Karnataka witnesses a politically turbulent 2012

December 23, 2012
yeddy


BS Yeddyurappa breaking ranks with BJP and floating his own party, another change of guard, the Cauvery issue, busting of a terror module and an ugly incident of three ministers watching porn clippings in the assembly marked the year 2012 for Karnataka.

The year also saw attacks on girls and boys at a home stay in Mangalore, clash between lawyers and police in the wake of men of legal fraternity attacking journalists and exodus of people from northeastern states following rumours of attack.

The Cauvery water sharing row returned to haunt Karnataka, with Tamil Nadu managing to get court orders for release of water on two occasions and Cauvery basin districts plunged into agitation opposing water release.

The first-ever saffron party government in south India continued to be hit by political turmoil following a banner of revolt launched by its strong man Yeddyurappa, who later launched Karnataka Janata Party with the sole aim of decimating BJP in next year's election.

The other notable events that marked the year was a problem of mounting garbage in the city, which also tarnished the brand name of Bangalore at the international level, resignation drama by ministers and legislators to seek the sacking of D V Sadananda Gowda as chief minister.

There were private complaints pouring against Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, which the Lokayukta court quashed, Law Minister S Suresh Kumar, former chief minister Sadananda Gowda , BBMP Mayor Venkatesh Murthy and former chief ministers H D Devegowda, S M Krishna and Yeddyurappa accusing them of abusing their power.

The year also witnessed an unprecedented scene of ministers and ruling party legislators boycotting the budget session to press for their demand to sack Gowda and make Shettar as chief minister.


In a continued collision-course between Governor HR Bhardwaj with the government, the former rejected in February the recommendation to appoint retired judge S R Bannurmath as Lokayukta in the wake of him facing a land allotment row.

The image of the BJP government took a beating when two of its ministers, Laxman Savadi and C C Patil, were caught on camera watching porn clippings in the state assembly when the house was debating the hardships faced by drought-hit people.

The footage aired by a regional channel and later by others led to the resignation of three ministers-- J Krishna Palemar, who was accused of providing the clippings, besides Savadi and Patil.

Yeddyurappa got a major relief from the high court in March when it quashed the FIR registered against him in illegal mining case on Lokayukta report and also a chapter in the report that indicted him. This prompted the 70-year-old Lingayat leader to stake claim for re-instating himself as chief minister, a post he was forced to quit in July 2011, but the BJP high command rejected the demand, which ultimately led him to bid adieu to the saffron party and launch KJP.

However, Yeddyurappa suffered a major setback when the Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe in May into illegal mining and mysterious disappearance of iron ore from Belekeri Port in Uttara Kannada district.

The year saw the tragic death of two officials -- Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) officer Mahantesh, who was murdered by some individuals in Bangalore City and an Assistant Conservator of Forest Madan Naik in Dandeli, who was assaulted by a group of tourists to death for warning them to be beware of crocodiles in the lake, triggering off protests from government servants.


The internal feud that has been simmering in the ruling BJP ever since it came to power in 2008 continued unabated in 2012 and led to sacking of Sadananda Gowda as chief minister by the rebels led by Yeddyurappa.

Yeddyurappa ensured that nine ministers loyal to him quit seeking Gowda's replacement with Shettar on June 29 and they withdrew the resignation on July 2 after BJP high command accepted the demand for change of guard.

Gowda quit as chief minister on July 8 and Shettar, another Lingayat leader, assumed office on July 12. But the rumblings in the government and also the party continued.

People of the state were for a rude shock when the city police announced that they have uncovered a terror module with the arrest of 11 terror suspects who had planned to eliminate prominent politicians and journalists on August 30.


The reputation of the state suffered a major dent when the activists of Hindu Jagaran Vedike stormed a home stay in Mangalore, beat up girls and boys partying there in July. The attack evoked nationwide outrage.



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Agencies
May 10,2020

In the wake of the gas leak at a factory in Visakhapatnam, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued detailed guidelines for restarting industries after the lockdown and the precautions to be taken for the safety of the plants as well as the workers.

In a communication to all states and union territories, the NDMA said due to several weeks of lockdown and the closure of industrial units, it is possible that some of the operators might not have followed the established standard operating procedures.

As a result, some of the manufacturing facilities, pipelines, valves may have residual chemicals, which may pose risk. The same is true for the storage facilities with hazardous chemicals and flammable materials, it said.

The NDMA guidelines said while restarting a unit, the first week should be considered as the trial or test run period after ensuring all safety protocols.

Companies should not try to achieve high production targets. There should be 24-hour sanitisation of the factory premises, it said.

The factories need to maintain a sanitisation routine every two-three hours especially in the common areas that include lunch rooms and common tables which will have to be wiped clean with disinfectants after every single use, it added.

For accommodation, the NDMA said, sanitisation needs to be performed regularly to ensure worker safety and reduce the spread of contamination.

To minimise the risk, it is important that employees who work on specific equipment are sensitised and made aware of the need to identify abnormalities like strange sounds or smell, exposed wires, vibrations, leaks, smoke, abnormal wobbling, irregular grinding or other potentially hazardous signs which indicate the need for immediate maintenance or if required shutdown, it said.

At least 11 people lost their lives and about 1,000 others were exposed to a gas leak at a factory in Andhra Pradesh''s Visakhapatnam on May 7.

The incident took place after it restarted operations when the government allowed industrial activities in certain sectors following several weeks of lockdown.

The lockdown was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 for 21 days in a bid to combat the coronavirus threat. The lockdown was then extended till May 3 and again till May 17.

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News Network
March 18,2020

San Francisco, Mar 18: Facebook said a bug in its anti-spam system temporarily blocked the publication of links to news stories about the coronavirus. Guy Rosen, Facebook's vice president of integrity, said on Twitter Tuesday that the company was working on a fix for the problem.

Users complained that links to news stories about school closings and other information related to the virus outbreak were blocked by the company's automated system.

Later on Tuesday, Rosen tweeted that Facebook had restored all the incorrectly deleted posts, which also covered topics beyond the coronavirus.

Rosen said the problems were unrelated to any changes in Facebook's content-moderator workforce. The company reportedly sent its human moderators home this week because of the coronavirus outbreak.

A representative for Facebook did not immediately respond to questions on the status of Facebook's content moderators, many of whom do not work directly for the company and are not always able to work from home.

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Agencies
January 4,2020

Washington D.C: One of the greatest spectacles of modern art is still thriving in the Australian outback as confirmed by satellite imagery of NASA. The Marree Man is a massive geoglyph depicting an aboriginal hunter, that spans over 2.6 miles in the Southern Australian region.

Discovered by a pilot in 1998, its origin still remains a mystery even to this date.

The Marree Man was given a new lease of life in 2016 when a group of people from the neighboring town of Marree plowed its lines to avert its fading due to erosion.

After NASA shared the image of the art-work that was taken in June, the efforts of the good samaritans turned out to be a total success, reported CNN Travel.

The restoration team believes that the refurbished Marree Man would last longer than its original version.

According to NASA, "They [the team] created wind grooves, designed to trap water and encourage the growth of vegetation. They hope that eventually, the man will turn green."

In a previous article, CNN reported that an entrepreneur by the name of Dick Smith took upon himself to unravel the geoglyph's mystery in 2016. His team combed through all the available evidence but couldn't find anything conclusive.

In 2018 he even offered a 5,000 Australian dollar reward for anyone who knows the identity of its creator.

Nobody turned up with an answer but it was speculated that unknown artist lives in Alice Springs or even might be an American.

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