I will be a social activist... I prefer to be an MLC: Roshan Baig

News Network
November 20, 2019

Bengaluru, Dec 20: Sidelined by all political parties after his disqualification as Shivajinagar MLA, R Roshan Baig, has decided become a social activist.

Baig, who faced rejection from BJP after being sacked by Congress, justified his decision to not contest as an independent candidate to retain his seat in upcoming bypolls.

“I don’t want to contest just for ego’s sake. I will be a social activist.” Baig, who said he prefers to be an MLC, said the Muslim vote is split, and the constituency could swing any way.

With the BJP ignoring his claim for a ticket and naming former corporator M Saravana, Baig pointed out that the IMA scam was not the reason for it, and that the BJP had fielded Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and Katta Subramanya Naidu, both of whom had been to jail.

Sources indicated that Baig was denied the ticket because BJP state vice-president Nirmal Kumar Surana, who lost to Baig twice, objected to it. In fact, he tried to revive the Rudresh murder case by leading his widowed wife to the party bosses and blaming Baig for it, although the NIA and local Commercial Street police absolved the former MLA of any involvement. Sources also indicated that the standoff between BJP leader BL Santosh and Yediyurappa had cost him the ticket.

Asked why he did not file his papers as an independent, Baig said, “There is a strong anti-Muslim sentiment after the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, and now the Ayodhya verdict... It is better I don’t contest this time.’’ Asked about son Ruman Baig not being given a BJP ticket, he said, “No comments.’’

Interestingly, the Muslim vote in Shivajinagar constituency, numbering around 60,000 of about 2 lakh voters, appears to be headed for a three-way split: between Rizwan Arshad (Congress), who lost two parliamentary elections back to back, Tanvir Ahmed, the JDS national spokesman, and Abdul Hannan, SDPI general secretary.

The constituency comprises seven wards — Vasanthnagar, Sampangiramnagar, Ulsoor, Jayamahal, Ramaswamipalya, Bharatinagar and Shivajinagar -- with the Big Three evenly poised in the wards. BJP’s Saravana has an edge, considering that Baig is expected to support him secretly, and because bypolls favour the ruling party. Saravana has emerged the favourite of the bookmakers and could be Bengaluru’s first Tamil-speaking MLA.

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News Network
January 5,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 5: Karnataka Minister for Large and Medium Industries Jagadish Shettar warned of strict action against officers who demand bribe from farmers while acquiring land.

Mr Shettar, who paid a surprise visit to defense, aerospace hi-tech industry layout in Haraluru, Devanahalli in Bengaluru Rural district, warned the officials who demand a bribe for sanctioning compensation funds.

He said, 'Lands have been acquired from farmers for the development of the industrial area. It's the duty of state government to provide compensation to these farmers. Complaints must be registered against officials who demand a bribe for functioning compensation funds.'

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coastaldigest.com news network
July 7,2020

Mangaluru/Udupi, Jul 7: Coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi crossed 100 plus Covid19 positive cases mark again on Tuesday, after slipping to double digit cases for a day on Monday. While Dakshina Kannada accounted for 83 of these cases and one death, Udupi tallied 28 fresh cases taking the combined tally of new cases to 111.

DK stood second behind Bengaluru Urban that recorded 800 out of 1,498 new cases that the state recorded for the day.

In all, 48 primary contacts testing positive led DK district’s spurt of 83 cases, Sindhu B Rupesh, deputy commissioner, said. Influenza like illness (ILI) cases accounted for 20 of the 83 cases, one each were diagnosed with severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) and from pre-surgery sample collected before delivery, two had history of inter-district travel, three each were cases of random, pre-surgery samples and source of infection being traced.

A 65-year-old male from Moodbidri who had co-morbid conditions including diabetes, pneumonia and heart ailment succumbed to the pandemic during the day. He was admitted for treatment at a private hospital on July 3. With this, the death toll due to coronavirus in DK district rose to 26 and two of them are due to non-Covid reasons including a case each of suicide and a person succumbing to liver cirrhosis and they tested positive post death.

G Jagadeesha, deputy commissioner, Udupi district said the 28 new cases took the total positive cases in Udupi to 1390. With 1182 patients discharged and three deaths, Udupi as on date has 205 active cases. Those who tested positive include KSRTC driver who travelled to Bengaluru, vegetable vendor at Adi Udupi market and people with travel history to Tumakuru, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Dubai and two even from DK and rest primary contacts, DC said.

Health authorities in DK district also discharged 99 patients during the day to keep their active cases tally at 650. The two districts combined have 855 active cases as on date. As per revised protocol issued by the department of health and family welfare, the district administration also permitted 28 patients with mild symptoms to undergo home isolation while the rest are being treated either at private hospitals or at the designated Covid19 hospital for DK.

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News Network
April 16,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 16: Special Investigating Team (SIT), headed by Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Sandeep Patil, subjected former underworld don turned social activist Muthappa Rai in connection with gangster and underworld don Ravi Poojary's criminal cases.

Sandeep Patil, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) said that the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Venugopal and police inspector Bulletin have questioned Rai in his house for more than two hours about Ravi Poojary case.

Muthappa Rai was allegedly one of the accused in builder Subbaraju murder case. They both were allegedly close in the initial days and they were like a team, said a senior officer. So Rai was questioned about their connection. Rai, who reformed himself many years ago, is into business and social service at present.

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