BJP did not purchase us: Disqualified MLA BC Patil

Feb 26: The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday claimed that it prevented Karnataka from discussing the contentious Mekedatu reservoir issue at the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) meeting held in New Delhi.

Besides the representatives of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka at the fifth meeting of CWMA, presided over by Central Water Commission Chairman R K Jain, officials of Kerala and Puducherry also participated.

CWMA member and TN PWD Secretary K Manivasan told reporters after the meeting that the state government prevented Karnataka from discussing the dam issue by pointing out the pending petitions in the Supreme Court against the project filed by the E Palaniswami government.

"We have told participants of the meeting that Mekedatu reservoir will be against the interests of Tamil Nadu and its farmers. Our consistent stand is that it should not be built at any cost. Finally the issue was not discussed in the meeting," Manivasan said.

The Mekedatu reservoir is proposed to be constructed by Karnataka across Cauvery river near Mekedatu, about 110 km from Bengaluru, in Kanakapura taluk.

It was first proposed along with Shivanasamudra hydro power project at Shimsa in 2003 with an intention to use the water for a hydro power station and supply drinking water to Bengaluru city. It was designed to store 67 tmc feet of water.

While Tamil Nadu is claiming that the construction of a balancing reservoir will disturb Cauvery water flow to the state affecting irrigation, Karnataka says the project is basically designed to take care of the drinking water needs of Bengaluru after releasing water to Tamil Nadu as per the quantum specified by the Cauvery water disputes tribunal.

Hassan, Feb 19: A 19-year-old boy, in a bid to impress his girlfriend, stole a sports bike from an OLX seller but cops managed to reach him through her on Tuesday.

The accused, Pramod, who works at a bakery, had been involved in a bike-lifting case two years ago too.

On February 9, Pramod saw an advertisement on online marketing platform OLX from Puneeth, a farmer from Shravanabelagola town, who wanted to sell his sports bike for Rs 1.4 lakh. Pramod called him up and the two agreed to meet around 6pm that evening at Shravanabelagola town bus stand.

Once there, Pramod, a college dropout, assured Puneeth that he would buy the bike but wanted to take it for a test drive. The seller agreed. A few minutes passed and when there was no sign of the bike or Pramod, Puneeth tried calling him. The phone was switched off and could not be contacted since. Puneeth immediately filed a cheating case with the Shravanabelagola police.

SP R Srinivas Gowda and ASP BN Nandini put together a team and began tracing Pramod's call detail records. Maximum calls were made to a single number and it turned out to be his girlfriend's.

Cops called the girlfriend and on Tuesday, asked her to contact him and ascertain his location. They traced him near Hassan city's railway station and nabbed him along with the bike. On interrogation, Pramod confessed that he wanted to impress his girlfriend and take her on long drives on the sports bike.

Police said Pramod, who belongs to Bandithimmanahalli village of Alur taluk, dropped out of college two years ago and has been working at a bakery in Sahyadri Circle.

While working, he has been involved in several incidents of bike-lifting. Cops said he appeared to have strained relations with his family and had taken to crime to make a quick buck.

Bengaluru, Jul 17: A total of 3,693 new COVID-19 positive cases and 115 deaths were reported in Karnataka on Friday, said the state health department.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in the state is presently at 55,115, including 33,205 active cases. While there are 20,757 recoveries, the death toll stands at 1,147.

With the highest single-day spike of 34,956 cases and 687 deaths, India's COVID-19 positive cases crossed the 10 lakh mark on Friday, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The total positive cases stand at 10,03,832 including 3,42,473 active cases, 6,35,757 cured/discharged/migrated and 25,602 deaths, according to the ministry.