bangalore news times

Vijayapural: BJP Karnataka unit President B Y Vijayendra on Friday, October 9, alleged that Chief Minister D K Shivakumar’s “business interests” in Telangana were influencing the state government’s decision to release water to the neighbouring state, despite farmers in Karnataka struggling amid drought conditions. He claimed that the state government had begun releasing two thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water from the Narayanpur Dam to Telangana on the chief minister’s verbal instructions, allegedly to please the Congress government there. “D K Shivakumar is close to the Chief Minister’s (A Revanth Reddy) associates in Telangana, and he also has business interests there,” Vijayendra claimed, while speaking to reporters here. The BJP leader alleged that the decision to release water was taken despite shortages of drinking water and fodder for people and cattle in Karnataka. Vijayendra said the government’s dec...

Mysuru: The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has planned additional bus services across the state to handle the expected surge in passenger traffic during Mysuru Dasara celebrations. Around 3,000 extra buses will operate between October 16 and 27, while 700 special services will connect Bengaluru with Mysuru. The transport arrangement is aimed at helping tourists and festival visitors travel conveniently to Mysuru and other destinations during the festive period. In addition to the additional buses, KSRTC has introduced one-day tour packages from Mysuru, allowing visitors to explore religious sites, waterfalls, wildlife destinations and popular tourist attractions. Three packages, Giridarshini, Jaladarshini and Devadarshini, have been planned to cater to different travel interests. The Giridarshini package covers Bandipur, Gopalaswamy Betta, Nanjangud, Chamundi Hills and Biligiri Ranganabetta. The itinerary combines wildlife and hill destinations with ...

Bengaluru: The severe drought prevailing across Karnataka has pushed farmers in Dharwad district into a difficult situation, with many being forced to sell cattle they had raised for years because of an acute shortage of fodder and water. The failure of the southwest monsoon has affected agricultural activity and left farmers uncertain about the prospects of the rabi season. With little rainfall recorded in several areas, farmers are struggling to prepare their fields for the next crop. The crisis has also directly affected livestock, which depend heavily on agricultural residue and fodder. The cattle market at Nulvi in Kundgol taluk has witnessed an unusual trend, with the number of farmers looking to sell their animals reportedly exceeding the number of buyers. Farmers from Kundgol, Navalgund and Annigeri areas have been bringing their cattle to the market as maintaining them has become increasingly expensive. Failure of crops is reducing fodder availability Many...

Yadgir : Yadgir police have solved the murder of a 48-year-old jogathi woman whose charred body was found in a dense forest area last month, with investigators arresting her alleged lover in Bengaluru. The deceased has been identified as Shantamma, a resident of Nalwar village in Chittapur taluk of Kalaburagi district. The accused, Suresh, is a resident of Halkatta village. The case came to light on September 24 when a forest watchman spotted a badly burnt body while patrolling the forest area near Bachwar village in Yadgir taluk. The forest reportedly covers nearly 10,000 acres. The watchman alerted villagers and the Yadgir Rural police. Senior police officers, including the Yadgir Superintendent of Police, visited the spot and examined the remains. As the body had been extensively burnt and the woman’s identity could not be established, police registered a suo motu case and collected articles found near the spot. Following the postmortem, the remains were cremated in t...

Voters who say they were wrongly struck off Karnataka’s electoral rolls will get a public hearing at Bengaluru’s Freedom Park on Thursday, October 8, with actor Prakash Raj and YouTuber Dhruv Rathee among those backing them. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) is organising the People’s Tribunal on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. It begins at 10:30 am under the slogan “Save Our Votes, Save Democracy”, and a “chappal protest” will follow. Raj, a vocal critic of the SIR, announced the event on social media on Wednesday, October 7. In a video, he described Rathee as the “special guest” and said it would be the YouTuber’s first visit to Bengaluru in support of the “scrap SIR” campaign. Rathee later confirmed his participation in a video on X. “Victims of SIR from across the state will be present,” Raj said in his post, naming CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, co-convener Ashutosh ...

Bengaluru: Former KPSC chairman Shivashankarappa Sahukar and former commission member B.V. Geetha have been remanded in Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody until October 19 following their arrest in an alleged recruitment examination scam. The ED produced the duo before the PMLA special court after arresting them on Tuesday, October 6. The agency sought 14 days of custodial interrogation, stating that further questioning was required to establish the alleged money trail and the role of those involved in manipulating recruitment examinations. Special Public Prosecutor Madhu N. Rao told the court that the investigation had allegedly revealed question-paper transactions involving several candidates. According to the ED, candidates were allegedly asked to pay Rs 40 lakh, Rs 60 lakh or Rs 70 lakh for question papers, while one transaction was allegedly settled for Rs 5 lakh shortly before the examination. The agency claimed that blank cheques, promissory notes and signed pape...