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2 DECCAN HERALD
Friday, December 12, 2014
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Metro
In brief
Baby ‘exchanged’ at
Vani Vilas Hospital
»
There was commotion
at the State-run Vani Vilas Hospital in the City on
Thursday afternoon, after a
family claimed that their
baby was exchanged soon
after the delivery.
Sagar, brother of Sudha
who delivered twins in the
afternoon, alleged that one
of the child was exchanged.
“My sister was admitted
to the hospital at around
2.30 pm and she gave birth
to twins at around 4 pm.
Initially, a doctor told family
that Sudha had delivered
twins but the baby girl had
died while the boy was
healthy,” Sagar said.
Minutes later, the family
was shocked after they were
handed over a girl child and
told that the boy baby had
died due to ill health.
“We refused to believe
that the child is ours. How
can facts change within a
span of five minutes?” Sagar
questioned.
The family has lodged a
police complaint and also
given its consent for DNA
matching. “We are told that
an inquiry would be conducted tomorrow and are
awaiting for the same,” he
said.
Meanwhile, sources in
the Hospital said that the
confusion began after the
family refused to accept the
fact that the new born was
dead.
However, another family
claimed that they were
handed over a female child
even as the mother had
gaven birth to a male child.
“The hospital authorities
are contemplating getting a
DNA test done to resolve
the issue,” the source added.
Sangliana’s
daughter lodges
complaint
»
Retired top cop and former MP H T Sangliana’s
daughter Rachel has lodged
a complaint, at Adugodi police station on Thursday,
against two women accusing them of assaulting and
racially abusing her at a super market in the city on
Dec 07.
The police booked cases
against the duo under IPC
Sec 153A (racial abuse), 323
(assault ) and 341(wrongful
restraint).
Rachel, who refused to
lodge complaint on the day
of the occurrance of crime,
approached Police Commissioner M N Reddi with the
complaint. Reddi directed
her to the jurisdictional police station.
After the alleged incident
was reported in media, the
local police went to the spot
and verified the closed circuit camera images. The
police had claimed that it
was Rachel who triggered
the incident. She refused to
lodge the complaint following the suggestion by local
police.
Governor seeks
tax rebate for
non-Kannada films
»
Governor Vajubhai
Vala on Thursday said
that minimum tax should
be imposed on films
screened at film festivals.
Speaking on the sidelines of the valedictory of
the seventh Bangalore International Film Festival,
the governor said, “In
Karnataka, for Kannada
films there is 100 per cent
tax concession. Similarly
other language films that
convey a good message
should be given tax concession.”
The governor said that
movies of other languages
that have a strong and
positive message should
be made in Kannada also
and supported the idea of
remaking.
A total of 170 films from
45 countries were showcased in the film festival.
The best films were
awarded Rs two lakh each
and films chosen under
Special Jury awards were
given Rs one lakh each.
The award-winning
films under Kannada cinema competition - Agasi
Parlour, Hajj, December 1,
Atti Hannu Mathu Kanaja
and Prakruthi; under Indian film competition - Unto
the Desk, Pannaiyarmum
Padminiyum, Yalo; Asian
cinema category - Labour
of Love and Daughter.
It’s official: 90 pc of roads in B’luru substandard
BENGALURU: The quality of
roads in Bengaluru just cannot get worse. A report by
the Quality Control Engineering (QCE) wing of the
Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)states
that more than 90 per cent
of the roads are substandard.
Zone-wise quality test
■ South Division: 42 works inspected, seven confirmed
standard, 32 substandard
■ East Division: 21 works inspected, all substandard
■ West Division: 37 works inspected, two confirmed standard, 35 substandard
■ Bommanahalli: One work
found substandard.
Officials of the wing have inspected 189 works, executed
between April and September,
Following the report, Upa
2014, and found that 171 works Lokayukta Justice Subhash
did not conform to quality Adi has issued notice to BBMP
standards.
commissioner and executive
28 shops in Malleswaram
market razed to the ground
BENGALURU: As many as 28
shops at the Malleswaram old
market on Sampige Road were
razed to the ground by the
Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) amid
heavy security on Thursday
morning as per a High Court
order.
Before the demolition could
begin, the traders protested for
half an hour by blocking the
road to prevent the Palike personnel from entering the marketplace. One of them even
threatened to set himself
ablaze. But the BBMP team
continued the demolition using
earthmovers.
B R Nanjundappa, chairperson of the BBMP Standing
Committee on Markets, told
Deccan Herald, “We had identified 88 shops to be demolished for building a shopping
complex here. We had issued
notices to the traders on December 6 itself. Over 88 temporary shops have been constructed behind the market by
the Bangalore Development
Authority (BDA) and the
traders have been allotted
those shops.”
A Memorandum of Understanding ( MoU) was signed between the BDA and the BBMP
for the construction of the
shopping complex in 2012.
“The court favoured us and
gave a go-ahead for the project.
Hence, we raze the shops to the
ground. We will demolish the
remaining 60 shops in the
coming days,” he added.
G Chandrashekhar, secretary, Malleswaram Fruit and
Vegetable Market Association,
said that there were a total of
241 shops in the market, all of
which were occupied by the
traders though temporary
shops had been allotted to
them. “The temporary shops
are built on a Storm Water
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Traders to be
relocated
According to sources in the
Palike, the multi-storey
building will have 250
shops in the ground ﬂoor
and the traders would be
relocated there. B R Nanjundappa, chairperson of
the BBMP Standing Committee on Markets, said the
BDA could not shelve the
project now and if it did,
that would be contempt of
court.
“It has already spent
around Rs four crore for
the preparation of the project report, ﬂoating tenders,
building temporary shops
among others. It will be a
blunder if it drops the project,” he added.
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Drain and not fit for us to move
in. Also, one shop has been given to two to three traders.
Where will the remaining 153
traders go,” he asked.
BBMP officials present at the
spot said that the remaining
153 traders would be allotted
temporary shops gradually.
The demolition was stopped in
the afternoon on a direction of
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah
directed the BBMP officials.
“Some days ago, BDA Commissioner T Sham Bhatt told
the media that they were planning to reconsider their decision to develop the market as
the land does not belong to
them. Despite the project on
the verge of being shelved, the
civic agency has demolished
shops. It has an ulterior motive,” RTI activist BM Shivakumar claimed.
DH News Service
■ Rajarajeshwarinagar: 20
works inspected, three confirmed standard, 17 substandard
■ Yelahanka: Two works inspected, found substandard
■ Dasarahalli: Six works inspected, found substandard
■ Mahadevapura: 18 inspected, 4 standard, 14 substandard
engineer (Quality Control) to
furnish the statement of utilisation of funds during 201314 towards road works. Justice
Adi has directed the BBMP
commissioner to submit a report in person by January 7,
2015.
“If road work or any civil
work is executed during rainy
season, it may also amount to
deliberately screening the evidence of substandard work. I
have sought a report on the
action initiated in pursuance
of the report of the executive
engineer of Quality Control,”
Justice Adi said.
The QCE wing report says
that of the road works inspected, only 9.52 per cent were ap-
proved as standard, while the
remaining were substandard
or inferior. It said that use of
substandard construction materials was also the reason for
pathetic condition of the
roads.
“The office of the Quality
Control has not recommended action against the engineers or contractors concerned for substandard works.
Besides, the BBMP has not initiated any action in this regard. These 189 works were
executed within a span of six
months and that too during
City has only eight
registered taxi operators
BENGALURU, DHNS: Only
eight taxi service providers
in the City are registered
with the Transport department and hence can continue their operations, according to the officials of the
Transport department.
According to officials, the
following operators - traditional, radio and aggregate service
providers have registered with
the department - Meru Cabs,
Ola, Easy Cabs, KSTDC, Rapid,
Spot City Taxi, Bangalore
Clubs and Mega Cabs.
As per the transport department officials, all the unregistered operators would be plying illegally.
“Only these eight operators
are registered with different
RTOs and the unregistered
ones will be deemed illegal. If
their taxis are found to be plying, they will be penalised.
Even the permits of individual
taxis associated with these operators may be cancelled,”
Transport Commissioner
Ramegowda told Deccan Herald.
Officials, however, added
that the department was waiting for a clearance from the
State government to issue a notification in this regard. A draft
has been sent to the minister
who is in Belagavi for the ongoing legislature session. The
same would be issued on Friday, said an official.
When contacted on its nonregistration, an official of TaxiforSure said, “TaxiforSure has
not received any official communication from the authorities of Bengaluru on stopping
our partner vehicles. We will
continue to work with the government, and instruct and aid
our partner network to follow
the processes and procedures
rainy season. It is not known
why rainy season is chosen for
executing asphalting work,”
Justice Adi said.
Irregularities
Saidatta, president of the Karnataka Janahita Vedike, had
filed a complaint with the Upa
Lokayukta alleging irregularities in road works taken up by
BBMP during 2013-14. The
complaint said that the BBMP
had spent nearly Rs 1,000
crore on development and
construction of roads.
However, none of the roads DH News Service
Gitam varsity invites
applications for engg,
pharma courses
BENGALURU: Offering special scholarships for toppers
in board examinations and
in the entrance test, Gitam
University has invited applications for admissions to
engineering, pharmacy and
architecture courses for the
academic year 2015-16.
Admissions for undergraduate and postgraduate courses
will be done based on an online
entrance test - Gitam Admission Test 2015 (GAT 2015). The
applications are available on
website www.gitam.edu. The
Taxi operators stage a protest against fare war by pulling a
last date for sending filled-in
cab by rope in the City on Thursday. DH PHOTO
applications for the test is
March 31, 2015. The online
that were discussed and mutu- ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| tests will be held from April 20
ally accepted in our earlier
to May 10. The test results will
meeting.”
be announced on May 16, 2015.
No
clarity
on
“ Our business model is asSpeaking to mediapersons
set-light, which means we don’t
here on Thursday, university
Uber services
own any taxis. We work with
Vice Chancellor Prof G SubMeanwhile, the Uber app
operators who work with drivrahmanyam said the tests will
was available for download
ers. Our technological prowess
be conducted at 38 different
on Thursday, a day after
and economies of scale, helps
centres across the country. In
the Transport minister anus reduce operating costs and
Karnataka, the online test will
nounced that Uber servicpass on the resulting gains to
be conducted at centres on Gies would be banned in the
customers. To ensure our busitam Bengaluru campus, BenState. The department too
ness model also meets the law
galuru City, Ballari, Huballi,
did not issue any notiﬁcaof the land, we take care to partMysuru and Mangaluru.
tion in this regard. Anyone
ner with those operators who
In the Bengaluru campus, 25
could book a taxi on Uber
have valid documents and verper cent of the total seats are
as long as the app is availifications in place.”
reserved for students from
able.
“In wake of the recent develKarnataka, the VC said. The
According to sources, the
opments, we are working with
university offers eight branches
our operators closely and are
Transport department
of engineering at its branch in
instructing and aiding them to
lacks any mechanism to
the City. Applications for GAT
follow the processes and proare available at Rs 1,000 for
ensure that post-ban, Uber
cedures that were discussed
male applicants and at Rs 600
taxis go off the roads. Uber
and mutually accepted in our
for female applicants.
taxis do not sport any logo
meetings with the authorities”,
According to Subrahof the company.
a statement from the company
manyam, the university will
said.
also offer several scholarships
The transport department plete documents, ‘City Taxi’ for meritorious students. If a
on Thursday booked 250 taxis board missing etc. The officials candidate secures a position
in the City for various violations said that the drive will continue within the top 10 ranks in the
such as not having digital me- in the days to come.
admission test, the tuition fee
ters, permit violations, incom- DH News Service
for the course will be completely waived. In addition, for rank
holders (from 11 to 100), 50 per
cent of the tuition fee will be
waived, he said.
The university will also offer
Bengaluru serial blasts case moved to NIA special court
BENGALURU: The 2008 Bengaluru serial blasts cases have
been transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA)
special court. The High Court
of Karnataka issued an order in
this regard on Wednesday in
exercise of its powers under section 407 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
Trial in Bengaluru’s first se-
rial blasts will continue at the
NIA special court, the 49th Additional City Civil Sessions
Court, from Friday onwards.
The cases were being tried at
the 34th Additional City Civil
Sessions Court at the Central
Prison, Parappana Agrahara
premises. The public prosecutor in the case had filed a
memo, quoting section 22 (4)
of the NIA Act, stating that
even a pending or under-trial
case shall stand transferred to
the NIA court. The 34th Additional City Civil Sessions Court
judge had forwarded the matter to the Principal District
Judge for “further appropriate
order”.
As many as 1,023 out of the
total 2,060 witnesses in the cas-
es have been examined so far,
according to a senior advocate.
The trial will continue before
the NIA court from Friday onwards, the advocate said. Bengaluru police had registered
nine cases pertaining to the serial blasts that rocked the City
on July 25, 2008.
It could be recalled that the
main accused in the serial
blasts case, T Nasir, had allegedly threatened an important witness in the case outside
the special court located at the
Central Prison premises,
Parappana Agrahara in November. An FIR was then registered at the Parappana Agra- BENGALURU, DHNS: The Fedhara police station against eration of Clubs-Karnataka has
decided to form a committee
Nasir in this regard.
DH News Service
to approach Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Excise Minister
Satish Jharkiholi and other
stakeholders to amicably sort
out issues, if there are any.
“We want to be a law-abiding
body and we will do everything
that is necessary to be law-abid||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ing citizens. Let the higher authorities and the Excise minister and the chief minister tell
Security near
us what needs to be done and
theatres
fulfilled. We are ready to do so,”
When it comes to release
the Federation members,
of Rajini movies, City poheaded by its president Feroze
lice do not take chance. PoSattar Sait and secretary H S
lice personnel have already
Srikanth, stated at a press conbeen deployed near theference on Thursday.
atres that will screen LinThe press meet was called to
gaa.
clear anxieties that have
A senior police ofﬁcer said,
cropped up in the wake of can“Huge crowds will be
cellation of the excise licence
thronging the theatres and
of the Bangalore Club. How the
to make sure that no untoissue is settled at the Club is
ward incident takes place,
important because it has imwe have already deployed
plications for the functioning
police at the theatres. Also,
of other clubs in the City and
there will be more than 10
the State.
police constables near
The Federation decided to
each theatre which screen
form the committee at the earthe movie. They will also
liest. Apart from the chief minmake sure that the celebrations will not disturb the
public or motorists.”
Nikhil Gangadhar
BENGALURU: “All the Rajini
fans, don’t miss the chance,”
goes a popular number from
Shah Rukh Khan-starrer
‘Chennai Express.’ And Thalaiva’s fans are not the ones
to let go of this chance.
Huge posters adorn Mukunda theatre on the eve of the release of ‘Lingaa,’ a Rajanikanth
starrer, on Thursday. DH PHOTO
Rajinikanth’s 64th birthday.”
“The association members
have already erected a huge
cut-out in front of Mukunda
theatre in Maruthi Seva Nagar. This time we will carry
out 'abhisekam' for the cut-out
with 200 litres of milk, 100
litres of Panchamrutha and
garlands made of roses and
other flowers. They will also
take out a procession from
Kammanahalli to Mukunda
Theatre, after which a 50-Kg
cake moulded in the form of
star with Rajini’s face, will be
cut and distributed to the fans,
who will gather to watch the
first day first show,” Bhaskar
said.1
Crazy fans
Another die-hard Rajini fan
Vivek, said, “Different types of
crackers will burst during the
procession. The fans are crazy
when it comes to Rajinikanth.
Every association will celebrate the release of the movie
in their own unique way.”
Scores of fans are eagerly
awaiting to watch the movie
because of its Karnataka connection. The producer of the
movie is Rockline Venkatesh,
a Banglorean and a Kannada
film producer, actor and distributor. Also, the climax
scene of the movie was shot
near Linganamakki dam in
Sagar taluk of Shivamogga
district. More importantly, Rajini himself has his roots in
Bengaluru.
It will be a treat to watch
the way the fans celebrate the
release of the movie. People
were seen standing in queues
VC Prof G Subrahmanyam
scholarships to students whose
family income is Rs 2 lakh or
less per annum. Monthly scholarships of Rs 2,000 will be given to five per cent of the students in each department
depending on the student’s
merit and the income of his/her
parent. Merit scholarships of
Rs 8,000 will be given to three
GATE-qualified students of M
Tech in every programme of
study. Stipends and teaching
assistanceships are also being
given to M Tech and M Pharmacy students – Rs 5,000 per
month to three students in
every programme.
Students who have topped
the state and central board exams (first rank holders) in Plus
2 courses will be given direct
admission without having to
appear for GAT, the VC said.
Director (Admissions) K
Narendra said the eligibility for
admission is a minimum of 60
per cent marks in the Plus 2
level examinations. As for admissions to the architecture
course, students will have to
appear for either NATA or JEE
in addition to GAT. The university is also registered under
Comed-K. Hence, even if a candidate misses out on GAT, they
will be offered admission based
on the Comed-K ranking.
The Karnataka CET ranking, too, will be considered, but
the university will not be a part
of the CET counselling, Narendra said.
DH News Service
Clubs to meet CM, Excise
minister to sort out ‘issues’
Rajini fans gear up to welcome ‘Lingaa’
Rajinikanth’s fans in the
City are all geared up for the
release of the much-awaited
movie Lingaa.
Their Thalaiva’s posters
have already adorned the cinemas across the City, a day
ahead of the release of his
much-hyped movie. The
movie is scheduled to hit theatres on Friday, which coincidentally is Rajini’s birthday.
The movie is said to release
at several theatres and multiplexes across the City. The
fans were seen putting up
huge posters and cut-outs of
their hero.
Bhaskar, also known as Rajini Bhaskar, the president of
Andavar Thunai Rajini Fans’
Association in Kammanahalli,
said, “We are getting to watch
our living god on screen in the
ultimate typical Rajinikanth
style. It is a much-awaited
movie which is being released
in various countries across the
world and in several languages. The release will be
special as it co-incides with
is of standard quality. Saidatta
has provided a copy of the
QCE report, along with the
complaint, and has blamed
contractors, BBMP officials
and local political leaders for
the substandard works.
He said that the officials had
misappropriated funds by
clearing bills for substandard
works. The complainant stated that the BBMP commissioner had not taken any action on the complaint filed in
this regard by the Opposition
Leader in the BBMP Council.
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near the theatres from Thursday morning itself. It is said
that every theatre will run extra shows based on the demands of the fans. Also, there
will be a separate show called
Fan Show, which will be
scheduled as early as 6 am or
7 am, says, Senthil Kumar, an
interior designer.
DH News Service
ister and Excise minister, the
Federation will meet officials
of the BBMP, the Excise department, Bescom and BWSSB
to sort out issues if there are
any.
President Sait and secretary
Srikanth said the clubs were
contributing to the revenue of
the State and also that they
were selling liquor of only the
Karnataka State Beverages
Corporation Limited. “We are
not selling foreign liquor or
duty-free liquor or from any
other source except the KSBCL. We are following the law
and we would be happy if the
stakeholders tell us if there are
any issues. We are willing to
sort out all of them. We are also
not involved in any commercial
activity.”
Sait and Srikanth also made
the point that the clubs were
keen to be associated with
sports personalities, especially
those who have done the City,
the State and the country
proud. “We want to focus on
the development of society and
we welcome any idea that will
help sharpen our vision and focus.”
Clear encroachment of footpaths: HC
»
The High Court on Thursday directed the BBMP to
remove all encroachment in
five localities, CMH Road, Vidyaranyapura, Millers’ Road,
Jayanagara and Vasanthnagar
and submit a report along with
photographs during the next
hearing.
Hearing the PIL on rampant
encroachment upon footpaths
in the aforementioned areas, a
division bench comprising
Chief Justice D H Waghela and
Justice R B Budihal asked the
Bescom counsel to be present
as transformers also amount to
encroachment on the footpath.
The BBMP counsel has assured
the bench that all encroachments would be removed and a
report and photographs would
be produced in the next hearing on Dec15.

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