Jayamala reiterates entering Sabarimala and touching deity of Ayyappa

Amidst snowballing controversy over her “sacrilegious” entry into the hill shrine of Sabarimala in neighbouring Kerala, Kannada actress of yesteryear Jayamala has reiterated that she entered the sanctum sanctorum of the Temple and touched the deity of Ayyappa, kept out of bounds for women aged between 10 and 50 years.

Speaking to reporters in Bangalore, Jayamala, an award-winning Kannada film personality, thanked her good fortune to have entered the revered shrine of Sabarimala in 1987 to pray for her first husband, the late “Tiger” Prabhakar’s speedy recovery, when she was around 28 years old.

But, Jayamala sought to lay the blame at the doorstep of the Temple authorities for furore created out of her confessional statement. “It is their mistake they went to the media with my letter. I sent the letter as a confession to God with sincere repentance”, she said.

Reacting to the doubts expressed over the veracity of her claims by the Temple authorities, Jayamala defiantly countered “How can they say I could not have done so ? I will draw a sketch of the Temple and how I went to it”.

Refusing to apologize to the Temple authorities for entering the hill shrine, revered by millions of devotees across India, Jayamala said “I will not apologize to any priest. It is their mistake to have gone to the press with the letter”.

Jayamala said her brother-in-law had recently called her up and told her that a newspaper report mentioned that a woman artiste was responsible for Ayyappa’s anger. “My family priest said this was the best time for repentance. It was a very personal thing for me. I faxed the letter myself. Now, I wish I had not been so sincere”, she said.

Jayamala said she was aware of her mistake since 1999 when she was told that she had offended the deity of Subramanya. “Since then, I have never touched an idol”, she said.

Unable to find a pilot, Karnataka Government puts up chopper for sale

After more than two years of unsuccessful search for an experienced pilot to fly its chopper, the Karnataka Government has finally put up its Dauphin helicopter for sale.

The State Government’s only helicopter, which was once used to ferry Chief Minister and other VVIPs, has remained grounded since the last twenty-eight months at the hangers of Pawan Hans in Mumbai, one of country’s biggest helicopter operators.

With the salary offered by the Government for pilots comparing poorly with the remuneration offered by the booming aviation industry, there are no takers for the post of pilot for the Government-owned helicopter, a Government official said.

But, even while lying idle, the chopper was costing the Government a hefty bill. “As we are unable to find pilots, the chopper is now with Pawan Hans. We are paying nearly Rs 250,000 every month towards maintenance charge. To avoid this recurring expenditure in the face of little or no response from candidates to fly the chopper, the Government has decided to sell it”, the official said.

Ever since the Dauphin helicopter was flown off to Mumbai during April 2004, the VVIPs in the State have been using private chartered choppers.

Apparently, the Rs 25,000-Rs 30,000 monthly salary offered by the Government to pilots is turning out to be “peanuts” to the high-fliers, who are commanding a remuneration of Rs 100,000 to Rs 150,000 in private airliners, the Government official said.

In contrast, the Government finds its more economical to use chartered helicopters than owning one and maintaining it. “The high costs involved in hiring a pilot and maintaining a helicopter has forced the Government to sell its only official chopper and continue with chartered helicopters”, the official added.

BPO scam: Suspect received Rs 80,000 for leaking data

Even as the Cyber Crime Police in Bangalore plan to seek the assistance of Interpol and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the data theft case reported from HSBC’s off-shore data processing centre here, the accused HSBC staffer Nadeem Kashmiri has confessed to receiving an amount of Rs 80,000 from his co-fraudsters in London in return for parting confidential and sensitive information of account holders.

During interrogation, 24-year-old Nadeem Kashmiri told police that he he received Rs 4,000 for every fraudulent transaction he made at the behest of his accomplices in the UK. “An amount of over Rs 80,000 was transferred to his friend’s account in Bangalore through Western Union Money Transfer”, according to police sources.

Nadeem confessed that he was in touch with one Ershad in London at whose behest he continued to leak sensitive data of 20 HSBC customers in the UK to the his co-fraudsters. Ershad and his accomplices in London used the information to transfer money from HSBC customers’ accounts to other unknown accounts.

The HSBC has estimated that a total of 233,000 pounds had been swindled from 20 accounts during March and April this year. “The actual fraud had been committed between March 14 and April 3 after which the HSBC plugged his ID and suspended him on April 14”, Director General of Police, Corps of Detectives (CoD), K R Srinivasan told reporters.

Though Nadeem’s brother and his girl friend advised him to desist from such activity, the accused claimed that his accomplices in UK subjected him to blackmail. “The co-fraudsters are understood to have threatened him through an e-mail that they would inform the employers of his misconduct if he does not feed them with sensitive data of the bank’s account holders”, a police official said.

Though the suspect has claimed that he came across the accomplices through Internet and they had promised him a job in London, investigators are not ruling out the possibility of Nadeem having personally met the co-fraudsters.

Deputy Inspector General of Police, Economic Offences, CoD, Sanjay Vir Singh said the modus operandi of the accused in passing on information about UK customers indicates that he could just be a pawn in a “whole syndicate”.

The investigators have also not ruled out the possibility of a terrorist group planning to break the security system of international banks. “In view of the international ramifications, we will seek assistance from Interpol to unravel the racket”, Srinivasan said.

Meanwhile, Nadeem was produced before a City magistrate, who remanded him in police custody till July 4. “If necessary, Nadeem will be subjected to narco-analysis after seeking permission from the court”, investigating officials said.

Siddaramaiah set to join Congress

Former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah is all set to join the Congress party in the wake of All India Congress Committee President Sonia Gandhi’s formal invitation to him in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Siddaramaiah, who had floated the All India Progressive Janata Dal (AIPJD) after severing his ties with JD (S) supremo and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, called on Sonia Gandhi at the latter’s residence in New Delhi.

During the thirty-minute meeting, which was also attended by Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel and Congress Working Committee member in charge of Karnataka affairs A K Antony, the Congress President gave a green signal to induct Siddaramaiah into the party fold.

Confirming Sonia Gandhi’s invitation, Siddaramaiah told reporters that he would consult his party colleagues, including nine MLAs and a couple of MLCs, before finalizing his decision. The former Deputy Chief Minister is expected to return to New Delhi in a week’s time to finalize his entry into the Congress fold.

Congress leaders in Karnataka including former Chief Minister Dharam Singh are of the opinion that Siddaramaiah’s entry into the Congress party is “certain”. “There is no opposition in the party to his induction”, Singh told reporters.

Former Minister H M Revanna, who has been wooing Siddaramaiah into the Congress fold ever since his relationship with H D Deve Gowda soured about a year ago, said the former Deputy Chief Minister will make a formal announcement on his entry into the Congress shortly.

The Congress party is planning a mega event to be attended by Sonia Gandhi to mark Siddaramaiah’s into the party fold. Siddaramaiah’s close aides and AIPJD leaders including former Federal Minister C M Ibrahim are also scheduled to join the Congress.

Siddaramaiah is expected to resign from the Chamundeshwari assembly constituency in Mysore, which he won as a JD (S) candidate, before joining the Congress. “Initially, Siddaramaiah will join the Congress alone. Later, the nine MLAs supporting him will follow suit”, a Congress leader said.

Although it is not known whether Siddaramaiah put any conditions to join the Congress, it is understood that the Congress leaders have agreed to provide him a “plum post” besides party tickets to all the MLAs supporting him.

BPO staffer in Bangalore compromises with HSBC data, 233,000 pounds stolen

A security breach at international bank HSBC’s off-shore data processing centre in Bangalore has come to light after twenty customers of the bank in London complained that their monies had been transferred without their knowledge.

A 24-year-old staffer at HSBC’s Electronic Data Processing India (HDPI) Nadeem Hamid Kashmiri has been charged with stealing confidential data of its customers in the UK to the illegally siphon off money from their accounts.

According to a complaint lodged by HDPI with the Bangalore Cyber Crime Police, Nadeem Hamid Kashmiri, who joined the company on December 12, 2005, is said to have accessed personal information, security information and debit card information of some customers in the UK from March to May this year.

These details were passed on to his “co-fraudsters” in UK, who diverted funds to the tune of 233,000 pounds through ATM, debit card and telephone banking services at the behest of Nadeem, the complaint said.

The fraud at HDPI comes barely a year after a similar security breach was reported from a BPO in Pune.

Soon after HSBC received complaints from its customers that funds had been transferred from their account without their knowledge, the HDPI initiated an internal inquiry and found Nadeem to be culprit. The system records showed that Nadeem had accessed confidential information without authorization. “To access such information for any business requirement, a prior permission is needed”, HDPI’s Vice President Pradeep Dar told reporters.

“Nadeem facilitated his accomplices to impersonate the actual customers to enable them to cheat the HDPI and HSBC customers”, Cyber Crime Inspector General of Police Mahapatra told reporters.

Soon after the internal inquiry was ordered, Nadeem went missing. Investigations have revealed that Nadeem had joined the company on “false records and misrepresentation”. He had furnished a false address and mobile number at the time of joining.

Mahapatra said the UK police, which was trying to nab the fraudsters there, would be contacted in the probe. “We have formed police teams to trace Nadeem”, he said.

HDPI officials said Nadeem had joined the company “with the intention to deceive and cheat the bank and its customers. He had begun accessing the accounts of customers without authorization from the day he was deputed to the processing unit on February 6 this year”.

Meanwhile, Nasscom (National Association of Software and Service companies), an industry body for Indian IT, has come out with a statement that “such security breaches are not unique to offshore operations and can happen in any country”.
Nasscom Vice President Sunil Mehta said Nasscom will work with legal authorities in the UK and India to ensure that those responsible for any criminal breaches promptly prosecuted and face the maximum penalty.

Kumaraswamy leaves for Singapore amid resentment among Opposition

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy left for a three-day visit to Singapore yesterday amid resentment among the Opposition Congress.

Kumaraswamy, who is scheduled to visit companies in Singapore at the invitation of its Minister for Trade and Industries Lim Hing Kiang, was criticized by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President M Mallikarjun Kharge for making the trip at a time when the state legislature session is underway.

“His visit to Singapore at a time when the legislature session is underway is inappropriate and a grave insult to parliamentary democracy”, Kharge told reporters. The Chief Minister did not heed to the advice given by Opposition party leaders during the Business Advisory Committee meeting that he should postpone the visit till the legislature session concludes.

With convention and precedent demanding that the Chief Minister and Minister compulsorily attend the legislature session and should not undertake any tour within or outside the state, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Krishna should not have allowed Kumaraswamy to proceed on the Singapore tour, Kharge said.

The Chief Minister’s visit to Singapore to attract foreign investment could have waited till the legislature session concludes, Kharge said.

Meanwhile, a statement issued by the Trade and Industries Ministry of Singapore said Kumarawamy’s visit seeks to foster greater business collaboration between Karnataka and Singapore. “Karnataka, in particular its capital Bangalore, is among the top three destinations in India for Singapore investors, who have invested in Information Technology Park, residential township and logistics sector”, the statement said.

Statistics showed that Foreign Direct Investment inflows from Singapore to India grew from 62.1 million dollars in 2004 to 231.4 million dollars during 2005. “This made Singapore the third largest source of FDI inflows into India for the year 2005. The presence of Indian companies in Singapore had also grown to reach over 1,600 companies at present”, the statement added.

Marathon lecture fetches Mangalore lecturer entry into Guinness

A lecturer in Mangalore University’s Department of Applied Botany has made it to the Guinness Book of World Records for delivering a non-stop lecture for 98 hours and 32 minutes.

Lecturer Annaiah Ramesh received an official communication confirming the entry of his feat in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Annaiah Ramesh had delivered a marathon lecture on “Molecular Logic of Life” at the Department of Applied Botany in Mangalore University campus during March 2006. By lecturing continuously for 98 hours and 32 minutes, Annaiah Ramesh had bettered the previous record held by Errol E T Muzawazi for 88 hours and four minutes.

Thirty-five-year-ol Annaiah Ramesh’s lecture, which was video recorded in the presence of academicians and expert Botanists, began on March 22 and ended on March 26 earlier this year. Before he embarked upon the challenging feat, Annaiah Ramesh had held three trial lectures stretching over durations of 12 hours, 36 hours and 45 hours.

Three months after the feat was recorded, Annaiah Ramesh received an e-mail from the official website of Guinness Book of World Records stating that a certificate endorsing his entry under the marathon lecture category will be handed over to him by an appropriate authority from the organization in the next four days.

A village accountant in Karnataka amasses illegal wealth worth Rs 100 million

A village accountant, who had officially earned about Rs 1.4 million throughout his 26 years of service, has managed to amass wealth amounting to a staggering Rs 100 million.

This came to light after the provincial ombudsman – Karnataka Lokayukta – carried out a surprise raid on the residence of T Hanumanthaiah, posted for duty at Bhirohalli village on the outskirts of Bangalore.

A palatial house in Vijaynagar area in Bangalore, worth Rs 10 million, six acres of wet-land in Bhirohalli, valued at Rs 2.5 million, a residential site in a prime locality in Banalore worth Rs 10 million, two cars worth more than a million rupees are just a portion of his ill-gotten wealth.

Sleuths of Lokayukta stumbled upon hard cash worth a total of Rs 6,67,350, which was found hidden under the tables and chairs in his premises. Gold and silver jewellery were also found in possession of the village accountant Hanumanthaiah.

Hanumanthaiah, who had not even taken a loan to construct his palatial house, turned out to be film producer as well. He had channelled a huge sum of funds towards the making of Kannada movie “Poojary”, which is due to release in film theatres across Karnataka shortly.

The Lokayukta led by N Venkatachaliah described Hanumanthaiah as a “prize catch”. “Village accountant Hanumanthaiah is the prize catch of the day. He had amassed hugely disproportionate to his known sources of income”, Venkatachalaiah told reporters.

The Lokayukta also raided the houses of Assistant Secretary of Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) N Nagaraj Naik and Deputy Superintendent of Excise, State Intelligence Bureau Thimme Gowda. While a search at Nagaraj Naik’s house revealed accounted assets amounting to Rs 70 million, Thimme Gowda was found to have amassed wealth worth Rs 80 million.

“I wonder how much money a human being needs”, said Venkatachalaiah after the raid. All the three officials were arrested under the Karnataka Prevention of Corruption Act and produced before the court.

Prime Minister’s pep talk on road discipline

The foundation stone laying ceremony for a ten-lane elevated expressway in Bangalore on Saturday gave Prime Minister Manmohan Singh an opportunity to give a pep talk on road discipline among countrymen.

“Mere wind-swept roads and fancy cars alone do not reflect progress. Good road manners and discipline are equally important”, he said.

The Prime Minister said people must learn road manners, which include giving way to pedestrians, observing rules while overtaking, know how to park and when not to blow a horn. “These are simple rules, but their observance makes a lot of difference to our daily lives”, Singh said.

“We Indians, behave with great courtesy with friends and relatives at home. But, sometimes, when we go out, we leave these good manners at home. On the road, we lose control of our good senses. Why should this be so? I think we must ask ourselves why can’t we be more polite to each other, more caring about each other, more respectful of each other”, the Prime Minister said.

Building modern roads and driving modern cars is not the end all and be all of progress. Good road manners and adherence to road discipline are equally important, Singh said.

Prime Minister launches ten-lane expressway and Metro in Bangalore

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched two major infrastructure projects in Bangalore aimed at decongesting the traffic-choked roads of the City.

After laying the foundation stone for a ten-lane 9.89 kilometre-long elevated expressway between Bangalore and the Electronic City on its outskirts, which is expected to facilitate faster road travel for software engineers heading to their workplace, the Prime Minister also launched the Bangalore Metro project aimed at reducing the traffic snarls on the roads in the City.

The Rs 4.5 billion expressway project, touted as the first of its kind in the country, will have a four-lane elevated highway in addition to a six-lane road on the ground, linking Bangalore with Electronic City, which houses hundreds of software firms.

The existing four-lane highway is currently overburdened with an estimated 100,000 vehicles driving in and out of Bangalore towards Electronics City and onwards to Hosur and Chennai in neighbouring Tamil Nadu every day. The mixed corridor is designed to take a load of upto 125,000 vehicles without causing traffic snarls.

The elevated expressway, which is expected to ferry software engineers faster to their workplace or home, is scheduled to be completed in 24 months time.

Flagging off the project, Manmohan Singh announced the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government’s decision to enlarge the funding to the National Highway project to a whopping Rs 2,220 billion.

The UPA Government has “speeded up” the construction and development of national highways. The National Highway Development Project costing Rs 2,220 billion will be implemented in the next 7 to 8 years.

He said the Federal Government will be six-laning the entire Golden Quadrilateral project connecting the four metros in the country. “I look forward to the day when the face of this nation will be changed by a dense network of world class highways, reaching out to the farthest corners of the country”, Manmohan Singh said.

Later in the day, the Prime Minister launched the Bangalore Metro project, which is expected to ease traffic congestion on the City’s thoroughfares that are chock-a-block with more than 2.5 million vehicles.

The Rs 63 billion Bangalore Metro envisages laying a 36-km-long rail network through the choked roads of Bangalore. The two-corridor Metrol rail project is scheduled for completion in 2010.

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister emphasized the need for inclusive growth process to build a prosperous, equitable and humane nation. “We want both our urban areas and rural areas to develop. We want to build an India in which scientists and engineers, farmers and workers, artists and entrepreneurs can all find the space to express their creativity and enterprise.”, Singh said.

Dinner meet for BJP MLAs over BMIC kicks up row

A dinner meet hosted by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) for a section of the BJP MLAs in Karnataka to highlight the benefits of the controversial Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) has kicked up a fresh row in the ruling coalition.

NICE Managing Director Ashok K Kheny’s dinner meet for BJP MLAs at a five star hotel in Bangalore comes less than a week after the JD (S) reluctantly decided to drop its proposal to bring in a piece of legislation to take over the Rs 23 billion BMIC project in the face of stiff opposition from the BJP leadership.

Clearly embarrassed over the attendance of more than twenty BJP MLAs at the dinner meeting, a few JD (S) leaders have decided to urge the party leadership to take up the issue seriously with its coalition partner during the next Co-ordination Committee meeting of the two parties.

NICE Managing Director is understood to have made a power presentation on the BMIC project to the BJP MLAs and explained to them the importance of the project for the development of State.

Curiously, it is not only the JD (S) MLAs, who have not been able to stomach the attendance of BJP legislators at the dinner meet, a section of the BJP too has taken serious exception to the development.

A few disgruntled BJP legislators, left out in the recent expansion of the coalition Ministry, have decided to lodge a complaint to senior party leader M Venkaiah Naidu against Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa over the development. Questioning the political wisdom of his party colleagues for attending a dinner meet hosted by a private company, which is mired in a controversy, a disgruntled BJP legislator said he would take up the matter with the party’s state unit President D V Sadananda Gowda.

However, it remains to be seen whether the attendance of BJP MLAs at the dinner meet will attract the ire of senior JD (S) leaders like former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, who is strongly opposed to NICE.

But, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, when cornered by the reporters in the Legislative Assembly, refused to react on the issue. “It is an internal matter of the BJP. None of my MLAs attended the dinner meet”, he said.

M P Prakash clinches Home Ministry in Karnataka

Former Deputy Chief Minister M P Prakash, who was inducted into the
coalition ministry in Karnataka recently, has managed to clinch the prestigious Home Ministry from Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.

According to the notification on allocation of portfolios issued late on Thursday night, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had given up the Home Portfolio in favour of M P Prakash, but had retained the charge of police intelligence wing.

The decision to allocate Home portfolio to M P Prakash was taken by senior leadership of the JD (S).

Kumaraswamy’s elder brother H D Revanna, who also made a come-back to the coalition Ministry, was entrusted with the Public Works and Energy portfolios, which he had held in the erstwhile Dharam Singh Ministry.

The other JD (S) Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan was given independent charge of Wakf and Haj while his colleague H K Kumaraswamy was entrusted with the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare.

The BJP too had to effect a minor reshuffle of portfolios while allocating charge of Ministries to its newly inducted Ministers. Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had to give up the Major and Medium Industries portfolios to party colleague Katta Subramanya Naidu, who was holding Small Scale Industries portfolio.

The Small Scale Industries portfolio went to Shivananda Naik, the newly inducted BJP Minister. Shashikanth Nayak has been allotted Horticuture Ministry while Revu Naik has been given the Animal Husbandry portfolio. S A Ravindranath will be the new Minister for Rural Water Supply and Sugar.

Though the Ministers were sworn in on Wednesday morning, a final decision on the allocation of portfolios was taken only late on Thursday due to the dissatisfaction among a few Ministers over their portfolios.

Zameer Ahmed’s ministerial oath lands him in a

First-time MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan is findinghimself in the thick of a controversy over the oath ofoffice and secrecy he took during his induction intothe coalition Ministry in Karnataka on Wednesday.
If the JD (S) legislator from Chamarajapet inBangalore has incurred the wrath of pro-Kannadaoutfits for taking the oath of office and secrecy inEnglish language, the Opposition leaders have pouredscorn over his decision to take oath in the name ofChief Minister H D Kumaraswamy in gross violation ofconstitutional norms.
Several pro-Kannada activists staged a demonstrationin front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in Bangaloreyesterday and urged the Chief Minister to drop ZameerAhmed Khan from the coalition Ministry for the“insult” he meted out to Kannada by taking oath inEnglish.
The Kannada Protection Forum has contended that ZameerAhmed Khan’s decision to take oath in Kannada amountedto “insulting” the Kannada personalities residing inChamarajapet, who had championed the cause of Kannada.
Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s political detractorshave taken offense against the newly inducted Ministerfor taking oath in the name of H D Kumaraswamy andtouching his feet after being sworn in as a Ministerin the coalition Government.
All India ProgressiveJanata Dal (AIPJD) leader A K Subbaiah has takenserious exception to the “sycophancy and servility”displayed by Zameer Ahmed Khan and questioned themotive behind Kumaraswamy’s decision to induct the JD(S) legislator, who is a transport magnate owning afleet of private buses.
Zameer Ahmed Khan’s oath-taking figured even in theproceedings of the Legislative Council when rebel BJPleader Mukhyamantri Chandru said the coalitionGovernment owed the people of the state an apology forinducting a person in the Ministry, who was “ignorant”of Kannada.
It may be mentioned here that Zameer Ahmed Khan hadcreated a ripple during the swearing in ceremony onWednesday when he deviated from the convention oftaking oath in Kannada and in the name of God. He tookoath in English in the name of his mother and ChiefMinister H D Kumaraswamy.

Discontentment in JD (S), BJP spiralling out of

The discontentment in the JD (S) and BJP,triggered by Wednesday’s expansion of the coalitionMinistry appeared to be spiralling out of control withthe general Secretary of state JD (S) unit MahimaPatel tendering his resignation from the post and agroup of BJP legislators planning to write a detailedprotest letter to the party’s national leadership.
Peeved over being left out of the coalition Ministry,JD (S) MLA Mahima Patel, who is also the son of lateKarnataka Chief Minister J H Patel, has submitted hisresignation from the post of the party’s state unitgeneral secretary. “The party has lost its sense ofdirection. So, I have put in my papers”, said Patel,an aspirant for a ministerial berth, told reporters inBangalore.
Another former Minister belonging to the JD (S)Alangur Srinivas, who missed the ministerial busduring Wednesday’s expansion, too expressed his displeasure openly before meeting party supremo andformer Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and complainingabout the “humiliation” meted out to him.
JD (S) MLA G T Deve Gowda, who was also among thestrong claimants for a ministerial berth, complainedthat the party leadership had let him down.
Rebellion was also brewing in the ranks of the BJP,which is struggling hard to contain the widespreaddisenchantment among the aspirants. A group of seniorparty MLAs, including eight three-time MLAs, who hadbeen left out of the expansion exercise, met inBangalore and decided to write a detailed letter tothe party’s central leadership in New Delhi.
The disgruntled BJP leaders contended that DeputyChief Minister B S Yediyurappa and party’s state unitPresident D V Sadananda Gowda did not secure theapproval of the party’s national leadership beforeinducting the four partymen into the coalitionMinistry.
A section of these veteran MLAs, who have strong tieswith the Sangh Parivar, have also decided to bring thematter to the attention of RSS leadership. The MLAsfelt that newcomers to the party too had beenaccommodated in the Ministry at the cost of loyalparty workers, who have stood by the BJP since thelast several years.
The unrest among the party legislators, particularlyveteran MLAs, has become a source of concern to theparty’s state leadership, which is trying to quell thedissent, lest it assumes menacing proportions in thefuture.
Apart from facing the challenges of containing thedissent brewing in their respective parties, the JD(S) and BJP are also facing the charge of being“anti-women” by not inducting a single woman in thecoalition Ministry.
However, Chief Minister Kumaraswamy told reportersthat women will surely find a place in the coalitionMinistry during its next round of expansion to fillfour more vacancies.

Coalition Ministry in Karnataka expanded,

The JD (S)-BJP coalition Ministry inKarnataka was expanded yesterday with the induction ofeight Ministers – four each from both the parties.
As expected Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s elderbrother H D Revanna and JD (S) Karnataka unitPresident M P Prakash were inducted into the coalitionMinistry along with partymen Zameer Ahmed Khan and H KKumaraswamy.
The BJP brought in S A Ravindranath, Shivananda Naik,Revu Naik Belamagi and Shashikant Akkappa into theMinistry.
The new Ministers were administered oath of office andsecrecy by Governor T N Chaturvedi during a simplefunction at the Banquet Hall of Vidhana Soudha, theState Secretariat. Though the strength of thecoalition Ministry went up to 30 after Wednesday’sexercise against the optimal strength of 34, no womanmember has made it to the Ministry yet.
Also, the expansion of the Ministry sparked offdiscontentment in the coalition partner BJP with atleast two aspirants coming out strongly against theparty leadership’s refusal to accommodate them.
Three-time BJP MLA H S Shankarlinge Gowda was almost in tears when he told television channels that hesuspected a political conspiracy to keep him out ofMinistry. He lashed out publicly at Deputy ChiefMinister B S Yediyurappa and BJP’s state unitPresident Sadananda Gowda for ignoring his claim to aministerial berth.
“I have been elected thrice times consecutively. Wheneven the first-time MLAs are being given ministerialberths, there is no reason why I should be denied”, hesaid displaying a sense of hurt.
BJP’s Karnataka unit President of SC and ST wingRajendra Verma too publicly expressed his anger overbeing left out of the Ministry and threatened toresign from his party post.Though there were several others in the BJP as well asJD (S), who were aspiring for ministerial berths,their reaction remained muted and their emotions did not come into the open.
But, Chief Minister Kumaraswamy dismissed thediscontentment triggered by the expansion of theMinistry as “normal”. He referred to the four mor evacancies in the Ministry and said steps will be takento assuage the hurt feelings of the legislators by not only filling up the remaining berths in the coalitionMinistry, but also setting into motion the process ofappointment of chairpersons to various state-run Boards and Corporation.
BJP’s state President Sadananda Gowda too said theparty leadership will take steps to mollify theministerial aspirants, who were dejected after failing to make it to the coalition Ministry.

Man beheads sister, marches around village with

The residents of a village on the outskirtsof Bangalore woke up to the ghastly sight of a manwalking through the lanes holding the severed head ofhis sister.
Police said the incident took place at S Bingipuravillage, about 25 kms from Bangalore, on Monday morning.
Fifty three year old Hyder Sab alias Iqbal, a truckdriver, had a dispute with his sister Noor Jehan, agedabout fifty six years, over a little more than a acreof ancestral land in the village. The brother and sister were fighting the case in courts and had filedseveral civil suits in the regard.
On Monday morning, Hyder Sab went to the disputedproperty and began chopping into pieces a eucalyptustree that had been uprooted in the overnight rains.But, Noor Jehan learnt about and it and rushed todisputed site.
Claiming that the tree belonged to her,Noor Jehan prevented her brother from taking away thetree.When Hyder Sab argued that the court ruling had beenin his favour, Noor Jehan began shouting for herchildren and threatened to kill him. An enraged HyderSab pinned her sister down and chopped her head.
After severing Noor Jehan’s head from the body, HyderSab marched through the lanes of the village, carryingthe head, dripping with blood, in one hand and thechopper in the other. Shocked and frightened, thevillagers did not dare approach Hyder Sab, who startedwalking out of the village.
He sat on a stone bench outside the village and lit abidi, much to the bewilderment of the villagers. Later, he returned to the disputed property and stayedthere till the police arrived and took him intocustody. Police officials have expressed shock over the incident, as both of them were elderly persons.
WhileHyder Sab had two sons, his sister Noor Jehan, awidow, had a son and a daughter. The property disputebetween the brother and sister had been raging sincetheir parents died several years ago.

Kumaraswamy moves into CM’s official residence with cows in toe

When H D Kumaraswamy moved into the newly renovated official residence of the Chief Minister of Karnataka in Bangalore earlier this week, three cows, a bull and two calves followed him, arousing the curiosity of the officials and the general public.

But, the Chief Minister told reporters during the house-warming ceremony that the bovines were a gift from the pontiff of a religious institution in Karnataka’s Shimoga district and he had promised to keep the cows with him and rear them.

One of the cows named Nandini, which will stay in the Chief Minister’s official residence, belongs to the Gir breed, known for its high milk-yield. “I come from an agriculture background and I am comfortable with a cow-shed in the backyard”, Kumaraswamy told reporters.

But, few people knew that the Chief Minister was particular on building a cow-shed in his backyard of his official residence when the renovation of was going on. The cow-shed in the “Vastu-compliant” official residence of the Chief Minister is big enough to accommodate more than a dozen cows.

Kumaraswamy was not just following in the footsteps of former Deputy Prime Minister of India Devi Lal and former Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, both of whom reared cows in their residences. He was continuing with the tradition of his father H D Deve Gowda, who kept cows in the same residence when he was the Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1994-96.

However, Deve Gowda’s successors – J H Patel, S M Krishna and Dharam Singh – did not have such interest in rearing cattle. They had got the cow-shed demolished, built during Gowda’s tenure.

Coalition Ministry expansion in Karnataka on Wednesday – Chief Minister

After burying their differences over the controversial Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC), the JD (S)-BJP coalition Government in Karnataka has decided to go ahead with its much-delayed cabinet expansion on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters after participating in a co-ordination committee meeting of the coalition partners in Bangalore yesterday, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said the two parties had agreed to carry out the four-and-a-half month-old coalition Government’s first Cabinet expansion on Wednesday.

Both the parties are expected to add four members each to their ministerial team during the expansion.

Though each coalition partner is entitled to having 17 ministers each in the 34-member ministry, the BJP had inducted eleven ministers while the JD (S) had brought in nine ministers soon after the H D Kumaraswamy-led Government was formed in February this year.

But, intense lobbying and threat of rebellion had forced the Government to postpone the Cabinet expansion several times in the last few months.

Though the BJP has kept its list of Ministers to be included during Wednesday’s exercise under wraps, the JD (S) sources did not rule out the possibility of Chief Minister Kumaraswamy roping in his brother and former Minister H D Revanna into his ministerial team. Former Deputy Chief Minister M P Prakash is also widely expected to return to the Government.

BJP retains four legislative council seats, JD (S) and Congress bite the dust

The BJP managed to retain four seats during the elections to the Karnataka Legislative Council from six different teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies across the State.

Its coalition partner JD (S), which had contested the polls independently, and the Opposition Congress drew a blank while two independents emerged victorious in the keenly contested elections to the Legislative Council.

Though the JD (S) and the Congress too had campaigned aggressively in the elections, their hopes were dashed by two independents – A Narayanaswamy, who won the South East Teachers’ constituency, and Marithibbe Gowda, who was re-elected from South Teachers’ constituency.

Among the triumphant BJP candidates were two Ministers – D H Shankarmurthy, who retained the Karnataka South West Graduates’ constituency while Ramachandre Gowda was re-elected from the Bangalore Graduates’ constituency for a fourth term.

The other BJP candidates, who won the elections to the Legislative Council, are Manohar Maski from North East Graduates constituency and Ganesh Karnik from the South West Teachers’ constituency.

The elections to the six Legislative Council seats were held to fill up two vacancies arising in the wake of the death of the members and four members, who were due to retire this month.

JD (S)-BJP stand-off on BMIC row ends

The stand-off between the coalition partners JD (S) and BJP in Karnataka over the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project ended with the JD (S) deciding to drop its proposal to bring in a piece of legislation to take-over the controversial project.

A decision to back down on its bid to introduce a Bill in the ensuing session of the State Legislature was taken late on Sunday night at the JD (S) Legislature Party meeting attended by the party’s national President and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda.

JD (S) MLC and spokesperson Y S V Datta told reporters that the party had dropped the idea of introducing a Bill, but the added that the coalition Government would fight a legal battle against Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE), which is implementing the BMIC project, and force it to confine its project to the original framework agreement.

JD (S) decision to back down on its proposal to take over the Rs 23 billion project comes in the face of stiff opposition from its coalition partner the BJP.

Meanwhile, the BJP remained steadfast on its stand against a Government take-over of the project. The BJP Legislature Party meeting held in Bangalore on Monday proposed a three-point formula to its coalition partner JD (S) on the BMIC project.

Speaking to reporters after the BJP’s Legislature Party meeting, senior party leader M Venkaiah Naidu said the party was of the firm opinion that the BMIC project should not be scrapped or taken over by the Government. Secondly, the excess land should be identified and handed back to the farmers. And thirdly, since NICE was making a “windfall”, the private company should undertake social responsibility by providing houses to the affected and taking up community services.

Naidu said the party would convey its stand to its coalition partner JD (S). “We are sure they will appreciate our view. In principle, we want the project”, he added.

The confrontation between the coalition partners JD (S) and the BJP on the BMIC issue ended just before the monsoon session of the Karnataka Legislature could begin on Monday.

But, proceedings of the Assembly began on a stormy note on Monday with the Opposition Congress mounting a scathing attack on the coalition Government on the BMIC issue and demanding the resignation of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.

Soon after the House met, former Chief Minister Dharam Singh referred to the claims made by Kumaraswamy that the Managing Director of NICE Ashok K Kheny had tried to bribe him through a journalist. “The Chief Minister had no moral right to continue in power as he had failed to take action against the Managing Director of NICE and the journalist, who had tried to bribe him”.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President M Mallikarjun Kharge joined Dharam Singh and argued that a person who fails to report bribery cases to the police is also guilty under the Indian Penal Code. “The Chief Minister has committed an offence by not reporting the matter to the police. He may plead ignorance of the provisions of law. A person ignorant of law has no right to hold the office of the Chief Minister”, he said.

But, Kumaraswamy declared that he would not resign. “I will not run away. I am not a coward. I will reply to your allegation at an appropriate time”, he said. But, pandemonium broke out in the House with JD (S) members and Congress members clashing over the issue, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House for some time.