bangalore news times

Bengaluru : Sugarcane farmers across Karnataka intensified their agitation demanding better prices for their produce, blocking major highways and holding overnight protests in several districts. The demonstrations against the Union and state governments disrupted traffic, stranded vehicles for kilometres and caused inconvenience to passengers and transport operators. The agitation spread across Belagavi, Bagalkot, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi, Koppal, Haveri and Dharwad, as well as Mandya, Mysuru and Chamarajanagar. Thousands of farmers participated, insisting that their long-pending demands be addressed without further delay. The protesters have demanded a minimum price of Rs 5,500 per tonne of sugarcane, an increase in the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP), a hike in the minimum selling price of sugar and announcement of a State Advised Price (SAP). They have also sought implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations and procurement of all ethanol produced in Karn...

Bengaluru : An IAS officer belonging to the Andhra Pradesh cadre, Vikas Marmath, and three of his friends have been booked for allegedly assaulting a Central Crime Branch (CCB) inspector at a pub under Cubbon Park police station limits in Bengaluru. According to the complaint, Marmath visited the Kavoor pub with his friends Nitesh, Abhay Uday Singh and Roshan. At around 1.30 am, CCB personnel arrived at the establishment for a routine inspection and asked the group to produce their identity cards. Marmath allegedly became angry over the request, abused the police personnel and slapped an inspector who questioned his behaviour. He is also accused of threatening the officers by claiming that he was an IAS officer and challenging them to take action against him. Following the incident, a complaint was lodged at Cubbon Park police station. Police registered a criminal case against Marmath and his three friends for the alleged assault and misconduct. Further investigation is...

Bengaluru : Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has filed a petition before the Bengaluru City Civil Court, seeking protection against the circulation of allegedly defamatory and derogatory messages, social media posts and videos about him. Advocate Praveen Kamath submitted the application on behalf of Siddaramaiah on Monday, requesting an injunction to prevent the publication and distribution of videos and other material alleged to be objectionable and harmful to his reputation. The petition names several media organisations and social media platforms as respondents. Siddaramaiah’s counsel has urged the court to intervene and restrain the dissemination of content that the former Chief Minister considers defamatory. The legal move seeks to address the alleged circulation of objectionable material across media outlets and digital platforms. The petition asks the court to issue directions preventing further distribution of the disputed videos and messages. T...

Bengaluru: In a significant setback to Karnataka’s reservation policy, the High Court has quashed the state’s decision to raise the reservation quota for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to 17 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively. A bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice K.S. Hemalekha passed the order while considering a public interest litigation filed by Mahendra Kumar Mitra. The petitioner had challenged the law providing enhanced reservation in educational institutions and state government services under the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation) Act, 2022. The government’s decision had increased the combined reservation for SCs and STs from 18 per cent to 24 per cent, taking the state’s overall reservation percentage from 50 per cent to 56 per cent. The High Court has now struck down the measure that enabled the increase. Before the revision, Scheduled Castes were entitled to a 15 per cent reservati...

Hassan : A 58-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly killing a 67-year-old woman over a loan repayment dispute and throwing her body into a canal in Arakalagudu taluk. Police identified the accused as Ramesh, who allegedly murdered Lakshmamma and stole approximately 120 grams of her gold jewellery. The case came to light after Lakshmamma’s body was discovered inside a plastic bag in a canal near Bettadahalli village on October 7. She had gone missing four days earlier, on October 3, after informing her husband that she was travelling to Vijikoppalu. During the investigation, police traced the case to Ramesh. According to investigators, he offered Lakshmamma a lift on his motorcycle and took her to a secluded place near Bettadahalli. He allegedly assaulted her by slapping her and then strangled her. After the killing, he removed her jewellery, packed the body into a plastic bag and disposed of it in the canal. Police said the alleged motive was a financial dispute. La...

Mangaluru : Students of the prestigious St Agnes College in Mangaluru staged a protest against the management for scheduling undergraduate semester examinations during the Dasara festival and holiday period. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) supported the students, who accused the college administration of ignoring their request to postpone the examinations. The college, located near Bendorewell in Mangaluru, has scheduled semester examinations for undergraduate students from October 12 to October 28. Students said the examination schedule would prevent them from celebrating Dasara and participating in the Mangaluru Dasara festivities . According to the protesting students, they had approached the college management in advance and requested a postponement of the examinations. However, they alleged that the administration failed to respond positively and decided to proceed with the existing schedule. Angered by the decision, hundreds of students boycotted the...