Karnataka protests using CRPF personnel during raids on minister

Agencies
August 3, 2017

Bengaluru, Aug 3: The Congress government in Karnataka has objected to the use of CRPF personnel during searches at the properties linked to state minister D K Shivakumar, saying it casts an aspersion on the credibility, integrity and professionalism the state police.

In a letter to Union Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, state Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Subhash Chandra said established conventions of cooperative action between central and state agencies should not be "by-passed" in such matters.

Chandra said he was informed by the Karnataka Director General of Police and the IGP that the IT Department search teams were accompanied by CRPF personnel despite the fact that law and order is the responsibility of the state police.

He said about 30 CRPF personnel were deployed in Bengaluru alone during the search in full gear with weapons, which resulted in protests by Minister's supporters and police had to be called in to maintain law and order.

"The Government of Karnataka wishes to convey its strong protest with regard to this," the letter said, a day after the taxmen began searches at various premises connected to state Energy Minister D K Shivakumar, who is overseeing the stay of 44 Congress MLAs from Gujarat at a resort here.

Chandra said that in matters where both Centre and state governments share responsibilities, established conventions of cooperative action should not be by-passed. "It is also requested that the Income Tax Department is suitably advised in the matter."

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had also raised objections to the use of central force, stating IT officials should obtain help from local police during such raids. He had said CRPF personnel were used violating the rules.

"Let IT officials conduct raids and investigation by following rules and let people know the truth. Instead, if such raids are conducted with political vengeance, people will teach lesson in the days to come," Siddaramaiah had added.

The IT Department did not seek assistance in advance from the local police or any senior police authority for these operations, he had said in yesterday's letter.

In a swoop down that raised a political storm, the IT department conducted searches at 64 locations and properties linked Shivakumar in a tax evasion case and recovered over Rs 11 crore in cash. The raids continued today.

Chandra said that utilising the services of CRPF, which is a CAPF (Central Armed Police Force), in full gear without keeping local police informed casts an aspersion of adverse credibility, integrity and professionalism of the state police which has been utilised effectively and without complaint by the IT Department in its previous operations.

Noting the deployment of the CRPF, an armed police force, in full operational attire with weapons for a civilian operation, conveyed a wrong impression, the letter said.

"Therefore, such deployment needs to be in consultation with local police authorities, as indeed has been the norm. Such an approach is also essential to prevent any untoward incident occurring," said the letter, a copy of which was released to the media.

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News Network
March 16,2020

Mangaluru, Mar 16: As a precaution against the spread of Covid-19, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) on Monday decided to cut down its premium, non-AC sleeper, Rajahamsa and express bus services from Mangaluru to Bengaluru and Kasaragod following poor patronage.

The cut down in services is as per the direction of KSRTC's Central office that wants bus services to be operated on priority.

KSRTC Mangaluru Divisional Controller S N Arun said that the corporation has decided to cut down 40 trips to Bengaluru. Concerning Kasaragod, it has reduced the number of trips from 40 to 35. "These include a reduction in services to Mysuru and Dharmasthala also," he added.

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News Network
January 20,2020

Davos, Jan 20: India's richest 1 per cent hold more than four-times the wealth held by 953 million people who make up for the bottom 70 per cent of the country's population, while the total wealth of all Indian billionaires is more than the full-year budget, a new study said on Monday.

Releasing the study 'Time to Care' here ahead of the 50th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), rights group Oxfam also said the world's 2,153 billionaires have more wealth than the 4.6 billion people who make up 60 per cent of the planet's population.

The report flagged that global inequality is shockingly entrenched and vast and the number of billionaires has doubled in the last decade, despite their combined wealth having declined in the last year.

"The gap between rich and poor can't be resolved without deliberate inequality-busting policies, and too few governments are committed to these," said Oxfam India CEO Amitabh Behar, who is here to represent the Oxfam confederation this year.

The issues of income and gender inequality are expected to figure prominently in discussions at the five-day summit of the WEF, starting Monday. The WEF's annual global risks Report has also warned that the downward pressure on the global economy from macroeconomic fragilities and financial inequality continued to intensify in 2019.

Concern about inequality underlies recent social unrest in almost every continent, although it may be sparked by different tipping points such as corruption, constitutional breaches, or the rise in prices for basic goods and services, as per the WEF report.

Although global inequality has declined over the past three decades, domestic income inequality has risen in many countries, particularly in advanced economies and reached historic highs in some, the Global Risks Report flagged last week.

The Oxfam report further said "sexist" economies are fuelling the inequality crisis by enabling a wealthy elite to accumulate vast fortunes at the expense of ordinary people and particularly poor women and girls.

Regarding India, Oxfam said the combined total wealth of 63 Indian billionaires is higher than the total Union Budget of India for the fiscal year 2018-19 which was at Rs 24,42,200 crore.

"Our broken economies are lining the pockets of billionaires and big business at the expense of ordinary men and women. No wonder people are starting to question whether billionaires should even exist," Behar said.

As per the report, it would take a female domestic worker 22,277 years to earn what a top CEO of a technology company makes in one year.

With earnings pegged at Rs 106 per second, a tech CEO would make more in 10 minutes than what a domestic worker would make in one year.

It further said women and girls put in 3.26 billion hours of unpaid care work each and every day -- a contribution to the Indian economy of at least Rs 19 lakh crore a year, which is 20 times the entire education budget of India in 2019 (Rs 93,000 crore).

Besides, direct public investments in the care economy of 2 per cent of GDP would potentially create 11 million new jobs and make up for the 11 million jobs lost in 2018, the report said.

Behar said the gap between rich and poor cannot be resolved without deliberate inequality-busting policies, and too few governments are committed to these.

He said women and girls are among those who benefit the least from today's economic system.

"They spend billions of hours cooking, cleaning and caring for children and the elderly. Unpaid care work is the 'hidden engine' that keeps the wheels of our economies, businesses and societies moving.

"It is driven by women who often have little time to get an education, earn a decent living or have a say in how our societies are run, and who are therefore trapped at the bottom of the economy,” Behar added.

Oxfam said governments are massively under-taxing the wealthiest individuals and corporations and failing to collect revenues that could help lift the responsibility of care from women and tackle poverty and inequality.

Besides, the governments are also underfunding vital public services and infrastructure that could help reduce women and girls' workload, the report said.

As per the global survey, the 22 richest men in the world have more wealth than all the women in Africa.

Besides, women and girls put in 12.5 billion hours of unpaid care work each and every day -- a contribution to the global economy of at least USD 10.8 trillion a year, more than three times the size of the global tech industry.

Getting the richest one per cent to pay just 0.5 per cent extra tax on their wealth over the next 10 years would equal the investment needed to create 117 million jobs in sectors such as elderly and childcare, education and health.

Governments must prioritise care as being as important as all other sectors in order to build more human economies that work for everyone, not just a fortunate few, Behar said.

Oxfam said its calculations are based on the latest data sources available, including from the Credit Suisse Research Institute's Global Wealth Databook 2019 and Forbes' 2019 billionaires list.

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Agencies
January 5,2020

New Delhi, Jan 5: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday sàid it was "shameful" that Sadaf Jafar, SR Darapuri and Pavan Rao were arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police for violence without any evidence against them.

He also said that it was a shocking admission by the police that there is no evidence of their involvement.

"Sadaf Jafar, S R Darapuri and Pavan Rao Ambedkar released on bail after police ADMITTED no evidence of their involvement in violence. Shocking admission," he said on Twitter.

"If that were so, why did the police arrest them in the first place? And how did the Magistrate remand them to custody without looking at the evidence," he asked.
"The law says 'find evidence, then arrest'. The reality is 'first arrest, then search for evidence'. Shameful," Chidambaram tweeted.

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