Youth gouges out father’s eye with car key for not handing over property

Kalaburagi, Jan 1: Fighting penury and partial blindness in one eye, a 39-year-old part-time Kannada lecturer from Kalaburagi district is set to become a commercial tax officer after cracking the Karnataka Administrative Services.

Ambadas Kamble, from Kotana Hipparaga village in Aland taluk, had to take a three-year gap during his school and college years - one-year break after completing Class VII and two years to clear subjects after he failed in II PU examinations. During those three years, he joined his brothers in masonry work to supplement the family's income.

Sweeping aside all hurdles with grit and determination, Ambadas studied Kannada literature for both undergraduate and postgraduate to land the post of a part-time lecturer in a Kalaburagi college. His father died when he was a child, and mother Chandamma supported her family of six - besides, Ambadas, she has two sons and two daughters - by working in houses in the neighbourhood.

Ambadas said he would like to dedicate his success to his mother, who died in the year 2012. "My mother encouraged me to chase my dream - financial difficulties notwithstanding - and allowed me to spend time in the library when my siblings were busy doing menial jobs to fund my education. I'm grateful to my brothers too," he said.

His two brothers are working as masons in Mumbai, having quit studies midway and deciding to support Ambadas - the first in the family to complete graduation. He did high school at Tadkal village in Aland taluk, and college in Kalaburagi.

The lecturer, who's 40% blind in the right eye, cracked the KAS examinations in his third attempt and stood 706th in the state. He has been selected for first-grade officer's post. Alongside, he's doing PhD in Kannada literature.

When his efforts finally paid off, Ambadas landed four job offers: Hostel warden at Morarji Desai hostel, at an SC/ST hostel, post of a lecturer and the tax officer's post. He picked the fourth to serve the state in right earnest.

Mangaluru, June 17: As many as 47 buses have been arranged by the district administration to transport 1,043 II PU students from the border areas of Kerala to the respective examination centres in Dakshina Kannada.

The II PU English examination, which was postponed in Karnataka due to covid lockdown, will be held on June 18. A total of 26,942 students are expected to appear for the examination across the district. Among them 6322 students have chosen to write their exam in the centres near to their hometown, following the COVID-19 pandemic. As many as 1,043 students are expected to come from Kerala.

22 KSRTC buses and 11 schools buses have been arranged from Talapady toll gate near Mariyashrama Church, 2 each KSRTC buses from Punyakoti Nagara in Mudipu, Bayar and Anekal in Vittal border, 1 KSRTC bus from Pathur in Kurnadu border, 3 KSRTC buses from Saradka in Vittal border, school buses from Kayar Padav in Puttur border, Panjikallu in Sullia border, Karike in Sullia border and Alatti Baddadka have been arranged.

The students have been asked to be present at a designated place to board the bus at 7 am and have to get their hall ticket and identity card, said DC Sindhu B Rupesh.

All the students should mandatorily wear masks and use sanitisers before entering the examination centres. The principals of colleges, where students from Kerala, are studying have been asked to deploy staff to make arrangements to ensure that students reach the examination centres on time and get back home after the exam.

Bengaluru, Jan 6: Cab aggregators are once again in news for the wrong reasons after an Ola cab driver misbehaved with a 34-year-old woman passenger and even threatened to kill her when she raised an alarm.

But what followed was worse. The woman, a software engineer, immediately called the Ola emergency number following which they asked her to check if the driver was drunk. She later pressed the emergency button on the Ola app but received a message asking her to dial 100. After the aggregator failed to help her, she said she was lucky to be saved by the public.

Reacting to the incident, an Ola spokesperson said, “We regret the unfortunate incident and have immediately terminated the driver-partner from the platform upon receiving the complaint.”

Shruthi G (name changed), an employee at a software company at Bagmane Tech Park in Mahadevapura, booked an Ola cab after her work in the evening of January 3. She booked pick-up stops at two locations as she had to pick her four-year-old daughter from the day-care centre, which is 2 km away from her house.

However, around 6.22 pm, when the cab reached Malleshpalya near Kids Castle, the driver did not stop the vehicle. He asked her to get down at the last drop location. She told him to stop and tried to open the doors but he locked the doors, insisting that she sit in the car. When she resisted, he held her hands and abused her; he even threatened to kill her if she raised an alarm.

The victim said she pressed the emergency button on the app twice but only got a message advising her to call the police.

When she called the Ola emergency number, the person at the other end asked about her condition and to check whether the driver was drunk. They called back after one-and-a-half hours when she was filing a complaint at the police station.

“Ola did not make any efforts to reach out to the police or do anything to track my location and help me in that situation,” she said.

The victim called 100 and the staffer at the control room asked her which area she was in. Since she was familiar with the area, Shruthi was able to give her location.

“First they told me that the area comes under Baiyappanahalli. Later, they said it comes under HAL. Finally, they figured out the location. It took 20 minutes for the police to reach the spot,” she said.

What saved Shruti was her sheer instinct and luck. Alone in the cab, she started raising an alarm. Luckily, commuters in the other vehicles next to the cab noticed her screaming for help and stopped the driver.

“If this is the kind of security Ola provides its customer, it is very questionable,” she said. “If we have to really call the police during an emergency then why they put out the number and emergency button, it’s a waste of time during that crucial situation. If they directly told us to dial 100 during an emergency, it will save time. Lakhs of commuters take Ola cabs thinking it is safe but they have no mechanism to check their drivers and track their customers in danger.”

Baiyappanahalli police said the accused Bhimashankar Malged was arrested and remanded in judicial custody following the complaint.