CM announces 6 high-tech cities, 1 start-up park in Karnataka

Bengaluru: Former Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said on Friday that he has paid a fine of Rs 68,526 for drawing electricity from an illegal connection to illuminate his JP Nagar residence here during Deepavali, but termed it as "unjust and excessive".

However, the JD(S) state unit president protested the way the fine amount had been calculated and found flaws in the FIR registered against him.

Kumaraswamy, son of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, alleged a political witch-hunt against him for being vocal against the ruling Congress government.

In a letter to the assistant executive engineer of Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) vigilance police station, Kumaraswamy blamed the electricity contractor hired by his staff who had for testing purposes drawn a wire and connected it directly to the electric pole opposite his house.

"Immediately after coming to know the same, I informed my staff to disconnect the wire from the electric pole. I was not at home when this illumination work was being carried out or was being tested and I was in my house at Bidadi, Ramanagara District. The electrician worked on his own independently, without my knowledge," he explained.

The FIR registered against him is flawed with defects, as the complainant, being BESCOM assistant executive engineer, has stated that he had personally seen the theft taking place but the facts were contrary to the claim, Kumaraswamy said.

According to him, the BESCOM engineer who registered a case against him made it clear to him that he came to inspect the residential building after seeing the video on electronic and social media.

"In the face of an unjust and excessive demand for payment to be made, it is my right as a consumer to voice my concern and protest against such practices," Kumaraswamy said.

Blaming the ruling party for registering a case against him, he said, "I am of the opinion that this is a political witch-hunt against me for the series of tweets and press meets conducted by me in connection to mismanagement of power sources against the present government which is run by a rival party headed by my arch rivals and also the head of the states ---CM/DCM, who have given statements to the electronic media that I have committed a theft of electricity."

In continuation to their statements in the media, one of the officers had broken the official rules and given a press statement without the permission of the (Electricity) Board, Kumaraswamy alleged. This displays that officers were influenced to act as per instructions of their political heads to tarnish his name for an act committed by the electrical contractor.

Kumaraswamy found himself at the receiving end on November 14 when the Congress alleged that he had stolen electricity to illuminate his house during Deepavali.

The ruling party also posted a video showing a power connection being drawn from the electric pole to Kumaraswamy's house.

"The lone honest person in the world H D Kumaraswamy's J P Nagar residence was illuminated with decorative lights with illegal power connection directly from the electric pole. It is a tragedy that such poverty has struck a former CM to steal electricity!" the Congress wrote on the micro-blogging site 'X' at the time. 

US authorities have thwarted a plot to kill a Sikh separatist in the United States and issued a warning to India over concerns the government in New Delhi was involved, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.

There was no immediate response from India's Foreign Ministry on the report.

The FT report says that the US protest was issued after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Washington in June.

The FT report said that the target of the plot was Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an American and Canadian citizen who is general counsel for Sikhs for Justice. 

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) registered a case against 'listed individual terrorist' Pannun of the SFJ over his latest viral video threatening the passengers flying in Air India and the airlines with a global blockade and closure of its operations from November 19. The anti-terror agency made the announcement on Monday.

The report comes two months after Canada said there were "credible" allegations linking Indian agents to the June murder of a Sikh separatist leader in a Vancouver suburb. India has rejected Canada's accusations. 

The US military says Yemeni Armed Forces have fired two ballistic missiles in the direction of USS Mason, an Arleigh-Burke class destroyer, in the Gulf of Aden.

In a statement, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said that the destroyer was targeted early Monday morning local time after it aided the tanker ship Central Park that had been seized in the Gulf of Aden.

“The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately ten nautical miles from the ships,” the statement added.

“There was no damage or reported injuries from either vessel during this incident,” it claimed.

The Central Park was carrying phosphoric acid and had an international crew of 22, The Associated Press reported. It sent a distress signal prompting the US aircraft USS Mason to respond.

The tanker ship sails under the Liberian flag and is managed by London-based Zodiac Maritime, which is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer's Zodiac Group. 

Earlier this month, the Yemeni Armed Forces seized a vehicle transport ship also linked to Israel in the Red Sea off Yemen.

They have threatened to attack Israeli ships in the waters off Yemen and launched drone and missile strikes targeting the occupied territories in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Israel waged a war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group conducted Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Since the start of the aggression, the Tel Aviv regime has killed nearly 15,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and left vast swathes of the coastal enclave in ruins.

It has also imposed a “complete siege” on the coastal sliver, cutting off fuel, electricity, food and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.