AG's opinion sought on action against journalists

DHNS
June 24, 2017

Bengaluru, Jun 24: The recommendations of the privileges committee of the Legislative Assembly, sentencing journalists Ravi Belagere and Anil Raj to one-year imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10,000 for breach of privilege, has been forwarded to Advocate General Madhusudhan Naik for an opinion.ravi22

“The recommendations have been referred to Advocate General (AG) for further procedure.The reports with recommendations have also been sent to the DG and IGP R K Dutta and Bengaluru City Police Commissioner, Praveen Sood.

“The police can’t immediately arrest the two as warrants have not been issued against them. Based on the AG’s opinion, the Bengaluru city police will take an appropriate step,” Director General and Inspector General of Police R K Dutta said.

“Write against a politician, you will be in jail,” said ‘Hai Bangalore’ editor Ravi Belagere in his Facebook post on Friday. Belagere, who is in Dandeli, could not be contacted over phone.

In his Facebook post, he states: “message being sent is to stop making comments. Still I am confident and think that democracy is alive in India. Great men, writers, men of chaste history have suffered this. I am personally not disturbed by these judgements as I have been battling. I am 100% sure of the successful fight (sic).” Belagere has urged his Facebook friends to support him. “Lets teach them,” he wrote.

The Legislative Assembly, earlier this week, adopted recommendations made by the privileges committee of the House sentencing Belagere and ‘Yelahanka Voice’ editor Anil Raj to one-year imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10,000 for breach of privilege.

In 2014, MLAs K B Koliwad (now Speaker) and B M Nagaraju had petitioned the privileges committee taking offence to “defamatory articles” against them in ‘Hai Bangalore.’

The privileges committee report states that derogatory words were used against Koliwad in an article published in ‘Hai Bangalore’ in the edition dated September 11, 2014.

Further, the report states that the article cast aspersions on the ability of Koliwad to discharge duties as a minister (he was an aspirant for a Cabinet berth).

“Further, the article cast aspersions on the health of Koliwad and made baseless allegation against his family,“ the report states. The panel, after conducting proceedings, made its recommendation. Anil Raj was not available for comment.

Amnesty International opposes action

Amnesty International India has demanded that the recommendations of the privileges committee be withdrawn. “Journalists must have the freedom to write critical articles, and politicians must be able to tolerate criticism,” said Asmita Basu, Programmes Director at Amnesty International India, reports DHNS from New Delhi.

“If individuals feel that their reputations have been affected, they can take recourse to civil defamation remedies in court,” a statement from the Amnesty International.

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coastaldigest.com news network
July 18,2020

Mangaluru, July 18: The Dakshina Kannada district administration is likely to earmark a common burial ground in the wake of growing resistance from residents of various localities in Mangaluru against burial of Covid-19 victims in their vicinity.

Recently, following protests by residents on Bolar, the body of a Covid-19 victim remained in the ambulance for hours together. The residents refused to allow the victim to be laid to rest at a burial ground attached to a mosque. The victim, who had been a resident of Idya in Surathkal, was subsequently laid to rest after DC’s intervention.

In a bid to avoid such instances in the future, the district administration has identified a burial ground on the outskirts of Mangaluru. 

Former minister and incumbent Mangaluru MLA UT Khader said that he had discussed the problem at length with the officials of the Dakshina Kannada district administration, and had suggested they look for a relatively isolated space on the outskirts of Mangaluru city in order to avoid confrontation with the public.

“A parcel of land at Badaga Yekkuru, some 20km from the city has been identified as being suitable for the burial ground, but the district administration is yet to take a final decision,” Khader said.

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News Network
July 6,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 6: As COVID-19 cases continue to surge in Karnataka, more than 20 police stations were sealed in Bengaluru after many policemen tested positive for novel coronavirus.

"Since the last few weeks, the number of COVID-19 cases in the police department has increased as many of the policemen have tested positive, so that's the reason why the police have taken a decision to close police stations," Bengaluru Commissioner of police Bhaskar Rao said.

He added, "However, people can lodge their complaints and other issues can be solved in help desks launched outside premises of the police station. Most of the areas where positive cases found in the police station are been sealed down for the safety of the people and sanitised them."

However, some of the police stations would be functional from outside the premises.

Commercial Street, Cottonpete, Chickepete, KG Halli traffic police station are among the few stations closed due to scare of the coronavirus spread after some policemen tested positive in particular stations.

Rao further said that the traffic police, civil police along with home guards have been given safety gloves, face masks, and sanitizers along with face covers by the department of police.

According to the Union Health Ministry, 23,474 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state, as of Monday.

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News Network
June 25,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 25: A total of 442 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Karnataka on Thursday taking the total count of cases in the state to 10,560.

According to the State Health Department, there are 3,716 active cases and 6,670 patients have been discharged after treatment. Six more deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 170.

India's COVID-19 count reached 4,73,105 on Thursday with the highest single-day spike of 16,922 cases in the last 24 hours.

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