadership is understood to be concerned about the Opposition Congress making efforts to lure more legislators, much to the detriment of the Kumaraswamy-led JD (S)-BJP coalition’s stability.

Former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who quit the JD (S) and joined the Congress, has already predicted a split in the JD (S) Legislature Party and claimed that several party MLAs are in touch with him.

According to JD (S) sources, Kumaraswamy will be discussing the Cabinet reshuffle and convincing aspirants and other Ministers, who are likely to be dropped during the exercise. He is also expected to assure prominent posts to party MLAs, who had been denied Cabinet berths.

The Chief Minister, who is scheduled to hold one-to-one meetings with the legislators, is also expected to discuss the appointments to the posts of chairpersons to various state-run Boards and Corporations.

Political observers said the exercise is clearly aimed at quelling the dissatisfaction in a section of the party MLAs, who are unhappy over the delay in Cabinet expansion and the appointments to Boards and Corporations.

Dark days ahead in electricity-scarce Karnataka

With daily power consumption in Karnataka expected to reach an all-time high of 140 million units per day during March 2007, up from the existing 119 million units, the Government will have to make the hard choice of imposing power cuts or purchase power from neighbouring states by incurring an expenditure of Rs 2 billion every month.

The Karnataka Cabinet, which met here recently, has taken a serious note of the bleak power supply scenario in the State, and decided to draw up contingency measures to overcome the impending crisis.

According to Government officials, the daily consumption of power, which stood at 119 million units per day presently, is estimated to reach 132 million units during January and peak to a staggering 140 million by March, creating a shortfall of more than 21 million units.

Karnataka’s power generation capacity, including its share from central grid and the contracted supply from independent power producers, barely accounted for 120 million units per day.

Though shortage of power supply during summer is a regular feature in the State, the situation has assumed serious proportions this time in view of the unprecedented increase in consumption. The highest recorded consumption of power during summer has been only 127 million units so far.

With several parts of the State already facing unscheduled power cuts, the Government’s effort to procure power from neighbouring states has not yielded so far. For, almost all the southern state except for Kerala have reported a huge shortage of power in their respective states.

The invitation of tenders for short-duration power supply from independent producers gave the Government a “shock treatment” as the suppliers quoted a price of Rs 6.25 per unit against the average price of around Rs 3. “Hence, paying an additional of Rs 2 billion will have a serious impact on the finances of the State”, a Government official said.

But, Karnataka’s Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Basavaraj Horatti, who was present at the Cabinet meeting, which discussed the power situation in Karnataka, said the Government was in favour of purchasing power from Kerala. However, the Cabinet has authorized a sub-committee headed by Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to take a final decision on whether the State should purchase power or enforce power cuts.

BJP and JD (S) to part ways in local body polls in Karnataka

The JD (S) has poured cold water on BJP by deciding against entering into a pre-poll tie up with its coalition partner in Karnataka for the upcoming elections to urban local bodies.

Former Prime Minister and national President of JD (S) H D Deve Gowda told reporters that the JD (S) will field candidates in all the seats of the urban local bodies, which are scheduled to go to polls shortly.

When reporters persisted with a question whether his party would have any sort of pre-poll understanding with the BJP, Gowda shot back “When I say we will contest all the seats, it is final”.

The JD (S) supremo was speaking to reporters at a function organized in Bangalore to admit a few BJP workers from Nargund into the party fold.

Gowda’s decision to field JD (S) candidates in all the seats for the urban local bodies came as an embarrassment to the BJP, which was looking for a pre-poll tie up with the coalition partner.

Nevertheless, BJP’s Karnataka unit President Sadananda Gowda put up a brave front and said there is “compulsion” on having a poll tie-up. “As a coalition partner we wanted to project a unified force to fight the Congress. If they were to field candidates for all the seats, we will fight our own battle”, he said.

Moreover, Sadananda Gowda said the BJP had been co-ordinating with Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to run the coalition Government. “We are not co-ordinating with Deve Gowda. We will find out what Kumaraswamy has to say on the tie-up for the elections in the co-ordination committee of the coalition partners”, Sadananda Gowda said.

BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa too aired similar views. “We are open to an alliance, but are prepared to face the elections on our own if the JD (S) is not in favour of a pre-poll understanding”, he said.

Gowda’s firm refusal to enter into any sort of pre-poll tie up with the BJP comes close on the heels of the veiled threat he held out to its coalition partner that JD (S) will abide by the rotational arrangement for the Chief Minister’s post only if the BJP abides by the common minimum action plan drawn up at the time of the formation of the coalition.

Under the rotational arrangement, Gowda’s son Kumaraswamy will become the Chief Minister of the coalition Government for a period of 20 months while the Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa will be in the saddle for the remaining 20 months of the present term.

World Kannada Meet at Belgaum from February 23 to 25

The Karnataka Government has decided to hold a World Kannada Conference at Belgaum from February 23 to 25.

A decision to this effect was taken at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy in Bangalore on Thursday. The World Kannada conference coincides with the golden jubilee celebrations of Karnataka’s formation.

Announcing the schedule of the World Kannada Conference, which is being held after a lapse of more than two decades, Karnataka’s Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Basavaraj Horatti said the Government will make all preparations to make the World Kannada Meet at Belgaum a huge success.

It may be mentioned here that the Government had decided to shift the venue of World Kannada Meet from Shimoga to Belgaum as the former had recently conducted the All India Kannada Literary Meet.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka Government is planning to invite ambassadors of the all countries in India as guests for the three-day convention. Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy is understood to have directed the Department of Kannada and Culture to make arrangements for extending invitations to all the ambassadors in the country for the event.

By choosing to shift the venue for the World Kannada Meet to Belgaum, the Karnataka Government is keen to send a strong message to the Federal Government and neighbouring Maharashtra that Belgaum was an integral part of Karnataka.

The shifting of the venue assumes much significance in the wake of Karnataka Government’s declaration that the State will not part with even an inch of Belgaum after Maharashtra began staking a claim over Belgaum and other Marathi-speaking regions of the State.

The Karnataka Government has set aside a total of Rs 100 million for the event. The main objective of the convention is to showcase the development of Karnataka during the last 50 years, besides hosting cultural and literary events.

Kidnapped boy rescued in Bangalore

The police yesterday rescued the sixteen-year-old boy Irfan Baig, who had been kidnapped from his father’s shop in Bangalore on Monday.

According to police, the police had rescued Irfan after a shoot-out with his kidnappers at Kolar near here on Thursday, bringing to an end a four-day ordeal. All the three kidnappers were arrested including two of them, who were injured in the shoot-out.

Irfan was abducted from his father’s shop in Koramangala on Monday morning. He was tied up and gagged before being taken to Kolar, where he was kept confined to a room.

Irfan, who was produced before the media in Bangalore after his release, said the abductors picked him up around 11 am on Monday, tied him and took him away in their vehicle. Around midnight the same day, he said the abductors put him in a room. “I was also beaten up by them”, he said.

The abductors, who had called Irfan’s family from Irfan’s mobile, had demanded a ransom of Rs 2.5 million for his release.

Bangalore’s existing airport to become maintenance hub

With operation of all civilian aircraft set to shift to the upcoming international airport at Devanahalli on the outskirts of Bangalore from April 2008, the existing Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) airport in the City is poised to emerge as Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul hub.

Chairman of state-owned HAL Ashok K Baweja told reporters in Bangalore that HAL was in a “serious dialogue” with Airbus to set up Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul facility at the airport.

With all commercial flight operations due to shift to the international airport, the HAL airport will emerge as a key flight-testing and certification facility for HAL and Aircraft Systems and Training Establishment of the Indian Air Force, he said.

Baweja hoped that HAL, which now earns about Rs 1.5 billion every year from operation of commercial flights, should be able to easily offset the revenue loss by setting up the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul facility with Airbus.

Baweja also admitted that HAL airport in Bangalore has not been able to cope with the increase in air traffic after the boom in civial aviation sector and the increase of the number of airlines operating from the City.

Notwithstanding the proposed shifting of operation of commercial flights to the international airport, HAL airport will be installing a new radar system, besides improving the taxi track to help more aircraft take-offs and landing at the airport, he said.

India is facing a severe shortage of anaesthesia practitioners

The shortage of qualified anaesthesiologists in India is estimated to be around 6,000.

According to President of Indian Society Anaesthesiologists Dr B Radhakrishnan estimated the shortage of anaesthesiologists in India to be around 6,000. “There is a severe shortage of anaesthesia practitioners in rural, tribal and hilly regions of the country, where nearly 60 per cent of the country’s population resides”, he said.

Speaking at the 54th annual national conference of Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists at Mysore near here, he said the Government of India claims a shortage of nearly 6,000 anaesthesiologists and reports that only 30 per cent of the country’s population has satisfactory access to proper anaesthesia services of which 80 per cent are urban beneficiaries.

To overcome the severe shortage of anaesthesia practitioners in rural, hilly and tribal regions of the country, Radhakrishnan urged the Government to make rural employment for a short period mandatory to new graduates. The Government could also consider recalling anaesthesiologists practicing elsewhere, besides giving rural area facing shortage of anaesthesia practitioners to the care of a major corporate or collegiate hospital.

But he decried the Government’s ill-conceived move to start an eighteen-week-long short- term training programme in anaesthesiology for medical graduates in service. “Inspite of our continued protests, the Government of India, for reasons known only to them, have started the short term training programme for medical graduates in service so as to employ them as anaesthesia providers for obstetric emergencies under the pretext that they are being trained as resuscitators”, he lamented.

Describing the short-term course as an “unethical move”, Radhakrishnan said Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists was not against training per se. “But, the training should be of sufficient duration to gather the basic skills required for an anaesthesia provider”, he said adding that the Society was moving the court against the Government over the issue.

The Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists is also focusing on providing adequate training in trauma care and disaster management. “Non-availability of organized drill in civilian sector in the country to salvage human life when exposed to mass trauma, had compelled ISA to start training programme on disaster management”, he said adding that Mangalore had been chosen as their nodal area of training. “Soon, we will be started improvised courses with the help of agencies concerned in traffic planning, aviation, railway, transport of explosives and coast protection force”, he said.

Dr Radhakrishnan also made out a case for introduction of quality proven ambulatory anaesthesia services in the country. Dr Radhakrishnan felt that anaesthesiology need not be confined to the corridors of operating rooms. Anaesthesiologists should concentrate on areas of pain management, trauma care and intensive care.

Five killed in road accident near Tumkur

Five Muslims associated with the Tableeghi Jamaath in Bangalore were killed in a road accident at Shivasandra in Tumkur near here on Tuesday.

Police said the five persons, who were returning to Bangalore after attending a three-day Ijthema at Arsikere in a Maruthi van, met with an accident on the Bangalore-National Highway when a truck hit their vehicle.

The deceased have been identified as Syed Ejazuddin, 55, Iqbal Naqvi, 52, Omar Sharief, 23, Sirajullah Khan, 55 and Sheikh Dawood, 45. All five persons killed in the road mishap are understood to be residents of Basavangudi in Bangalore.

The sixth person in the ill-fated vehicle Syed Munir Hussain, a software engineer, sufferred grievious injuries and is battling for life at a hospital in Tumkur.

The police and locals had a tough time extricating the dead bodies of the accident victims from the mangled remains of the Maruti van in which they were travelling.

The activists of Tableeghi Jamaath from Tumkur rushed to the spot to assist the authorities in removing the dead bodies from the Maruti van, which had been crushed under the truck. The lone survivor Syed Munir Hussian was rushed to a nearby hospital in Tumkur. Hussian is a relative of the President of Tumkur District Congress Committee Shafi Ahmed, according a Muslim clergy from Tumkur Syed Abdul Raheem.

Naxal shot dead near Sringeri in Karnataka

One naxal was shot dead during an exchange of fire between the Anti Naxal Force (ANF) and a group of naxalites at Kigga near Sringeri in Karnataka.

Karnataka’s Additional Director General of Police Shankar Bidri told reporters that a group of naxalites comprising two women was holding a meeting with villagers of Kigga on Monday night.

Based on a tip off, the ANF reached the spot and surrounded the village, situated at a distance of 14 kms from Sringeri. When the security personnel appealed to the naxalites to surrender, they reportedly opened fire. The ANF returned fire, leading to the death of one naxalite identified as Vikram Gowda. A few others may also have sufferred injuries in the shoot-out.

Bidri said the security personnel could not pursue the naxalites as the area, which skirts the Kettamudi forest range of Western Ghats, was shrouded in pitch darkness. “The security personnel stayed put in the area throughout the night. During the search carried out on Tuesday morning, they stumbled upon the dead naxal”, he said.

The police also recovered a grenade and 0.33 mm pistol used by the police personnel from the spot.

Meanwhile, the ANF has intensified combing operations in the Kettamudi forest range. Western Range Inspector General of Police H N Satyanarayana Rao and other senior police officials have rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation.

16-year-old boy kidnapped in Bangalore

The Bangalore City Police have launched a manhunt to trace a 16-year-old boy kidnapped from his father’s shop in Koramangala in Bangalore on Monday.

Irfan Baig, son of businessman Sher Ali, went missing after he left the house for his father’s shop around 8.30 am on Monday morning. Later, in the day, the family received a ransom call from Irfan’s mobile. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs 2.5 million for Irfan’s release.

According to Irfan’s uncle Abdul, the kidnappers called the family around 11.30 am on Monday to announce Irfan’s abduction. “They have warned us not to talk about the abduction to anyone, especially the police. They are supposed to call us again and let us know where to meet them and hand over the money”, Abdul said.

Irfan is the eldest among the five children of Sher Ali, who runs a business of renting out construction material. Irfan had dropped out from Johnson High School in Mangammanapalya in Bangalore. The family, which used to reside adjacent to the school, moved into a house in Karimnagar near Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) only a fortnight ago.

JD (S) revokes Kumaraswamy’s suspension

The JD (S) national executive meeting yesterday revoked the suspension of Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and 38 party MLAs, who had aligned with the BJP earlier this year to form a coalition Government.

According to information reaching here, the national executive of JD (S) chaired by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda at New Delhi on Monday, also suspended veteran party leader Surendra Mohan, who had been elevated as party President by the splinter group headed by Kerala MP Veerendra Kumar at a parallel meeting held at Trivandrum.

JD (S) spokesperson Y S V Datta told reporters that the national executive meeting attended by more than 50 members, including senior leader Bapu Kaldate, expressed faith and loyalty in the leadership of Gowda as the party President.

The meeting assumes significance in the wake of the rebel faction owing loyalty to Veerendra Kumar replacing Gowda with Surendra Mohan from the top organizational post for permitting the party to align with “communal” BJP.

Datta said the meeting discussed the report submitted by the party’s disciplinary action committee headed by Agarwal and decided in favour of revoking the suspension of Kumaraswamy and 38 party MLAs, who had joined hands with the BJP to form a coalition Government in Karnataka during February 2006.

The meeting also ratified the suspension of Veerendra Kumar and former Karnataka Minister P G R Sindhia. “Though Gowda hesitated to suspend veteran leader Surendra Mohan, the executive committee members demanded the veteran leader’s suspension as he had been made the party President at an unconstitutional meeting”, he said.

Also, the JD (S) leaders will be meeting the Election Commission officials in New Delhi in a day or two to retain the party symbol of a woman carrying hay-stack on her head, Datta said.

The decisions taken by the national executive of the party on Monday are expected to deepen the crisis gripping the JD (S) and eventually lead to formalizing a split in the party over Gowda’s support to the party legislators in Karnataka in forming a coalition Government in Karnataka.

Chidambaram injured while trying to avoid a lensman

Federal Minister for Finance P Chidambaram sufferred a fracture in his toe while trying to avoid a photojournalist, who was trying to shoot his pictures outside a restaurant in Bangalore.

Police sources said Chidambaram, who was on a private visit to Bangalore, came to a restaurant on St Marks Road in Bangalore in different attire unlike the traditional white dhoti and shirt he normally wears. Chidambaram had firmly turned down the repeated requests of the photographer for a picture as he and his family were on a private visit.

The Minister and his family comprising his wife, son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, were perturbed when they noticed the photographer waiting outside the restaurant after dinner. A scuffle is reported to have taken place during which Chidambaram missed a step, tripped and fell down, leading to a fracture in the toe of his right foot.

According to an official press statement, photographer started taking photographs when the family came out of the restaurant. “Chidambaram’s son and a friend took objection. In order to avoid the photographer, Chidambaram moved to the right, missed a step, tripped and fell. He sufferred a fracture of the toe and a plaster cast has been put on the right foot”, the statement said.

Soon after the incident, Chidambaram was taken to the Manipal Hospital on Airport Road, where an orthopaedic surgeon attended to him. “Chidambaram was treated in the outpatient department. He was here for about 45 minutes. It was a very minor case”, a hospital official said.

Meanwhile, the Resident Editor of the newspaper and the photographer involved in the incident have apologized to the Chidambaram and his family.

Humiliated by his mock funeral, local body chief commits suicide

President of a gram panchayat in Dharwad district in north Karnataka committed suicide reportedly due to the humiliation he sufferred after his political rivals took out his mock funeral procession.

President of Yaraguppi gram panchayat in Dharwad district Ninganagouda Benakanahalli died due to consuming poison soon after a few gram panchayat members, who were protesting against misappropriation of funds, conducted a mock funeral of the gram panchayat president.

After close associates of the gram panchayat president alleged that Benakanahalli had taken the extreme step after the humiliation caused to him, the police booked cases against a total of 59 persons including former MLA C S Shivalli.

Meanwhile, enraged by the suicide, a few supporters of Benakanahalli vandalized two houses belonging to Shivalli and his relatives in the Yaraguppi village and staged a protest demanding the arrest of persons responsible for the gram panchayat president’s suicide.
Senior JD (U) leader and MLC Basavaraj Bommai has urged the Government to hand over the investigation into the death of the gram panchayat president to the Corps of Detective (CoD) and bring the culprits to book.

Gowda convenes party meet in New Delhi today

Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, who was removed from the JD (S) by a splinter group in Trivandrum, has convened a parallel JD (S) national executive meeting in New Delhi on Monday, ostensibly to clear the air over his “expulsion” from the party.

Gowda’s aide and party spokesman Y S V Datta told reporters that the national executive meeting in New Delhi, to be attended by a “majority” of the members, will express solidarity and faith in the leadership of Gowda.

Terming Gowda’s “expulsion” from the party by a “handful” of members at the behest of M P Veerendra Kumar, as “farce and unconstitutional”, Datta said Gowda remained the national President of the JD (S).

The party’s supreme policy making body – the national council – had elected Gowda as the national President on November 13, 2005, and had given him powers to constitute a national executive body comprising 55 members and 20 special invitees.

“The list of members has already been furnished to the Election Commission of India, which is fully aware of the developments held as per the party’s constitution”, Datta said.

The JD (S) spokesperson also said that the people, who had expelled Gowda, have no “locus standi on the issue”. “We have ignored these developments as they did not have constitutional propriety”, he added.

With the backing of a majority of the legislators, MPs and national executive members, Datta said Gowda was confident of retaining the JD (S) symbol – a woman carrying a haystack on her head.

The Gowda faction of the JD (S) is confident of retaining the party symbol. The Election Commission has already made it clear it its verdict that the party symbol will be allotted to the group representing a majority of the members. “After the 2002 Supreme Court verdict, the Election Commission is following a majority rule in allotting the symbols. Gowda enjoys the support of a majority of legislators, MPs and national executive members”, Datta said.

IT professional murdered in Bangalore

Raising fresh concerns over the safety of IT professionals in Bangalore, the police recovered the dead body of a 32-year-old software engineer from an isolated stretch of road in the City’s eastern suburbs.

The software engineer Adhit Lahiri had apparently been waylaid and smothered to death by unidentified miscreants while he was returning home late in the night after the day’s work.

Adhit had been robbed of his car, ring, watch, cash and a mobile phone before he was killed. The police found his body dumped near Mahadevapura tank on Friday. His hands and legs had been bound.

Though Lahiri returned home around 10.30 pm every night, he did not return home even by midnight, forcing his anxious wife Aparna Lahiri to rush to the nearby Airport police station and lodge a complaint about her missing husband.

She told the police that her husband was wearing a yellow checked shirt and sported a sacred red band on his wrist. Immediately, a message was on the police wireless system across the City with the description of the missing man.

After finding the body on Friday, the police suspect that the miscreants may have waylaid Adhit while he was travelling by car before smothering him to death. After preliminary examination of the dead body, the police shifted the body to Bowring Hospital for a post-mortem.

Senior police officials including Additional Commissioner of Bangalore City Police Bipin Gopalakrishna and Joint Commissioner of Bangalore City Police Gopal Hosur visited the spot from where the Adhit’s dead body was recovered.

India to launch Agni III during 2007

India is planning to launch Agni III, a 3,500 km-range Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM), during 2007.

This was disclosed by Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister and Secretary to Department of Defence Research and Development, New Delhi, M Natarajan at a function organized in Bangalore to open the new campus of Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR).

“Agni III would be launched sometime in 2007”, Natarajan said. He also said the missile had a good trial last time, but there was a small material-related failure that was being analyzed.

Speaking on the occasion, Natarajan also called for a thorough scrutiny before making the choice of equipment for deployment in the armed forces.

He said a dialogue was underway between Department of Defence Research and Development and NASSCOM for generating product support from the software industry to the armed forces. “This will go a long way in generating confidence in Government circles on the capability of private companies in handling defence related services”, he said.

Earlier, Defence Minister A K Antony opened a 16 acre campus for Centre for Artiricial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR) at C V Raman Nagar in Bangalore. The CAIR will provide information and communication services in areas including communication and networking, command and control systems, information security and intelligent systems.

“The development of futuristic communication systems should take into account the requirements of all the three wings of the armed forces”, Antony said while declaring the CAIR open.

ABVP activists storm stage at Kannada meet

Several activists of Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishat (ABVP), an affiliate of the Sangh Parivar, stormed the stage at the 73rd All India Kannada Sahitya Sammelan at Shimoga in Karnataka, leading to commotion and chaos at the venue.

The ABVP activists were protesting against the decision of the organizers to invite litterateur Kalkuli Vittal Hegde, who, according to them, is a naxal sympathizer.

The audience, who were listening to the deliberations on problems of Malnad region at the Sammelan on Thursday evening, was taken by surprise when several ABVP activists climbed on the dais, waving a black flag and shouting slogans against the organizers.

ABVP activists accused Hegde, who had already finished his speech, of supporting the naxal movement in Malnad region of Karnataka. Farmers’ leader K T Gangadhar was addressing the gathering when trouble broke out.

Soon after the ABVP activists climbed on the dais and started shouting slogans, activists of Communal Harmony Forum too followed them and began dragging them down. An activist of the Forum snatched a baton from a policeman at the venue and started beating the demonstrators, leading to tense moments at the venue.

Police too arrived on the scene and resorted to caning the demonstrators. The police arrested six ABVP activists and took them away from the venue.

The ABVP activists had earlier staged a demonstration opposing the participation of Hegde and Communal Harmony Forum convener Gauri Lankesh in the Kannada Meet, accusing them of supporting the naxal movement in the region.

The 73rd All India Kannada Sahitya Sammelan has turned out to be a stormy event. For, the event began with a black flag demonstration by JD (S) supporters, who were protesting against the “insult” meted out to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy by the organizers.

The JD (S) supporters expressed their ire over the organizers “casual” invitation to the Chief Minister. They accused the organizers of violating the protocol by not inviting the Chief Minister for the inaugural function of the event.

Gowda dissolves Kerala unit of JD (S)

Hours before the parallel national executive committee meeting of JD (S) convened by dissident leader M P Veerendra Kumar could begin in Trivandrum, party’s national President H D Deve Gowda has dissolved the Kerala unit of JD (S).

According to JD (S) sources in Bangalore, Gowda took a decision to dissolve the Kerala unit of JD (S) headed by Veerendra Kumar after holding confabulations with party leaders in New Delhi. Gowda has appointed former Kerala Minister Neelalohitadasan Nadar as the new President of Kerala unit of JD (S).

Gowda told reporters in Bangalore that the national executive and national council meeting of JD (S) convened at Trivandrum was “illegal and unconstitutional”. He said the party had already suspended Veerendra Kumar and former Karnataka Minister P G R Sindhia from the party.

Gowda, who commands the support of 49 MLAs in Karnataka, besides two Lok Sabha MPs and two Rajya Sabha MPs, said the party had convened a national council meeting in New Delhi on December 25 during which the suspension of Veerendra Kumar and Sindhia would be ratified.

Meanwhile, more than a hundred JD (S) activists from Karnataka, including former Minister Ekanthaiah, son of former Karnataka Chief Minister J H Patel, Trishulpani Patel, have left for Trivandrum to attend the national executive and national council meeting.

Though many among the party activists, who have left for Kerala, are not members of either the national executive or the national council, sources said these members are likely to be co-opted.

More than 100 Government officers in Karnataka to be prosecuted

More than 100 Government officers, who had been booked by the Lokayukta in connection with corruption cases in Karnataka since 1993, will be prosecuted soon.

Revealing this to reporters after meeting Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, the Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde said these cases had been pending with the Lokayutka for the last several years awaiting Government sanction to prosecute the accused Government officers. The names of several IAS, IPS and other senior bureaucrats figures in the list of Government officials against whom the Lokayukta had booked cases.

“A recent Supreme Court verdict has made it clear that Government sanction was not necessary to prosecute the corrupt Government officers. So, we are going ahead with the framing of charges”, he said.

The Lokayukta, which is an anti-corruption cell of the State, has so far booked more than 100 Government officers in various corruption cases. Hegde said he had given the Lokayukta police a month’s time to complete the investigation and file the charge sheets. “Charge sheets will be filed in one month’s time under the Prevention of Corruption Act in respect of all the pending cases against more than 100 officers”, Hegde said.

In fresh cases, Hegde said the Lokayukta will seek permission from the Government to prosecute the accused officers. “If the Government does not accord sanction or fails to respond in a specified time frame, then we will consider it as deemed sanction and proceed”, he said.
Hegde also met Governor T N Chaturvedi and apprised him of various issues and measures taken by the Lokayukta to fight corruption

Karnataka imposes fresh ban on colas in school and college campuses

Days after withdrawing the ban on colas across the State, the Karnataka Government imposed a fresh ban on sale of all carbonated drinks including Coca Cola and Pepsi in school, college and hostel campuses, citing health hazards to children.

Karnataka’s Minister for Health R Ashok told reporters that the Government had taken a decision to ban these drinks after finding that consumption of carbonated beverages resulted in childhood obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis and cavities in tooth.

The Government, which had withdrawn the ban on sale of soft drinks imposed four months ago, has now issued a fresh notification in exercise of powers vested with the State under article 162 of the Constitution. “Karnataka has become the first state in India to impose such a ban on the sale of soft drinks by exercising its powers under the Constitution”, he said.

Ashok said the courts were of the opinion that the ban under Central Food Adulteration Act did not come under the purview of the State Governments. “Therefore, the present ban on the sale of soft drinks had been made in exercise of powers inherited by the State under the Constitution”, he said.

Also, the State Government has chosen to drop all references to pesticide content in soft drinks, the grounds on which the previous ban had been imposed. “The reasons for reintroducing the ban is to protect the interest of health and well being of children”, he said.

The Government has also justified the ban on the grounds of a similar restriction in force in US, which is the hub of major carbonated drink manufacturers. “Three soft drink companies in the USA – Pepsico, Coca Cola and Cadburys Schwepps, and their bottling companies have agreed to remove soft drinks from vending machines and cafeteria and schools in several states of USA in a phased manner”, the Government notification said.

The notification also contains the reported policy statement of Pepsi Company in India, which reads as “As a matter of policy, Pepsi company does not promote its fizzy drinks to children below 12 years of age and does not encourage consumption of soft drinks in primary schools”.

Meanwhile, the Indian Soft Drinks Manufacturers’ Association has reacted with shock to the Karnataka Government’s decision to impose a fresh ban on sale of carbonated drinks in educational institutions across the State. “The industry offers a broad range of beverages, which we believe can be part of occasions, where there is a need for hydration, refreshment, nutrition and celebration, and are completely safe. To date, there has been no conclusive study that establishes that consumption of soft drink leads to health issues like obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis or tooth cavities as alleged by the State Government”, a statement from the Association said.

Key suspect in BJP leader’s murder killed in encounter

The key suspect in the recent murder of BJP leader Sukhananda Shetty, 31-year-old Athik alias Bullet Sudheer was shot dead in a police encounter in Baindoor taluk of Udupi district in Karnataka.

Superintendent of Mangalore district Police Dayanand told reporters that a police team constituted to track down Shetty’s killers had managed to arrest Athik from a house near Jog Falls in Shimoga district. When the police team was returning to Mangalore on Tuesday, Athik requested the police to stop the vehicle to answer nature’s call near Baindoor.

Barely had the police stopped the vehicle and removed the handcuff on one hand, Athik suddenly grabbed the service pistol from a Sub Inspector of police escorting him and ran inside the bushes, Dayanand said.

When the police team followed Athik, he is alleged to have fired at them, forcing the policemen to retaliate. “The police fired 24 rounds out of which three hit the fugitive”, Dayanand said.

The police team rushed him to a primary health centre in Baindoor, but not doctor was available. He was immediately shifted to a private hospital in Udupi, but the doctors declared him brought dead.

Dayanand said Athik was wanted in many cases including Shetty’s killing in Mangalore recently. A native of Nellyadi in Mangalore, Athik had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001 for killing one Francis in Nellyadi. When he had been released on parole during 2003, Athik had indulged in robbery and was arrested. However, he had managed to escape from while he was being taken to Mysore jail from Mangalore.

Dayanand said the police had so far arrested a total of ten persons in connection with the murder of Sukhananda Shetty, who was murdered in broad daylight near Mangalore. Shetty’s murder had triggered mob unrest in his native town of Mulki near Mangalore, which led to police firing and claimed two lives.

JD (S) workers disrupt Kannada meet

The inaugural function of the 73rd All India Kannada Literary Meet was marred by a black flag demonstration by JD (S) supporters, who were protesting against the “insult” meted out to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy by the organizers of the event.

Just before Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa could unfurl the national tricolour to signal the start of the four-day-long All India Kannada Literary Meet at Shimoga yesterday, several JD (S) supporters, holding black flags and tying black bands across their foreheads, raised slogans against the Kannada Sahitya Parishat, which had organized the event, and its President Dr Chandrashekar Patil.

A large posse of policemen, deployed at the venue, managed to prevent the protestors from reaching anywhere near the dais or the flag post.

The protest by JD (S) workers came after Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy openly expressed his hurt over the casual invitation extended to him by the organizers. Kumaraswamy also took serious exception to the violation of the official protocol by the organizers.

Traditionally, the Chief Minister of Karnataka has been inaugurating the annual All India Kannada Literary Meet. But, this year, the Kannada Sahitya Parishat had invited BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa for the mega event being held at Shimoga. Yediyurappa also happens to be a native of Shimoga.

Not only had the tradition been broken this time by not inviting the Chief Minister for the inaugural function, the Parishat had sent an invitation by post to Kumarasamy and sought him to be present for the valedictory of the Kannada meet.

“As a Chief Minister of the State, I think I deserve to get an invitation. I cannot attend a function without being formally invited”, a visibly angry Chief Minister had told reporters, who met him on the eve of the inaugural function of the Meet. “I have the responsibility of upholding the dignity of my post. They just cannot throw an invitation into my office like a postman and expect me to accept it. I cannot throw protocol and traditions to the wind”, Kumaraswamy said.

Though Kumaraswamy appeared to have almost made up his mind to stay away from the Kannada Meet, he did not make a categorical statement. “I have not made up my mind on either attending or skipping it”, he said.

However, Yediyurappa called up Kumaraswamy and requested him to attend the valedictory of the Kannada Meet.

Aircraft component manufacturers make beeline to Bangalore

Even before the proposed international airport could become functional at Devanahalli on the outskirts of Bangalore, a number of aircraft component manufacturers are making a beeline to the City to set up shop.

Karnataka’s Industries Minister Katta Subramanya Naidu told reporters that a total of eight companies had come forward to set up units in Bangalore to manufacture components for aircrafts. “We have received proposals with a total investment of Rs 60 billion from five Indian companies and three foreign companies”, he said.

The foreign companies planning to set up aircraft components manufacturing unit in Bangalore include one each from Austrialia and US, he said.

In view of the interest shown in setting up aircraft component manufacturing units, the State Government has decided to develop an aircraft industrial hub over an area spread across 1,200 acres near the international airport at Devanahalli, Naidu said.

The Government had already identified land for the purpose. Once established, the aircraft industrial hub will house the large scale component manufacturing units, which will be provide jobs to thousands of people in the State, he added.

Meanwhile, work on construction of the international airport was continuing at a brisk pace and the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) authorities are hopeful that the flights will become operational by 2008.

Missing boy brought to court on a stretcher

A fourteen-year-old boy, who had been missing for the last ten months, was brought on a stretcher before the Karnataka High Court, which had directed the police to trace the boy and produce him before the court.

The boy Naveen Chandra was brought to the court in a sick condition after his mother had filed a habeas corpus petition before the High Court seeking a direction to the police to produce her son missing since February this year.

Amidst touching scenes in the court premises, the Division bench of the High Court comprising Justice H L Dattu and Justice Anand Reddy handed over the boy’s custody to the mother.

Naveen Chandra’s mother Radha had filed a missing complaint with Nelamangala police in Karnataka’s Tumkur district during March 2006. After she received no reply from the police, Radha filed another complaint in August 2006, suspecting her husband. Radha contended that her husband used to ill-treat her and alleged that he had kidnapped her son and kept him illegally.

When the police did not trace her son, Radha moved the High Court and sought a direction to the police to trace her son and hand him over to him. The court ordered the police to immediately trace the boy and bring him to court.

Nelamangala police created a flutter when they brought the boy to the court on a stretcher and handed him over to the mother.

According to State Public Prosecutor S Dore Raju, the boy was found in Lakshmipura near Bangalore. He claimed that the boy was in poor health on account of malnutrition and addition to gutkha. He had been produced before the court after the cops provided him urgent medical treatment at a Government Hospital, he said.

Missile man’s new mission is to make nuclear weapons ineffective

Missile Man A P J Abdul Kalam, who guided India’s ballistic missiles project, has now made it a mission of his life to make the same nuclear weapons “ineffective, insignificant and politically inconsequential”.

Inaugurating the week-long 1047th birth anniversary celebrations of pontiff of Adi Jagadguru Sri Shivarathreeshwara in Bangalore yesterday, President Abdul Kalam shared with the gathering a “beautiful” message he had received from a Jain spiritual leader.

Quoting the Jain monk Acharya Mahapragnaji, whom Kalam described as a “great soul”, the President said “Kalam, God bless you for what you have done with your team. The God Almighty has a bigger mission for you and that is why you are here with me today. I know our country is a nuclear nation now. The mission for you is greater than what you and your team have done, and it is greater than any human being had ever done. The nuclear weapons are proliferating in tens of thousands in the world today. I command with all the divine blessings you and only you to find a solution to make the same nuclear weapons ineffective, insignificant and politically inconsequential”.

Confessing that the command shook him for the first time in his life, Kalam said the message of Acharya Mahapragnaji had been working on him as a challenge since then. “It has become the motto of my life”, Kalam said.

Later in the day, Kalam dedicated to the nation the Thrombosis Research Institute situated at the campus of Narayana Hrudalaya Health City on the outskirts of Bangalore.

Speaking on the occasion, Kalam called upon medical research institutes in the country and abroad to work towards developing a vaccine for against heart disease and stroke.

He said ongoing studies had shown that in addition to cholesterol and other lipids, infection with certain viruses and bacteria cause changes in blood vessels that increase the risk of heart disease. “There is evidence that infection happens very early in life, usually around the age of 2 to 3 years. There is a need to design a unique vaccine to prevent infection and changes in blood vessels”, Kalam said.

He also called upon the medical research institutes to develop a simple and cost effective test for identifying individuals most at risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease at an early age to allow intervention to prevent long-term disability.

Kalam calls for National Aerospace policy

President A P J Abdul Kalam has emphasized the need for India to formulate a National Aeronautics Policy that seeks to integrate the strengths of civil and military aviation sectors in the country.

Inaugurating a three-day international conference on trends in product life cycle modeling simulation and synthesis (PLMSS) 2006 organized by Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in Bangalore yesterday, Kalam said the synergy such a policy lends to the aviation sector will usher in an era of high technology and high skill industry environment resulting in generation of wealth, assets and employment in the country.

Pointing out that the space systems, missile and aeronautics groups in the country had demonstrated technology excellence in their products through networking with academic institutes, industries and Government, Kalam said there were more than 300,000 engineers and technicians in the country, besides an infrastructure of more than Rs 200 billion.

“With this national strength and opportunity for larger demand in aerospace systems and export potential, a large business for industries is in front of us. It is essential that this strength is integrated into a National Aeronautics Policy”, Kalam said.

Kalam also revealed that the Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Madhavan Nair had informed him that the formulation of the National Aeronautics Policy was in an advanced stage of approval. “I will also try to accelerate it further”, Kalam added.

Kalam called upon the scientists and technologists gathered for the conference to take up missions relating to development and production of various types of aerospace systems like 150-seater passenger jet, Supersonic unmanned combat aircraft, Hypersonic reusable missile, Hyperplane and Planetary missions including manned missions for energy and water.

With the experience of many complex missions and collaborative framework besides human resource expertise, time had come for India to take up these missions, Kalam said. “With such a vast infrastructure and human resource in aerospace sector, India can definitely launch such missions with international partnerships”, he said.

Kalam also emphasized the need for the country to embark upon a mission for creation of a “Virtual Collaborative Platform for Aerospace Systems” with the active participation of ADA, ISRO, Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), National Aeronautics Laboratory (NAL) with other scientific laboratories and academic institutions like Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs) to realize the Aerospace Vision for India.

Karnataka lifts ban on colas

The Karnataka Government has lifted the ban on sale of colas in and around educational institutions, hospitals and Government offices.

Karnataka’s Health and Family Welfare Minister R Ashok told reporters that the Government had withdrawn its August 14 order banning the sale of twelve carbonated drinks including Pepsi and Coca Cola following the advise of State Advocate General Udaya Holla.

The Karnataka Government had banned the sale of soft drinks in and around educational institutions, hospitals and Government offices after the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) had found a high level of pesticide content in the colas.

The Government’s withdrawal of its order on banning the sale of colas came the wake of a submission to the effect by Advocate General Udaya Holla in the Karnataka High Court was hearing a petition filed by Pepsi India Holdings Limited challenging the Government order.

Holla also submitted a memo to the High Court seeking dismissal of the company’s petition, contending that it had become “infructuous” as the order itself had been withdrawn.

However, the counsel for the company prayed for continuation of the case that questioned the provisions of Karnataka Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules. But, the court disposed off the petition, as the “cause of action” did not survive in the wake of the ban order’s withdrawal.

Karnataka Government’s decision to withdraw the order comes close on the heels of Federal Health Minister A Ramadoss proposal to implement a blanket ban on junk food and colas in schools and university canteens across the country in an effort to fight the rising obesity among youth. Ramadoss had said that the Federal Government proposed to write to all Vice Chancellors of Universities in the country to implement the ban.

Karnataka’s Minister for Health and Family Welfare R Ashok said the Government had to withdraw the ban orders due to technical reasons. He added that the Government was determined to ban the sale of aerated drinks in public interest and appropriate steps in the regard will be taken.

Karnataka ranks higher than India in Human Development Index

Karnataka ranks higher than the country in the Human Development Index (HDI).

According to Karnataka Human Development Report 2005 released by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, Karnataka’s HDI position at the international level was 120 while India’s position had been pegged at 127.

HDI is a composite index comprising life expectancy, educational attainment and per capital real GDP.

However in India, Karnataka has taken the seventh position in HDI below Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Gujarat and Haryana. The HDI of Karnataka had increased from 0.541 in 1991 to 0.650 in 2001.

A unique feature of Karnataka’s Human Development Report is the Gender Development Index (GDI), which measures the levels of women’s human development relative to men. Though the 0.637 GDI in Karnataka is much higher than the All India figure of 0.609, Karnataka is placed in the sixth position in the country. GDI measures the same variables as HDI but this index is gender sensitive.

The growth rate of the economy between 93-94 and 02-03 was 6.84 per cent. If the growth rate in the manufacturing sector was 7.5 per cent, the growth rate in the service was 10.61 per cent. The primary sector grew by only 0.61 per cent.

Karnataka’s share in the country’s GDP grew from 4.85 per cent to 5.22 per cent during the period 90-91 to 01-02.

The report also clearly indicates that Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are about a decade behind the rest of the population. Yet, the status of these communities in the state is better than their counterparts in the rest of the country.
After releasing the report, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said the report would help the authorities in the formulation of the eleventh Plan by its focused attention on the standard of living of people, besides planning the exploitation of resources for the benefit of weaker sections.

Bidar air base to be used for civilian operations

With two runways of international standards, the Bidar Air Force base in Karnataka will now be used for civilian operations.

According to Minister in charge of Bidar district Bandeppa Kashempur, the Defence Ministry has approved a proposal to use the Air Force base in Bidar, which is one of the best equipped in the country, for operation of civilian airplanes.

In the wake of the permission from Defence Minister A K Antony, the Karnataka Government has approached the Federal Ministry for Civil Aviation for setting up facilities for operation of civilian aircraft. The facilities include entry and exit gates, gates for taxis, runways and separate landing place for passenger aircraft.

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy is understood to have promised Government support for starting civil aviation facilities from Bidar Air Force base. The launch of civilian flights from Bidar, situated at the northern-most tip of Karnataka, is expected to air-link different parts of Hyderabad-Karnataka region.

The United States Air Force had built the airstrip at Bidar during the Second World War more than six decades ago. The Allied forces used the airstrip as a rest and refuel point for planes returning from Singapore and nearby areas.

Bidar had been strategically chosen for the airstrip as it was away from New Delhi and Kolkata and considered a safe place. Bidar was connected by both road and rail so that fuel could be imported from the ports in Mangalore and Chennai.

The Nizam of Hyderabad, who then ruled over Bidar, provided land to the Allied forces. The Americans had also laid a rail line from the airstrip to the railway station to facilitate the transportation of oil. The US Air Force managed the Bidar airport almost till the end of World War.

The Federal Government’s decision to allow the use of the Air Force base for civilian aviation is expected to boost industrial development in Hyderabad-Karnataka region, besides tapping the tourism potential in the area.

Milk price goes up by Re 1 in Karnataka

The price of milk went up from Rs 13 to 14 per litre in Karnataka with effect from December 15.

The increase in the price of milk came after an announcement Chairman of Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) H D Revanna.

The entire benefit of the price hike will be passed on to the milk producers, who are facing hardships in the wake of rising cost of raw material and wages. The previous price revision had been effected on November 1, 2004.

Justifying the hike, Revanna, who is also the Minister for Public Works and Power, said the price of milk remained the lowest in the country despite the one rupee increase. If milk costs Rs 16 per litre in Maharashtra, it costs Rs 15 in Kerala and Rs 14 in Tamil Nadu.

Karnataka is the second largest producer of milk in India with an output of 3.2 million litres per day. An estimated 2 million litres of milk was sold in Karnataka alone and the rest is sold in other states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and New Delhi. A substantial quantity of milk is converted into milk products also.

Mangalore Court records statements from Riyadh via video conferencing

A district court in Mangalore became the first court in Karnataka to record the statement of the petitioner from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia through video conferencing facility in a civil dispute case.

Abdul Rahman, who is employed in Saudi Arabia, found to his chagrin that the land owned by him had been transferred to his brother Khalid Ahmed reportedly through forged documents.

He had moved the Second Additional Civil Court in Mangalore during 2001 seeking to annul the “release deed”, which he contended, was based on forged documents and signatures.

Rahman’s advocate P P Hegde moved a special application seeking exemption for his client from personal appearance and instead record his statements via video conferencing facility through Internet.

Overruling objections from the advocates representing the accused Khalid Ahmed, the Court passed an order to record the statements via video conferencing. The court had cited orders passed by the Karnataka High Court and Supreme Court on adopting video conferencing facility to record statements.

Though the Court did not have the infrastructure and communication facilities to record statements through video conferencing, arrangements were made to record Abdul Rahman’s statement through video conferencing facility at a private communication centre in Mangalore.

Abdul Rahman, sitting in a cyber centre in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, gave his statement and answered queries raised by advocates representing his brother and the accused in the case Khalid Ahmed. The Court duly recorded Abdul Rahman’s statements delivered through video conferencing facility.

The recording of Abdul Rahman’s statements through video conferencing created a flutter with a large number of curious visitors and advocates packing the courtroom to watch the unconventional procedure.

Though a court in Mysore had adopted video conferencing to record the statement of a person based in the US a couple of months ago in a criminal case, the recording to Abdul Rahman’s statement is the first such instance in a civil dispute.

Gowda to revoke expulsion of Kumaraswamy and 39 JD (S) MLAs

Smarting under the party’s loss in the recently held by-polls to the Assembly in Karnataka, JD (S) national president H D Deve Gowda has convened a meeting of the party’s national executive in New Delhi on December 25, apparently to revoke the suspension of his son and Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and 39 other party MLAs, who had joined hands with the BJP.

Apart from discussing the issue of revoking the suspension of Kumaraswamy and other party MLAs, the national executive is also expected to crack down on dissidents in the party like MP Veerendra Kumar, Surendra Mohan and P G R Sindhia, who had raised a banner of revolt against Gowda.

Gowda, who has already suspended former Minister P G R Sindhia from the party for campaigning in favour of Congress candidate Siddaramaiah in the recently held Assembly by-polls in Karnataka, is expected to strip Veerendra Kumar from the post of the leader of the party’s parliamentary party.

Ahead of the crucial national executive meeting in New Delhi, JD (S) MLAs in Karnataka have already submitted a petition to Gowda urging him to revoke the suspension. The party’s national executive convened in the wake of the formation of the Kumaraswamy-led JD (S)-BJP Government in Karnataka during February this year had decided to suspend the MLAs for joining hands with the “communal” BJP.

However, Gowda, who has softened towards the JD (S)-BJP coalition in Karnataka, is expected to revoke the suspension and initiate action against the party men like Veerendra Kumar, Surendra Mohan and P G R Sindhia, who are questioning his leadership.

Meanwhile, Sindhia told reporters in Bangalore that a parallel national executive of JD (S) will be convened in Trivandrum either on December 22 and 23 by Veerendra Kumar and Surendra Mohan.

He claimed that these leaders, who were critical of Gowda for aligning with the BJP and sacrificing the secular ideals of party, had already “expelled” Gowda from the party. The expulsion of Gowda from the party will be ratified at the national executive of the party to be held at Trivandrum, Sindhia claimed.

Karnataka Chief Minister’s wife to launch television channel

The much-awaited Kannada television channel Kasturi, owned by Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s wife Anitha Kumaraswamy, is all set for launch in the last week of January 2007.

Though the channel was scheduled for launch during latter part of 2006, the plans had to be put on hold as political developments over the corruption in mining scam had cast a shadow over the Chief Minister and his family members.

Now, the channel is all set to take off under the banner of Amogh Broadband Services. “It will be a Kannada channel. The content will be a mix of entertainment and news. Sixty per cent will be entertainment and forty per cent will be news”, Director of Amogh Broadband Services M V Prasad Babu told reporters.

The company, which is presently buying film rights, is scheduled to go on the air by the last week of January. According to sources close to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, the initial investment for the television channel amounting to Rs 300 million had been raised through banks.

To start with the channel is aiming at tapping the potential viewership in southern Karnataka comprising Bangalore, Mysore, Tumkur, Kolar, Hassan and Chikmagalur. Graudally, efforts will be made to make inroads into viewership in central and north Karnataka.

Kasturi will have to vie with at least three other Kannada channels viz. Udaya, ETV and Zee Kannada, which are already entrenched in the television business.

Starting a news channel had been a dream for Kumaraswamy and his wife Anitha for the last few years now. Though it was initially proposed to start a 24/7 news channel, Kasturi was later modified into a healthy mix of news, information and entertainment after the Chief Minister’s close associates advised him to have this mix for a wider audience.

“The process started more than a year and a half ago when Dharam Singh was the Chief Minister. It has nothing to do with him becoming the Chief Minister now”, JD (S) spokesperson Y S V Datta told reporters.
Kumaraswamy, who started his career as a film distributor for Kannada movies and later produced five Kannada movies, always had a penchant for infotainment business, he added. But, Kumaraswamy has no stake in Kasturi television channel

Linguistic Survey of India to begin in April next year

Billed as the biggest linguistic study of its kind in the world, the Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), located at Mysore near here, will begin the first linguistic survey of free India from April 2007, eighty years after the first such exercise was completed in 1927 by the then British administration.

CIIL Director Udaya Narayana Singh told reporters that mega survey was expected to examine different speech varieties in the country and throw up exciting new dimensions to the linguistic diversity in India.

The previous exercise, which began in 1898 and completed in 1927, had identified 188 languages and 544 dialects in India. The fresh survey assumes significance in the backdrop of complaints that South India including the erstwhile Hyderabad state, Mysore state and Madras province had been completely left out in the previous exercise.

The proposed linguistic survey of India, which will be listing out microscopic aspects of all languages in the country, will be conducted over a period of ten years with the involvement of more than 2,000 experts and 50 institutes. The survey is expected to cost Rs 6 billion.

Although the survey will be carried out for ten years, every year the progress report on the survey and the remaining work will be presented to the Federal Government, Singh said.

Unlike the statistical survey, the proposed linguistic survey of India will include features like audio and video recording of languages, people, who speak these languages and their traditions, customs and rituals, besides the statistical data. “This survey will be useful for planners and linguistic experts for the next 100 years”, he said. The survey will help in the formulation of the country’s language policies in addition to helping the Govenrment prepare its development plans for various linguistic groups, he added.

Karnataka’s top cop seeks Z plus security after retirement

Apprehending a threat to his life from terrorists, Karnataka’s Director General of Police B S Sial has urged the State Government to provide him Z plus security after his retirement, which falls due on December 31, 2006.

In a letter to the State Chief Secretary, Sial justified extension of Z plus security to him after his retirement, as he is likely to be targeted by terrorists. He said the threat to his life had increased in the wake of the recent arrest of two suspected terrorists belonging to the Al Badr terror outfit.

Sial is understood to have even pointed out that his photograph had been carried in newspapers published from the Gulf.

Sial, who is now provided with security by virtue of his position, contended that he would be exposed to terrorists if proper security cover not provided to him after his retirement.

Presently, five gun-toting commandoes escort Sial, who turned 60 on December 6 and is due for retirement on December 31.

In Karnataka, Z plus security cover is extended to Governor, Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister. Persons enjoying Z plus security would get a pilot vehicle and an escort vehicle with four to five armed personnel while travelling. Besides, a guard will be posted at the residence and a personal security officer will be provided round the clock.

But, Commissioner of Bangalore City Police N Achuta Rao has downplayed the threat to Sial.

Following Sial’s request to the Karnataka Chief Secretary for Z plus security, Inspector General of Police (Intelligence) Kishore Chandra, who heads the official committee to provide security to persons, whose lives are under a threat, sought the opinion of the Bangalore City Commissioner. Achuta Rao, who is also a member of the Committee, said he had no information about a threat to the life of Sial.

Achuta Rao was also of the opinion that many retired Director Generals of Police faced a threat on account of their tough stand against anti-social elements and terrorists. “But, there are no specific rules on extending security to them after their retirement” Achuta Rao is said to have told the Committee.

Sial’s request for Z plus security comes after he wrote twice to the Chief Secretary seeking an extension of his tenure till August 31, 2007. Sial, who had been promoted as Director General of Police in August 2005, has cited the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Prakash Singh case that Director Generals of Police should get a minimum term of two years.

Supreme Court asks Reddy to withdraw plea from High Court

The Supreme Court has decided to consider for admission BJP MLC Janardhan Reddy’s petition on corruption charges against Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and two other Ministers in the mining scam only after a writ petition pending in the High Court on the matter is withdrawn.

According to information reaching here, a bench of Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal and Justice C K Thakker told senior counsel Harish Salve appearing for Reddy to withdraw a similar petition pending before the Karnataka High Court before the apex court could consider his plea.

“You first decide where you want to pursue the case. If you want the case to be heard here, you should first withdraw your petition in the (Karnataka) High Court”, Chief Justice Sabharwal said.

Before moving the Supreme Court, Reddy had filed a writ petition in Karnataka High Court seeking a CBI probe into his allegation that Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and his ministerial colleagues C Chennigappa and M P Prakash had collected a bribe amount of Rs 1.5 billion from the illegal mine owners of Bellary district in Karnataka.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s suggestion, Reddy has filed a memo in the Karnataka High Court seeking withdrawal of the writ petition seeking CBI probe against the Chief Minister and two of his ministerial colleagues.

In the memo, Reddy said he wished to withdraw the case from the High Court as he had filed a similar petition in the Supreme Court.

In the writ petition, Reddy had claimed that Home Minister M P Prakash and Forest Minister C Chennigappa had threatened to close down mining activity if the mine owners did not cough up sums of money. Subsequently, Reddy said he had come to know that the Chief Minister and his relatives had made huge investments in immovable properties. He said the acquisitions so made were found to be disproportionate to their known sources of income.

Railways order on destination boards incurs Kannada activists’ wrath

The recent decision of the Railways to do away with destination name boards displayed on trains in languages other than Hindi and English has sparked off a row with Kannada organizations staging rail blockades and holding protests in various parts of the State.

A large number of Kannada activists halted trains in Tumkur, besides staging protests outside the railway stations of Bangalore and Mysore on Monday to protest the “anti-Kannada” move by the Railways.

The pro-Kannada organizations apprehended that the recent decision of the Railway Board to have destination name boards and instruction boards in all trains only in Hindi and English would lead to removal of destination name boards, which are in Kannada, on all in-bound and out-bound trains from Karnataka.

Kannada Protection Committee President V Narayan Gowda who led a protest in front of Bangalore Railway station questioned the impartiality of Federal Minister of State for Railways R Velu, who had secured an exemption for destination name boards that are in Tamil. “Tamil has been exempted from the rule as Velu is from Tamil Nadu”, he said.

The Kannada activists shouted slogans against Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav as well as R Velu.

Describing the Railway’s recent order on the languages to be used in destination name boards displayed on trains as an “insult” to the 55 million Kannadigas, Gowda threatened to intensify the agitation if the Railway authorities fail to rescind the order in 36 hours. “If the anti-Kannada order is not withdrawn within 36 hours, 55 million Kannadigas do not want train services”, he said.

At a function organized to receive the Kannada Border Area Committee report in Bangalore, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said he would soon write a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the destination name boards issue.

Meanwhile, the police arrested more than a hundred Kannada activists outside the Governor’s residence at Raj Bhavan in Bangalore when they were participating in a protest led by independent MLA Vatal Nagaraj.

The Kannada activists were not only demanding withdrawal of the Railway Boards’s controversial order on destination name boards, but also seeking the immediate sanction of classical language status to Kannada and implementation of Mahajan Commission report on border dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Japanese lady airlifted after suffering spinal injuries

An elderly lady from Japan, who sufferred spinal injuries while visiting places of tourist interest in Badami and Pattadakal in north Karnataka, was shifted to Bangalore in the air ambulance introduced recently by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

82-year-old Suniko Ikeda sufferred a fracture in her lower back-bone while travelling in a bus from Badami to Pattadakal. The mishap took place when the bus was negotiating a sharp curve. An immobilized Ikeda was rushed to the primary health centre at Badami, about 210 kms from Bangalore.

With the tourist requiring immediate treatment and further journey by road was not advisable, the Japanese embassy in New Delhi was contacted. The Japanese Ambassador to India contacted the Karnataka Government, which co-ordinated her rescue with the help of the air ambulance service of HAL in Bangalore.

The air ambulance took off to Badami at short notice along with a doctor from Bangalore-based Wockhardt Hospital. The helicopter landed at Bagalkot as there was no helipad at Badami. The injured Japanese tourist was rushed to Bagalkot and after administering first aid she was flown to Bangalore.

Ikeda is presently undergoing treatment at Wockhardt Hospital in Bangalore, according to a press statement.

“The operation took ten hours with 5.30 hours of actual flying and the remaining time spent in refueling and transporting the patient from Badami to Bagalkot”, HAL’s Chief Test Pilot Wing Commander (Retd) C D Upadhyay said. The co-ordination and communication, critical for the rescue mission, were precise, he added.

Ikeda was among a group of Japanese tourists, who were visiting Badami and Pattadakal in north Karnataka by bus after touring Goa.

Siddaramaiah wins Chamundeshwari by-poll

Former Deputy Chief Minister and Congress candidate Siddaramaiah retained the Chamundeshwari assembly seat in Karnataka by defeating the joint candidate of ruling JD (S) and BJP in a keenly fought electoral contest.

Siddaramaiah beat the ruling coalition’s joint candidate Shivabasappa by 257 votes to register his fifth win from his home-turf Chamundeshwari assembly constituency in Mysore near here.

The counting of votes in the high-profile by-polls held under unprecedented security at Maharani’s Arts College for Women in Mysore on Thursday saw the political fortunes of the front-runners swing like a pendulum. In the final tally, Siddaramaiah polled 115,512 votes, which was just 257 more than Shivabasappa’s 115,255.

The by-polls had been necessitated by Siddaramaiah’s decision to quit the JD (S) in protest against former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda’s “family-politics” and join the Congress.

Speaking to reporters after the by-poll result was announced, Siddaramaiah said he had not anticipated the electoral contest to be so close. “But, despite the misuse of official machinery and distribution of money, liquor and gifts by the ruling coalition, the voters of the constituency have stood by me”, he said.

“It is a vote against Deve Gowda and his son H D Kumaraswamy, who had abandoned secular principles to join hands with the BJP. The Chief Minister should own up moral responsibility for the defeat and resign”, he said.

Former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly Dharam Singh expressed jubilation over the victory of the party candidate and former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. “It is a vote against the ruling JD (S)-BJP Government. It is certainly a loss of face for JD (S) national president H D Deve Gowda, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa”, said Dharam Singh.

Violence in Bidar as Dalits protest against desecration of statue

Widespread violence has been reported from Bidar district in Karnataka in the wake of reported desecration of a yet-to-be unveiled statue of Dr B R Ambedkar in Mannekhalli village in the district’s Humnabad taluk.

Police said more than 20 private vehicles, 14 buses, one police jeep and 15 shops were destroyed in nine places in Bidar district in stone pelting and arson. One person was seriously injured when the police fired tear-gas shell to quell the violent mobs.

Prohibitory orders under section 144 had been imposed in various parts of violence-hit Bidar district.

Trouble began after Dalit Sangharsh Samithi members noticed a garland of slippers on the fencing of a pedestal of Ambedkar’s statue at Mannekhalli, located at a distance of about 25 kms from Bidar town.

The news spread like wildfire and activists began gathering near the statue and blocking the Mumbai-Hyderabad national highway. The protestors first set fire to a bus belonging to state-owned Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). They stoned many other buses that passed on the road.

The protest near the statue sparked off violence in different parts of the district with Dalit activists setting fire to buses and stoning vehicles in Bidar, Aurad, Humnabad, Bhalki and other areas.

Businessmen downed their shutters and educational institutions declared a holiday after the Dalit activists enforced a shut-down in various parts of the district. When miscreants started pelting stones at vehicles, the police had to fire more than 55 rounds of teargas shells and use the baton to bring the situation under control.

Tipu Sultan leads the race for naming Bangalore International airport

Legendary warrior king Tipu Sultan is leading the race in an opinion poll conducted by a media group to suggest a name for the new international airport coming up at Devanahalli near Bangalore.

In an SMS poll conducted by The New Indian Express in Bangalore, 80.95 per cent of the readers had favoured Tipu Sultan while 16.41 per cent felt it would appropriate to name the new international airport after visionary statesman Sir M Visvesvaraya.

Bangalore’s founder Kempe Gowda was favoured by 1.41 per cent of the readers and Kannada thespian late Dr Rajkumar was preferred by 1.23 per cent.

The SMS poll began on Monday after the newspaper published a story on the possible names for the international airport, which is expected to become operational from April 2008. Apart from the four names proposed by the newspaper, the readers came out with new suggestions like Mahatma Gandhi airport, Green City International airport and IT City International airport.

According to historical accounts, Tipu Sultan, who was born in Devanahalli in the middle of eighteenth century, had a special attachment to the place. Though there is speculation on the exact year of Tipu’s birth with some history books giving his date of birth as November 20, 1750, while a section of historians claim he was born in 1753.

But, there is unanimity among historians that Tipu Sultan was born in Devanahalli, which is located at a distance of about 35 kms from Bangalore. Hyder Ali’s second wife Fakhrunnisa alias Fathima was on her way to Devanahalli fort for her first delivery. Before she could reach the fort, she gave birth to her first son Tipu.

Young Tipu spent his childhood of fifteen years at Devanahalli fort, where most of his education and training in artillery took place. Tipu used to frequent Devanahalli even during his last days, according to historical records.

According to researcher Arun Prasad, who heads a team of researchers in “Discover Bengaluru”, Tipu Sultan set up the famous gun powder factory at Devanahalli, which supplied ammunition for rocket manufacturing unit at Bangalore. The Devanahalli fort removed by Tipu Sultan still exists near the new international airport.

With the inauguration of the Greenfield international airport still seventeen months away, the Chief Executive Officer of Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) Albert Brunner is not keen on the name game yet. “Our prime focus is get the airport ready before the deadline. Let us get the airport ready first. It will be a collective decision that will decide the name for the airport”, he said.

EC takes serious note of gifts in Chamundeshwari by-polls in Karnataka

The Election Commission had taken a serious note of the recovery of a large amount of freebies bearing symbols of JD (S) from a farm-house on the outskirts of Mysore, where Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy was himself staying in defiance of the Election Commission directives.

Karnataka’s Chief Electoral Officer R Ramasheshan told reporters in Bangalore that the police and election observers had raided a farm on the outskirts of Mysore, which falls in Chamundeshwari assembly constituency, where by-polls were held on Monday. A couple of truck-loads of gift items including hundreds of tiffin boxes, umbrellas, T Shirts, musical drums, cricket bats and footballs had been stocked in the farm ostensibly for distribution among the voters.

Interestingly, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy was himself found staying an adjacent farm-house, defying the Election Commission guidelines for all non-local politicians to quit the constituency 48 hours before polling.

Ramasheshan said the incident amounted to “corrupt practices” and was a criminal offence under Section 123 of the Representation of People’s Act. “Punishment includes fine or imprisonment or both. The losing candidate can also approach the court seeking to set aside the election of the successful candidate”, he said.

The Election Commission had directed all non-local politicians to quit the constituency 48 hours ahead of the polling in the by-elections, which had pitted former Deputy Chief Minister and Congress candidate Siddaramaiah against the BJP backed JD (S) candidate Shivabasappa.

Rejecting the objections raised by the ruling JD (S) against the EC’s dictat and the role of Election Observer J Raymond Peter, the State’s Chief Electoral Officer said such a directive had been issued by the Election Commission in all the constituencies of the country, where by-polls had been held on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has also rejected the “anti-propaganda” launched by the ruling JD (S) in Karnataka and praised its observer Raymond Peter for “ensuring a level playing field in the electoral process”.

In a statement issued to the press, the Election Commission has condemned the allegations of partisanship levelled against Raymond Peter. “The Commission strongly condemns the very loose utterances and derogatory words used by some of them to undermine the strength of character, depth and quality of work of the said Observer”, the statement said.

Poor response for Datta Jayanthi at Bababudangiri shrine

The much-hyped Datta Jayanthi celebrations organized by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal at the disputed cave shrine of Bababudangiri in Chickmagalur district of Karnataka turned out be a lacklustre affair on account of a poor turnout.

Though the organizers had claimed that more than 50,000 devotees would turn up at the hill shrine for the annual celebrations on Monday, barely a few thousands arrived on the occasion.

The authorities allowed the devotees to have a glimpse of the deity, but refused the organizers permission to perform prayers in keeping with the restrictions imposed by the High Court.

Deputy Commissioner of Chickmagalur district told the Sangh Parivar leaders and pontiffs, who had turned up for the Datta Jayanthi, that permission will not be allowed for performing puja and other rituals in accordance with the court orders.

The disputed shrine converted into a veritable fortress with the deployment of thousands of personnel in several layers. Barricades had been put up all the way to the cave shrine.

Even the media had been kept at bay during the celebrations. The media persons, who are generally allowed up to the entrance of the cave, were permitted to go only up to the welcome arch at the beginning of the path.

The police officers, who had thrown a thick blanket of security across the shrine for the Datta Jayanthi celebrations, heaved a sigh of relief over the peaceful conduct of the event with no untoward incident being reported.

But, the poor turnout of devotees proved to be a setback to the BJP and the Sangh Parivar organizations, which were keen on making Bababudangiri the “Ayodhya of the South”. Bajrang Dal’s Karnataka unit convenor Mahendra Kumar attributed the poor turnout to “excessive” restrictions imposed by the district administration.

“Excessive restrictions imposed by the district administration are the main reason for people’s disinterest. We will be discussing the matter with the village level convenors of Bajrang Dal and decide on our next course of action in January. We may start an awareness campaign for next year’s event from February”, he said.

Though the BJP’s senior leadership stayed away from the event, party’s Minister for Religious Endowments Nagaraj Shetty, party MLAs Sunil Kumar, C T Ravi and Yogesh Bhat were present.

Shobha Yatre held in Chickmagalur

The controversial Shobha Yatre was taken out by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal activists in Chikmagalur town on Saturday evening ahead of the annual Datta Jayanthi celebrations scheduled to take place on December 4 at the disputed cave shrine of Bababudangiri.

Hundreds of Sangh Parivar activists, sporting saffron flags, marched through main thoroughfares of the town along with an idol of Dattatreya. After offering prayers at the Kamadhenu Ganapathi Temple, the marchers sang hymns and proceeded to the Bolarameshwara Temple, where the procession concluded.

The general public lined up on both sides of the road to watch the controversial procession, which the BJP was adamant on taking out this year. The procession passed off peacefully, much to the relief of the district administration, which had set several conditions before giving permission for the event in the communally sensitive town.

The BJP, which is in power in Karnataka for the first time during the Datta Jayanthi celebrations, went ahead with the controversial Shobha Yatre amid concerns expressed by its coalition partner JD (S).

However, the Government’s permission for Shobha Yatra came under severe fire from the Opposition Congress. The Shobha Yatra, which is a new ritual sought to be introduced by the Sangh Parivar, would vitiate the atmosphere in the region and provoke communal conflict, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President M Mallikarjun Kharge told reporters.

The JD (S)-BJP Government’s permission for Shobha Yatra was a fallout of a “trade-off” between coalition partners JD (S) and BJP, Kharge said. “Under a pact, the JD (S) would receive the BJP’s unstinted support for its candidate in the by-polls to Chamundeshwari constituency while the JD (S) will not oppose the Shobha Yatre”, he said.

Meanwhile, the police arrested a total of 130 activists belonging to Communal Harmony Forum in Chickmagalur for protesting against the grant of permission for the Shobha Yatre.

The police arrested the Communal Harmony Forum activists led by journalist Gauri Lankesh when took out a counter rally called “Harmony Walk”. “They have been arrested for attempting to disturb peace”, police officials said.

The arrest of the Communal Harmony Forum activists triggered state-wide protests with the representatives of Forum’s units in Bangalore, Udupi and other places demanding the immediate release of the activists.

One killed in firing after BJP leader’s murder

One person was killed and three others were injured in Mulki near Mangalore in Karnataka when police opened fire to quell an unruly mob, which was protesting the murder of a local BJP leader.

The violence had been sparked off by the killing of BJP’s Moodabidri unit general secretary Sukhananda Shetty, 38, in front of his shop at Hosabetta near Mangalore on Friday. Unidentified assailants entered Shetty’s shop and hacked him to death. Shetty died on the way to the hospital.

Trouble began when Shetty’s supporters were denied permission by the police to take the body in a procession in an open vehicle. Soon mobs began throwing stones and soda bottles at the police. Angry crowds went on a rampage, torching shops in the area and damaging private vehicles. The police resorted to caning and firing tear gas shells in a bid to control the violence.

But, when the dead body arrived in Multi, all hell broke loose with the crowd attacking the Mulki police station, forcing the police to fire at them. The deceased has been identified as Prem.

A number of policemen, including senior police officers were injured in the attack. Superintendent of Dakshina Kannada Police B Dayanand sufferred a fracture in his hand.

Police has imposed curfew in Mulki for three days and banned assembly of five ore more persons and carrying of arms.

Meanwhile, the police said Shetty was killed by unidentified assailants, who had come in a white four-wheeler, bearing the Tamil Nadu’s registration. Soon after Shetty entered the shop, they whipped out swords, slashed him and made good their escape.

Shetty had survived a bid on his life a couple of weeks ago and sought police protection. Shetty’s supporters went on a rampage, accusing the police of not providing enough security.

Inspector General of Police (Western Range) Sathyanarayana Rao told reporters that the police had formed teams to probe the reasons behind the attack on Shetty. Additional police force from neighbouring district of Udupi had been requisitioned, he said.

Meanwhile, BJP’s Karnataka unit has expressed concern over the increasing political killings in the State, particularly along the coastal belt.

Party’s spokesperson Suresh Kumar described Shetty’s murder as a heinous crime and the Government should have become more alert after the killing of BJP leader Dr Chittaranjan in Bhatkal during the 1990s. Urging the police not to bow to pressure from any quarters, Suresh Kumar said the police should bring the culprits to book.

Kannada body sees red over English titles for films

Taking serious exception to English titles for Kannada films, the Kannada Development Authority has appealed to the State Government in Karnataka to halt the trend by withdrawing Government incentives to such films.

Referring to the titles like “AK 47”, “Student”, Excuse Me”, “Game”, “Love” and “Operation Diamond Rocket” given to recently produced Kannada films, Kannada Development Authority President G S Siddalingaiah said the State Government to discourage the trend by refusing censor certificate, subsidy and tax exemption to such films.

Speaking to reporters, Siddalingaiah said a formal appeal in the regard would be made to the State Government and the Karnataka Films Finance Corporation.

The Kannada Development Authority, which is statutory body constituted to oversee the implementation of Kannada in administration, will also begin a campaign shortly to bring pressure on film makers to avoid use of English words and dialogues in Kannada movies. “Unnecessary usage of English words should avoided since there is a need to portray Kannada culture in a powerful medium like films”, Siddalingaiah said.

Meanwhile, the Kannada Development Authority has requested regional transport department chiefs to ensure display of Kannada numerals on the registration number plates of all Government vehicles.

Siddalingaiah also made out a case for increasing the penalty on commercial establishments for not displaying their nameboards in Kannada. “They are being fined Rs 100 to Rs 250 presently. We have asked the Government to increase the penalty to Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000”, he said.

Christian convent attacked in Mysore by Sangh Parivar activists

Suspected Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal activists reportedly assaulted the staff of a Christian educational institution in Mysore near here and disfigured the statue of Infant Jesus kept in the school premises.

According to a complaint lodged with the police, a group of 50 people, including four of them, who had identified themselves as VHP and Bajrang Dal activists, entered Avila Convent in Mysore during lunch hour and began abusing the headmistress in a foul language for “promoting the sale of Christian literature”.

In he complaint to the police, headmistress Sister Francina said the activists had assaulted the peon of the school, who came to her rescue on seeing the activists rush towards her menacingly. A few other teachers, who were present on the occasion, were also pushed around, she said.

The activists allegedly smashed the glass casket in which a statue of Infant Jesus had been kept. The miscreants, the headmistress alleged, also disfigured the statue of Infant Jesus.

A few parents, who had brought lunch to their children studying the school, joined the school staff in denying the allegation levelled by the activists.

Later, hundreds of children studying in the school staged a protest condemning the attack on their institution. Bishop of Mysore Thomas Antony Vazhapilly led the protest along with Vicar General J B Xavier. Former Ministers Rani Satish, T John and K J George, who were campaigning for Congress candidate Siddaramaiah in the adjoining Chamundeshwari assembly constituency, arrived at the school and joined the protest.

Mysore City Police Commissioner Pravin Sood told reporters that the police had arrested one person in connection with the attack on the school and sent him to judicial custody. “We will be making more arrests”, he said.

Karnataka’s Forest Minister caught in row over assault on photographer

Karnataka’s Forest Minister C Chennigappa, who is already facing bribery charges in the illegal mining case along with Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, has landed himself in another row over assaulting a press photographer at Mysore near here.

According to a complaint lodged with the Superintendent of Mysore district police, a photographer belonging to a local Kannada daily was thrashed for shooting pictures of Election Commission officials seizing a total of twelve vehicles, which were being illegally used by the Forest Minister and his supporters to campaign for the JD (S) candidate contesting the by-polls to Chamundeshwari assembly constituency in Mysore near here.

Just when Election Commission officials waylaid the Chennigappa’s convoy on the outskirts of Mysore and began seizing the vehicles, the lensman Kiran Kumar, who happened to be around, began taking photographs of the occasion. He had even managed to capture in his digital camera photographs of Chennigappa pleading with the Election Commission officials to pardon him.

Soon after the Election Commission officials left the place, Chennigappa and his supporters turned to the hapless lensman, snatched his camera, beat him up and pushed him on to a barbed wire fence. With clothes torn and bruises on the body, the photographer pleaded with Chennigappa to return him his camera, but in vain.

Chennigappa and his supporters accused the photographer of being a “Congress agent” and tipping off the poll observers, which had led to the seizure of twelve vehicles belonging to them.

Meanwhile, the assault of the lensman by Chennigappa sparked off high drama in Mysore City with a large group of reporters gathering at the Mysore District Journalists’ Association premises and passing resolution against covering events and press conferences convened by the JD (S).

The assault on the press photographer soon took a political turn with the Congress party rushing to the support of the media representatives and seeking the arrest of Chennigappa.

Chennigappa, who has already been shown on a video CD admitting to accepting a bribe of Rs 35 million from the illegal mine owners, much to the embarrassment of the JD (S) leadership, came forward to tender an unconditional apology to the lensman.

JD (S) supremo and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda too has sought a public apology on behalf of the JD (S) and the Minister for the “unfortunate” incident. “I am pained by the incident”, he said in a statement

JD (U) splits in Karnataka, 3 MLAs join JD (S)

In a significant development, three JD (U) MLAs crossed over to the ruling JD (S) in Karnataka, bringing down the strength of the JD (U) in Karnataka from five to two.

The three MLAs, who had crossed over from JD (U) to JD (S), are Nagamani Nage Gowda from Kirugavalu, Bheemappa Sarikar from Raibagh and H Anjaneya from Bharamsagara.

The three JD (U) MLAs joined the JD (S) in the presence of JD (S) national President H D Deve Gowda and Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy at a function organized by the party in Mysore near here.

JD (S) spokesperson Y S V Datta said the Anti Defection Law does not come into play in the present instance as the JD (U) was not a recognized political party in Karnataka. “Even if JD (U) were to be a recognized party in Karnataka, the defection has been carried out by sufficient numbers to prevent action under the anti defection law”, he said.

The cross over of three JD (U) MLAs to JD (S) deals a severe blow to the prospects of the JD (U), which has fielded a candidate in the ensuing by-polls to Chamundeshwari assembly constituency in Mysore.

Former MLA A S Guruswamy has entered the December 4 by-poll fray as a JD (U) candidate against Congress party candidate and former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and JD (S) nominee Shivabasappa.

Gowda protests against EC’s decision in Mysore

JD (S) supremo and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda yesterday staged a three-hour longdemonstration in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue inMysore protesting against the Election Commission’sdecision to transfer three police officials out ofChamundeshwari assembly constituency from where hisarch-rival and former Deputy Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah is seeking re-election as a Congresscandidate.

Gowda, who is camping in Mysore for the last severaldays, campaigning for the JD (S) candidateShivabasappa, arrived at the Mahatma Gandhi’s statuein the City with a large number of supporters andsquatted in front of the statue for almost threehours.

Taking serious exception to the transfer of threepolice officials from the constituency, Gowdaquestioned the impartiality of the ElectionCommission. “I am forced to question the impartialityof the Election Commission’s observer, based on whoserecommendation police officials had been transferred”,he said.

Gowda even cited the transfer of the Returning OfficerChikkathammaiah a few days ago as reasons for viewingthe Election Commission with suspicion. JD (S)spokesperson Y S V Datta did not even hesitate to callthe Election Commission observer Raymond Peter as a“Congress party’s agent”.

The transfer of police officials comes close on theheels of Governor T N Chaturvedi shooting a letter toChief Minister H D Kumaraswamy voicing concern overthe deteriorating law and order situation in Mysore inview of the byelections to the Assembly fromChamundeshwari constituency scheduled for December 4.

With allegations of poll malpractices flying thick andfast, the Election Commission had not only ordered thetransfer of three police officials, but also divestedthe Inspector General of Police (Southern Range) frompoll duty and directed the Director General of PoliceHousing Corporation Srikumar to monitor the law andorder situation during the by-polls.The police officials transferred include DeputyCommissioner of Mysore City Police K T Balakrishna,who is considered to be close to Deve Gowda’s family.

The coalition partner of the JD (S) in Karnataka, BJPhas also taken serious exception to the ElectionCommission’s decision to interfere in the pollprocess.

BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister B SYediyurappa told reporters that the ElectionCommission was under the “duress” of Congress-ledUnited Progressive Alliance (UPA) at the Centre.The BJP, which had not fielded its candidate, issupporting the candidate fielded by its coalitionpartner JD (S) in the by-polls.

The Election Commission’s decision to transfer policeofficials has served to rub salt into the wounds ofthe JD (S)-BJP coalition, which had already received anotice from the Election Commission for violatingelectoral code of conduct by making promises to theelectorate.

During a public rally in Mysore, Gowda’s son and ChiefMinister H D Kumaraswamy is reported to have promiseda loan of Rs 5,000 to Dalit families under aGovernment scheme. Taking serious note of theassurance, the Election Commission had ordered issueof notices to Kumaraswamy and Minister for SocialWelfare Balachandra Jharkiholi.