Temple car set afire in Chamarajanagar

Shivamogga: A Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation (KMVSTDC) officer reportedly ended his life in his residence at Vinobnagar in the city on Sunday evening by hanging himself from a fan.

According to police, the deceased has been identified as Chandrashekhar (52), serving as Superintendent in the KMVSTDC office in Bengaluru. He took the extreme step when his spouse Kavita and others had been to Machenahalli near Bhadravathi to attend the funeral ceremony of a relative. 

In his death note, he charged that the corporation's Managing Director JG Padmanabh, Accounts officer Parashuram Durugannavar, and Union Bank of India Chief Manager Shuchismatha Rawal are responsible for his death. He also alleged that the funds to the tune of Rs 187.33 crore had been allegedly transferred to various accounts following pressure by the managing director of the corporation. He could not understand the conspiracy, he said.

The bank had not issued a cheque book, or a passbook yet. Besides, financial irregularities amounting to Rs 85 crore had also taken place in the corporation and the officers had transferred cash to various accounts violating the norms, he explained. 

He also claimed that neither is he part of any such illegal activity, nor did he cheat anyone. However, the only mistake he did was that he could not complete writing down the details of transactions in the cheque book and cash register due to work pressure. "I am not a coward. But I can't face any insult. I did not find any other way. Please forgive me".

Kavita, his spouse, had lodged a complaint against three officers in Vinobnagar police station on the basis of the death note.

Posting on X, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R Ashoka demanded Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to sack minister B Nagendra from the cabinet and order for a probe into the suicide.

Terming it as murder, he said, the officer took the extreme step when the other officials tried to fix him in the scam of the corporation. "How many people have to lose their lives for the government's commission hunger?" he questioned. 

Bengaluru: Mines and Geology Minister S S Mallikarjun on Monday did not rule out a Cabinet reshuffle after the election results. 

"You should ask the chief minister. But one can't say... it (reshuffle) might happen," Mallikarjun told reporters when asked about speculation that some ministers may be dropped. 

Mallikarjun said this a week after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said there was no plan to reshuffle his Cabinet. 

There is speculation over a Cabinet rejig and that the Congress high command would hold ministers accountable if the party does badly in the Lok Sabha polls. 

Bengaluru: Patients visiting government hospitals in Karnataka recently were shocked when they noticed that some drugs had labels of Animal Husbandry Veterinary Sciences (AHVS) but the department concerned has said it was only a logo related issue and that the medicines were indeed meant for human use.

The Karnataka State Medical Supplies Corporation Limited (KSMSCL) said there was an error in the 'logogram' design, but the product was of standard quality and 'human use only'.

As the typo led to panic among patients, KSMSCL Managing Director Chidananda Sadashiva Vatare said in a statement that the product permission copies were submitted and confirmed they were permitted to manufacture as per required medical standards and for human use only.

According to sources in KSMSCL, there were seven drugs which had the AHVS label. This included eye and nasal drops.

These drugs were supplied by a private firm with a total value of Rs 62.9 lakh and it reached the government warehouse on January 5, this year.

The drugs were Methyl Prednisolone injection, Carboxymethylcellulose Eye Drops, Oxymetazoline Pediatric (Nasal) Drops, Flurbiprofen Eye Drops IP, Sodium Chloride (Nasal) Drops, Timolol Maleate Drops and Oxymetazoline Hydrochloride (Nasal) Solution IP.

"The analytical test reports from NABL/government approved laboratories and in-house test reports of the products opined as the products referred above are of standard quality. The test reports from the private empanelled laboratories of KSMSCL have reported these products are of standard quality," Vatare said.

The products were supplied to all the warehouses in the state by the supplier by January 5, he said, adding the supplier requested KSMSCL on January 18 to accept the supplied products by masking the typo.

"It is to be noted that no changes were done in the label of the product information provided. Also, the logogram design was correct in one part of the product and only in another part was there a printing error in the logogram design which was masked, where instead of Health department it was typed as AHVS department."

"The supplier was also imposed a fine of one per cent on the purchase order value and all warehouses were instructed to distribute the products only after masking the error. The supplier was also warned not to repeat the mistake," he said.