Karnataka bans Pepsi, Coke and 11 other soft drinks

Karnataka became the latest addition to the growing list of states in India to prohibit sale of aerated beverages in educational institutions, hospitals and government offices.

Announcing the ban, Karnataka’s Health Minister R Ashok told reporters that the Government will ban the sale of Pepsi, Coca Cola and eleven other soft drinks in schools and colleges, besides hospitals and government offices from August 14.

The Karnataka Government has written a letter to the Federal Government for a blanket ban on all kinds of soft drinks. “We are yet to get a reply in the regard”. The State Government cannot impose a total ban on the sale of these soft drinks throughout the State as the matter comes under the purview of the Federal Government, he said.

However, the Government has decided ban the sale of Pepsi, Coca Cola, Mirinda, Mountain Dew, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Blue, Fanta, Limca, Sprite, Thumbs Up and 7 Up within 100 metres of all schools, colleges and government hospitals across the State.

The Karnataka Government’s decision to ban the sale of colas comes after a study conducted by New Delhi-based Center for Science and Environment revealed a high content of pesticide in them.

Ashok said the Government was also contemplating a legal action against the multinational companies cola-manufacturing firms for selling soft drinks that contain a high level of pesticides that threaten the health of consumers.

He said a preliminary analysis of the samples of the colas conducted at the state-owned laboratories had shown the presence of pesticides and chemicals in quantities higher than the prescribed limits. The Government had sent the samples for extensive tests to a couple of national accredited laboratories.

“We are awaiting their reports to prepare the ground for legal action. We will file cases against the cola manufacturers under the Food Adulteration Act”, Ashok said. The pesticide residues in the soft drinks could cause cancer and malfunctioning of the kidney and liver. They pose a health hazard to the general public, particularly children, he said.

Meanwhile, junk food like pizzas and burgers had also come under the scanner of the Government. “We are collecting samples of different types of junk food sold in the State. After carrying out a test, we will take an appropriate decision with regard to pizzas, burgers and other junk food items”, he said.

Bangalore Central Jail bursting at its seams

Built for a capacity of 2,100 inmates, the Bangalore Central Jail is virtually bursting at its seams with close to 4,700 prisoners jostling for space not only in the crammed cells, but also for a chance to relieve themselves in the toilets of the jail every morning.

Due to the gross overcrowding of the Bangalore Central Jail at Parappana Agrahara in the City, more than 4,500 male inmates have to wait for an eternity in front of the 230 toilets to avail of their chance to relieve themselves.

Though the close to 200 female inmates of the jail find it relatively easy with 25 women’s toilets, the male inmates face a tough time holding back their bowel movements.

According to officials at Bangalore Central Jail, the prisoners are given one hour to answer their nature’s call every morning. With more than 4,500 male inmates forced to share the 230 toilets, one toilet will be available for every twenty male inmates. “It works out to a mere three minutes in the toilet for every individual. If we extend the time, the other schedules are affected”, a prison official said.

There are a total of 225 toilets in the jail, which have to be shared by all the 4,694 inmates, including convicts and undertrials. With 25 toilets allotted to the 191 women inmates, it is literally a dash to get in the remaining 230 toilets for the 4,503 male inmates, officials said.

The Bangalore Central Jail was built for an ideal capacity of 2,100, but extendable to 2,500. “With the number of inmates reaching 4,694 presently, there is a need for atleast a total of 500 toilets in the jail”, the official said.

Recalling that the toilet ratio for male inmates of the jail was just eight till two years ago, the prison officials pointed out that an average of 60 persons are added to the existing population of the jail every day since the last few months. The overcrowding of the Jail has also led to unhygienic conditions in the toilet, threatening an outbreak of disease.

The barracks of Bangalore Central Jail are no better than its toilets. Each barrack has place for only 210 inmates. But, presently each barrack is crammed with at least 400 inmates. Though each cell is supposed to house four inmates as per the recommendations of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Bangalore Central Jail has a total of eleven inmates in each cell.

The Government authorities in Karnataka have taken up the construction of new jails in Mysore and Tumkur in the State with a view to resolve the crisis by shifting some of the inmates of Bangalore jail there.

Kumaraswamy seeks blessings from BJP stalwarts

Six months after forming a fragile coalition government with the help of BJP, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumarawamy met senior BJP leaders A B Vajpayee and L K Advani in New Delhi for the first time, sparking off speculation over his motives.

Though Kumaraswamy had flown to New Delhi on twelve occasions ever since he became the Chief Minister of Karnataka with the help of BJP, the JD (S) leader had assiduously avoided any meeting with either Vajpayee or Advani, apparently in deference to his father and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda’s policy of shunning communal forces.

But, when Kumaraswamy touched Vajpayee’s feet to seek his blessings on Tuesday, the simple gesture marked a departure from Gowda’s “anti-BJP” stance in his long and chequered political career. Later, Kumaraswamy invited Vajpayee to inaugurate the Almatti reservoir in North Karnataka on August 21.

During his visit to New Delhi on Tuesday, Kumaraswamy also met L K Advani at the Parliament House.

Though Kumaraswamy declined to comment on why he felt that this was the “appropriate time” for meeting the two leaders after having avoided them all along, political observers are quick to point out that the Chief Minister was seeking the blessings of the BJP stalwarts at a time when he was in the thick of bribery charges levelled by BJP legislator Janardhan Reddy.

Kumaraswamy has completed six months out of his allocated tenure of twenty months. Under the power-sharing arrangement, BJP leader B S Yediyurappa is expected to take over as the Chief Minister during the latter twenty months tenure of the coalition Government.

Karnataka urges Prime Minister to reject Maharashtra’s claim over its villages

An all-party delegation from Karnataka met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi and requested him to reject the claim of neighbouring Maharashtra over a total of 815 villages in the disputed Belgaum district of Karnataka.

According to information reaching here, the delegation from Karnataka led by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy sought to prevail upon the Prime Minister that the recommendations of the Mahajan Commission on the border dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra were final and the Federal Government should put an end to the controversy by implementing the report in toto.

The Karnataka delegation’s meeting with the Prime Minister on Tuesday comes within days of a similiar delegation from Maharashtra calling on Manmohan Singh on the vexed border dispute between the two states.

The delegation from Karnataka asked the Prime Minister not to yield to political pressure exerted by Maharashtra and “deprive Karnataka of a part of its territory”. The Karnataka delegation came down heavily on neighbouring Maharashtra for raking up the border dispute long after the Mahajan Commission has settled the matter with a finality.

Kumaraswamy also sought to bring to Manmohan Singh’s notice that former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi had refused to reopen the Mahajan Commission report in 1986. “If we do so (reopen the report), there would be no sanctity for the institutions we set up”, said the memorandum presented to the Prime Minister by the delegation from Karnataka.

According to Government sources in Bangalore, the Prime Minister responded positively to Karnataka’s appeal. Manmohan Singh advised the two states to settle the border dispute amicably with mutual understanding. “Both the states should work with mutual understanding to settle the issue. We have other issues here to tackle”, he is reported to have told the delegation.

Electric buses for Mysore soon

The historic City of Mysore near here will become the first city in India to boast of electric trolley buses when state-run transport corporation presses into service a total of 100 such buses.

The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), which made a presentation before Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and Transport Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy, has chosen Mysore for introducing electric trolley bus service on account of the comparatively lower scale of operation in the City than Bangalore.

Cheluvarayaswamy told reporters that the scale of operation is low in Mysore compared to Bangalore, where the pressure on public transport is high. “Also, these emission-free buses will make ideal fleet of public transport for a heritage city like Mysore”, he said.

The cost of each electric trolley bus is a whopping Rs 15 million and the Karnataka Government will be setting aside a total of Rs 1.5 billion under the National Urban Renewal Mission to import a hundred electric buses, KSRTC’s Director S Bhaskar Rao told reporters after the presentation in Bangalore.

The electric trolley buses, which are powered by electricity drawn from two overhead wires, form part of the urban transport system in cities like San Francisco, California and Philadelphia in the US, besides Moscow, Athens, Belgrade and St Petersburg. These buses draw power using two trolley poses, like electric trains, and run on pneumatic tyres.

Introduction of the electric trolley buses is part of the KSRTC’s plan to modernize its services and explore alternative sources of energy to run buses in view of the increasing cost of fossil fuels, Cheluvarayaswamy said. The Karnataka Government is already on the look out for a global consultant to advise the authorities on the introduction of electric trolley buses.

Though Mysore is better known for its old world charm and historical sites, the City appears to be stealing a march over Bangalore by slowly emerging as a high-tech hub. Mysore has already beaten Bangalore by becoming the first Wi-Fi City in India. A team of networking professionals recently converted the entire City into a Wi-Fi hotspot that provides wireless Internet connectivity Mysore

I Day gesture: Karnataka to set free 309 convicts

In an Independence Day gesture, the Karnataka Government has decided to set free a total of 309 convicts, who are serving jail terms in different prisons across the State.

Karnataka’s Home Minister M P Prakash told reporters that the Government had decided to reduce the sentence of the chosen convicts on the basis of their good behaviour in the jail and their commitment to reform after they walk free on August 15.

The convicts will be allowed to walk free as the Government has decided to reduce the sentence from ten years to eight years in respect of the chosen male convicts and five years to four years for the chosen female convicts.

A number of convicts, who had crossed 65 years of age, and were suffering from communicable diseases will also be set free on August 15, Prakash said.

Karnataka decides to relocate 33 villages in the State

Even as the water level in the rivers of Krishna and Bhima flowing through flood-hit northern Karnataka receded yesterday, the H D Kumaraswamy Government set in motion the process for permanently relocating 33 flood-prone villages in Belgaum and Bagalkot districts of the State.

At the end of two-day aerial survey of the flooded areas of north Karnataka, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said he would convene high-level meeting in Bangalore on August 13 to finalise a plan for permanently shifting these villages, which submerge every time floods are reported in the area.

Out of the 33 villages identified as acutely flood-prone, a total of 28 villages are located in Belgaum and the remaining five in Bagalkot, he said. Though the State Government had submitted a Rs 2.88 billion proposal to the Federal Government for shifting these villages, there is no response so far.

“We will not wait till the Centre (Federal Government) responds. It is our responsibility to come to the rescue of people reeling under floods for the last two years. We will start the work on relocation of villages within the next two months”, Kumaraswamy declared.

Meanwhile, the water level in rivers of Krishna and Bhima, which were flowing in spate after discharge of excess water from reservoirs of Maharashtra, receded on Sunday, bringing some respite in the flood-hit north Karnataka.

During the week-long floods, a total of 159 villages in Belgaum, Bagalkot, Gulbarga, Raichur and Bijapur in Karnataka were flooded with water from the two rivers and its tributaries, displacing 364,000 people. Two persons had been washed away in the floods and standing crops on 71,266 hectares of land has been ruined, Kumaraswamy said.

The Government had opened 47 relief centers had been opened to rehabilitate thousands of evacuees, who given food and shelter.

Kumaraswamy said he was planning to lead an all-party delegation to New Delhi on August 8 to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Federal Ministers concerned to brief them about the flood havoc in Karnataka.

Muslims meet to wipe out suspicion and bring about progress

In a significant development, leaders of the Muslim community belonging to various political parties held a two-day-long brainstorming session with senior bureaucrats and eminent personalities from the Muslim community in Karnataka at a resort on the outskirts of Mysore near here for the last two days.

The conference was organised by a voluntary organization in the wake of widespread concern over the suspicion about the Muslim community in the backdrop of terror attacks in the country. The meeting, which concluded yesterday, saw a galaxy of Muslim personalities thrash out an action plan for the all-round development of the community in various spheres of life.

Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha K Rehman Khan, former Federal Minister C K Jaffer Sharief, Karnataka’s Minister for Wakf and Haj Zameer Ahmed Khan and Minister for Labour Iqbal Ansari, besides a host of former Ministers belonging to the Congress as well as the JD (S), IAS and IPS officers and experts in various fields were in attendance at the meeting.

Many participants expressed their anguish over the targeting of innocent Muslims after terror strikes and the attempts made by the Sangh Parivar to brand madrasas as breeding grounds for terrorists. There was a consensus among the participants about the need to wipe out the suspicion about Muslim community.

But, a spokesperson for Centre for Community Development, Bangalore, which is organized the two-day conference, said the agenda of the meeting was to thrash out an action plan for creating political awareness, educational advancement, communal harmony, socio-economic development and empowerment of women among Muslims in the State.

During the conclave, sub-committees were formed for each of the subject that figured on the agenda and an action plan was finalized. The sub-committees were assigned responsibility for implementing the action plan within a time frame. The state panel will review the progress of the action plan from time to time.

Karnataka CM to disclose assets on website

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, whose public image suffered a dent in the wake of corruption charges, has decided to put up details of the assets owned by him and his family on the website of Lokayukta – the provincial ombudsman.

Kumaraswamy told reporters that he had already furnished the details of the property owned by him and all his family members to the Lokayukta. “I have requested the Lokayukta to put the details on its website. I don’t want give my political opponents the trouble of searching for the details of my assets”, he said.

The Karnataka Chief Minister found himself in a tight spot when Congress leaders recently went public with the purchase of an IT park worth Rs 850 million in Bangalore by Kumaraswamy’s family members. The disclosure on the purchase of the IT park came close on the heels of a bribery charge of Rs 1.5 billion levelled against the Chief Minister by a BJP legislator.

Though Kumaraswamy admitted that his family members had purchased an IT park in Bangalore, he claimed that the property had been purchased for Rs 350 million and not Rs 850 as alleged by the Congress. He also denied the allegation that his family members had purchased the property with the help of the Rs 1.5 billion bribe money.

He claimed that he was into film production before he entered politics and his software engineer wife ran a petrol bunk. He wondered whether his family should discontinue their legal businesses just because they were in politics.

Meanwhile, the newly appointed Lokayukta of Karnataka Santosh Hegde, a retired judge of Supreme Court, said he would appeal to all legislators and officials in the State to declare their assets and liabilities on a regular basis to avoid any suspicion of corruption.

Hegde himself has volunteered to declare the details of his own assets and liabilities. “After declaring the details of my assets and liabilities, I will approach the legislators and officials of higher rank in the State to follow suit”, Hegde said.

Hegde claimed that declaration of assets and liabilities on an annual basis would help in clearing of doubts in the minds of the people apart from giving a boost to their credentials.

Karnataka plans to ban colas in schools and colleges

The Karnataka Government is planning to ban cola drinks in educational institutions across the state after a study by New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) found unacceptable levels of pesticides in Coca Cola and Pepsi.

Karnataka’s Health Minister R Ashok told reporters that the Government was contemplating a ban on cola drinks in educational institutions as well as hospitals and government canteens across the state.

A ministerial meeting is expected to take a decision on banning cola drinks soon in educational institutions soon. “We have to sit up and take note of the high levels of pesticide content in cola drinks. Paediatricians are of the opinion that consuming cola with higher pesticide levels is unhealthy and could cause intestinal diseases”, Ashok said.

Minister for Primary and Secondary Eduction Basavaraj Horatti said he had asked officials to include a ban on soft drinks on the agenda of his department’s meeting, scheduled for August 7.

Minister for Higher Education D H Shankarmurthy was also in favour of a ban on cola drinks in institutions of higher education. “I will wait for a day or two before arriving at a final decision”, he said.

Meanwhile, a Bangalore-based Government laboratory has found that borewell water samples in the vicinity of Pepsi and Coca Cola factories situated near Bangalore have traces of pesticides higher than the limits permitted by Indian Standards Institution (ISI).

The Government laboratory conducted the test after drawing samples of borewell water from the vicinity of the Pepsi manufacturing plant at Bidadi and Coca Cola manufacturing plant Kumbalgodu near Bangalore. “They found a compound, Dimethoiate, to be consistently higher than specified levels in waters tested from at least seventeen borewells in the vicinity of these factories”, officials said.

The Coca Cola and Pepsi manufacturing plants are using water from the borewells in the vicinity as it saves on transportation cost.

Mass evacuation of people from flood-hit Belgaum

More than 21,000 people and close to 10,000 heads of cattle had been evacuated from the banks of river Krishna in Karnataka’s Belgaum district since the last four days due to widespread inundation of villages in the wake of discharge of excess water from the reservoirs of neighbouring Maharashtra.

According to officials, more than 60 villages in the border district of Belgaum had been either marooned or partially submerged in the flood waters, forcing the authorities to take up mass evacuation of people to safer places.

With the discharge of excess of water from Koyna reservoir in Maharashtra’s Satara district exceeding 150,000 cusecs every day since the last four days, not only have villages situated along the banks of river the swollen river Krishna been inundated, even bridges along the highways have been submerged, disrupting movement of vehicles in the region.

The flood water had also entered many agricultural fields, ruining standing crops on thousands of acres of land. The district administration has declared a holiday for all schools and colleges in Belgaum as normal life remained disrupted to the floods.

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy is expected to carry out an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas of Belgaum and other parts of north Karnataka.

Apart from Belgaum, four other districts of north Karnataka – Gulbarga, Raichur, Bagalkot and Bijapur are reeling under the floods, caused on account of the release of water from reservoirs in Maharashtra.

So far, two persons have been washed away in the floods in Gulbarga and Bagalkot districts. A youth from Surpur taluk of Gulbarga was washed away in the Krishna river when he was trying to remove the irrigation pump set from his agricultural field. The deceased has been identified as 24-year-old Ravikumar Prasad.

One unidentified person is also feared to have been washed away in the Krishna river near Rabkavi in Bagalkot. The person jumped into the river without heeding to the warning of local people. The authorities tried to trace the missing person, but in vain

Floods claim two lives in north Karnataka

Two persons were washed away in north Karnataka, where the flood situation turned grim due to the rising water level in Bhima and Krishna rivers.

According to reports reaching here, two persons – one each from Gulbarga and Bagalkot districts – were washed away in the floods, forcing the authorities to sound a flood alert across north Karnataka in the wake of unabated discharge of water from the reservoirs in neighbouring Maharashtra.

Officials said Ravikumar Prasad, a 24-year-old youth, was drowned in the swirling waters of Krishna river in Gulbarga’s Surpur taluk when he was trying to remove the irrigation pump set from his agricultural field. Ravikumar Prasad’s father, who was assisting his son to remove the irrigation pump set, reported the matter to the authorities.

In Bagalkot district, an unidentified man jumped into a river near Rabkavi without heeding to the warning of local people. He was not traced and feared drowned, authorities said.

The flood situation in five districts of north Karnataka – Belgaum, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Raichur and Bagalkot – turned grim with rivers Bhima and Krishna flowing in spate and threatening to inundate more villages along their banks.

The swollen rivers of Bhima and Krishna have already marooned hundreds of villages in the five districts, forcing the authorities to take up a mass evacuation of people from marooned the partially submerged villages. Standing crop on thousands of acres of land had been deluged in the flood waters.

The collapse of bridges in a few areas and their submergence under water in other areas had thrown transportation out of gear. Life was disrupted in many areas along the banks of river Bhima and Krishna in all the five districts of north Karnataka. Communication and transport remained cut off to many marooned villages.

The local authorities had deployed boats to evacuate people from flooded areas. More such boats had been sought from Karwar district in coastal Karnataka to shift the inhabitants of villages under the threat of inundation, officials said.

During the last three days, more than 7,000 people have been shifted to safer places and rehabilitated in make-shift relief camps.

Kumaraswamy completes six months in office, but charges continue to mount

Proving skeptics wrong about its longevity, the JD (S)-BJP coalition Government led by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy completed six months in office on Thursday.

But, charges of corruption against the Chief Minister’s family continued to pour in, much to the chagrin of the coalition partners.

As if the Rs 1.5 billion pay off charge against the Chief Minister and the purchase of an IT park worth Rs 850 million by his family members were not enough, the founder of a financial company, which duped thousands of investors of their money, has confessed to paying former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and senior BJP leader Ananthakumar Rs 100,000 and Rs 500,000 respectively from his ill-gotten wealth.

The founder of Vini Vinc Finances Srinivas Shastry, who has been arrested for a series of economic offences, has revealed during a narco-analysis test that he had paid Rs 100,000 to Gowda towards election fund and Rs 500,000 to Ananthkumar towards Brahmana Sabha.

The opposition Congress, which has launched an offensive against the coalition Government, is now using Shastry’s confession as a stick to beat the JD (S) and BJP with.

“The JD (S) and BJP leaders have accepted money from a fraudster, who has duped innocent people to the tune of Rs 30 billion”, Congress leader and former Minister H Vishwanath told reporters.

But, Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has defended the acceptance of money from Shastry. “It is common for political parties to raise funds from organizations and individuals. It is also necessary”, he said.

The Congress party mounted pressure on the JD (S)-BJP Government to quit office in the wake of the fresh allegations. "With a baggage of corruption allegations, the coalition Government has no moral right to remain in office", Vishwanath told a press conference yesterday.

Karnataka Chief Minister’s family accused of buying Rs 850 million worth IT park

Even before the dust kicked up over the Rs 1.5 billion bribery charge against Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy could settle down, the Congress has dropped another bombshell by producing documentary evidence on the purchase of a hi-tech Information Technology park in Bangalore by the Chief Minister’s family recently.

Kumaraswamy’s bete noire and Congress leader D K Shivakumar convened a press conference in Bangalore to release documents and photographs of a multi-storied software technology park spread across almost ten acres of land in Bangalore, which had been purchased in the name of the Chief Minister’s wife, his two sisters and a brother, about 50 days after Kumaraswamy assumed office.

The software technology park, which has a built up area of 200,000 square feet, is situated in the technology hub of Whitefield in Bangalore. “Though the market value of the property is a whopping Rs 850 million, the Chief Minister’s family had bought for a measly Rs 360 million”, Shivakumar said producing copies of the sale deed and registration documents.

The IT park, which has been registered in the name of the Chief Minister’s wife Anitha Kumaraswamy, sisters Anasuya and Shyla, besides brother H D Ramesh, is built on Government-allotted land.

Linking the purchase of the IT park to the Rs 1.5 billion bribery charge against the Chief Minister, the Congress alleged that said Kumaraswamy’s family had purchased the property from illegal mining payoff.

Giving the sequence of events since Kumaraswamy was sworn in as Chief Minister of Karnataka on February 6 to head the JD (S)-BJP Government, Shivakumar, who is also a former Minister, said the issue of illegal mining in Bellary was raised by Forest Minister Cheniggappa during late February and early March. The family members of the Chief Minister purchased the property on March 23. Two months later, BJP legislator Janardhan Reddy charges Kumaraswamy of accepting a bribe of Rs 1.5 billion, Shivakumar said.

“How did the family of the Chief Minister get so much of money ?. By selling potatoes and chillies in their farmland?”, Shivakumar sought to know from Kumaraswamy, who swears by farming.

The Congress party’s fresh expose on the Chief Minister’s family, which comes less than a week after producing documents to prove the export of iron ore by the family members of Kumaraswamy, may have become a source of embarrassment.

But, the Chief Minister has defended the deal, claiming it was a “perfectly legal transaction”. He claimed that the family members paid only 3 per cent of property value while 83 per cent was raised through loan from a bank. The remainder 13 per cent came by way of advances from the tenants of the IT park”, he said.

However, he admitted that the documents produced by the Congress leaders were genuine. He said the details of the transaction had been declared in the Income Tax returns.

But, the Congress party alleged that the Chief Minister’s family had could have purchased more such properties clandestinely and reiterated its demand for a CBI probe into the Rs 1.5 billion payoff charge. “The IT part fetches a monthly rent of Rs 5 million”, Shivakumar alleged.

Flood havoc in North Karnataka, 5,000 families evacuated

The Karnataka Government has evacuated more than 5,000 families in northern parts of the State to safer places after release of excess water from the reservoirs of Maharashtra deluged hundreds of villages along the steadily rising rivers.

Flood havoc was reported from several parts of Belgaum, Gulbarga, Bijapur and Bagalkot districts in north Karnataka in the wake of discharge of more than 200,000 cusecs of water every day from Koyna, Ujini and Veerabhatkal reservoirs in Maharashtra, which has been experiencing heavy rainfall.

With rivers like Bhima, Krishna and Ghataprabha rising the dangerous levels, the Disaster Management Committee reviewed the flood situation and directed the authorities to begin a mass evacuation of people residing in low-lying areas along the rivers to safer places.

More than 2,000 families spread across the four districts of north Karnataka were evacuated after their villages were marooned. Belgaum district was the worst affected with more 1,000 families evacuated to safer places. Another 3,000 families were evacuated as the water level in the rivers posed an imminent danger of floods in their villages.

At least 25 villages in Belgaum district were reported to have lost contact with headquarters due to submersion of bridges. In Gulbarga, 43 villages spread across six taluks had been flooded, forcing the evacuation of people to safer places. Boats had been pressed into service to ferry residents of marooned villages to safety.

Hundreds of houses had collapsed and thousands of acres of sown land had been inundated causing a huge loss to the farmers.

Meanwhile, the Disaster Management Committee has set up relief camps equipped with drinking water, food, medicines, medical teams, veterinary inspectors and fodder for cattle.

Karnataka’s Minister for Revenue Jagadish Shettar told reporters that the officials were in constant touch with their counterparts in neighbouring Maharashtra on the release of water from their reservoirs. We are also releasing an equal quantity of water from Almatti and other reservoirs in north Karnataka to maintain a balance and reduce the damage”, Shettar said.

AIPJD to merge with Congress in Karnataka

The All India Progressive Janata Dal (AIPJD), floated by former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah, will merge with the Congress party during September.

Siddaramaiah, who recently quit the JD (S) led by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda to join the Congress party, told reporters that the merger of AIPJD with Congress will take place at a huge rally to be attended by Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Claiming that he been welcomed into the Congress party “wholeheartedly”, Siddaramaiah said the merger of AIPJD into the Congress will be a “historic” event. Eight JD (S) legislators, who had identified themselves with the AIPJD, will also eventually join the Congress party. “They are waiting for an appropriate time to resign from the Assembly”, he added.

He lashed out at Deve Gowda, who fought the 2004 Assembly elections in Karnataka on a secular platform, for joining hands with the BJP to make his son H D Kumaraswamy as the Chief Minister of Karnataka.

AIPJD will be joining hands with the Congress to strengthen secular forces. “I and my supporters in the JD (S) decided to join the Congress because Gowda has sacrificed the party’s secular principles for the sake of making his son the Chief Minister”, Siddaramaiah said.

Fourteen juvenile delinquents escape from custody

Fourteen juvenile delinquents ran away from the detention centre in Karnataka’s Dharwad district on Thursday after executing a meticulously scripted Great Escape.

The 50-year-old security guard posted on duty outside the detention centre had no idea what was in store for him when he rushed into the hall on hearing a loud noise accompanied by yelling of the children around 2.30 am in the night.

The moment he unlocked the gates and entered the hall, the lights were switched off. Even before he could realize what was happening, he was covered with a rug and beaten black and blue with clubs and other sharp weapons.

He was overpowered by the inmates of the detention centre and locked up in a room. Out of the twenty juvenile delinquents lodged in the detention centre, a total of fourteen children, aged between 10 and 15 years, made good their escape after immobilizing the security guard Krishna Ramachandra Balke, police said.

Though a police patrol team nabbed three of the juvenile delinquents within three hours of their escape, the remaining eleven are still at large. The patrol team had picked up Rasool, Basavaraj Lakshman and Fakirappa while they were waiting near the bus stand. They were produced before the court and handed over to the Juvenile Home authorities.

The escaped children include Veeresh, Shekar, Baba Hussain, Basavaraj, Mehboob, Moula, Kumaraswamy, Umesh, Chand Peer, Sharanabasappa and Rajashekar. Six of the inmates, who escaped from the detention centre, have a history of petty crimes while three face murder charges.

A special team of policemen has been constituted to hunt the escaped juvenile delinquents, police said.

Bangalore call center employee murdered by boyfriend

The Bangalore police have cracked the mystery behind the gruesome murder of 32-year-old call center employee Tanya Banerjee, whose dead body bearing multiple stab injuries was recovered from Bangalore-Mangalore highway, by arresting her boyfriend.

Additional Commissioner of Bangalore City Police Bipin Gopalakrishna told reporters on Thursday that Tanya’s boyfriend and colleague Gururaj Kishore had confessed to killing her in a fit of rage after she spurned his romantic overtures. Police had picked up Gururaj Kishore from his residence after Tanya’s colleagues saw both of them leave the office together on the fateful Tuesday night.

The recovery of Tanya’s dead body in Shiradi Ghats in Sakleshpur along the Bangalore-Mangalore highway, about 200 kms from Bangalore, on Wednesday had revived the ghastly memories of rape and murder of another 24-year-old call center employee Prathiba Srikantmurthy in December 2005.

Tanya, a native of Howrah in West Bengal, worked as a client analyst with BPO firm Aviva 24/7 in Whitefield in Bangalore. The 27-year-old Gururaj Kishore was her colleague in the same BPO and her boyfriend.

Investigations have revealed that Gururaj Kishore had been pestering Tanya to marry him and had even told other colleagues in the office that they were husband and wife, much to Tanya’s resentment.

On Tuesday night, Tanya left office after her shift ended at 9.30 pm along with Gururaj Kishore in his car. It is believed that Gururaj proposed marriage to her, but she refused. “After a serious misunderstanding, Gururaj whipped out a knife and stabbed Tanya. The post-mortem report shows that she had been stabbed 32 times in various parts of abdomen, neck and face”, Bipin Gopalakrishna said.

The murder is believed to have taken place in Bangalore and Gururaj had driven the car along the Bangalore-Mangalore highway and dumped the dead body in Shiradi Ghats, about 200 kms away from Bangalore.

A bus driver noticed Tanya’s body lying in the middle of the road near Maranahalli in the Shiradi ghats and alerted the local police. Her identity was established with the help of the office ID card, which was hanging from neck. “She was wearing a red T-shirt and black pants. Her ornaments, ear-rings and bangle are intact, revealing no visible signs of rape”, police said.

Meanwhile, police investigation has revealed that Tanya was staying as a paying guest in Bangalore’s Frazer Town. The management of the call center, where Tanya worked, said the employee did not opt for the company’s transport since the last two days.

Tanya’s grisly murder within seven months after Pratibha Srikantamurthy’s brutal rape and killing has raised serious concerns about the safety of women employees in the bustling BPO of Bangalore, which employs more than 100,000 workers.

IIM-B can’t implement OBC quota in a year’s time - Director

Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B) has joined the other IIMs in the country by expressing its inability to implement the 27 per cent quota for Other Backward Classes (OBC) in a year’s time as proposed by the Federal Minister for Human Resources Arjun Singh.

Briefing reporters after a meeting of Board of Governors chaired by Reliance Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani, Director of IIM-B Prakash G Apte said the student intake could be increased only in a phased manner over the next three to four years and “not in one go”.

The Board of Governors meeting, however, decided to go in for short and long-term expansion plans and gear up for accommodating additional faculty and students on its campus in Bangalore. The current intake of students at IIM-B stands at 240 every year.

“The increase in seats to accommodate the 27 per cent OBC seats cannot be done in one go as we are running short of not just faculty, but classrooms also. The increase in seats has to be a staggered process spanning a period of three to four years”, he said.

A Rs 500 million expansion plan had been drawn up to construct classrooms, hostels and even dormitories. Against the sanctioned faculty strength of 89, IIM-B currently has only 73. “If the seats are to be increased to accommodate the 27 per cent OBC quota, we need 110 of them”, Apte said.

Apte did not rule out the possibility of IIM-B going in for a split campus if the architects entrusted with the task of designing the new building decide against having high-rise buildings in the campus.

“It is unviable to identify the additional 10 acres to 15 acres required for expansion anywhere within a vicinity of 10 kms from the existing campus. It may have to be a split campus”, he said.

If the IIM-B has to acquire additional land, the cost of the expansion programme will increase by another Rs 200 million, taking the total of Rs 700. “The Government will have to give us the funds for expansion”, he said.

Bangalore call center employee found murdered on highway

Even before the brutal rape and murder of call center employee Pratibha Srikantamurthy in December last year could fade from public memory, the recovery of the dead body of another call center staff on the Bangalore-Mangalore highway with multiple stab injuries yesterday has sent shock waves across the Bangalore.

Police have identified the deceased as 24-year-old Tanya Banerjee, a native of Howrah in West Bengal. She is reported to have left her office Aviva Customer Operations Services Ltd., in Whitefield in Bangalore around 9.30 pm after work on Tuesday. Her dead body with several stab injuries on the face and torso was sighted by villagers near Sakleshpur, about 200 kms away from Bangalore on the national highway leading to Mangalore.

The body was identified from the office ID card, which was hanging from her neck, police said. “She was wearing a red T-shirt and black pants. Her ornaments, ear-rings and bangle are intact, revealing no visible signs of rape”, Hassan’s Superintendent of Police Pandurang Rane told reporters.

But, there were at least 20 stab wounds on the body, particularly in the abdomen area. Preliminary investigation indicates that the murder took place at some other place as there were no tell-tale signs of blood or any weapon near the dead body, police said.

A post-mortem on Tanya Banerjee was conducted at Sakleshpur hospital yesterday and the report has suggested that she had been killed around 5 am on Wednesday morning, police said.

Meanwhile, police investigation has revealed that Tanya was staying as a paying guest in Bangalore’s Frazer Town. The management of the call center, where Tanya worked, said the employee did not opt for the company’s transport since the last two days. Even on Tuesday night when she left the office around 9.30 pm, Tanya had used her own means of transport.

The Bangalore police was planning to question Tanya’s boy-friend, who had claimed that she had sent him a SMS at 7 am yesterday morning that she was leaving for Kolkata. “How could he receive a SMS at 7 am when the port mortem report suggests that she was killed at 5 pm”, a colleague of Tanya’s told reporters.

Meanwhile, Aviva Customer Operations Services Ltd., Bangalore, has expressed shock over the brutal killing of its employee.

It may be mentioned here that Pratibha Srikantamurthy had been raped and murdered by the driver her car in Bangalore during December last year.