Bengaluru Sep 29 PTI The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday dismissed serial rapist Umesh Reddys plea for commuting the death penalty awarded to him to life sentence after his mercy petition was rejected by the President in 2012 A division bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Pradeep Singh Yerur dismissed the petition Reddy had cited inordinate delay in considering his plea for commuting the death sentence to life imprisonment The bench granted him six weeks time challenge the order in the apex court Reddy a constable in the CRPF who was posted in Jammu and Kashmir and then in the District Armed Reserve in Karnataka is facing at least 21 rape and murder cases He was arrested on March 2 1998 in connection with the rape and murder of a widow in February that year and sentenced to death by a lower court in 2006 Both the High Court and the Supreme Court had upheld the lower court order PTI GMS APR APR
Bengaluru Sep 29 PTI Karnataka logged 539 fresh COVID-19 cases and 17 deaths on Wednesday taking the total number of infections to 2975067 and the toll to 37780 The day also saw 591 discharges taking the total number of recoveries in the state so far to 2924693 Bengaluru Urban accounted for most number of infections 239 as the city saw 141 discharges and seven deaths The total number of active cases in the state stood at 12565 While the positivity rate for the day was 048 per cent the Case Fatality Rate CFR was 315 per cent Dakshina Kannada was behind Bengaluru Urban in number of deaths 3 followed by others Among the districts where the new cases were reported Bengaluru Urban accounted for 239 Dakshina Kannada 75 Kodagu 36 Mysuru 31 Tumakuru 22 followed by others Bengaluru Urban district tops the list of positive cases with a total of 1246139 followed by Mysuru 177905 and Tumakuru 120162 Among discharges too Bengaluru Urban was on top with 1222479 followed by Mysuru 174892 and Tumakuru 118724 Cumulatively a total of 47504490 samples have been tested in the state so far out of which 111538 were on Wednesday alone PTI KSU APR APR
Bengaluru Sep 28 PTI Former Chief Minister S M Krishna will be the chief guest during the inaugural ceremony of the historic Dasara festival in Mysuru this year on October 7 Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Tuesday The government decided to invite him not just because he was a former CM but due to the fact that he was a seasoned statesman and had carried out various development works when he held important positions the Chief Minister told reporters after chairing a meeting on the coming Dasara celebrations Like last year this time too the festivities will be a low-key affair in view of COVID-19 The 10-day celebration will end on Vijaya Dashami which falls on October 15 PTI GMS APR APR
Bengaluru Sep 28 PTI The Karnataka government on Tuesday decided to release Rs 2500 crore for land acquisition and compensation for the two stages of Upper Krishna Project UKP The government also decided to start land acquisition for the Stage-3 of the UKP Speaking to reporters after chairing a meeting with officials Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the government has decided to use 173 TMC of water under the UKP by taking it to those regions where it has not reached yet We will take the water to the last level We have decided to release Rs 2500 crore for land acquisition and compensation to four villages Bommai said The Chief Minister also said those villages where the land acquisition process has not started yet for the UKP will be speeded up Stating that he has directed officials to set up the office of the Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam office in Alamatti Bommai said he has directed officials to increase the staff for the land acquisition and appoint more surveyors to survey the land for acquisition PTI GMS BN BN
Bengaluru Sep 28 PTI The Government Railway Police in Karnataka is still functioning with the staff strength of 800 personnel that was sanctioned in 1982 a senior GRP official said on Tuesday We are still operating with 800 personnel across Karnataka which was sanctioned in 1982 when the daily passengers load was only 50000 compared to two lakh today whereas we require not less than 2000 personnel the officer said requesting anonymity Many new districts and stations came up in these 40 years The pattern of crime has also changed all these years but our staff strength remains the same the officer added According to him GRP salaries are borne equally by the state government and the central government The state government wants to increase the strength of GRP but the Railways is grappling with many other pan-India problems so nothing concrete is coming out the officer claimed There are handful of airports in the state and the passengers who fly is way too less than the train but 1300 policemen are allocated for this security the officer explained This is despite the fact that CISF takes care of security at airports he said He added that the policemen deployed in the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation bus stands are more than the GRP The Railway Protection Force RPF has a different mandate according to the officer He explained that the RPF is meant to protect railway property while law and order and crime in railway stations and on trains come under the purview of GRP PTI GMS RS BN BN
Bengaluru Sep 28 PTI Bypolls to two Assembly constituencies in Karnataka -- Sindgi and Hangal -- will be held on October 30 the Election Commission announced on Tuesday The by-elections have been necessitated as they fell vacant following the death of JDS legislator M C Manguli in Sindgi and BJPs C M Udasi in Hangal The election notification will be issued on October 1 which also marks the commencement of filing of nominations October 8 is the last day for filing of nominations Scrutiny will take place on October 1 and October 13 is the last day for withdrawal Counting of votes will be taken up on November two The Election Commission on Tuesday announced that bypolls to three Lok Sabha seats and 30 assembly constituencies will be held on October 30 Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the process of selection of candidates will begin soon as he expressed confidence about the BJP winning both the seats He said in the recently held BJP core committee meeting discussions took place on appointing observers to both the segments and state BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel would take a call on it Senior leader Udasi who had represented Hangal was a six time MLA and under his leadership there was a lot of developmental work in the constituency while BJP had won Sindgi thrice before losing it to late Manguli of JDS in 2018 he pointed out To a question about this being the first election under his leadership as the Chief Minister Bommai said All leaders have faced by-election We will face it under the leadership of the party PTI KSU RS APR APR
Bengaluru Sep 28 PTI Bypolls to two Assembly constituencies in Karnataka -- Sindgi and Hangal -- will be held on October 30 the Election Commission announced on Tuesday The by-elections have been necessitated as they fell vacant following the death of JDS legislator M C Manguli in Sindgi and BJPs C M Udasi in Hangal The election notification will be issued on October 1 which also marks the commencement of filing of nominations October 8 is the last day for filing of nominations Scrutiny will take place on October 1 and October 13 is the last day for withdrawal Counting of votes will be taken up on November two Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the process of selection of candidates will begin soon as he expressed confidence about the BJP winning both the seats He said in the recently held BJP core committee meeting discussions took place on appointing observers to both the segments and state BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel would take a call on it Senior leader Udasi who had represented Hangal was a six time MLA and under his leadership there was a lot of developmental work in the constituency while BJP had won Sindgi thrice before losing it to late Manguli of JDS in 2018 he pointed out To a question about this being the first election under his leadership as the Chief Minister Bommai said All leaders have faced by-election We will face it under the leadership of the party PTI KSU RS APR APR
Bengaluru Sep 28 PTI The Karnataka government is seriously considering bringing in a law against religious conversion either by force or through inducement in the state Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on TuesdaySuch things conversions are happening here and there Couple of days ago I gave appropriate directions to district administrations not to allow any religious conversion through inducement or by force as it is illegal Bommai said in response to a question on alleged incidents of religious conversions in Kalaburagi and Byadarahalli hereSpeaking to reporters here he said as several such incidents are happening we are seriously considering a law against religious conversion through inducement or by force State Home Minister Araga Jnanendra had last week told the legislative assembly that the government was mulling enacting a law to regulate religious conversion as a ruling BJP MLA from Hosadurga Goolihatti Shekhar said his own mother has converted to Christianity falling prey to inducementBJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh already have laws to prevent forcible religious conversion PTI KSU ROH ROH
Bengaluru Sep 28 PTI Four people including two overstaying Iranians- have been arrested with drugs including hydroponic weeds valued at over Rs one crore in the city police said on Tuesday Acting on a tip-off police intercepted a car on Sunday afternoon and seized hydroponic weeds worth Rs one crore 130 hydro marijuana plants and LSD Paper They were looking for clients and their target were school and college students as well a police official said The gang had ordered the seeds of the weed through the dark web They had taken a house on rent in Bidadi on the city outskirts where they were growing the weed Police sources said the Iran nationals were booked twice earlier and this was their third case They were staying here despite their visas having expired police said PTI GMS RS APR APR
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