What's the urgency to ban gutka, asks DVS; Not ready to violate SC directive, replies Khader

[email protected] (CD Network)
June 6, 2013
Bangalore, Jun 6: The debate over the government's decision to ban gutka has continued both in the Legislative Assembly Council. However, Karnataka government has reiterated that the ban imposed on gutka would stay, rejecting the demand of the opposition BJP which argued that the move would hit arecanut growers in the State.

At the end of a debate on the issue in the state Assembly on Wednesday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said revoking the May 30 government notification would only benefit the gutka lobby and would not help the cause of curbing cancer cases.

The ban is as per the Supreme Court order, he said,denying that it was a hasty decision. The government had no other option but to impose the ban. As many as 23 States and five Union Territories have taken similar step.

Seeking to allay concerns of the growers, he said the decline of price of arecanut was only marginal. Government would extend them support if the prices crash, he assured.

BJP floor leader and former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar said government has not come out with any specific roadmap to find solutions to growers' woes and announced that BJP members would stage a walk-out in protest, at which time Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa adjourned the House for the day.

Earlier, BJP members, who spoke in the House, demanded immediate withdrawal of the Government notification, asserting that it would hit arecanut growers.

Shettar charged the Government with having taken a hasty decision without pondering over its implication on arecanut farmers, and sought its withdrawal till the problems of the growers are addressed.

Shettar, who raised the issue along with some BJP members, said Government should have held discussions with legislators from arecanut growing areas, before issuing the notification.

Council

In Legislative Council, opposition leader of D?V?Sadananda Gowda said that the prices of arecanut crashed by at least Rs 2,000 per quintal across Karnataka barely 24 hours after the ban was announced.

“The previous Congress government, led by S M?Krishna, had supported our agitation when prices of arecanut had crashed. He didn't take time to convene an all-party meeting along with the other stakeholders to discuss the issue. But this government does not even want to talk about the matter,” Gowda said.

The former Chief Minister blamed the bureaucracy for taking the government for a ride and pushing it to take a hasty decision.

He said that the ban on paan masala was also “thoughtless.” Paan masala has no proven record of being injurious to public health. “The Kerala High Court has, in fact, reversed the government's decision to ban paan masala in that State,” Gowda pointed out.

BJP?MLC Srinivas Poojar said people employed in the gutka industry had been pushed to the streets.

In reply, Mangalore MLA and Minister for Health and Family Welfare U T?Khader said that the government did not have any other option. “We had to comply with the Supreme Court directive. We don't want to violate it. Even the Advocate General favoured the ban.”

khader

gowda1

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News Network
May 3,2024

Bengaluru: In a fresh development in the alleged Hassan sex abuse case, JD(S) MLA H D Revanna, who was accused of sexually harassing his house help, has been booked for kidnapping a victim allegedly sexually assaulted by his son, Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna. The case was filed late Thursday evening at the KR Nagar police station in Mysuru.

The 20-year-old complainant from KR Nagara accused one Sathish Babanna of taking his mother away forcibly and keeping her in an unknown location at the behest of Revanna.

As per the FIR, Revanna has been named as accused 1 while Babanna was accused 2. The duo were booked under IPC Sections 364A (kidnapping for ransom), 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine a person) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention).

The complainant claimed that his mother, whose name and age were not revealed, had worked as a help in Revanna’s house and farm in Holenarasipura for six years, quit the job three years ago and returned to KR Nagara. She then worked for daily wages.

“Nearly three to four days before the Lok Sabha election, Sathish Babanna, who is known to us and hailed from our native place, took my mother to Holenarasipura after saying that Bhavani Revanna, the wife of MLA Revanna, had asked for her,” the complainant alleged, adding that Babanna dropped her back on the day of the polls.

Babanna allegedly told the victim’s mother and father to remain silent and evade the police if they came looking for them and to inform him of the developments.

On April 29, at around 9 pm, when the complainant was home, the suspect Babanna arrived, told the complainant’s mother that Revanna had asked for her and took her away on his motorcycle. The complainant claimed that he wasn’t aware of where Babanna took his mother and he had told him that if the police found her, a case would be registered and they would all go to jail.

On May 1, two of the complainant’s relatives called him on the phone and told him that there was a video of his mother being sexually assaulted by Prajwal and that it was a huge case, the FIR noted. He was also informed by his two friends of his "mother's videos being circulated".

When he asked Babanna later that night, he was allegedly told that there was a photo of his mother standing with a stick when Prajwal had quarrelled with someone earlier and an FIR had been registered. Babanna told the complainant that his mother would have to be released on bail, the FIR noted.

“Babanna told me not to speak on the matter on my phone and asked me to talk from a different phone,” he said, seeking action from the police.

The case has been transferred to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up to probe the Hassan sex scandal as per the government order.

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News Network
May 6,2024

Bengaluru, May 6: Arrested JD-S MLA H.D. Revanna, the son of former PM H.D. Deve Gowda, on Sunday said that there is no evidence against him in the sex video scandal kidnapping case and that it was a "conspiracy" against him.

Talking to the media, while being taken for a medical test before being produced in front of a court here, Revanna stated that a kidnapping case had been lodged against him though he does not have 'one black mark' against him in his entire career of 40 years.

"Without evidence, I have been targeted... All allegations against me are false. My arrest has been made out of ill intention," he claimed.

"The case was lodged on April 28, then, they did not have any evidence. Later, the fake evidence was created on May 2 and I was fixed," he alleged.

Home Minister Dr G. Parameshwara stated on Sunday that a Blue Corner notice has already been issued against Revanna's son and MP Prajwal Revanna, the prime accused in the sex video scandal, as he is believed to be abroad.

"The Interpol will communicate to all nations and he will be located. Once he is located, the SIT will take a call on how he should be secured and brought back to India," he added.

Revanna was arrested on Saturday on charges of kidnapping one of the victims of the sex video scandal.

Parameshwara further maintained that the arrest of Revanna has saddened JD-S leaders and if action was not taken, the SIT would be blamed too.

Meanwhile, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge refused to comment on the alleged sex video scandal involving Prajwal Revanna.

About Revanna's arrest, he said that the SIT would initiate action as per the law. "Those indulging in such acts must be taught a lesson and justice should be given to the families of victims. No one can escape the law. No one should use this case politically," he stated.

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News Network
May 10,2024

Mangaluru: A teenage boy from a remote village in Dakshina Kannada district, who was undergoing treatment for stomach pain for past few days, breathed his last after hospitalization. 

The deceased has been identified as Nithin Kumar, 19, who had completed PUC and was attending computer classes. 

According to police, on May 4, when he informed his family that he had been suffering from a stomach-ache for the past 4-5 days, his family members took him to a clinic in Kaniyoor.

The doctors who examined him advised him to undergo scanning. He was informed about a kidney stone and later, they returned home. That same night, he suffered from stomach-ache again and was rushed to a private hospital in Puttur.

On May 7, as per doctors’ advice, he was discharged around 12:45pm. However, when he came home around 2:30pm, he again suffered from stomach-ache and was taken to another private hospital in Puttur, where doctors conducted a surgery.

On Wednesday, as per doctors’ advice, he was asked to be shifted to Mangaluru for better treatment.

He visited a private hospital in Derakatte, where doctors suggested that he be shifted to government Wenlock Hospital.

The doctors who examined him at the Wenlock Hospital declared him dead. A case has been registered at the Bellare police station, and an investigation is on.

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