Picture used for representational purpose only
HUBBALLI: Anxiety among the people over the condition of the roads in and around the twin cities has mounted many notches following the recent tragic accident on Hubballi-Dharwad bypass road that cost the life of 11 people. Worried residents have launched a signature campaign to push the authorities concerned towards making the bypass road, a stretch infamous for accidents, one on which nearly 30 to 35 fatalities are reported on average each year.
Although a similar campaign was launched a year ago and more than 13,000 signatures collected, little was done to make the road safer for commute.
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BELAGAVI: A 38-year-old pesticide merchant killed his wife and their two children before taking his life in Ramadurga taluk of Belagavi district late Monday night.
Police said the couple used to have frequent fights over some family issues, and this could be the reason behind the tragedy. Police are investigating the incident from all angles, including a possible suicide pact.
The deceased are Praveen Shettar, Rajeshwari, 27, and Amruta, 8, and Adhvik, 6. Praveen was a dealer in agro-chemicals and pesticides. He lived with his family and 60-year-old mother in Ramadurga taluk.
Praveen returned home late on Monday night with bottles of pesticides from his shop. Police said he smothered his wife with a pillow and walked into the next room where his children were sleeping next to their grandmother. He woke the children up, led them into his room and killed them before consuming poison.
Union home minister Amit Shah
BELAGAVI/BAGALKOT: A day after exuding confidence over the BJP government completing its full term in Karnataka, Union home minister Amit Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister BS Yediyurappa are the “double engine” of development in the state.
Hailing Modi’s pro-poor policies and Yediyurappa’s decisions in Karnataka, Shah said the duo has been working tirelessly towards developing the state. The statement is being read by Yediyurappa loyalists as continued reaffirmation of the central leadership’s confidence in the CM, despite dissidence within the state unit over choice of new ministers and questions over his political future.
RAICHUR: Tension prevailed in Raichur after municipal officials razed houses built on illegally encroached plots at old Ashraya colony in the outskirts of the city. The police had to resort to mild lathicharge to disperse the occupants who were protesting against the eviction.
The plots were allotted several years back to the beneficiaries by the Raichur City Municipal Council (RCMC). Later it was found that some houses were not built by original beneficiaries but by encroachers. Following a complaint on the same the deputy commissioner (DC) ordered eviction. The Ashraya colony is located near Chandrabanda road and the survey number of the plot is 570/572. According to the CMC about 70 houses are illegally built.
A selfie of former students of a Davanagere school shot before the accident on Friday morning
DHARWAD: A school reunion trip to Goa ended in tragedy when 11 persons died and six were injured after their minibus collided with a sand-laden tipper on Pune-Bengaluru national highway bypass at Itigatti Cross on the outskirts of Dharwad on Friday.
Dharwad superintendent of police P Krishnakant told TOI that former students of Davanagere’s Saint Paul Convent School were heading to Goa for a three-day holiday. Nine among the dead were women and included a professor at a Davanagere medical college.
The bus met with an accident about 1km from a friend’s house in Gandhinagar, Dharwad, where the women were scheduled to have breakfast. Their batchmate Savita had arrived in Dharwad on Thursday to join the team on Goa trip.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel helped free the princely state of Hyderabad, of which Kalyana Karnataka was a part
KALABURAGI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a direct train between the Statue of Unity (Kevadiya) and Chennai on Sunday. Though this train will pass through Kalaburagi, a divisional headquarter of the state and considered the capital of Kalyan Karnataka (KK), there will be no stoppage here, much to the disappointment of those who wish to travel to Gujarat.
There is a strong connection between KK region and India’s first deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as he had led the annexation of the then Hyderabad-Karnataka region from the Nizams. Though this train will stop at Wadi, a junction station, it’s just a technical stoppage. Kevadiya is the place where the world’s largest statue of Sardar Patel is built. This new weekly train is being introduced to attract more tourists to Sardar Patel’s statue.
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RAICHUR: After procuring 100 tonnes of paddy from Sindhanur farmers, Reliance Retail Limited (RRL) is likely to close another deal to purchase 500 tonnes of Sona Masoori.
The Swasthya Farmers Producer Company (SFPC), in which 1,100 farmers are shareholders, has sent formal requests to ryots to sell 500 tonnes on the request of an RRL representative. The buyer has orally assured issuance of a purchase order on or before Friday.
The order will be issued looking at availability of a warehouse for arrival and lifting of the produce.
The company will rent warehouses in Sindhanur in Raichur district.
While RRL purchased paddy at Rs 1,950 per quintal, SFPC CEO Umakant Sharma is negotiating for Rs 2,000 for the next round of purchase. The minimum support price for Sona Masoori, which comes under Grade A category prescribed by the Union government, is Rs 1,868.
Crops destroyed after untimely rains at Koradur village in Haveri district.
Hubballi: There appears to be no end to the woes of the agrarian community in north Karnataka.
Farmers who had hoped to recoup losses they suffered owing to a particularly intense monsoon between June and September, with a promising harvest of the rabi crop have more cause for despair with unseasonal rain in January destroying produce ready for reaping.
Worse still, flowering of the mangoes that ought to occur this month too has been impacted owing to the rain. This is likely to push the price of the tropical fruit up this year. Bapugouda Bharamagoudra, an organic farmer in Yalavatti in Gadag, said that the prolonged monsoon had compelled the ryots to defer sowing for the rabi crop. “We had expected to reap a good harvest of chickpea and other such crops. But the untimely rain is destroying crops such as wheat, chickpea and groundnut. While the rain has impacted pollination of the chickpea crop, the quality of jowar will decline if it gets wet,” he rued.
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BENGALURU: BJP and Congress are scrambling to shortlist candidates for bypolls to the Belagavi Lok Sabha constituency and Basavakalyan and Maski assembly segments. The elections are likely to be held in late February or early March, and it will be another high-voltage clash after the recent Sira and RR Nagar contests.
The main parties will be eager to test their message and reach as they start early preparations for the 2023 assembly elections.
There is considerable interest in the Belagavi race as the district has often been the epicentre of Karnataka politics. Both BJP and Congress camps here are led by strong local politicians. BJP is thought to have the edge as it currently holds six of the eight assembly segments in the constituency.
Bullet mark on the wall of the house
KARWAR: A spurned lover allegedly opened fire at a house, where a bride was staying for her wedding, at Sakalabena area of Avarsa village in Ankola taluk in the wee hours of Saturday.
Rajesh Gaonkar was said to be in love with Geeta (name changed), a resident of Ramanaguli village in Yellapur taluk. The incident happened before the bride was to visit Lakshminarayana Kalyana Mantapa (marriage hall) at Avarsa.
The groom hails from Keni village in Ankola taluk. The wedding party comprising Geeta and her family members arrived at the house of her aunt in Avarsa on Friday. Around 4am on Saturday, a loud sound was heard outside the room where the bride was sleeping. Upon checking, the house inmates found a bullet mark — it had pierced through a window and on to a wall.