Volume 15 | Issue 13
Monday, November 23, 2015
Excise dept pledges probe over bribes claims Oindrila Sarkar Excise commissioner Umashankar SR is investigating officers in his own department who had been accused of accepting bribes to turn a blind eye to the fake goods market. Private detective agencies in the city have complained that they struggle to act on behalf of global brands to stamp out counterfeit goods in the city as Excise Dept staff agents alert bootleggers to upcoming raids. Bangalore has a thriving market in counterfeit goods, from designer handbags to cigarettes. When asked about allegations of corruption within his department, Umashankar SR
said, “Complaints have been coming in for quite some time now and they are being investigated. If there are further complaints we will act accordingly.” Debraj, the CEO of Detectives’ Bureau, a private firm based in Bangalore, has alleged that excise department officials have been accepting bribes from counterfeiters and allowing them to function freely. He said, “We have raided markets where fake Reebok shoes were being sold. We recently raided a place in Tannery Road and recovered hundreds of fake Reeboks which would otherwise have found a place in proper retail shops in the market.
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“Even the showrooms are keeping a mixed collection of fake and originals. We are facing an informer problem because the State Excise Department are in league with the people who feed their officers with bribes. They are not helping any law enforcement agency.” Bangalore is being flooded with fake goods. Reputed global brands have been hiring private investigation services to crack down on the menace. Umashankar said, “Brands from liquor, textiles and other fast moving consumer goods are being counterfeited everywhere but Bangalore has become the hub of liquor counterfeiting by bootleggers. “Cheap local-made liquor is
being put into branded bottles and sold in good shops.” He added, “You will not be able to differentiate between the two since they collect and use discarded bottles of the original brands.” They are being produced in places like Dharwad and Kolar and sold in Bangalore, he added. Somashekhara, CEO of ISPY Investigation and Security Services, said, “The JC Road and SR Road markets in Bangalore have become hotbeds of fake automobile emblems. Fake emblems and parts of Bajaj, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra, Ashok Leyland and Mercedes are sold there. We raided the shops selling fake Mercedes emblems as Mer-
Along with the local police we did the biggest raid in September for Louis Vuitton in Bomanahalli..
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- Kevin John, Enforcers of Intellectual Property Rights (EIPR) in Bangalore
cedes is one of our biggest clients.” Kevin John, regional head of the Mumbai-based Enforcers of Intellectual Property Rights (EIPR) in Bangalore, said, “Along with the local police, we did the biggest raid in September for Louis Vuitton in Bommannahalli in Bangalore. From the raid, we seized over 600 bedsheets worth at least Rs.9 lakh.” Earlier smaller raids had been undertaken in Majestic and S.R Road markets. Louis Vuitton, which does not have an outlet outside UB City, found that products which it did not deal in were also carrying their brand name. The Bommannahalli raid recovered thousands of items including bedsheets, blankets along with mobile pouches, belts, purses. The commissioner Umashankar said: “We are trying to stop these incidents from happening and right now we are investigating a counterfeit manufacturing unit in Mysore who are supplying to Bangalore. “People cannot differentiate between originals and counterfeits and the Excise Department is incurring a lot of losses owing to this.”
Schoolkids paying the price for audit delays Tanay Sukumar School students across the state have only one school uniform because the finance department has yet to release funds for a second set. The money for a second uniform is usually released by June but audit issues have led to the five-month delay, according to an official in Sarva
dry a single set in constant rain, with Bangalore receiving more rain in November than it has since 1916. The mother of a third-standard student in a Bangalore government primary school said, “My children are new in school, so they have only one set. They wear the same uniform every day. I don’t wash it until the weekend because
Office of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), a union government scheme that promises universal education. Meanwhile, children face scolding at school if they turn up in anything other than school uniform and their parents face having to wash and
there is no other option.” If the children wear anything else because this set has gone for a wash, they get punished, she said. K. Beena, chief accounts officer, SSA, said that the state finance department has refused
to give funds before it finishes its audit process of SSA. When the SSA receives those funds, it will pass it on to schools. Beena said: “It has been delayed this year. We have asked the state government to release some Rs.100 crore. Butit is still stuck with the finance department.” One set of uniform for students is provided by the state’s education department, and the second set is given under the SSA project by August every academic year. The first set was given earlier this year by the education department. Beena added: “By financial year 2014-15, some excess funds had been accumulated by SSA. We surrendered these excess funds to the finance department in January 2015. But they wanted to have an audit. They said that till this is done, they will not release any funds.” Correspondence is still going on between the finance department and SSA to resolve the issue, she said. Arvind Shrivastava, secretary (budget and resources) to the government in the finance
Students in a Bangalore government school during recess department, refused to talk about the status of the audit. He said: "It is the SSA’s audit. They should know the status. The auditors go from our side, but it is the SSA’s audit report, and they should share it with the public.” Both the central government and the state’s finance department contribute to the SSA funding. But the central government funds reach the SSA only through the state’s finance department. So SSA has received neither the central funds nor the state funds yet, said Beena.
She said: “For the next six months, we will be in a crunch situation because no funds have been released to us.” She hopes they will receive funds by the end of this month. In past years, the funds for second sets of uniform reached schools in the beginning of the academic year, by August or September, said Shailaja, principal of a government higher primary school in Bangalore. She confirmed that this year, funds for the first set of uniform were received by the school, but not for the second set.
2 THE OBSERVER
Monday, November 23, 2015
Religious death rite underway in city as Supreme Court mulls legality Reema Mukherjee An 87-year-old man, who undertook the Jain religious practice of Santhara on November 11, has only days to live. Bastimal Borana took the oath of Santhara — embracing death — in the presence of Jain spiritual leader Sadhvi Pragyasri. Borana, a pawn broker by profession, retired 20 years ago. He took his last bite of food on November 11 and started his eight-day preparation for undertaking Santhara, to fast unto death. He deprived himself of food and water and took to fasting from November 12. "Sri Bastimalji embarked on the ultimate renunciation on his life by adopting Santhara," said Sajjan Raj Mehta, former president of Jain Yuva Sangathan. Calling the religious practice harmless for any individual, Mehta said, "It is unfair to limit Santhara to Jain religion only. Anyone who has reached the exalted position in life and
Bastimal Borana, 87, entered the thirteenth day of his fast today. He is seen in the picture with other members of the community wishes to liberate the soul from body can adopt Santhara to
convert death into celebration." In 2006, Nikhil Soni, a lawyer
Start-up delivery firm vandalised by angry mob, cops receive two FIRs
Suhasini Mehta, Public Relations Officer, Roadrunnr Oindrila Sarkar Employees of a $21 million start-up delivery firm have filed a FIR for non-payment of salaries. The Ejipura police confirmed reports of vandalism in Roadrunnr’s office on Saturday night and managers there lodged a police report stating that their offices were wrecked. Roadrunnr, which is a B2B
hyper local delivery start-up, refused to acknowledge that the men who trashed their offices worked for their company. When asked about the identity of the men, Alok Deepak from Roadrunnr said, “We have our own suspicions but we are not pointing towards any particular agency. We want the police to investigate the case.” After the company filed the police report, 50 men claiming
to be their employees filed an FIR. Suhasini Mehta, PR from Roadrunnr, said, “Our operations did not get affected at all on Saturday. We have 850 people who log in regularly and yesterday’s turnout was 830+." But she also accepted that “these are a limited set of guys who don’t want to work and create a ruckus only”. She did not elaborate on the cause behind the ruckus nor the salary dispute inside the company. The planned attack on its office was due to the high monthly income of its drivers who earn a minimum of Rs.20,000, according to a spokesman. The company started by Mohit Kumar and Arpit Dave is backed by venture capital funding and is currently worth Rs.139 crores. Police sub-inspector Suresh Kumar of the Ejipura police station said, “The CCTV footage from Saturday’s vandalism is with us and we are going through it to determine the identity of the miscreants and the role of any big hand behind them.”
filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Rajasthan High
Court against Santhara. Rajasthan High Court compared Santhara with suicide and ordered it as illegal earlier this year. Members of the Jain community appealed against the high court verdict before the Supreme Court. In August this year, the Supreme Court stayed the Rajasthan High Court's decision. Though Santhara enjoys a legal status in Karnataka, a protest was carried out by the Jain people in the month of August, against the Rajasthan High Court decision. The protest by "Samasth Jain Samaj" demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and solve the issue, to uphold the right to religious freedom granted by the Indian constitution. Mr. Borana's family declined to comment about his deteriorating health.
AIDS prevention society demands fair allowance
Protest by KSAPS employees at Freedom Park Raina Paul A lab technician, who contracted AIDS after being pricked by a needle, was among around 2500 people striking at Freedom Park today. Nakul (name changed) was testing an HIV+ blood sample in 2012 in a Yadgiri community health centre, when the needle pricked him. The employees of Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society (KSAPS) entered their fourth day of strike at Freedom Park. They are demanding protection and allowances for employees like Nakul, who work under high HIV risk. Nakul said: “I am not insured even after the incident. I am taking part in this protest to get the allowance. There are many employees who get affected during their job, but nothing is revealed.” Aarti Dhanasri, district supervisor, Yaadgir, for KSAPS Employees Association, said, “We are being deprived of all the allowances by the government.
We are not insured either.” A two-page proposal to be submitted today at Vidhan Soudha has 18 demands, of which the government has agreed to only one. Mr. Lokesh M N, joint secretary, said: “There are around 3.5 lakh to 4 lakh people in the state who are HIV+. We also demand protection for the employees who work under high risk.” Amarnath Patil, a member of legislative council, said: “We are pressing the government to grant the demands put forward so far. We expect a decent response from the government this time.” “This is the second time that we are protesting. The first one was in 2012. We are doing a service to the people who are deprived of our rights,” said Lokesh. He also added that the present government promised them of their rights when they were in opposition. The situation remains the same even after they came into rule.
Monday, November 23, 2015 3
THE OBSERVER
Women bear the burden of family planning Regina Gurung Women account for more than 99 per cent of all people who opt for sterilization in India. Government reports state that lakhs of people undergo sterilization in India. According to the latest data released by the ministry of health and family welfare between April 2014 and March 2015, 1117 men underwent sterilization as opposed to 3,16,919 women. It is regarded as a safe procedure by the government and by doctors but the record shows 13 deaths, all of whom were women. Government data for 2012-2013 shows that Bihar tops the list for highest number of sterilization cases followed by Karnataka. However, by September this year, the number of men who underwent sterilization in the state was 475 as opposed to 1,29,350 women. This indicates a decrease in the rate of sterilization. Dr. Rutuja Jadhav, a gynaecologist in Apollo Cradle, said: "Health is the most important thing to keep in mind before undergoing sterilization. Deaths haven’t occurred in any private hospitals that I know of but, in rural places where
women are economically, hygienically and health wise challenged they become prone to septic and infections. Added to that surgeons and PHCs perform 50-100 tubectomies a day which compromises the quality of care.” Jadhav has also worked in rural parts of the state. Dr. Aruna, a gynaecologist from Bowring Hospital, said, “Vasectomy is safer than tubectomy, though both are safe procedures.” She said that there are no counsellors to promote vasectomy as much as tubectomy. “No-scalpel Vasectomy Week” was observed from November 7 to November 13. It is an awareness drive that is meant to make people aware of the fact that sterilization of men does not require them to go under the knife." Dr. Raj Kumar, deputy Director of Family Welfare and Research Officer said that a quarter of women opting for sterilization are between the age group of 22-25. “Women are generally married at the age of 18 and have a first child by 20. So by the age of 22 they have two children and that is when they decide to opt for sterilization.
Repeated pregnancy endangers their lives. ” Dr. Brian Lucas, Head of Department of sociology and Industrial Relations and an activist, said, “Poor education, family pressure and poor health contributes to sterilization deaths. “Women avail of compensations and the surgeries are performed by ‘quacks’ who put them at risk. “Moreover in urban areas there are doctors who check women for malnutrition before performing sterilization which is absent in rural areas. “Government compensates Rs.2 lakh to the family in case of deaths, Rs.30,000 in case of registered failure and Rs.25,000 in case of any complication.” Wage loss compensations are given by the government to those undergoing the procedure. BPL women patients are given Rs.600 and men are given Rs.1100. “Women are compensated a week later than men,” said Indiramma JP, staff nurse of KC General Hospital. Dr. Raj Kumar of KC General Hospital, said, “Female sterilization is not a guaranteed remedy as there are chances of recanal-
Kavita KS, who underwent tubectomy after giving birth to her second child ization of the fallopian tube. In such a case, a patient is compensated." The hospital has witnessed a single failed sterilization in the last month, he said. Kavita KS, wife of Manjunath, a garment worker, underwent tubectomy after giving birth to her second child on November 18. She said, “We are poor and we want just one child. Our family is happy with two girls and I am happy being sterilized.” “Society thinks that it is the duty of a female to bear children and perform family planning. No men come forward to undergo this procedure,” said Dr. N. Raj Kumar. Sterilization is taken very personally by men but women are more open about it, he added.
In November 2014, 15 women died in a botched sterilization attempt at a government hospital in Pendari, Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh state.
Park attack prompts private guards clampdown
BBMP releases list of top tax defaulters
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Society thinks that it is a duty of a female to bear children and perform family planning so no men come forward to undergo this procedure.
-Dr N.Rajkumar
Prabhpreet Singh Sood In the wake of an alleged rape inside Cubbon Park it has come to light that at least 23 cases have been filed against private security firms. The main complaint has been the failure of the security agencies to vet security staff. There have been 23 cases registered in the state including six in Bangalore. There are 400 private security firms operating in the state,
T. Suneel Kumar, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Internal Security
according to the head of state police, and lots of them need stricter controls and checks. The internal security head of the Karnataka State Police wants private security agencies to conform to more stringent rules. After an incident inside Cubbon Park, where a woman was allegedly raped by two security guards, the Internal Security Department, the controlling authority for private security agencies, is planning to make the rules regarding the employment of security guards and the licensing of the agencies much stricter. T. Suneel Kumar, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Internal Security, state police, said, “The agencies are supposed to verify the details of the guards they employ and this is mostly not done.” According to the Private Security Agency Regulation Act, 2005, “Private Security Agency is a person or body of persons, other than a government agency, department or organisation, engaged in the business of providing private security services including
National Scene The district level household survey of India which was carried out in 2007-2008 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare sheds some light on sterilization in the country. In this survey, over 11,56,932 women were interviewed from all over the county. It was found that over 35.8 per cent of the women had opted for sterilization. Women from rural India made up for over 83 per cent of them. Worst Case Scenario
M. Shivaraju, chairman, Taxation and Financial Committee.
Visitors at Cubbon Park, where the recent case of molestation occured training of private security guards or their supervisor to any industrial or business undertaking or a company or any other person or property.” “There are around 400 licensed security agencies in the city,” said Kumar. Moreover this law is being violated. Twenty-three cases have been registered so far under the act for the whole of Karnataka and six in the city,” he added. He also said that the act is ambiguous in itself. “We are planning to hold a meeting with the association of Private Security Agencies late
this month to clarify the rules. The verification procedure of the security guards should be done through police,” Kumar added. When asked about how the department acquires information regarding unlicensed security agencies, he replied, “Sometimes the licensed agencies themselves inform the department of unlicensed ones.” The act states that background verification of guards has to be done before they can be employed as security guards in a licensed security agency.
The top property tax evader in the city owes the BBMP ten times what the next in the list owes. A list of the top ten property tax evaders was released earlier today by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Manyata Promoters Pvt. Ltd, a realty developer company, owes the maximum amount of Rs.83.45 crore. The second in the list, Vydehi Institute of Medical Science and Research Centre, Hoodi, owes Rs. 8.51 crore. The tax evasion by the top ten amounts to Rs. 112.25 crore, said M. Shivaraju, chairman of Taxation and Financial Committee. Realty developers, malls and private hospitals comprise eight of the ten tax evaders. No one from Manyata Promoters Pvt. Ltd. was available for comment at the time of publication.
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4 THE OBSERVER
Monday,November 23, 2015
Are we proud of the Pride Parade? Reema Mukherjee “The indifference of the common man towards the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and their issues shows their social irresponsibility,” said Akkai Padmashali, the first transgender to receive the Rajyotsava Award, the state’s second highest civilian award. Akkai Padmashali is the founder of Ondede, an NGO
fighting for LGBT rights in the state. She was honoured with this award for her contribution towards creating awareness about sexuality and sexual diversity. People in Bangalore looked confused when the LGBT community took to the streets on Sunday afternoon, from Tulsi Park to Town Hall. Avinash Kumar, a recent migrant to the city who works for the railways, said, “I don’t know
The parade passes through Freedom Park
what’s happening, I just shifted to Bangalore and I don’t know what happens here.” “I don’t know what’s happening in the event. You can ask my superior what this is about,” said Sameer, a police constable on duty. The event saw a turnout of over 1500 people. The onlookers of the event knew little about the Pride Parade and were clicking pictures and taking videos without knowing about the event. “The state’s negligence about the sexual minorities’ identity is because they don’t have enough information about our community. How can they change the entire society, speak about policies and make laws against us?” said Akkai. Akkai helped organize Bangalore Pride 2015 with the Campaign for Sex Workers and Sexuality Minorities' Rights (CSMR) and Karnataka Queer Habba. Sultana (name changed to protect privacy) who lives in Tumkur, said, “We are harassed by the police and goons even today. They take our phones away, take us to a corner and ask us for all our money.” She also said that this parade means fighting to get
Onlookers at the Pride Parade equal rights and respect in the society. “The state government should formulate a policy that protects us from harassment from police and goons. Nobody wants to employ us. We want to be able to work in a hasslefree environment,” said Shabnam, a transgender at the parade. Johnson, a French interpreter from Chennai, said, “We are expecting that the Karnataka state government will
follow Kerala’s lead. It will take a little time but we are hopeful.” Among some of the demands of the LGBT community was to repeal section 377 of the IPC which criminalises sexual activities "against the order of nature" and section 36A of the Karnataka Police Act which is aimed at controlling the "objectionable activities" of transgenders. They demanded equal rights and an end to discrimination against sexual minorities.
“I love my gay son,” says mother Aparajita Khandelwal “You are what you are and there is nothing wrong with it,” said Anthony Peter Sylvester, who was at the Pride Parade with his mother, Monica. “This is her fourth Pride. I came out to my family on November 26, 2012. Initially she was in denial for sometime and she did not really speak much. You can’t just come out and expect your parents and family to
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understand. It takes a lot of explaining. “I used to take her to carnivals and to the other places I went. She gradually accepted and has been attending the Pride from the year I came out to her. My sister and brother-inlaw are also very supportive. I am very happy that I have such a supportive family.” When asked about what he would like to say to parents who have not accepted their
Even before we come out to our families and friends, we go through a lot of struggle within ourselves with almost no emotional support. We are made to feel ‘abnormal’.
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-Anthony
children’s sexuality, he said, “I would like to say to the parents that at the end of the day, they are their own blood. If you don’t love them and care for them, who in the world is going to care for them? “Even before we come out to our families and friends, we go through a lot of struggle within ourselves with almost no emotional support. We are made to feel ‘abnormal’; we are made to feel that we don’t belong to the mainstream society. We can’t talk about it to anyone until we see someone else who is like us. pride parade“There is no such forum in school or college to talk to us and counsel us. We go through a lot of pain and when we come out to our parents and we crave their emotional support, when your family refuses to support you, you feel devastated. “Sec 377 of the IPC affects everyone but it mostly affects the LGBT community,” he added. “Considering the fact that one of the judges from the bench who upheld Sec 377
Anthony with his mother Monica at the Pride parade said that he never encountered a gay person in his life, it is very important for people to know we exist among them. We are just like them - simple humans with different taste. This pride march also encourages others to take that simple
step to come out of the closet. I have walked eight Prides and I know how the numbers have increased.” “I have been coming here for the past four years with Anthony. I am very proud of him,” said Anthony’s mum Monica.
THE OBSERVER Editor: Aditi Mallick | News Editors: Maqsood Maniyar, Akshaya N A | Chief Sub-Editor: Irien Joseph Sub-Editors: Aparajita Khandelwal, Ankita Sil, Oindrila Sarkar, Laxmi Narayani | Layout Editor: Mouli Shree Picture Editor: Parvathi Benu | Social Media Manager: Mathew Joy Mathew