Bengaluru News Highlights: Karnataka Congress working president & former MP Dhruvanarayana passes away at 61

Bengaluru News Highlights: It is learnt that the senior Congress leader died of cardiac arrest. According to news agency ANI, he passed away at a hospital in Mysuru on Saturday morning.

By: Express Web Desk
Bengaluru, New Delhi | Updated: March 12, 2023 08:58 AM IST

Dhruvanarayana passed away at a hospital in Mysuru on Saturday morning, reports said. (Twitter @ANI)

Bengaluru News Live Updates: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee working president and former Congress MP R Dhruvanarayana passed away Saturday. He was 61. It is learnt that the senior Congress leader died of cardiac arrest. According to news agency ANI, he passed away at a hospital in Mysuru on Saturday morning.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of multiple projects worth Rs 16,000 crore, including the Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway and IIT Dharwad, as he visits poll-bound Karnataka today. Modi will also lay the foundation stone of the 92-km-long Mysuru-Khushalnagar four-lane highway and inaugurate the world’s longest railway platform at the Hubballi station.

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Karnataka on Friday reported its first H3N2 death with health department officials revealing that an 82-year-old from Alur taluk in Hassan district died on March 1 due to the virus. The victim identified as Hire Gowda was admitted to a hospital on February 24 and he died on March 1, officials said.

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Bengaluru News Highlights: Karnataka Congress working president & former MP Dhruvanarayana passes away at 61; Bengaluru auto driver who ‘harassed’ Rapido biker lands in police custody

14:24 (IST)11 Mar 2023

Wire-mesh fence can be allowed on buffer zone to protect apartmentâ€™s boundary: BBMP to NGT

In a case involving the encroachment of a storm water drain (SWD) by SV Elegant, an apartment in Kumbena Agrahara in East Bengaluru, the civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) told National Green Tribunal (NGT) on March 8 that a wire-mesh fencing could be allowed on the buffer zone of the drain to protect the apartment’s boundary.

Earlier, the apartment had constructed a boundary wall, bathroom and swimming pool in the buffer zone of the SWD. Following a complaint by V Paramesh, an activist, the NGT’s southern zone bench took ip a case last year against the apartment. Following the NGT’s intervention, the BBMP demolished the swimming pool and bathrooms on August 27, 2022. Read more

13:23 (IST)11 Mar 2023

Watch | Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar remembers Dhruvanarayana

#WATCH | Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar remembers Karnataka Congress working president R Dhruvanarayana who passed away today.

He says, "...He was a go-getter, simple & calm. All sections of people loved him and cutting across the party line, everyone respected him..." pic.twitter.com/GQaSuMaBdn
— ANI (@ANI) March 11, 2023

13:08 (IST)11 Mar 2023

PM to inaugurate, lay stones of projects worth Rs 16,000 crore in poll-bound Karnataka

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit poll-bound Karnataka on Sunday during which he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of projects worth Rs 16,000 crore, his office said on Friday.

At around 12 noon on Sunday, Modi will dedicate and lay the foundation stones of key road projects in Mandya. Thereafter, at around 3:15pm, he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of various development initiatives in Hubbali-Dharwad, a PMO statement said. Read more

Tomorrow, on March 12 PM Modi will dedicate the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway to the nation. The 118 km long project has been developed at a total cost of around Rs 8480 crores. It will reduce the travel time between Bengaluru and Mysuru from around 3 hours to about 75 minutes. pic.twitter.com/nem8B3CvqJ
— ANI (@ANI) March 11, 2023

12:16 (IST)11 Mar 2023

Tipuâ€™s Summer Palace, an echo of the Tiger of Mysore in modern Bengaluru

“As soon as the foundation of this palace was laid, its head was raised to heaven with joy. Oh, what a lofty mansion, a home of happiness, its summit being above the skies. It is a house of glass in purity, all who see it are struck with wonder.”

A stone’s throw away from KR Market, the Tipu Sultan’s Summer Palace in Bengaluru has this inscription in Farsi at the entrance. Today it abuts a main road. But once upon a time, it was part of the larger structure of the Bangalore Fort, which was expanded in the late 17th century by King Chikkadevaraja Wodeyar I to counter the risk of Maratha raids (he had already come into conflict with Chhatrapati Shivaji on one occasion). The Kote Venkataramana Temple was also built around this time and still stands today next to the summer palace. Read more

The construction of the palace itself was begun by Mysore ruler Hyder Ali and finished by his son Tipu Sultan in 1791. (Express Photo by Jithendra M)

11:18 (IST)11 Mar 2023

'I'm not stagnant water, I'm flowing water,' Karnataka Minister Somanna

Ahead of the assembly elections, Karnataka Housing Minister V Somanna has hinted of leaving the BJP after his name was not included in the party's election management committee.

Somanna is said to be mulling exiting the BJP to join the Congress. According to sources, the ruling party has decided not to include Somanna in its election management committee to avoid embarrassment to the party. Minister Somanna was also absent from the party's first Jana Sankalpa Ratha Yatra flagged off by Nadda earlier this month.

Somanna said, "I am not stagnant water. I'm flowing water. The people of the constituency have seen me as their own son. I have not spoken a word about anyone. I spoke about some issues with the state president and the chief minister. The people of my constituency have treated me as their son. I am 72 years old now, I don't have anything to do now. I'm flowing water." When asked about not being allowed in the campaign committee, he said, "I will not talk about this."

Earlier on Friday, the Karnataka BJP announced the appointment of a campaign committee and management committee for the upcoming state assembly elections. (ANI)

10:15 (IST)11 Mar 2023

Rahul Gandhi expresses grief over demise of Dhruvanarayana

Former Congress president and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi Saturday expressed grief over the demise of KPCC working president and former Congress MP R Dhruvanarayana.

"Saddened by the sudden demise of former MP, Shri R Dhruvanarayan. A hard-working & humble grassroots leader, he was a champion of social justice who rose through the ranks of NSUI & Youth Congress. His passing is a huge loss to the Congress party. My condolences to his family," he tweeted.

Saddened by the sudden demise of former MP, Shri R Dhruvanarayan.

A hard-working & humble grassroots leader, he was a champion of social justice who rose through the ranks of NSUI & Youth Congress.

His passing is a huge loss to the Congress party. My condolences to his family. pic.twitter.com/SbBr8I7ZTK
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 11, 2023

10:04 (IST)11 Mar 2023

Young, urban voters' not turning up on polling day a major challenge: CEC Rajiv Kumar

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Friday flagged concern over the apathy among young and urban voters during elections and called it a major challenge. He wondered why polling day is not celebrated like a festival of democracy and rather taken as a holiday.

"One major challenge before the Commission is the general apathy, mainly young and urban apathy amongst our voters," Kumar said during 'Vote Fest-2023' organised by the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The CEC sought to know how to motivate the 'non-voters' and draw them to the polling stations.

"It has become extremely crucial to understand the reasons, perceptions, beliefs, motivations, barriers, challenges, experiences, contexts, and the contours that shape their decision to not cast their vote. Can we motivate these non-voters to realise their power, believe in that power and energise them to take the call that their one vote can make a huge difference?" Kumar wondered. (PTI)

09:47 (IST)11 Mar 2023

KPCC working president and former MP Dhruvanarayana passes away at 61

KPCC working president and former Congress MP R Dhruvanarayana passed away Saturday. He was 61. According to sources, the senior Congress leader died of cardiac arrest. He was a member of the 15 and 16th Lok Sabha and represented the Chamarajanagar constituency in Karnataka.

09:46 (IST)11 Mar 2023

Good Morning Bengaluru!

Welcome to our Live Blog. Stay tuned as we bring you the latest news updates from across Karnataka

Wildlife conservationist Joseph Hoover demanded the reconstitution of the task force and stated that only those who have prior experience in working in wildlife areas should be inducted. (Representational Photo)

Fragmented forest patches leading to man-animal conflict, govt should address issue: Forest officers

While the monitoring of straying of wild elephants into human habitats has increased after the constitution of the elephant task force, the issue of fragmentation of the forest patches, which leads to man-animal conflict, has not been addressed by the government, said senior forest officers. With the increase in the number of elephants, the officers feel that it is important to reclaim the forest areas from encroachers.

Requesting anonymity, a senior forest officer in the task force said, “There are people on the ground to control and chase the elephants from human habitats. On receiving complaints from villagers, we reach in time because we have vehicles. However, the root cause of man-animal conflict is that elephants have lost their habitats and they stray into human habitats. It is like a cat and mouse story. If we chase elephants from one region they might appear tomorrow in some other village. How does it solve the problem? Several forest lands in the Western Ghats have been encroached. The spillover of the elephant population and the lost forest patches is a major concern.”

The bench quashed the circulars, pointing out that such circulars could not replace a proper rule. (Express Photo)

Karnataka High Court says no to govt’s plan for boards exams for Classes 5 and 8

The Karnataka High Court Friday upheld a petition filed by several school associations, striking down a government circular which would have set board exams for students of Classes 5 and 8 of the state board in March. The order was passed Friday by a single-judge bench consisting of Justice Pradeep Singh Yerur.

The petitioners, namely the Karnataka Unaided Schools Management Association, Our Schools and Registered Unaided Schools Management Association of Karnataka, argued that the three circulars which were issued had prescribed a board examination for Classes 5 and 8 only for those affiliated to the state board and not for ICSE and CBSE students.

Days after the video went viral, the Bengaluru city police tweeted that the Indiranagar police were looking into the matter.

Auto driver who ‘harassed’ Rapido biker lands in police custody

The Bengaluru East division police Friday said that the autorickshaw driver who allegedly harassed a Rapido taxi biker has been detained. A police official said: “The auto driver was issued a notice as per Section 41A of the CrPC, and he has been detained by the Indiranagar police station. He is currently in custody. We will be initiating further investigation as per the procedure.”

A video showing an auto driver harassing a Rapido taxi biker near the Indiranagar metro station in Bengaluru went viral on social media on March 5. The video, first shared on Twitter, drew sharp reactions from netizens who called out the auto driver for his rude behaviour. Rapido later said that the alleged harassment took place on March 1.

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