BMIC expressway to be ready by Dec 2007

The world class four-lane Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) expressway will be thrown open to traffic by December 31, 2007, if the State Government hands over the required land for the project.

Managing Director of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise Mr Ashok K Kheny gave this assurance at a presentation on BMIC project during a function organised by Builders’ Association of India’s (BAI) Mysore chapter on Wednesday evening.

He said the road component of the BMIC project costs Rs 2,500 crore and the 111-km long state-of-the-art expressway would facilitate travel of vehicles at a speed of 120 kms per hour. “The travel time between Mysore and Bangalore will be one hour once the expressway is thrown open to traffic”, he said.

Though the expressway allows for a speed of 180 kms an hour, traffic discipline will be ensured with the installation of video cameras at a distance of every kilometer to monitor the traffic, he said

Work on the eagerly awaited fast-track highway is yet to begin from the Mysore end on account of the failure of the Government to hand over the land required for the project. “The Government said the land for the project to begin from Mysore end should be handed over by Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA). I am keen on beginning the work from Mysore end. I have submitted more than a hundred letters to the Government”, he said.

Regretting the hurdles posed before the project and the “harassment” meted out to him by the Government and the bureaucracy, Mr Kheny said he was planning to put up hoardings in different places with the name and contact number of the officials responsible for the delay in the implementation of the project.

Mr Kheny said his company was looking forward to starting work from Mysore end and complete the bridge across river Cauvery at the earliest. “I am planning to building replica of the golden bridge of San Francisco across river Cauvery”, Mr Kheny told a packed audience at the B N Bahadur Institute of Management Studies.

Work on the BMIC project was, however, continuing in different places with the first section of the Outer Peripheral Road in Bangalore scheduled to be thrown open to traffic on June 16, 2006.

Nineteen rescued from a sinking vessel off Karnataka coast

Two Coast Guard helicopters managed to rescue nineteen people onboard a sinking commercial ship off the Karwar harbour in coastal Karnataka amid stormy weather on Tuesday. But, a 28-year-old sailor, who jumped into the sea to save himself before the rescue operation could begin, died due to head injuries.

The 271-metre long and 35-metre high bulk carrier vessel from Singapore – Ocean Sekaya - had arrived at Karwar on May 24 from Karachi and was berthed on an island near the lighthouse. With a capacity to hold 75,000 of cargo, the ship was to pick up a load of iron ore fines.

But, high velocity winds and huge waves began rocking the rocking the vessel incessantly on Tuesday, leading to the snapping of the anchor. The ship began drifting in the sea and sailed along with the winds for about 8 kms before colliding with the treacherous Oyster Rock near the Karwar coast. The vessel suffered structural damage and began sinking, leading to panic among the twenty persons onboard.

Second officer Azeem Mansur, a native of Mumbai, sensed danger to his life and leapt out of the sinking vessel. But, he died after suffering head injuries soon thereafter.

The Karwar Port officer, who received the distress signals from the sinking vessel, immediately alerted the Coast Guard headquarters and Mangalore. Two Coast Guard helicopters took off from Goa after receiving the message and airlifted all the nineteen survivors, police said. The rescued persons, who had been put up at Karwar Port Guest House, include Captain R A Sharma and his wife.

Though Coast Guard helicopter, which rushed to the accident spot soon after receiving the alert, had to make a couple of futile attempts in the rescue operation. Only after battling with heavy gales and incessant rains for almost three hours, the helicopters managed to rescue the nineteen persons onboard the sinking ship.

Search operations to locate the body of Azeem Mansur were launched with the help of expert divers from Goa and Mangalore after the rains subsided.

Naval officers said the ship had crashed against a huge rock. The ship’s outer hull was punctured, but the inner hull was intact. Water had gushed into the engine room. The crash had left the ship tilting at an angle of 20 degrees. “If the ship had tilted a little more, the casualties could have been higher”, a naval officer said.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard is now on a high alert for a possible oil spill from the badly badly damaged ship.

Rough Arabian sea claims eight lives, more than 300 deep sea boats stranded

Eight fishermen were drowned in the rough Arabian seas off coastal Karnataka after five boats capsized in the heavy monsoon rains even as the authorities claimed that more than 300 fishing boats remained stranded in the deep seas.

Government officials said five fishing boats were drowned in the gutsy sea waves around six nautical miles from the Malpe coast in coastal Karnataka’s Udupi district on Monday. The eight fishermen on the board the ill-fated fishing boats hailed from Bhatkal and Brahmavar.

Two rescue boats from Mangalore Coast Guards, however, managed to rescue three fishermen from the destroyed fishing boats during the last twenty-four hours.

Meanwhile, more than 300 fishing boats that had ventured to into the deep sea fishing a couple of days ago remained stranded. “The boats are unable to come to the shore due to the powerful waves being whipped up near the shores”, Karnataka Minister for Ports Nagaraj Shetty told reporters.

However, the rescue boats – Annie Besant and Kasturba – had managed to bring close to a hundred boats to the shore since the last twenty-four hours, he said. Efforts remained underway on Tuesday to bring the struggling boats to the coast.

Minister in charge of Udupi district V S Acharya told reporters that the rescue boat Annie Besant had taken almost four hours to reach Udupi from Mangalore, which is barely 40 nautical miles away, due to the rough weather. A helicopter too was pressed into service, but had to return due to poor visibility, Acharya added.

Though Udupi district administration had issued a warning on May 27 against venturing into the sea as it may turn rough in the next forty-eight hours, thousands of fishermen left for deep-sea fishing in hundreds of boats.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy arrived in Udupi on Tuesday for an on the spot inspection of the coastal region devastated by the monsoon. He announced a compensation of Rs 100,000 each to the kin of the deceased fishermen.

Apart from the loss of lives in the high seas, the heavy rains in mainland Udupi claimed three lives, taking the total number of deaths to eleven. A 45-year-old man died when a branch of a fig tree fell on him while two others, including a woman, were washed away in a stream at Udayar village in the coastal district.

Five killed as monsoon rains lash coastal Karnataka

The South West Monsoon signalled its arrival in coastal Karnataka by claiming the lives of five persons and causing extensive damage to property in several towns of Mangalore and Udupi district since Sunday.

Out of the two persons killed in Mangalore City during the torrential downpour, forty years old Narayana died when a portion of the wall of his house collapsed on him. He succumbed to the injuries on the way to the hospital. Forty five year old Shivaram Devadiga met his end after he fell into a pit while walking home in the heavy rains in Mangalore on Sunday.

In neighbouring Udupi district, three girls, who went for a dip in the Shambavi river in Karkala, were washed away. The girls were aged 15, 14 and 13 years, police said.

A truck driver control of the vehicle in the heavy rains and crashed into a house near Thumbe in Bantwal taluk. Though the house was damaged, no loss of life was reported in the mishap.

The incessant rains also left a trail of destruction in many parts of Mangalore and Udupi. Several houses had collapsed, trees were uprooted and electricity wires were snapped. Meteorology department officials said Mangalore City had received 220 mm of rains in the last twenty four hours while parts of Udupi district had received upto 250 mm of rains.

A few flights from Mumbai and Bangalore could not land at the Bajpe airport in Mangalore due to adverse weather conditions.

Though coastal Karnataka and parts of South Interior Karnataka had their first taste of this year’s monsoon, the Meteorological Department officials in Bangalore have predicted less than normal rainfall this year. “Though the monsoon has hit the State a week in advance, Karnataka will receive less than normal rainfall this year”, an official from the Meteorological Department said

Fissures in Karnataka BJP unit widen, leaders summoned to Delhi

The squabbling in BJP’s Karnataka has taken a new turn with a section of the party’s leadership in the State deciding to stand by former federal Minister Basavanagowda Patil Yatnal, who has been summoned by the Central leadership for publicly launching a tirade against Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.

While general secretary of BJP’s Karnataka unit and MLC Aravind Limbavalli has questioned the sanctity of the recommendation made by the BJP Ministers in the coalition Government in the State to initiate disciplinary action against Yatnal for his public outbursts, the party unit’s disciplinary committee headed by MLC Mukhyamantri Chandru has shot off a letter to party’s national President Rajnath Singh criticizing Yediyurappa’s “dictatorial” attitude.

Chandru told reporters that he had sent a detailed report to the party’s national leadership on the “disturbing” developments in the BJP’s Karnataka unit ever since August 2005 when Yediyurappa had threatened to walk out of the party along with a large chunk of MLAs.

“Under Yediyurappa’s dictatorial dispensation, leaders like Yatnal no longer had a forum within the party to air their grievances”, Chandru said. But, he hastened to add that he was not defending Yatnal’s decision to publicly lash out at Yediyurappa.

Meanwhile, the developments in the BJP’s Karnataka unit had caused considerable consternation among the party’s national leaders. With the frequency of spats between factions of the party headed by former Federal Minister Ananthkumar and Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa only increasing by the day, the BJP’s two-day national executive meeting in New Delhi is expected to figure on the agenda of the discussions.

The party’s central leadership has summoned not only Yatnal, but also Yediyurappa and Ananthkumar. “I am leaving for New Delhi today and I will present my case before the leaders there”, Yatnal told reporters on Monday.

Armed with complaints against each other, leaders of the two factions are raring for a showdown at the national executive committee meeting of the party, beginning from Monday.

Budhia’s run cut short in Bangalore

Four and a half year old Budhia Singh, who triggered a nation-wide frenzy by running 65 kms in Orissa recently, was prevented by the police from staging an exhibition run in Bangalore on Saturday.

Even as the child marathon prodigy and his coach Biranchi Das arrived at the Cubbon Park here on an invitation from the Press Club of Bangalore and prepared to stage a demo performance, the police personnel, who had been deployed at the venue in a sizable number ensured that Budhia did not run.

The police officials cited the Orissa High Court’s recent order prohibiting Budhia from running. Bangalore City Police Commissioner Ajai Kumar Singh told reporters that concerns have been expressed from various quarters over the adverse impact on the health of Budhia if he runs long distances. “We will not allow him to run in Bangalore”, he said.

As part of the Women and Child Day celebrations, the Press Club of Bangalore had organised an exhibition run by Budhia around the Cubbon Park premises for a distance of about 3 kms. “Myself and Budhia are terribly disappointed that he is not being allowed to run”, Biranchi Das told reporters after police prevented the boy from running even for exhibition.

When it was brought to Das’ notice that medical opinion was against allowing Budhia to run, the coach said he would be leaving for London shortly along with the boy for a second opinion on the findings of Budhia’s medical check-up. He termed the medical report carried out by doctors in Orrisa as “incorrect”.

Das said he was determined to groom and shape Budhia into the best marathon runner India could ever produce. Even though Budhia was stopped in his tracks in Cubbon Park, the wonder kid sprinted a few laps on the lawns of the Press Club of Bangalore for the sake of waiting photographers. Unmindful of the controversies, Budhia said he was not aware of any controversies. “I want to run any long distance. I will continue to run”, he said.

General Secretary of Press Club of Bangalore Sadashiv Shenoy told reporters that they had decided to felicitate Budhia and the world’s youngest film director Master Kishen in recognition of their accomplishments. “They have created world records. Both of them figure in the record books”, Shenoy said referring to the entry of their names into the Limca Book of Records, the Indian equivalent of Guinness Book of World Records.

BJP leadership cracks the whip at dissidence in Karnataka

In an effort to stem the growing tide ofdissidence in the party, the Karnataka unit of BJP hasresolved to seek disciplinary action against formerFederal Minister and BJP MP Basavanagowda PatilYatnal, who had launched a no-holds-barred verbalonslaught on Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa.

Closing ranks with the beleaguered Deputy ChiefMinister, senior BJP leaders in the State and a hostof Ministers in the coalition Government in Karnatakamet in Bangalore yesterday and decided to urge theparty’s national leadership to initiate immediateaction against Yatnal.

The party’s Karnataka unit President D V SadanandaGowda also attended the meeting of senior BJP leadersheld at the residence of Minister for Higher EducationD H Shankarmurthy in Bangalore on Friday.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said therewas no threat to the JD (S)-BJP coalition Governmenton account of the internal strife in the BJP. “It istheir internal party matter. It will be resolved.There is no threat to the Government”, he toldreporters before attending a Cabinet meetingyesterday.

The BJP leadership’s decision to seek action againstYatnal comes after two day’s of dramatic developmentsin the party’s Karnataka unit. A day after Yatnal, BJPMP representing Bijapur, accused the Deputy ChiefMinister of behaving in an autocratic manner andrunning the party as his personal fiefdom, a ruffledYediyurappa dispatched a letter to BJP nationalPresident Rajnath Singh threatening to quit if noaction is taken against his detractors in the party,who had openly blown the whistle of revolt.

Yatnal’s public outbursts against Yediyurappa inBijapur two days ago had sent the BJP into a tizzy. Accusing the Deputy Chief Minister of nepotism andneglecting northern Karnataka, Yatnal said he waslaunching a “Yediyurappa Hatao, BJP Bachao” campaignand set a fifteen-day deadline for Yediyurappa’souster as Deputy Chief Minister and BJP’s LegislatureParty leader.

Stung by the open attack on him, Yediyurappa, who was scheduled to leave for New Delhi on Thursday toparticipate in a meeting of the State FinanceMinisters, cancelled his trip, left his officialresidence and stopped using his official car and pilot. He headed to the RSS office on the outskirts ofthe City in a private car and held confabulations withhis supporters and RSS leaders.

After emerging from the meeting, Yediyurappa spoke toRajnath Singh over phone and informed him of his decision to quit if the party failed to act against his detractors, including Yatnal.

Luxury on Train in Karnataka and Goa from March 2007

The proposed Luxury on Train, covering places of historical and tourist interest in Karnataka and neighbouring Goa, will become operational from March 2007.

Karnataka’s Minister for Tourism B Sriramulu told reporters in Bangalore that the train, modeled on the lines of the famed “Palace on Wheels” of Rajasthan, will have its first trail run in January or February next year.

The Luxury on Train will cover places like Mysore, Hassan, Hampi, Belgaum and Madgaon. The Karnataka Government and Railways had signed an agreement to run a luxury tourist train in Karnataka with the objective of tapping tourism potential in the State, he said.

The Integral Coach Factory, Chennai, was designing and building the coaches for the train. The Luxury on Train would run throughout the year and have eighteen coaches, including eleven air-conditioned saloon cars, an air-conditioned bar car, a conference car, besides an air-conditioned restaurant.

The tourists would be offered a week-long package and the train would traverse nearly 2,000 kms.

Telgi declines to confess, insists on making the statement in Bangalore

The much-awaited confession statement on the multi-billion-rupee stamp paper racket could not come through with the alleged mastermind of the scam Abdul Karim Telgi insisting that he be brought to Bangalore to record the statement.

Telgi told the special court in Bangalore through video conferencing from Yerawada jail in Pune, where he is lodged, that he would feel more secure if the statement was recorded in Bangalore.

When the special judge V Angadi wished to know why he could not make the confession statement from Pune, Telgi said he apprehends a threat to his life. “I am ready to confess before any court in Bangalore”, he said. During its previous hearing, Telgi had told the court that he wished to make a confession statement on all the cases booked against him in Bangalore and reveal the names of politicians involved in the scam.

After Telgi put a rider to make the confession statement, CBI counsel and public prosecutor P Govindan told the court that it would be risky to bring Telgi to Bangalore and that he could make the statement in Pune itself.

Immediately, Telgi sprang up and questioned why the CBI was worried about his confession statement. “I know everything about the case and I wish to reveal it. Does the CBI know as much as I do?”, he countered. He accused the CBI of preventing him from making a confession statement.

But, the CBI counsel pointed out that he was not bothered as long as Telgi makes the confession statement in Pune. “It is convenient to record Telgi’s statement in Pune, where he is presently lodged”, the counsel pointed out.

The special judge also observed that factors like Telgi’s safety, his security and financial costs involved in bringing him to Bangalore were important. Since, there was no valid ground on which Telgi could be brought to Bangalore, the judge said the confession statement should be made from Pune. He posted the next hearing of the case to May 26.

Three II PUC students end life in Bangalore after announcement of results

Even as the much-awaited II Pre University College (PUC) results announced across institutions in Karnataka on Tuesday saw the highest overall pass percentage in a decade, three girl students ended their lives after failing in the examinations.

Police said Preeti, a resident of Doddamavalli and a student of science in a college in City, went to the college with her mother to check her results. When she found that she had not passed, she ran home and hanged herself.

Similiarly, Archana, a student of a college on Richmond Road in Bangalore, also ended her life in her house in Domlur after realizing that she had not passed the examinations. In the third case of suicide, a girl from Kalasipalyam was reported to have ended her life after failing to clear the examinations.

Meanwhile, the II PUC results, which were announced after much dilly dallying across colleges in Karnataka, had registered a pass-percentage of 53.97, which surpasses the previous best of 52.77 per cent recorded during April 2005 examinations.

Karnataka’s Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Basavaraj Horatti said a total of 377,843 students had appeared for the examinations during April 2006. Out of them, 203,930 had cleared the exams. As usual girls have outclassed the boys by securing a pass percentage of 59.75 against the 49 per cent pass percentage recorded by boys.

Seven die as train ploughs into truck in Karnataka

Seven persons including two children were killed on the spot when a super-fast train ploughed through a truck at an unmanned level crossing in Central Karnataka’s Haveri district.

The mishap occurred when the truck was struck on the railway track at the level crossing near Byadgi in Haveri district on Monday. The Bangalore-Hubli Janashatabdi train, which was travelling at a speed of 100 kms per hour, hit the truck even as the driver was desperately trying to clear the railway tracks.

The truck broke into two due to the impact of the collision and the driver cabin was dragged upto a distance of 30 metres on the railway track. The bodies of the victims were found scattered along the stretch. The driver of the truck had a miraculous escape, but was admitted to a Government hospital in Byadgi with minor injuries.

The deceased, who had been identified as residents of Chatra village in Byadgi taluk had flagged down the construction material-laden truck proceeding to Shimoga at Chatra. They boarded the ill-fated truck for a drop upto Byadgi town.

According to eye-witnesses, the driver of the truck tried to get the vehicle across the unmanned level crossing even as the train was approaching. But, unfortunately, the truck got stuck on the railway track, leading to the tragedy.

On receipt of information, a medical relief van belonging to south western railway rushed to the spot with doctors. But, all the seven passengers, who had hitched a hike on the unfortunate truck died before they could be rushed to the nearest hospital. The driver Hanumanthappa Kakol was undergoing treatment at the Byadgi hospital.

Senior police officials, who reached the spot, blamed the driver for the “unfortunate mishap”. Superintendent of Haveri district police H N Sidappa said a case will be registered against the driver for negligent driving.

Internal differences dog BJP in Karnataka

Internal differences in the BJP’s Karnataka unit have come to fore during the process of selection of party candidates for the forthcoming elections to the Legislative Council, forcing the intervention of BJP’s national leadership to finalise the list of candidates.

After rival groups in BJP’s Karnataka unit, which shares power with the JD (S) in the coalition Government in the State, jostled for control of the party by backing the candidature of their supporters, a consensus on final list of candidates for the eleven seats of the Legislative Council eluded the party leadership.

Due to the disagreement between groups led by Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and former Federal Minister Ananthakumar, the BJP’s national leadership dispatched its general secretary Thavarchand Gehlot to Bangalore, who held a series of meetings with senior party leaders of the state unit.

With discontentment continuing to brew in the party, senior leaders including Yediyurappa, Ananthkumar and BJP’s Karnataka unit President Sadananda Gowda left for New Delhi to finalise the list before the last date for filing nominations expires on Monday.

Though the BJP national leaders announced the list of candidates including Vimla Gowda, Thontadarya and Janardhan Reddy in New Delhi on Sunday, several leaders of the BJP in Karnataka remained dissatisfied. BJP MP from North Karnataka Ramesh Jigajinagi openly expressed discontentment with the party’s list of candidates announced on Sunday.

The BJP faction headed by Ananthkumar had earlier brought to the notice of the senior party leaders in New Delhi how Yediyurappa had gained an upper hand by inducting nine of his supporters into the coalition Ministry and others as party’s state unit office bearers. Ananthkumar’s group apprehends that Yediyurappa will further consolidate his position if his say in the selection of candidates for the legislative council elections remains final.

The fresh discontentment in the party comes close on the heels of a similar rift in the party over the inclusion of a woman MLC into the Cabinet by Yediyurappa forced the postponement of the expansion of the Ministry.

Political observers opine that the party’s national leadership will have tread upon a tricky path to resolve the internal strife BJP’s Karnataka unit. For, Yediyurappa, who is considered instrumental in the party’s rise to power in Karnataka, also enjoys a close rapport with former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, who is also the national president of its coalition partner JD (S). A couple of months ago, he had threatened to walk out of the party with a considerable of chunk of MLAs and form an alternative Government with the JD (S).

Karnataka MLA buys a chopper

The deplorable condition of roads inbackward areas of Bellary district in Karnataka hasprompted a legislator representing the region to buy achopper.

Thirty two-year-old Anil Lad, a first time MLA fromthe BJP, has become the youngest owner of a Bellhelicopter in India. Claiming that it will help himattend to the problems of people in his constituencyof Kudligi in Bellary, Anil Lad went ahead andpurchased a single-engine Bell 407 helicopter for awhopping Rs 115 million.

Lad told reporters that his house was located 70 kmsaway from his constituency. In view of the poorcondition of roads in the backward district, Ladclaimed that it takes him at least three hours toreach his constituency. “The chopper will be a bighelp in attending to the problems of my voters”, Ladsaid.

The six-seater is the first Bell 407 to be assembledat Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) unit inBangalore. The aircraft was delivered to Lad lastweek. HAL officials said there are a total of 19 Bell407s in India and Lad is the youngest owner of themall. Incidentally, Lad is the first MLA in Karnatakato own a chopper.

Lad, who runs a flourishing mining business, hasconstructed helipads near his house, at his farmhouseand at his mine. He has also employed a pilot bypaying him Rs 150,000 a month to fly him around.

Lad’s acquisition of a chopper comes at a time whenChief Minister H D Kumaraswamy is facing the musicfrom the leaders of the Opposition parties inKarnataka for hopping onto a helicopter at the drop ofa hat and burdening the public exchequer in theprocess.

Bangalore Varsity segretates boys and girls in

The Bangalore University has stirred up thehornet’s nest by passing a resolution that disallowsboys from sitting next to girls in classrooms.

During a recent meeting of the Bangalore UniversitySyndicate, the members discussed an assault on a girlstudent and unanimously resolved to segregate boys andgirls in classrooms.

“Boys and girls in co-educationalcolleges should not sit next to each other anymore”,the resolution said.But, the student community has roundly criticized theUniversity Syndicate’s decision. Both boys and girlsin the college campuses across Bangalore find theSyndicate’s decision “impractical” and “unnecessary”.

Even if the authorities are successful in making theboys and girls sit away from each other in classrooms,questions have arisen over the practicality of keepingthem away after class hours.

Staring at the practical difficulties in preventingthe boys and girls from interacting outside theclassrooms, the University authorities appear to bereconsidering the proposal. “We will surely rethink onthe issue. It is not a final decision”, Acting ViceChancellor of Bangalore University B G Sudha toldreporters.

The high moral ground adopted by the BangaloreUniversity, one of the country’s largest Universities,has triggered a debate on college campuses across theCity and in the media with many academicians endorsingthe views of the student community against thesegregation of boys and girls in classrooms.

Woman held for threatening disputed shrine with anonymous calls

The mystery behind a bomb threat to the disputed shrine atop Bababudangiri hills in Chickmagalur in Karnataka has been cracked with the arrest of a woman.

The police arrested a woman by name Tabassum alias Deepa for making anonymous calls to the intelligence department stating that armed militants would blow up the cave shrine.

Soon after receiving the bomb threat, the Chickmagalur police went into a tizzy and beefed up security at the controversial shrine by deploying additional personnel. Check-posts had come up almost instantaneously on all the routes leading to the Bababundagiri shrine.

But, when the Additional Superintendent of Chickmagalur police Phaneendra Singh received a similar call on his mobile a couple of days ago from a woman posing as a CBI officer, the call was traced to a telephone booth in Chickmagalur town. No sooner had a woman constable been posted at the booth to apprehend the caller than a stout woman arrived and attempted to make a call. The plainclothes policemen, who were lying in wait near the booth, immediately apprehended the caller.

During police interrogation, the woman confessed to making the threatening call, posing as a CBI officer. She revealed that she was the daughter of T R Subhashchandra Arora and Sudhadevi of Bangalore. After her education in Chickmagalur, she completed her Masters Degree in Computer Applications (MCA). Later, she fell in love with one Mohammed Sheikh of Aurangabad and converted to Islam.

But, she separated from Mohammed Sheikh and moved to Bangalore, where she married a shop owner in Shivajinagar area Mohammed Yousuf Shariff. Soon, Tabassum left Bangalore when her husband’s financial condition worsened. She arrived in Chickmagalur last month in the hope of contacting her old friends, but in vain.

Tabassum confessed to the police that she had posed as a CBI officer and telephoned the intelligence department as well as the Additional Superintendent of police and also wrote to the Deputy Superintendent of Police criticizing them for the inadequate security to the disputed cave shrine atop Bababudangiri hills.

Tabassum, who is learnt to be pregnant, was produced before the court on Thursday and remanded to judicial custody till June 1. The police, however, carried out a thorough search of the cave shrine atop the hills, but did not find any explosives.

Rain havoc in South Karnataka claims five lives

At least five persons were killed and fifteen others suffered injuries as heavy rains accompanied by gutsy winds lashed several parts of southern Karnataka on Thursday evening.

Though the soaring mercury levels were brought down, the heavy downpour left a trail of destruction in many parts of south Karnataka. Hundreds of trees and electricity poles were uprooted, leading to chaos on the roads and water-logging of low-lying areas.

Three persons who were travelling in an autorickshaw in Channarayapatna in Hassan district were killed when a huge tree crashed on their vehicle. Two occupants of the autorickshaw as well as the driver died on the spot, police said.

Misfortune struck a tourist party in Mysore when a huge tree collapsed on their four-wheeler in the heavy rains. Two youths – Shaji and Sharief – died on the spot while three others were admitted to a local hospital in Mysore.

The tourist party comprising ten members from Kozhikode in neighouring Kerala were on a visit to Mysore when the tragedy struck. The tourist part had barely checked out of their hotel and set out in their four-wheeler towards Kozhikode when the heavy downpour brought a tree crashing down on their vehicle.

Meanwhile, hundreds of vehicles across Bangalore were crushed under the weight of trees and electricity poles that had been uprooted in the showers. A total of twelve persons were admitted to the hospital in Bangalore after they suffered injuries due to rains. Several areas went without power throughout the night on Thursday and a good part of Friday on account of the incessant downpour.

There was virtual chaos on the roads which had been blocked by uprooted trees and electricity poles. Many low lying areas were inundated with water, forcing the residents to find shelter elsewhere.

Peon arrested for forging Chief Minister’s signatures

A peon employed at the State Secretariat Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore is cooling his heels in the police lock up after forging the Chief Minister’s signature on recommendation letters for transfer of officials.

Police said Kumar, a peon working on a contract basis in the Chief Minister’s secretariat, had forged Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s signature on five recommendation letters for transfer of officials for a sum of Rs 20,000 each.

A JD (S) leader from Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka Anand Gowda came to the State Secretariat a couple of days ago to meet the Chief Minister seeking his recommendation for transfer of certain government officials. As the Chief Minister was not present, Anand Gowda came the following day to meet him and was informed by Kumar that the Chief Minister was again unavailable.

After learning the reason behind the JD (S) leader’s visits, Kumar took the recommendation letters and assured him that he will get it signed by the Chief Minister after his arrival.

A few days later, Kumar called up Anand Gowda and asked him to collect the signed letters in return for Rs 20,000 for each letter. The peon collected Rs 100,000 from Anand Gowda and handed him five letters of recommendation for transfer of officials as sought by him.

Anand Gowda later met the Chief Minister directly and got his signature on more transfer letters and noticed the difference in the signatures of the Chief Minister on the earlier letters and the later ones. A suspicious Anand Gowda approached the Chief Minister’s Secretariat and confirmed the difference.

He immediately lodged a complaint with the Vidhana Soudha police against Kumar for forging the Chief Minister’s signature. The police immediately took Kumar into custody for investigation.

Karnataka to have to more cyber police stations

With the number of Information Technology(IT) offences recording an increase in the last fewyears, the Karnataka Government is planning to set upmore cyber police stations across the state.

After registering 48 cases during the year 2005, thelone cyber police station in Bangalore had alreadybooked 14 cases during the first four months of 2006.“Initially cases pertaining to obscene mails werereported, but now it is related to intellectualproperty rights and hacking. The cyber crime rateappears to be only increasing”, noted Director Generalof Police (Corps of Detective) K R Srinivasan.

Speaking at the Telecommunication Day in Bangalore,Srinivasan said cyber crime had become a menace to thesociety and cases like ATM fraud and misuse of creditcards were increasing gradually.He said new cyber crime police stations will be set upin regional headquarters like Mysore, Gulbarga,Mangalore and Belgaum to grapple with the growingincidence of cyber offences in Karnataka.

However, a majority of cyber crimes are reported fromBangalore as it is the IT hub of the State. The cyberpolice station has been functioning in Bangalore since1999 and the first judgement on cyber crime will bedelivered in a couple of days time, he said.He regretted that the law courts were notwell-equipped to deal with cyber crime cases. “Evenadvocates are not aware of cyber laws”, he added. TheIT Act has made tampering of source codes, hacking andpornography as punishable offences.

ISRO expands telemedicine network to more hospitals

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)has signed memoranda of understanding with four morespeciality hospitals thereby expanding itstelemedicine network to 165 hospitals across thecountry.

According to a statement from ISRO, telemedicinefacility will be provided by the space agency toManipal Hospital in Bangalore, Ganga Ram Hospital inNew Delhi, Madras Diabetic Research Foundation inChennai and Dr Venkatrao Dawle Medical Foundation inMaharashtra’s Ambajogai.

The memoranda of understanding was signed at AntarikshBhavan in Bangalore by Director of SatelliteCommunications Programme Bhaskarnarayana on behalf ofISRO and representatives of the four specialityhospitals.“ISRO’s telemedicine has matured into an operationalsystem and now covers 165 hospitals – 132 remote/ruraldistrict hospitals connected to 33 specialityhospitals in major cities”, the ISRO statement said.

ISRO’s satellite-based telemedicine network, startedin 2001 on an experimental basis, is aimed at linkingremote/rural district hospitals with super-specialityhospitals in major cities via the INSAT. While ISROprovides software, hardware and communicationequipment as well as satellite bandwidth, thespeciality hospitals provide the infrastructure,manpower and maintain the system.

Of the four hospitals that entered into anunderstanding with ISRO, the Manipal Hospital, whichhas its head office in Bangalore, caters to the needsof rural patients through its branches in differentparts of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa andSikkim.

Similiarly, the Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi isadopting Government community health centers at taluklevel in Haryana and Rajasthan. “This hospital isalready planning to integrate telemedicine in VillageResource Centres in these states and it is also activein the scheme ‘Providing Urban Amenities in RuralAreas (PURA)’, envisioned by the President of India”,the ISRO statement added.The Madras Diabetic Research Foundation has set up amobile telemedicine unit to visit various villagesaround Chennai while Dr Venkatrao Dawle MedicalFoundation’s mobile telemedicine unit covers ruralpopulation of southern Maharashtra.

ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said the telemedicineprogramme of the space agency was an example ofsocietal orientation of Indian Space programme. “Manyspeciality hospitals, besides state governments andnon-governmental organizations have shown interest inestablishing the network to extend quality healthcareto rural population”, he said.

Gowda pours cold water on BJP’s hopes for poll tie-up with JD (S) in Karnataka

Former Prime Minister and JD (S) supremo H D Deve Gowda has poured cold water on the BJP’s hopes for a pre-poll alliance with its coalition partner JD (S) during the coming elections to urban local bodies and Legislative Council seats.

Speaking to reporters after chairing a high-level meeting of JD (S) leaders in Bangalore to chalk out the party’s strategy for the elections, scheduled to be held next month, Gowda said the party will not deviate from its ideology and will contest the polls independently.

He said the party will contest the elections to 39 urban local bodies in Karnataka on its own, besides field candidates for all the eleven vacant seats in the Karnataka Legislative Council.

“The understanding with the BJP by a section of MLAs is confined to the Vidhana Soudha (the state secretariat)”, Gowda said adding that party was interested in strengthening its base in the State. The former Prime Minister also announced that he would begin a state-wide tour from June 15 to strengthen the party ahead of the polls to urban local bodies.

Gowda’s firm refusal to enter into a tie-up with the saffron party has proved to be dampener for the BJP leadership, which had been keenly looking forward to fighting the elections in alliance with its coalition partner in the State Government.

The BJP’s hopes had soared sky-high when Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had favoured a pre-poll alliance with the BJP. Kumaraswamy, who was also present at the high-level meeting chaired by Gowda, fell in line with party supremo’s dictat on the issue of tie-up.

But, BJP leaders in Karnataka are still counting on an electoral understanding with the JD (S) for the elections to urban local bodies and the Legislative Council seats.

BJP’s Karnataka unit President D V Sadananda Gowda said the proposal for extending BJP’s tie-up with the JD (S) for the elections to the urban local bodies and legislative council had been informally discussed at an inconclusive meeting of the leaders of the two coalition partners.

Claiming that both the parties stood to gain if the coalition arrangement is extended to electoral purposes, Sadananda Gowda said a final decision on the pre-poll alliance between the two parties will be taken at the next co-ordination committee meeting of the coalition partners.

Fishermen resorting to blasts to kill fish on a large scale

The Forest Department officials in Karnataka are grappling with a new menace of large-scale killing of fish in Cauvery river by triggering under-water explosions.

With fishermen illegally using dynamites to trigger under-water explosions in the Cauvery river flowing through forest areas in several districts of southern Karnataka and killing thousands of fish in one shot, the Forest Department officials have expressed concern over the threat to ecological balance due the unlawful activity.

The CID Cell of the Forest Department recently arrested three persons carrying 27 kgs of fish they had killed illegally in the Cauvery river at Bheemeshwari in Mandya. Investigations revealed that the fishermen had used a dynamite to kill the fish.

According to forest department officials, the explosion caused by dynamite under the water leads to a sudden drop in the oxygen levels. “While the smaller fish die immediately, the bigger ones are stunned and come to the surface of the river. The fishermen catch the dead fish as well the live ones that float on the surface using nets. Their fish catch goes up substantially by triggering such explosions”, the forest official said.

With killing of fish or even its eggs in forest areas termed as an offence under the Karnataka Wildlife Protection Act, the forest department officials have begun mounting a vigil for explosives in the villages along the periphery of the forests and block the fishermen’s access to dynamites and gelatine sticks.

The authorities opine that the forest department’s efforts to curb the menace should be complemented even by the policemen in non-forest areas through which the river flows. The Cauvery river flows through Kodagu, Chamarajanagar, Mysore and Mandya districts in sourth Karnataka. “The jurisdictional police officials have to personally inspect the stock with explosives and ammunition dealers and ensure that the dynamites and gelatine sticks do not fall in wrong hands”, the forest department official said.

Infosys to recruit 300 graduates from US varsities

As part of its plans to create a diversified and global workforce, Information Technology (IT) major Infosys will be recruiting 300 college graduates from the Universities in United States and 25 graduates from the United Kingdom during 2007.

The new employees hired from the US and UK will begin their careers with a four-month training programme at the Infosys Global Education Centre in Mysore, which is one of the largest corporate education centers in the world. Later, they will be relocated to various development centers throughout India for another two months before returning to Infosys locations in the US and UK.

Announcing its first large scale initiative to bring foreign talent to India, N R Narayanamurthy, chairman of Infosys, which is the second largest software exporter in India, said the large scale recruitment of graduates from the US and UK represents an important landmark in the evolution of the company.

During the year 2005-06, Infosys had doubled the percentage of its non-Indian employees by hiring more than 25 different nationalities.

Infosys began recruiting for entry-level software engineer positions at top universities in the US following a successful pilot programme that brought ten young Americans to work in Bangalore.

Meanwhile, students from Stanford Graduate School of Business, MIT Sloan School of Management, Harwvard Business School and the Said Business School of Oxford have also been competing with each other to visit Infosys’ Bangalore campus for the company’s internship programme.

Last year, the internship programme at Infosys in Bangalore received more than 11,000 applications for 100 positions. The internship programme spread across eight to twenty four weeks brings students from 82 universities in 18 countries to India.

Freshly printed currency notes go missing again from RBI press

The ghost of missing currency notes has come to haunt the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Note Printing Press in Mysore near here.

In a fresh case, thirty three notes of Rs 1000 denomination belonging to a consignment sent from RBI Note Printing Press to the Jammu and Kashmir branch of the RBI have been reported missing.

The missing of freshly-printed currency notes worth Rs 33,000 comes less than two years after a similar case involving the theft of notes worth Rs 5 million was reported from the same RBI Note Printing Press.

President of RBI Note Printing Press Employees Union and former MLA A Ramdas told reporters that the bundle containing the 33 currency notes of Rs 1,000 denonimation had been dispatched to Jammu and Kashmir in November 2005. “When it was opened in March this year by the General Manager of the Jammu and Kashmir branch of RBI, he found 28 notes in the fifth series and five notes in the second series missing. The Jammu and Kashmir RBI branch sent a letter to the Note Printing Press in Mysore last month seeking an inquiry into the incident”, he said.

But, the General Manager of RBI Note Printing Press in Mysore S C Agarwal told reporters that he was not aware of any fresh case of missing of notes and questioned the authenticity of claims made by Ramdas.

But, Ramdas stood firm on his allegation and said the authorities of the Note Printing Press had not bothered to file complaint on the missing of notes to the police. As the President of the RBI Note Printing Press Employees Union, Ramdas said he would shortly write a letter to the Federal Minister for Finance P Chidambaram seeking an investigation into the affairs of the RBI Note Printing Press.

It may be recalled that currency notes worth Rs five million went missing form a consignment sent from the RBI Note Printing Press to Kerala less than two years ago and a CBI inquiry led to the arrest of a couple of employees for the theft.

Karnataka moots unique mine tourism concept

Karnataka Government has mooted a unique mine tourism concept by converting the closed Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) near Bangalore into a “Mine Experiential Tourism Destination”.

Delivering an address on the Government of Karnataka’s tourism projects at the Tourism Expo 2006, Karnataka’s Principal Secretary to the Department of Tourism L Shantakumari said a feasibility study to convert the mines spread across 1,000 acres of land at KGF into a tourist destination was underway.

“It will probably the first of its kind in India”, she said adding that tourists will be taken around the mines in KGF for a unique experience.

Claiming that Karnataka was emerging as a promising tourist destination during the last few years for both domestic as well as foreign tourists, Shantakumar said Karnataka ranks fourth in the country in domestic tourist arrivals and fifth in foreign tourist arrivals.

During the period ranging from April 2005 to February 2006, a total of 30 million domestic tourists and 300,000 foreign tourists had visited Karnataka, she said. In the next next one year, the Government is planning to attract 40 million domestic tourists and 500,000 foreign tourists by giving a thrust to tourism development in the State.

Also, a special luxury train on the lines of Palace on Wheels will be launched in Karnataka at a cost of Rs 320 million by August 2007, she said.

Bangalore to have a monorail too – Chief Minister

Bangalore will soon get a monorail along with the metro rail system that was recently cleared by the Federal Government.

Disclosing this to reporters, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said the State Government had decided to introduce a monorail network from Kanakapura road on the outskirts of the City to the Majestic area in the heart of the City, covering 18 kms in the first phase.

“Work on the monorail network would commence on August 15 to complement the proposed metro rail project”, he told reporters and added that the 18-km-long monorail network will be in place within a year. Kumaraswamy also assured that the monorail network will in no way affect the metro rail project or disturb its alignment.

Planned as a feeder service to the 36.5 km-long metro rail project, the monorail, when completed, will run along a total of 95 kms through the City. “The plan is to provide an integrated transport system to the six million people of Bangalore and check the growth of private vehicles”, the Chief Minister said.

While the Rs 63 billion metro rail project will operate within the City, the monorail, estimated to cost around Rs 40 billion, will connect the suburbs to the City.

Disputed shrine receives bomb threat

Security at the disputed shrine atop Bababudangiri hills in Chickmagalur in Karnataka was beefed up in the wake of a bomb threat.

Additional police force was deployed at the hill-shrine and the three check-posts leading to it after an anonymous caller told the intelligence wing of Chickmagalur police that armed terrorists would raid the controversial Datta Peetha shrine. The woman caller told the police that the shrine would be blasted with bombs.

Additional superintendent of police in Chickmagalur Phaneendra Singh told reporters that adequate security measures were in place at the hill-shrine. All the three routes leading to the controversial shrine were being watched and additional personnel had been posted at the check-posts on the route.

Cell phone jamming device removed from Bangalore prison

The cell phone jamming device installed at the Central Prison in Bangalore has been removed after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) reportedly took objection to the powerful device hindering the cell phone network in surrounding areas.

The cell phone operators in Bangalore approached the TRAI after receiving complaints about disturbance in the cell phone network in certain areas in the vicinity of the Central Prison located at Parappana Agrahara on the outskirts of the City. When the disturbance in the network was traced to the powerful jamming device installed at the Central Prison with a view to preventing the inmates from using mobile phones, the TRAI issued a notice to the prison authorities.

The cell phone operators had even claimed that the jamming posed a threat to other communications, including emergency services. Interference on certain radio communication frequencies were reported from areas like Yeshwanthpur, which is at a distance of 30 kms from the Central Prison.

After the alleged mastermind in the multi-billion-rupee fake stamp paper racket Abdul Karim Telgi was caught by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for allegedly continuing to run the racket from the prison even after his arrest, the jail authorities had installed powerful cell phone jamming device, purchased from a defence manufacturing company in Russia.

“The jamming device was so powerful that cell phone operations in a radius of five kilometers around the central prison had been affected”, a senior police official said.

Though the high-power jamming device was removed from the central prison following the intervention of the TRAI, the prison authorities are facing a tough time finding a replacement device to jam the cell phone network in the prison area spread across 42 acres.

The jail authorities are on the look-out for jamming devices from other providers which will not interfere with cell phone network beyond the required range. For, keeping a tab on each of the 4,656 inmates of the Bangalore Central prison for mobile hand-sets is a huge task. “Even if the inmates are frisked and individually checked at the entry and exit points, there is a possibility of some inmates sneaking a cell phone inside. They can even have a mobile hand-set thrown into the central prison compound without the notice of the prison authorities”, a jail official said.

However, the TRAI has suggested the Central Prison authorities to consider alternative technologies like handset disablers, micro-cells and Faraday cages, which are better options for prisons than jamming devices.

Two children killed in blast in Bangalore

Two children were killed in an explosion at the residence of a recently-retired military personnel in Bangalore on Friday morning.

Police said a fourteen-year-old boy, the son of the retired military personnel Inbunathan, and a four-and-a-half-year-old child of a neighbour were killed in the explosion that took place in Banaswadi in Bangalore.

The explosion was so powerful that it had smashed the skull of the four-and-a-half-year old child and severed the body of Inbunathan’s son. Police recovered a hammer from the site the explosion and suspected that the children were playing with an unspent shell, which led to the blast.
Inbunathan was away in neighbouring Kolar when the explosion took place. Police suspect that Inbunathan, who had retired recently from the military, could have kept at home an unspent shell, which the children fancied and decided to play with in his absence. However, a detailed investigation of the blast by the police is underway

Tribunal team estimates 251 tmc ft Cauvery water requirement for Karnataka, 395 for Tamil Nadu

In a report that threatens to re-ignite the century-old water dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the assessors of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal have pegged the irrigation water requirement of Karnataka at 251 tmc feet for cultivation of 1.88 million acres against Tamil Nadu’s 395 tmc ft for cultivation of 2.47 million acres.

The 250-page report prepared by two assessors of the Tribunal had been kept confidential, pending the final award of the Tribunal. But, the report was made public in New Delhi on Thursday after the Tribunal ordered the same to be circulated among the riparian states and elicit their objections.

Though the Tribunal has sought to clarify that the assessors’ estimate should not be mistaken with the actual allotment of Cauvery water to the riparian states as the same will be announced in the Tribunal’s final award, the circulation of the report prepared by the assessors threatens to trigger inter-state strife.

Karnataka Government has criticized the Tribunal’s decision to make public the report on irrigation water requirement of the riparian states. Karnataka’s Minister for Water Resources K S Eshwarappa said the Tribunal, which has been functioning for 16 years, should give its verdict instead of circulating the report.

In view of the report’s potential to whip up unrest in the Cauvery basin area in Karnataka, the H D Kumaraswamy Government has convened a high-level meeting of the State Government involving the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister, Water Resource Minister, Law Minister and legal experts to finalise the State’s stand.

It may be mentioned here that the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal had been constituted sixteen years ago and the body. Within months after the Tribunal had been constituted, an interim order was delivered in June 1991, directing the upper riparian state Karnataka to release 205 tmc feet of water annually to lower riparian state Tamil Nadu. The interim order had triggered widespread protests and riots by farmers in Karnataka.

Meanwhile, the report prepared by the Tribunal’s assessors J I Gian Chandani and S R Sahasra Budhe put the total water requirement of the all the Cauvery basin states – Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Kerala – at 687 tmc ft. Apart from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the assessors had pegged Kerala’s requirement of Cauvery waters at 34 tmc feet and Pondicherry’s at 7 tmc feet.

Karnataka, however, had sought from the Tribunal an allocation of 465 tmc ft while Tamil Nadu had asked for 566 tmc ft, which includes Pondicherry’s portion as well.

Though Karnataka has been directed to release 205 tmc ft of water annually to Tamil Nadu in the Tribunal’s interim order, the assessors report said the release of Cauvery water from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu will drop to around 180 tmc feet, factoring in the already available Cauvery waters downstream, which is estimated at about 262 tmc ft.

Five drown in Cauvery river

In a tragic case, five youths drowned in the waters of river Cauvery at the tourist locale of Gosai Ghat in Srirangapatna about 120 kms from here on Wednesday evening.

Police said the youths, all aged between 20 and 22 years, met their watery grave after they jumped into the river water flowing along Gosai Ghat, located close to the mausoleum of eighteenth century warrior king Tipu Sultan.

Out of the five deceased, four hailed from Mandya and one from Srirangapatna. The youths had arrived in Srirangapatna in an autorickshaw from Mandya on Tuesday for the annual Urs of Tipu Sultan. After staying overnight in Srirangapatna, they headed to Gosai Ghat on Wednesday.

After playing in the shallow waters of the river for some time, the five youths, who did not know swimming, ventured deeper into the river in a bid to reach the opposite bank by wading through the waters and jumping on the boulders. Unfortunately, all of them were caught in a whirlpool in the middle of the river and were sucked into the waters.

Police said a twelve-year-old boy and a woman, who accompanied the youths, remained on the banks.

The dead bodies were later retrieved with the help of expert divers. The bodies were handed over to the relatives after performing a post-mortem. The deceased have been identified as Rizwan, 22, Yunus, 21, Saleem, 22, Kaleem, 20, all from Mandya, and Jaffer, 22, a native of Srirangapatna.

Karnataka cabinet expansion put off after rift surfaces in BJP

The much-awaited expansion of the JD (S)-BJP coalition Ministry in Karnataka has been put off yet again in the wake of a serious rift among the senior leaders of the state BJP over inclusion of a lady MLC into the Cabinet.

Though the cabinet expansion of the coalition Government had been tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader B S Yediyurappa’s insistence on the inclusion of Shobha Karandlaje, a first-time MLC, into the coalition ministry has sparked off a row in the BJP with several senior leaders locking horns with Yediyurappa over the issue.

With the differences in the party over the inclusion of Shobha Karandlaje continuing to torment the BJP leaders till the eleventh hour on Tuesday, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had little choice, but to postpone the expansion of the coalition Ministry.

According to sources in the BJP, Yediyurappa had to face the wrath of several senior leaders in the party including his bete noire and former Federal Minister Ananthakumar over his decision to include Karandlaje. Senior BJP leaders including Revenue Minister Jagadish Shettar, Water Resources Minister K S Eshwarappa and Health Minister R Ashok reportedly threatened to quit the Cabinet if Yediyurappa accommodates Karandlaje in the Ministry.

Yediyurappa’s opponents had argued that there were other women legislators in the party, who were senior to Karandlaje and the party could ill-afford to accommodate a relatively junior MLC when almost 70 MLAs of the party were staking a claim for a ministerial berth.

But, Yediyurappa, who has a running feud with Ananthkumar in the state unit of BJP, refused to drop Karandlaje from the list.

The postponement of the cabinet expansion has served to temporarily quell the dissension in the BJP, which had faced a near revolt by several MLAs, who could not find a Ministerial berth during the first round of expansion.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said the expansion of the Cabinet has been postponed because it was an “inauspicious period” for the exercise. He said the party legislators were themselves not favour of the exercise at this juncture. However, he said a fresh date for the cabinet expansion will be fixed in the next two days time.

NASA signs pact with ISRO for moon mission

Taking the Indo-US space ties to a new high, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) signed an agreement with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Tuesday to send two US scientific payloads onboard India’s maiden moon mission Chandrayaan – 1.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair at the ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore on Tuesday.

According to the agreement, India’s unmanned mission to moon Chandrayaan – 1, scheduled for launch in 2008, will carry on board NASA’s Mini Synthetic Aperture Radar developed by its Applied Physics Laboratory and Moon Mineralogy Mapper built by its Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

While the main objective of the Mini Synthetic Aperture Radar is to detect water in the permanently shadowed areas of Lunar-Polar region, the Moon Mineralogy Mapper will carry out the task of mapping minerals on the lunar surface.

According to an ISRO official, the US scientific instruments will be part of the 15 to 20 instruments on board the Chandrayaan- 1, including eleven from India and three from the European Space Agency.

NASA’s scientific instruments were selected on the basis of merit among 16 other proposals ISRO received from all over the world in response to its announcement of the opportunity, ISRO official said.

Described as India’s most ambitious space mission till date, Chandrayaan – 1 will come near 100 kms above the moon’s surface and carry out nine experiments including a reconnaissance of the dark side of the moon. “Chandrayaan -1 is essentially a scientific mission to map the moon’s geophysical features and chemical composition of its surface so as to understand its origin”, according to the Programme Director of Chandrayaan-1.

Speaking to reporters after signing an agreement with ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said US President George Bush, during his visit to India a couple of months ago, had held talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on strengthening co-operation between the countries in space exploration and satellite navigation, besides earth science. “This is a small effort in the direction”, Griffin told reporters.

A five-member delegation from NASA led by Griffin is expected to hold talks with ISRO officials on extending Indo-US co-operation in space exploration. NASA’s assistant administrator Michael F’ O Brien will discuss with Indian space scientists the experiments to be conducted by the two US instruments on board Chandrayaan – 1.

Just as Chandrayaan – 1 is projected to create a landmark in the history of space research for India, the visit of NASA administrator to India, the first in the last three decades, is expected to open new vistas in Indo-US space co-operation.

Three fish varieties on the verge of extinction along Karnataka coast

A recent survey by Central Marine Fisheries Research has not only pointed to a gradual decline in fish haul along the Karnataka coastline, but also put three species of fish, which enjoy a high export demand, among the varieties that were on the verge of extinction.

Catfish, Anchoviella and Cuttle fish, which were found in abundance along the coast of Karnataka prior to introduction of mechanized boating, are rarely found nowadays, said a survey carried out recently by Mangalore-based Central Marine Fisheries Research.

The Catfish catch had declined to an all-time low of 500 tonnes annually from 5,000 tonnes during the 80s. Similiarly, there is a drastic decline in Anchoviella and Cuttlefish, which enjoy a huge export demand. The Institute attributed selective fishing of the two varieties since the 80s to huge decline in their catch.

In the last one decade, marine fish catch along the Karnataka coast had plummeted by 15,000 tonnes from 185,000 tonnes in the 90s to 170,000 tonnes presently. The fish haul had declined despite more than 12,000 mechanised fishing boats and an equal number of other fishing boats operating in the coast.

While mechanized boats account for ninety per cent of the fish catch, non-mechanized boats contribute barely 4 per cent. Oil sardines, pink perch, prawns, squids and mackerel are among the most popular fish varieties along the Karnataka coast.

The Institute has emphasized the need for clear-cut regulations on large scale fishing in highly sensitive marine areas if the decline in fish haul is to be stemmed.

Though the Federal Government had stopped issuing any fresh licenses to foreign trawlers, the continuous mechanized fishing for eight to ten days by local fishermen is said to be the main reason behind the decline in fish catch.

Fisheries Department officials in Karnataka have expressed their helplessness in imposing restrictions on fishing boats, particularly in the high seas beyond 12 nautical miles. Even though the Mangalore Port restricts fishing boats from neighbouring Kerala and Tamil Nadu, fishing boats from all over the country are allowed to fish in the high seas beyond 12 nautical miles.

Telgi ready to divulge names of all those involved in stamp paper scam

The alleged mastermind behind the multi-billion-rupee fake stamp paper scam, Abdul Karim Telgi, has sought permission from the Special Court in Bangalore to make a confessional statement and divulge the names of all the persons involved in the racket including politicians, police officials and businessmen.

Telgi, who has already made his first confessional statement before the Pune Chief Judicial Magistrate regarding the cases booked against him by the Mumbai’s Crime Investigation Department, told the Special Judge in Bangalore that he was ready to give a 400 page confessional statement that would cover all the ten cases booked against him in Karnataka.

Telgi informed the Special Judge Vishwanath Angadi through video conferencing from Yerawada jail, where he is presently lodged. The video conference was part of the proceedings in case accusing Telgi of continuing his fake stamp paper business when he was lodged in the Central Prison in Bangalore. The case pertains to the recovery of almost Rs 2 billion worth of fake stamp papers in which three jail superintendents have been named.

“I request your honour to permit me to make a confessional statement. If found guilty, I may be hanged. I don’t want the truth to die with me. I want to reveal all the details of those involved before truth dies with me. I have made up my mind”, said Telgi, who is suffering from a number of ailments.

Claiming that he had already started jotting down the points and would need some more time, Telgi said he would make the statement in the court in the presence of his advocate and public prosecutor. “I need to consult my advocate too”, he said asking his lawyer M T Nanaiah to meet him in Yerawada jail in Pune.

The Special Judge gave Telgi time till May 22 to prepare his confessional statement after the alleged king-pin the fake stamp paper racket said he required at least fifteen days to finalise his confessional statement.

Meanwhile, the Bangalore Central Prison officials have set in motion the process of upgrading the video-conferencing unit installed two years ago at the Special Court trying the multi-billion-rupee fake stamp paper racket into a multi-screen facility.

With the accused housed in different jails across the country, the multi-screen facility will enable all the accused to be produced at the same time. “The multi-screen facility will enable the court to interact with three different locations simultaneously. While one screen will show the Special court, the other three screen will display the images of other locations”, Deputy Inspector General (Bangalore Central Prison) B S Abbai told reporters.

7-year-old hostage tricks abductors, returns to Bangalore

The presence of mind shown by a seven-year-old boy from Bangalore, who had been kept hostage in Gwalior, helped police trace the abductors and reunite him with his parents.

Little did Gautham Krishna, the son of a tiles traderin Bangalore, realize that he was giving a vital clue to the police when he managed to sneak up to the sleeping abductors while in captivity in Gwalior, pull out their mobile phone and call his father.

The moment Gautham established contact with his father’s mobile, the mobile phone tower in Gwalior sent an unmistakable clue to the police on the abductors’ whereabouts. Immediately, the Gwalior police swooped on thehideout, apprehended the abductors and freed the child, who had been held in their captivity since April 27. The boy was flown to Bangalore on Friday, much to the relief and delight of his doting parents.

Joint Commissioner of Bangalore City Police M CNarayana Gowda told reporters that it was the boy’s presence of mind that helped police track down theabductors.The kidnap drama had begun on April 27 when Gauthamwas playing outside his house in Bangalore’s Cholanayakanahalli.

The main accused Murari, a former employee of his father Chakravarthi, took the unsuspecting boy to the railway station in Bangalore and took him away to Gwalior by train.After reaching Gwalior, Murari and his accomplice Vinod Kumar, telephoned Chakravarthi on April 29 and demanded a ransom of Rs 70 million. Later, the ransom amount was brought down to Rs 20 million. Chakravarthi offered to pay the abductors Rs 3 million afterselling his house and pleaded with them not to harm his son.

The police traced the call to a telephone booth inGwalior, but were unable to zero in on the exact location of the abductors’ hideout. The Bangalore police, meanwhile, alerted their counterparts inGwalior.Even as the Gwalior police were trying to locate the abductors in areas in the vicinity of the telephone booth, the call Chakravarthi received from his son was traced to a mobile phone tower in Gwalior that helpedthe police track down the abductors.

Speaking to reporters in Bangalore after his release, an elated Gautham said his captors did not harm in anyway and were giving him food and water.

India’s moon mission to carry NASA instruments on board

India’s maiden moon mission Chandrayaan – 1 is expected to carry on board two American scientific instruments as part of Indo-US Civil Space Co-operation.

Though a decision had already been taken to send two American scientific instruments on board Chandrayaan – 1 at a meeting of Indo-US Joint Working Group on Civil Space Co-operation, a formal Memorandum of Understanding between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and NASA in the regard will be signed in Bangalore next week.

According to ISRO officials, NASA will be sending a mini Synthetic Aperture Radar developed by Applied Physics Laboratory and a moon mineralogy mapper built by Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The meeting of the Indo-US Joint Working Group on Civil Space Co-operation had concluded that the lunar mission Chandrayaan –1 offered an outstanding opportunity for the two countries to begin co-operation in space exploration.

A five member delegation of top NASA officials led by its administrator Michael Griffin will arrive in Bangalore to sign the Memorandum of Understanding with ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair on May 9. Assistant Administrator for External Relations Michael O ‘Brein, who responsible for international relations for each NASA enterprise, administration of export control and international technology transfer programmes, will also be part of the delegation.

Apart from the two NASA payloads, Chandrayaan – 1 will also carry five Indian instruments, three developed by European Space Agency and one by Bulgarian Space Laboratory.

The Indian payloads include a Terrain Mapping Camera to produce a high resolution map of the moon, Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument to determine the surface topography and the Moon Impact Probe, developed by ISRO, that will be ejected at an orbit 100 kms around the moon.

Scheduled to be launched in 2008, the Chandrayaan – 1 will carry out a physical and chemical mapping of the moon from a 100 km lunar orbit.

IT exports from India cross a trillion rupees during 2005-06

Information Technology (IT) exports from India have crossed a landmark one trillion rupees during the year 2005-06.

Disclosing this to reporters, Director of Software Technology Parks of India, Bangalore, B V Naidu said the country’s IT exports soared from Rs 780 billion during 2004-05 to a little over Rs one trillion during the year 2005-06, registering a growth rate of 30 per cent.

Karnataka has retained its pre-eminent position in Information Technology (IT) exports by posting a revenue of Rs 401 billion during the year by accounting for more than 40 per cent share in the country’s total IT exports. Karnataka’s IT exports stood at Rs 293 billion the previous year.

Out of the Rs 401 billion worth of IT exports from Karnataka, as much as Rs 376 billion came from software exports while the remaining Rs 24.8 billion were accounted for by hardware exports, Naidu said.

The US continued to be a major export destination for Indian IT accounting for 61 per cent of the total exports followed by Europe with 24 per cent, Japan six per cent, Asia six per cent and the rest of the world three per cent.

Karnataka’s Secretary to the Department of IT M K Shankarlinge Gowda said IT worth Rs 366 billion was exported from Bangalore alone in Karnataka. The secondary cities like Mysore, Mangalore and Hubli had together chipped in with Rs 10 billion.

With the addition of 201 new IT companies during the year 2005-06, the combined strength of IT companies in Karnataka had crossed 1,600. With the booming IT industry hoping to sustain its current growth rate even during 2006-07, IT exports from Karnataka are expected to cross the Rs 500 billion mark by March 31, 2007, he said.

Out of the one million IT professionals in India, Bangalore alone employs more than 300,000 presently. A little over 40,000 employees were recruited during 2005-06. He said the IT industry is expected to hire 70,000 people during 2006-07.

Quoting from the McKinsey report on India’s IT industry, Gowda said Karnataka is projected to achieve IT exports worth $ 20 billion by 2010 with about 500,000 employees in the industry.

Leopard escapes from zoo, residents panic

A leopard has escaped from a Zoo in Gadag in north Karnataka, creating panic among people residing in nearby areas.

According to forest department officials, the leopard had given a slip to the animal keepers at Binkadkatte Zoo in Gadag by breaking open a wooden floor of the cage. The Zoo authorities, who did not find any trace of the animal in the zoo premises, concluded that the leopard had leapt out of the six-feet wall to freedom.

The escape of the leopard from the zoo has triggered panic among the residents of the villages adjoining the zoo. Keeping in mind the threat a hungry leopard posed to human beings, the forest department officials have alerted the people residing in surrounding areas. “We have asked the villagers to remain vigilant and inform us immediately in case they spot a leopard”, a senior forest department official said.

The leopard, which has gone missing from Binkadkatte Zoo since the last two days, had been captured by the forest department staff barely a month ago when it had accidentally strayed into a school compound in Hubli from the surrounding forest areas.

The forest department staff said the leopard had been behaving ferociously ever since it was caged and kept in the Zoo. “It had injured its forehead by hanging its head against the iron rods of the cage”, the official said. Finally, it made good its escape by breaking a wooden plank that served as the floor of the cage.

Meanwhile, the forest department had constituted special squads to hunt the runaway carnivore in the surrounding areas. With the nearest jungles from the zoo located at a distance of 50 kms, the forest department is hoping that the leopard reaches the forest areas instead of straying into the innumerable villages in the zoo’s vicinity.

The special squads of the forest department, armed with tranquilizing guns, are mounting a vigil at the water bodies and looking for pug marks of the runaway leopard.