Vol.12 Issue 12
Inside
Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media, Bangalore
Rs.47 crore swindled by builders, investors allege By Nikita Malusare
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wo builder brothers who owe customers over Rs. 47 crore have vanished into thin air leaving behind empty building plots and hundreds of angry investors. Over 2000 cases are registered against Aishwarya Buildtech Pvt Ltd at Bangalore Consumer Dispute Forum.
Page 2 : Police yet to identify murdered man
Bhaskar Reddy (Left) , the managing director of Aishwarya Buildtech is absconding, while T.R.Reddy (Right) was arrested by Central Crime branch in June, but was released on bail and is now absconding. (File pictures)
Bhaskar Reddy sought investors by circulating advertorials, classified ads and hand bills which promised luxurious apartments and villas along with a club house, party hall, a modern, wellequipped gym, tennis and badminton courts and round-the-clock security. The lands used to advertise the projects by the company are classified under agricultural lands and have failed to receive clearance form Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRD). “Every time I enquired about the progress of the project, they assured me that they would receive approval in a few months,” said Poonam. S, one of the victims. Gandhi Law Chambers, consumer lawyers who have been handling over 300 cases of Aish-
are above law.” he added. After three years when the investors saw no progress in the project, they demanded either a plot in some other project or to refund their money. “After a heated argument with Mr. Bhaskar, he refunded the money through cheques, however, all the cheques that he issued were back dated and they bounced”, said Sarveswara Reddy. After complaints were registered at Tilak Nagar, Mahalaxmi and Basveshwara police stations, investors finally approached Consumer Forum Court to get a refund of their payment at 18% per annum.
Aishwarya Buildtech Private Ltd was started in 2004 by Bahaskar Reddy andT.R. Reddy, Managing director and Chairman of hte company respetively ;Shankar G ; P.S. Bhanu Prakash and Mohan Kumar were the other directors of the company.
Gandhi Law Chambers said, “Many cases are pending at the City Crime Branch. Almost 1,000 consumer cases have been decided against Reddy brothers and his associates for deficiency in service under Consumer Protection Act, 1986. But more than 2,000 cases are still pending in the Bangalore Urban Consumer Forum Court.Pratap Kumar, a consumer lawyer, believes that media should act responsible before advertising any firm.
It had initiated ten projects, namely Aishwarya County at Hosakerehalli, New County , My Citi , Global Citi, Arezona, Shubham, Samyukhta Enclave, Presidency Royal , My county and Royal Enclave. These projects promised apartments with high class facilities in the city to the investors, who were both from Bangalore and outside.
Page 2 : RTO touts make a killing
25 October 2012
Nikita Malusare & Kriti Khandelwal
Other projects initiated by the group in the city are New County; My Citi’ Presidency Royal’ and My county. Inset is the graph of the locations which remain empty even after eight years since the project, Aishwarya County, was initiated.
warya Builders said, “No land except the Arezona land has received residential clearance form BMRDA. If they have purchased any land, they have sold it to a third party. A sum of almost Rs 120 crore is involved in these projects. ” “With an intention to own a site in the proposed layout called Aishwarya Darshan Country, I made an initial sale consideration of Rupees 2, 45,000 on April 1, 2004. Within a period of three months, the sale transaction was to be completed,” said Venkateshwarulu Kaisetty, another victim.
Depending on different projects and locations, the initial payment varied from Rs. 2, 37,000 to Rs. 4, 37,000. Atul Sharma, who had booked a corner plot in the project named New City in Bidadi, had to pay Rupees 6 Lakhs which was one third of the cost of the site. Trinadh Pala, who invested 7.5 Lakhs in Arezona project said, “When I asked their agent, Mr. Prabhakar Rao to return my money, he advised me to go to court or to the police.” “I can do nothing to them, they
He said, “Strict actions should be taken against such tainted tycoons, so that next time no builder will dare to cheat the public. Media should thoroughly check the history and details of the company before advertising them. Because, at the end of the day people blindly believe the papers. ”It’s been over a year that the Reddy brothers have been absconding. The verdicts are passed in the consumer forum only in the presence of the Reddy’s lawyer. The Aishwarya offices are completely vacant and their telephone numbers do not work. Investors from across the city of Aishwarya Buildtech are, through social networking, fighting hard to get back their money. The Observer team was unable to contact Aishwarya Builders by telephone, or through its lawyers.
Deaths mount at Agara Lake By Sumit, Deepu Aby
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ocal residents living near a treacherous lake say it has claimed over 20 lives this year.
Page 3: Bangalore streets are still dumps
A carton factory worked drowned in Agara lake on October 21 despite repeated warnings from locals that security there should be stepped up. Rakesh, from Chamrajpet, was swimming with friends when he ventured into deep water. “All of us planned to swim in the shallow
water. Rakesh advanced towards the deeper side and by the time we warned him, he was gone”said Raju, a friend of Rakesh who was with him on the fateful day. Panicked by the turn of events, his friends informed the police. Thepolice were unable to trace the body and it was only the next day than his body was recovered. Residents say that outsiders keep visiting the lake and sometimes things turn messy when they get involved in activities such asdrinking. “Many times groups of
students visit the lake. It is okay if they restrict themselves to swimming but there are times when they indulge in drinking and this leads to trouble,” said Raghu, a shopowner in Agara. The broken beer bottles and disposable glasses scattered around thelake are an eyesore for locals. This is also a factor that troublethe villagers. “There have been more than 20 deaths this year alone.The lake is not so deep but if you swim towards the centre, chancesare that you might invite
trouble” said Santhosh, another shopkeeperfrom Agara. Agara Lake falls under the Panchayat. It funds fishing in the lake but no security measures have been provided by the Panchayat. Despite a number of complaints by residents no action has been taken. A police spokesman in declined to comment on the death toll at the lake. Drink and drug plague, kills. Page 3 >>>
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The Weekly Observer
25 October 2012
Police still clueless over identity of murder victim By Sumit
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OLICE have yet to identify a murdered man pulled from Kumbalgudu river. One month after the badly beaten body was recovered from the Vrushabhavati River, we can reveal the officer in charge has been replaced and police are no further forward in identifying the dead man. The only evidence they have to go on is that the man is believed to be a Hindu as he had not been circumcised and he had a tattoo with the word “Shivu” written on his right forearm.
IIJNM archived Picture
The man’s body was pulled from the river on September 23. The
Health clinics warned over dumping waste
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here has been an increase in the number of private medical clinics who have started disposing of their biomedical waste in Bangalore According to Biomedical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998, disciplinary action will be taken by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board against hospitals and clinics who dispose of their biomedical waste along with municipal waste. Rupa Sethi, Senior Supervisor of the housekeeping department in Bangalore Hospital said: “BBMP comes here every morning to collect the waste from the hospital. Also plastic and infected disposals are taken by Maridi Company waste collectors.” Mr. Shrinath, Executive of Regional Office in Bangalore of Maridi Eco Industries Pvt Ltd, a company offering disposal services for healthcare organizations, said that around 2000 clinics started using their services since last November. Maridi Eco Industries Private Limited and Ramky Environment
“Earlier, the clinics were not very eager to join, but because of trade licensing from BBMP, clinics are being pressured to use bio-medical waste disposal,” he said.
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The biomedical waste segregation is slowly increasing and being incorporated by the private clinics
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By Kriti Khandelwal
Management Pvt Ltd are the only two private players that got the tender to handle waste in Karnataka in 2001.
- Archana, Biomedical section in KSPCB
According to Mr. Shrinath, clinics and hospitals have also been getting mandatory training to educate staff about proper segregation of waste. “The only problem is that there
are no proper records of private clinics in the city but still the BBMP officials are finding and notifying them about the new policy.” he said. Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) is checking the irregularities of biomedical waste by tracking the activities of unregistered medical units in the state under the Karnataka Private Medical Establishment Act. “The biomedical waste segregation is slowly increasing,” An official, Archana from the biomedical section in KSPCB said. She added that this practice is being incorporated by the private clinics. Section 15 of Biomedical wastes Rules, 1998, allows the government to take punitive steps against defaulters. This involves imprisonment up to five years or penalty of upto rupees one lakh, or both. In case the violation continues, it would then attract a penalty of rupees five thousand per day up to one year It will be an imprisonment up to seven years thereafter.
One toilet for over a hundred staff at Police Station By Amrita Ray
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VER 100 male and female police station staff share just one common toilet with prisoners. New High Grounds Police Station in Bangalore is so filthy that female officers are demanding their own. There are 105 people working there. “It is extremely important to provide a separate toilet for the female constables; we face a lot of problems as we are not very comfortable sharing the toilets with our male colleagues” said Manjula, a female constable. Other police stations such as City Railway Police Station, Basvangudi Police Station and Banashakari Police Station are facing
similar issues.
Lack of facilities and hygiene in the cells of the police stations in Bangalore has left the prisoners to rot amidst dirt and filth. A few of these stations do not even have fans and most of the time they face power cuts, according to officers. “Our police stations face constant shortage of water and electricity which creates a lot of difficulties not only for the prisoners but also for the staff,“said one of the male constables of New High Ground Police Station. The toilets located inside the cells, meant to be used by the prisoners, are in such a state they cannot be used. “These prisoners are locked up
inside for hours often due to shortage of staff and therefore are forced to urinate in the filthy toilets present inside these cells,” said Mr. Ramchandra, assistant sub-inspector. Staff toilets are covered with layers of filth and the stench coming from them is unbearable.
case fell under the jurisdiction of Bidadi Police Station. Assistant Sub-Inspector S C Arya, the investigating officer, said at the time: “It seems to be a case of murder and not an accident. We are trying to find out the identity of the person. Nothing can be told in the preliminary investigation.” Any speculations from the side of police were avoided and no statement had been iven for the cause of death. At the end of one month, when asked whether the reason for the death has been established yet, ASI Arya said: “The post mortem report has been sent to the Forensic Science Lab. It will take another month to get the results.” However, Mr Arya said that the case will be completed within three
months. Another interesting development in the whole case is that the current investigating officer has been replaced. “I was the case in-charge only till 25th October” said Mr. Arya. When asked who would be taking over the case from him, Arya said, “I am not sure about the name. It is an official decision and I will only know once the replacement has been made.” Whether the death was due to an accident or was it a well planned murder is still to be established. The police are busy with their investigation and assurance has been made to wrap up the case as early as possible.
RTO touts make a killing Vintu Augustine
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OUTS are raking in a small fortune from people visiting the city’s Regional Transport Office. And one “agent” demanding as much as ten times the cover value of documents at the offices claimed his charges were so high because he had to pay off bosses inside the department. Staff at the RTO delay routine applications but as soon as an agent is hired, at ten times the price, the documents arrive quickly. Agents around RTO make money as people find it difficult to get the certificates issued in time on their own. The ‘fees and rates’ page of Karnataka Transport Department’s website accords only very minimal charge for the issue of a driving license or a registration certificate. But individuals end up paying up to ten times the price for the same, because they get caught up in the web of agents. “I had to pay Rs. 1000 to an agent to change the ownership of a bike over to my name, which would have cost me only Rs. 60 if I it were done without the help of touts. Yet I am happy that the work is done without too much hassle at the RTO,” said Mohan (name changed) a resident at Kengeri. “I had gone three times personally to the office for the same over a week, all in vain, but got the certificate within a week having entrusted the work to an agent,” he said.
Agents connive with the officers within the RTO’s office. So they get things done faster without difficulty. When asked about the feasibility of procuring an LMV license, Mr. Kumar, an agent, said, “Give me two weeks time and I will get a smart card based LMV license for you, but pay me Rs. 2800.” “I will have to share a good amount from this among different persons beginning with top level officers at the RTO. The officers are also happy about it as they can earn a little extra by this,” he added. All that is required to obtain the license is an identity card and five passport size photos. Another agent, Mr. Balu said, “Give me Rs. 1500 along with an identity card and five passport size photos and I will get you the license within ten days.” It costs only Rs. 200 to obtain a license from an RTO directly, but disgusted over the procedures, people tend to offer ten or twelve times higher the amount and attain the same. It has become common over the years that people apply for vehicle certificates and licenses through agents as it is easy and less pressurizing. And agents have found it a chance to make easy money as people find it easier to pay the money to the touts, rather than spend their time in the RTO office. There are a lot of shops outside every RTO working under banners of xerox, lamination, digital studio, etc. but all of them containing agents and touts that do this work.
“This is obviously an issue to be concerned about. They cannot treat the prisoners like animals and one toilet for 105 staff is completely ridiculous, that too a common one,” said Mrs. Chandy, a member of Citizen’s Action Group Bangalore. She hoped that the welfare department will take initiative and work out strategies to do something about it.
Vintu Augustine Agents outside RTO’s office fleecing money these days
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The Weekly Observer
25 October 2012
Bangalore streets are still dumps By Sumit
The waste generated during the festivals that have just ended still need to be managed. BBMP’s proposal to dump garbage in abandoned pits has created another problem with the citizens. “We were already fed up with the heap of garbage lying in front of our homes. Now they come up with another idea,” said Latha, a nursing student residing at a hostel in Banashankari.
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espite promising a garbage free city BBMP continues dumping rubbish on the streets of Bangalore. Streets around Maruthi Nagar, Majestic, BTM Layout, Malleshwaram and JP Nagar are still plagued by a pungent smell of garbage. BBMP garbage trucks have zeroed in on certain areas of every locality where the garbage collected from the whole locality is dumped. A crossing at Maruthi Nagar has turned into a mountain of waste. “The trucks carrying garbage have been dumping it here for a week now. We have to bear the acerbic smell as well the fear of an epidemic,” said Ameen who owns a tailoring shop right across the dumping site. At BTM second stage the empty land in front of a high rise apartment is being used for dumping. The residents have to put up with the foul smell of decomposing waste. “The lorries or trucks carrying garbage do not have a fixed
With increasing number of garbage piles in the city, Bangalore has reached a saturation point. It is adding up to the already existing pressure on the landfills. The ageold technologies are not helping in any way to dispose the waste.
time of disposal. We don’t even get a chance to ask them to stop dumping here” said Mr. Saranjay, a resident of BTM second stage. While another resident of the same locality had this to say, “Once I requested the driver to stop dumping here. He cited his own helpless-
ness as these were the orders from the officers.” With the festive season round the corner with Bakreed on Saturday, the garbage issue will only get worse. However, with the ever increasing mounds of garbage on
the streets, solutions are nowhere to be seen. Upon asking the deputy commissioner for solid waste management, BBMP, about a solution to the garbage problem, he said that action will soon be taken.
The BBMP Commissioner assured citizens of a lasting solution to the persistent garbage problem but last week shelved well publicized plans to make Bangalore a garbage free city. The increasing garbage in the city is posing a serious threat to the well-being of the citizens as ther number of dengue cases are on an increase in the city.
Cops are robbers, vendors claim By Vintu Augustine
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ogue police officers are extorting money from street vendors to allow them to continue trading. Police extort money from wayside vendors by threatening to push them out on the streets if they refuse to pay. The roadside vendors all over Bangalore city are being harassed by police personnel to forcefully take a share of their profit every evening.
<<< Continued from Page 1 Drug abuse and sales of intoxicants like marijuana is running rampant surrounding the wilderness of Agara Lake in Iblur.
Rickshaw drivers who are also self employed peddlers often become threat and nuisance to the public.
Agara Lake is ruined and abandoned and is not open to the public by the authorities.
“They indulge in anti social activities and fight with their passengers,” said Deepak, a shopkeeper near Iblur.
Pathway surrounding the lake has become hub of anti-social activity. Peddlers in Iblur are earning great money when their business continues unchecked. Peddlers often turn out to be rickshaw drivers and unemployed youth of this vicinity. “I am always a ring away, whenever you feel you are in need of stuff just give me a ring, I will tell you the spot to collect it,” said Ramesh (name changed), a rickshaw driver. Clients are taken inside wilderness and are always ensured that business is safe. Peddlers feed their clients with marijuana which enables them to loot money from them easily. Clients of these peddlers are seen to be students of below 22 years of age.
During night they sit inside autorickshaws and smoke marijuana along with the consumption of alcohol creating nuisance to public. Residents complain that the lack of police patrolling on these deserted streets is the sole cause of the peddlers gaining confidence. “During day time two police officers come in motorcycle for patrolling, but none them care to stick to the same duty during night,” said Deepak. Police constable Sanjeev Gowda responded, “Inspite of giving awareness classes and warning students studying in colleges near Koramangla are getting involved with these criminals.” Police refused to accept that there are sales of marijuana presently surrounding Agara Lake.
The police on duty usually arrive between seven and ten in the evening to collect the money from them.
“They come anytime aroaund eight or nine o’ clock at night and ask for money,” said Nagesh, a vendor at Kengeri.
Another victim, Brajesh, a hawker near R.V. College tells that he has to pay fifty rupees a day which is a huge part of his earning.
He added: “If we do not pay we land up in trouble so, we give them the money as soon as they come”
When asked about this variation with regard to the amount given, the vendors themselves clarified that it depends on the vending that each one has daily.
Money demanded and collected varies from seller to seller and place to place. Some of the sellers say that they give only ten rupees daily, whereas others say that usually they have to pay more than twenty rupees per day. Narayan from Rajeshwari Nagar said that he gives only fifty rupees a week to the cops.
Suresh said, “At times our sale amounts only to 400 or 500 rupees an evening and to give 50 or 100 rupees out of it to the police mars us a lot.” The vendors on the pavement are left without any option but to pay whatever amount is demanded to keep the police away from further annoyance.
Experts advise India to focus on long term fiscal growth By Sidharth Shekhar India must tighten its belt or risk falling into the same fiscal trap as Europe and the United States. Short-term pain will lead to long term gain in the country’s economy, according to a leading research conducted by South Asian University (SAU). Last week the government was handed a stark warning from a research conducted by SAU. Citing a number of savage cuts required to save India’s global credit rating. One of the eminent research panelists; Mr.Rohit, who is currently an Assistant Professor at SAU hinted that the ruling party would be committing political suicide if it were to implement such austerity measures. The recommendations of this report are under review by the government but it’s very likely that it won’t be implemented in full. The report recommends the withdrawal of all subsidies, to raise the price on kerosene, petrol, diesel, LPG and revision in the prices of urea, to name a few.
The study suggests that even if these reforms were to be implemented, it would only have small term impact on the common man.
globalized west took the economy of this country to an altogether new level. The report pushes the government to initiate reforms.
Mr. Rohit also quoted saying; “This is a very genuine and thorough research on the complexities which the Indian economy is facing right now. This report has exposed the problems in the defense sector and in a nutshell it has highlighted the problems the country is facing in almost every sector. If implemented honestly then there will be short term impact on the income of the people in a way that it will hit the masses but the long term prospects are brilliant for everyone alike.”
Mr. Rohit said: “It would be hard to implement the report in full because the government believes in inclusive growth and a large section of our population lives below poverty line, so cutting the subsidies on fuels would be like strangulating one’s own throat.
According to this report, the Indian economy is in dire need of reforms to overturn the fiscal deficit.With the end of license raj, the nation embarked on a series of reforms which bolstered the economy and country’s import dependency decreased to an extent, the fruits of which were tasted gradually by almost all the sections of society. This sudden exposure to a
As a party, Congress is not foolish enough to infuriate a major chunk of the society who exercise their vote, keeping in mind the election in 2014. It (implementation of the committee’s recommendations) will be silly, if they do so”. This report has already generated a buzz among the nation’s intelligentsia and economists alike; the report has been uploaded on the finance ministry’s website for an informed debate and it would be interesting to see when it will be tabled in the parliament for discussion.
25 October 2012
The Weekly Observer
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By Hansa & Reshma Scotland’s national contemporary dance company gave a beautiful performance in Bangalore on Thursday night. The Scottish Dance Theater is a national contemporary dance company, part of the Dundee Rep Theater. This is their first ever tour to India. The troupe has already performed in Chennai and Bangalore and will be performing in Delhi and Kolkata as well. Their vision is to depict the contemporary world in the form of dance and theater. They are planning to extend their talents and are planning to provide extensive workshops and engagement programmes where the dance troupe will be interacting
dience here. I mean, in the UK where we have performed a lot of times, we have never had an interactive audience. It is always a formal audience, where they clap only at the end. “Here, it is like, they clap whenever they feel it is good or an excellent piece. I mean when the dancers swung and fell, we would not have received applause. Here it was applause and a little bit of whistling too.It kind of encourages us.” Talking about his experience as a dancer till now, he said that dancing was something he always loved to do. He said that he was more of a dancer and than a choreographer. After a lot of performances and sequences, when he was a freelance dancer, he joined the Scottish Dance Theatre. Twelve years back, he was promoted
Flowers of Scotland “Buzzing audience” is what James McGillivray described the city’s audience as. The current artistic director of Scottish Dance Theater is the master conductor of the show. Starting at the age of 11, his dance saw its birth at the Harlow Ballet School. James, totally happy with excitement, said that the first ever experience in India had proved “different” from what he had expected or even dreamt of. He said: “It is a completely different au-
to the position of Artistic Director. He said: “It brings in a lot of memories of my dancing days. Now I am organizing and supervising the whole thing. I now look for dancers, choreographers as well as technicians and choose accordingly.” James concludes saying that he, as well as his dance troupe are looking forward to meeting more and more choreographers, especially Indians for future performances, which may not necessarily be in India. He is eagerly waiting to combine Indian culture and the Scottish culture to bring out new meaning to the world of dance and says he hopes it happens soon.
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A buzzing audience
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with over 500 teachers, professionals as well as young, aspiring dancers.
- James McGillivray, Artistic Director, Scottish Dance Theater
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