Gauri killing, Infosys turmoil mark 2017 in Karnataka

Agencies
December 25, 2017

Bengaluru, Dec 25: The killing of journalist- activist Gauri Lankesh and the boardroom battle at IT giant Infosys marked the high point of variegated developments from Karnataka during 2017, which also saw political parties sounding the bugle for the Assembly polls early next year.

Diary entries by a political aide of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, indicating payments to Congress leadership; IT raids against Power Minister D K Shivakumar and factional feud within BJP against party chief B S Yeddyurappa made political waves in the state.

The Siddaramaiah government also stirred a hornet's nest as it initiated a move for a separate flag for the state and providing a legal standing for it, which came under severe criticism with some equating it to Jammu and Kashmir, which enjoys a special status under Article 370 of the Constitution.

The demand for a separate religion tag to Veerashaiva- Lingayat faith also surfaced from the numerically strong and politically-influential community.

The year also saw ousted AIADMK leader V K Sasikala's return to central prison here with the Supreme Court upholding her conviction in a disproportionate assets case. This came at a time when she was staking claim as successor to the legacy of Tamil Nadu's former chief minister J Jayalalithaa, who died last year.

Preferential treatment extended in jail to Sasikala made national headlines, after senior woman IPS officer D Roopa blew the lid over "corrupt practices".

The year also saw city-headquartered Isro that was on a success spree, taste failure after a long gap, with its trusteworkhorsese, PSLV failing to launch backup navigation satellite IRNSS-1H into the orbit due to technical fault.

The year began with public outrage over horrific incidents of mass molestation and groping of women in Bengaluru on New Year's Eve.

The year also saw a spurt in communal tension in coastal districts and incidents of political murders in different parts of the state, raising the political temperature with the BJP accusing the ruling Congress of being "soft" on "jihadi elements".

The audacious attack by unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants by pumping bullets into 55-year-old Lankesh, known for her left-leaning outlook and forthright views against Hindutva politics on September 5 created a national outrage and rekindled the debate on freedom of expression and free thinking.

Though there are allegations holding right-wing organisations and also Maoists responsible for her killing, police who have released sketches of the suspects are yet to nab the culprits.

Rationalist M M Kalburgi was killed in a similar fashion at his residence in Dharward, in August 2015.

Politically, the year witnessed all three parties-the Congress, the BJP and the JDS- kick-start preparations in the run-up to Assembly polls early next year, amid efforts to sort out differences among their respective top leadership.

While there is disgruntlement in the BJP between Yeddyurappa and other senior leaders, including K S Eshwarappa, over the former chief minister's style of functioning, post the intervention of party's national chief Amit Shah, all the leaders have embarked on a state wide 'parivartana yatra' to "expose the misdeeds" of the Siddaramaiah government.

The Congress, too, with an intention to retain power has planned yatras across the state amid reports about differences between Siddaramaiah and KPCC chief G Parameshwara.

According to insiders, the party's old guard, including Parameshwara, are disgruntled with high command's announcement that Siddaramaiah will be the party's face during polls.

The JDS, too, has its own set of internal issues, most importantly within the family of party supremo and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda over how many members from the family will contest the assembly polls.

There is a growing demand from within the family for tickets, despite Gowda maintaining only his two sons Kumaraswamy and Revanna will contest.

Among the other developments that made national headlines politically from the state include issue relates to a diary reportedly recovered by the Income Tax department from the residence of the chief minister's Parliamentary Secretary K Govindaraju.

The entries reportedly show a few acronyms similar to the names of some central Congress leaders, indicating payments.

In an action that became a hot political issue for the Congress to target the Modi government, the Income Tax department conducted raids on properties linked to Karnataka Energy Minister D K Shivakumar in connection with a tax evasion case.

Shivakumar at the time was hosting 44 Gujarat Congress MLAs at a resort on the city outskirts to thwart the "poaching" attempts by the BJP ahead of Rajya Sabha polls in that state.

Ahmed Patel, the political secretary to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, was a contestant in the election to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat, which he eventually won.

During the I-T raids at about 66 places across the country, the department officials claimed they had seized cash and jewellery worth over Rs 15 crore. The I-T department is yet to make an official statement regarding the outcome.

The other development that can be marked as important this year is separate religion status demand for Veerashaiva- Lingayat faith.

However, there is resentment within the community over projecting Lingayats and Veerashaivas as the same.

While one section under "Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva Mahasabha" has demanded a separate religion status, asserting that Veerashaiva and Lingayats are the same, the other wants it only for Lingayats as they believe that Veerashaiva is one among the seven sects of Shaivas, which is part of Hinduism.

The Veerashaiva-Lingayat community that pays allegiance to the 12th century "social reform movement" initiated by Basaveshwara has a substantial population in Karnataka, especially in the northern parts of the state.

The BJP and several sections of the Hindu community are opposed to the move to give Veerashaiva-Lingayat separate religion status and have accused the Siddaramaiah government of dividing the society to draw political mileage ahead of assembly elections due early next year.

On the business front, Vishal Sikka, the first non-founder CEO of Infosys, resigned amid heightened acrimony between the board and the high-profile founders led by N R Narayana Murthy, who had demanded a clean-up at the country's second-largest software services firm.

Over the next few days, the then chairman R Seshasayee and two others also relinquished their positions.

Murthy, along with some former Infosys executives, had claimed serious corporate governance lapses and questioned the high severance packages paid to former CFO and others.

Another major contention was the acquisition of the Israeli automation technology firm Panaya by Infosys. The founders citing whistleblower reports had raised concerns about the $200 million buyout.

Nandan Nilekani, one of the Infosys co-founders and Aadhaar architect, was brought in as non-executive chairman to restore order at the embattled company, and was tasked with finding Sikka's successor as the shareholder sentiment was hit by the developments at the firm.

Concluding the three-month high-profile executive search, Infosys earlier this month appointed Salil S Parekh who was a member of the group executive board at French firm Capgemini as its CEO and managing director.

In another development, as a major setback on August 31, India's mission to launch its backup navigation satellite IRNSS-1H on board PSLV-C39 ended in a failure after a technical fault on the final leg following a perfect launch.

City-headquartered Isro has said the heat shield did not separate on the final leg of the launch sequence and, as a result, IRNSS-1H got stuck in the fourth stage of the rocket.

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News Network
November 12,2024

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The UN humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon has warned that the “picture of life in Lebanon remains grim,” highlighting an "alarming" level of human suffering and significant humanitarian consequences due to the ongoing Israeli carnage.

Imran Riza, the UN Deputy Special Coordinator and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon (UNSCOL), provided a stark overview of the Arab country's dire circumstances in a statement released on Monday.

“The current picture of life in Lebanon remains grim. Yesterday, airstrikes reportedly killed 23 people, including seven children, in the village of Aalmat in Mount Lebanon,” Riza said on X.

An airstrike in the city of Tyre on the same day resulted in the tragic deaths of five siblings from a single family, all of whom had special needs, according to his statement.

He added that in the last week, Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 241 individuals and left 642 others injured in Lebanon, as reported by the Ministry of Health.

“In the past month, more than 185,000 people have fled their homes in their search for safety within the country, bringing the total to over 870,000 people internally displaced,” Riza said

The UN official highlighted that numerous individuals, including the elderly and those with health issues, are staying behind while witnessing the ruins of their ancestral homes.

He urged for the swift safeguarding of civilian people and infrastructure, emphasizing the necessity to uphold international humanitarian law and end the ongoing violence.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israeli forces bombed a house in the town of Maydoun in Bekaa on Monday night, killing three people and destroying the house.

Earlier, Israel bombed the northern town of Ain Yaaqoub, killing at least 14 people.

The killings came as Israeli military continued to pound Lebanon, bombing shops selling electrical appliances in the southern city of Tyre and carrying out air raids on the towns of Shamshtar in eastern Baalbek and Roumine in southern Nabatieh.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Health said Israeli attacks killed at least 54 people across the country on Monday.

Israel’s merciless attacks continue despite calls from the UN Security Council for an immediate ceasefire and directives from the International Court of Justice urging measures to prevent genocide and alleviate the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and Lebanon.

In Lebanon, at least 3,243 people have been killed and 14,134 others wounded in Israeli attacks since the war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023.

The Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah opened a support front for Palestinians in Gaza only a day after the Israeli regime unleashed its genocidal war on the besieged territory.

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News Network
November 12,2024

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Mysuru, Nov 12: Zameer Ahmad Khan, the Tourism and Waqf minister of Karnataka, who stirred a controversy by addressing the Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy as ‘Kaala Kumaraswamy’ has tendered apologies for his remarks.

Speaking to reporters in Mysuru on Tuesday, Minister Zameer stated that he will apologise if remarks have hurt JD-S workers.

“We both are very close. Then, in a total of 24 hours, we were together for 14 hours. He used to fondly address me as “kulla” (shorty) and I used to address him as “kariyanna” (blacky, kaalia),” Minister Zameer stated.

“I am not addressing him as ‘kaalia’ for the first time. I have not said something highly derogatory. It is being made as big in the backdrop of elections. With love, he used to call me a shorty and I called him a blacky. If I had caused pain to anyone by my words I apologise,” he said.

He further stated: “Kumaraswamy had said that he didn’t want the votes of the Muslim community. But now they are attempting to purchase Muslim votes. Against this backdrop, I have made the remark.”

Minister for Home G. Parameshwara stated on Tuesday, “Minister Zameer and Kumaraswamy are close friends. Their comments against each other are not significant.”

Zameer Ahmad Khan, the Tourism and Waqf minister of Karnataka stirred a controversy on Monday as he addressed the Union Minister as ‘Kaala Kumaraswamy’.

JD-S on Tuesday demanded a public apology and resignation of Minister for Waqf and Tourism Zameer Ahmad Khan over his ‘racist’ remarks.

“Remember, there is no place here for your divisive policies. You have insulted the people by making ethnic, racist and discriminatory statements. You should apologize to the people of the state and resign,” the JD (S) demanded in the post.

Union Parliamentary Affairs and Minister for Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju reacted sternly to the racist jibe and stated, “I strongly deplore Congress Minister Zameer Ahmed calling Union Minister and former Chief Minister of Karnataka Kumaraswamy as 'Kaalia Kumaraswamy'.

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News Network
November 11,2024

Mangaluru: Six youths including teenagers have been arrested by the Bantwal Rural Police in connection with a brutal assault on 21-year-old Aboobakar (name changed to hide identity), an incident that was widely shared on social media after footage revealed the victim tied to a pole and violently beaten.

The arrested individuals, all from Kanchinadkapadavu, Sajipanadu village in Ullal Taluk, have been identified as Mohammad Sapwan (25), Mohammad Rizwan (25), Irfan (27), Anis Ahmad (19), Nasir (27), and Shakeer (18). According to police reports, the assault took place on November 7 in Kanchinadkapadavu.

The sequence of events began when Aboobakar was reportedly called to a residence in Kanchinadkapadavu by a female relative. Upon his arrival, he was confronted by the accused, who questioned his presence, tied him to a pole with ropes, and attacked him while he was shirtless. 

Aboobakar managed to file a police complaint the following day, detailing the assault. As his injuries worsened, he was admitted to a private hospital in Mangaluru.

While in the hospital, Aboobakar alleged that his attackers intended to kill him during the assault. This statement led to additional charges of attempted murder being filed. 

Police officials stated that the suspects were subsequently apprehended, charged with group assault and attempted murder, and placed in judicial custody. The investigation is ongoing, and further details are awaited.

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