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Time of India
4 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Grievances pour in at SC/ST meet: Bridge built far from Koraga settlement, says activist
MANGALURU: Social activist Shekhar Laila raised several concerns affecting marginalised communities in Belthangady at the SC/ST grievances redressal meeting held by Mangaluru City Police and Dakshina Kannada District Police on Sunday. He highlighted the plight of around 200 Malekudiya families living across nine villages in Kudremukh National Park who are deprived of basic amenities like electricity and road access. Laila also mentioned that six to seven Koraga families in Atrinje, Sulkeri, are forced to cross a river using a fragile wooden log during the monsoon. Although a new bridge was sanctioned, it was constructed nearly a kilometre away from their settlement, making it difficult to access—especially for school-going children. Superintendent of Police Dr Arun K assured that the matter would be verified and suitable action would be taken. Laila also reported a near-mishap at Ithilapela in Savanalu, where a two-wheeler rider and pillion were almost swept away while crossing a flooded stream, due to the absence of a proper bridge. The SP requested a list of villages requiring footbridges and assured that a proposal would be forwarded to the concerned authorities. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Brain tumor has left my son feeling miserable; please help! Donate For Health Donate Now Undo Further, he flagged concerns about 18 contract-based 'D' group staff working at Belthangady Taluk Hospital, who reportedly receive their salaries only once every three to four months and are not granted even a single day of leave. The SP promised to take the matter up with the District Health Officer. A Dalit representative also raised the issue of 13 Scheduled Caste families in Nirde and Ajakala, Balnadu in Puttur taluk, who have no proper road connectivity. 'Even pregnant women and patients struggle,' he said, adding that repeated appeals to officials, including the Deputy Commissioner, had not yielded any results. The SP assured that he would bring the issue to the notice of the DC and the District Legal Services Authority. Concerns were also raised regarding miscreants using the premises of a government school in Vamadapadavu to consume alcohol and gutka. The SP assured that a night beat point would be assigned and regular patrolling would be arranged. 'Mafia' behind sand crisis Responding to complaints about the shortage of sand and laterite stones, SP Dr Arun K said, 'There is no real shortage. There is adequate sand in the district. The problem lies with the mafia, which is trying to push for CRZ sand.' He added that sand blocks have been identified and are available for booking via the Sand Bazaar app. 'Lawful construction is not being obstructed by police, but illegal activities will not be tolerated,' he stated.
Time of India
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Karnataka govt forms special investigation team for Dharmasthala mass burial case
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah (File photo) MANGALURU: The Karnataka govt has ordered the transfer of the case pertaining to the Dharmasthala Burial allegations to the Special Investigation Team . Dakshina Kannada SP Dr Arun K stated that the SIT will take over the case soon. As per an order dated July 19, the SIT will be headed by the DGP of the internal security division, Pronab Mohanty. The SIT will also include IPS officers M N Anucheth, Soumyalatha, and Jitendra Kumar Dayama as its members. S Ambika, Under Secretary to the Govt, Home Department, has stated that the govt has ordered the formation of an SIT to conduct a comprehensive probe into case Number 39/2025 registered at Dharmasthala Police Station under Section 211(a) of the BNS. The Chairperson of the Karnataka State Commission for Women, in a letter dated July 14, mentioned an individual who gave his statement before the court, claiming to have buried hundreds of dead bodies in the Dharmasthala region. The Commission has taken the news reports of finding a human skull and the statement of a family member of a missing medical student seriously. The news reports and the statement from the person who claimed to have buried dead bodies mentioned serious forms of abuse, murders, rapes, unnatural deaths, and missing cases of several women and girl students. Hence, the Commission has sought the formation of an SIT to conduct a comprehensive and unbiased probe under the leadership of senior police officers in connection with the missing cases of women and girl students, unnatural deaths, murders, and rapes reported in the last 20 years, reads the order. The govt has decided that forming an SIT is appropriate to conduct a comprehensive probe into all aspects mentioned by the Chairperson of the Karnataka State Commission for Women in the letter and also the case registered at Dharmasthala Police Station. Besides this, all criminal cases reported or likely to be reported in all police stations across the state shall be transferred to the SIT. Further, the SIT shall use the available resources at the Dakshina Kannada District Police office. The progress in the investigation should be updated to the DG & IGP on a real-time basis. The SIT must submit a comprehensive investigation report to the govt through the DG & IGP, the Under Secretary stated.
Indian Express
17-07-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
UPSC opens window for those who don't make final civil services cut, posts details for private jobs
For 32-year-old Arun K, coming really close to qualifying in the Civil Services Examination, the most rigorous professional test in the country, was of little consolation. Having exhausted all his chances and a better part of his youth in trying to qualify, he was left with the same predicament faced by a majority of those who appear for this exam: belatedly starting professional life from scratch. Despite being overqualified, he took up the only job that he managed to land after a desperate search — as an entry-level administrative assistant in a public school on the outskirts of Delhi. Until he got a phone call from a Delhi-based corporate, which was fully updated about how he had fared in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination and evaluated him for his very pretty solid record in the penultimate stages of that exam, while taking into consideration his Masters degree, to eventually employ him at a mid-seniority grade and a salary that was multiples of what he was getting at the local school. The job position at the new employer was more in sync with his academic qualifications, and duly acknowledged his performance in what is regarded as the toughest qualifying examination in India. And for this, he has to thank an initiative of the UPSC called the Public Disclosure Scheme (PDS), through which the Commission has started sharing details of the non-recommended, willing candidates of the Commission's examinations with the private sector since early this year. Non-recommended candidates are essentially those who qualify in the written examinations but are not recommended post interview. The logic for this is simple. The UPSC conducts 10 regular examinations every year and recommends some 6,400 successful candidates for appointments in various services; but approximately 26,000 candidates, who have already demonstrated their proficiency by clearing the rigorous written examinations, are declared not successful at the end of the process. Arun was one among the 26,000, who did not qualify the interview, but ended up in the above 97 percentile in his examination category, and over-qualified for an entry-level job, but also overaged as compared to peers, and lacking in any work experience. While this Scheme was launched in 2018 with a view to provide employment opportunities to these talented young people in government organisations and Public Sector Undertakings, there has been only marginal success in placing these candidates in a handful of PSU and government. This includes organisations such as the Cabinet Secretariat, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, the Delhi Jal Board and the Unique Identification Authority of India, but the numbers were really small. The only way to expand this was to cast the net wider. In order to widen the scope of PDS, which has been subsequently been rebadged as Pratibha Setu, the Commission has launched a dedicated portal, where registered private companies can, alongside government-owned entities, also get access to the information of candidates using an identification number (a Ministry of Corporate Affairs-verified API that allows businesses to access and verify company information directly from the MCA database in India). They can then peruse the list of non-recommended candidates who have expressed their willingness to share their information, wherein their percentile (not absolute or percentage marks) is being made available. Short biodatas of the candidates with their educational qualifications, contact numbers etc. have also been made available for those logging in, including players from the private sector. The portal also provides subject and discipline-wise search facilities to registered organisations in order to identify suitable candidates in line with their requirements. The list of candidates is now being shared for the Civil Services Examination; as well as a number of other UPSC examinations include the Engineering Services Examination; the Indian Forest Service Examination; the Central Armed Police Forces (ACs) Examination; the Combined Geo-Scientist Examination; the CISF Assistant Commandants (Executive) LDCE' the Combined Medical Services Examination; the Indian Economic Service/Indian Statistical Service Examination; the National Defence Academy and Naval Academy Examination; and the Combined Defence Service Examination. The list, with all the relevant details, is put up on the portal, which industry can access by simply logging in after registering. What is interesting is that the UPSC is also duly tracking the selection process of the candidates once they are shortlisted by the organisations, until the issue of appointment letters. This involves calls being made from the Commission on a regular basis to the companies that register for this scheme and generate logins. The status of selections from the master list is being updated at the backend on a near real-time basis, an official said. The facility for uploading a copy of the appointment letter has also been provided on the portal, which is being tabulated for calibrating the success rates. 'The portal shares the information of the non-recommended candidates of examinations conducted by the UPSC only for the restricted purpose of evaluation of suitability of the candidates for employment purpose and those assessing it are not expected to use the details for any other purpose or disclosure whatsoever,' the official said. The Secretary, UPSC is learnt to have written to multiple government departments to disseminate the information about the portal to private companies working with each of these departments. A detailed query to the UPSC seeking the progress on the uptake of candidates did not elicit a response. An official said it was still 'early days' for the scheme, but the response has been far better now that the private sector has been involved in the scheme. Anil Sasi is National Business Editor with the Indian Express and writes on business and finance issues. He has worked with The Hindu Business Line and Business Standard and is an alumnus of Delhi University. ... Read More
Hindustan Times
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Dharmasthala burials probe stalled as police say whistleblower may abscond: Report
The investigation into the alleged secret burials of multiple women in Dharmasthala has hit a fresh roadblock, with Dakshina Kannada police claiming they have 'confidential information' that the primary whistleblower could abscond once the exhumation process begins, Indian Express reported. The whistleblower alleges that between 1998 and 2014, he was coerced into burying bodies of women.(HT_PRINT) According to the report, the development comes even as the whistleblower's lawyers accused the police of delaying the mahazar (on-site inspection) and failing to act on credible leads that could expose a decades-old pattern of abuse and cover-ups in the temple town. (Also Read: Bengaluru stampede: Police officers acted as 'servants of RCB', says Karnataka govt before HC) In an official statement issued Wednesday, District SP Arun K said, 'There is confidential information that the complainant could abscond. Due to this, there are reports suggesting a hurry to exhume the bodies without following proper procedure.' The police added that they had shared this intelligence with the legal representatives involved in the case. The statement also revealed that the investigation officer has submitted a request for brain mapping, fingerprint testing, and narco-analysis of the whistleblower, a former sanitation worker who came forward earlier this year with explosive claims. The whistleblower alleges that between 1998 and 2014, he was coerced into burying bodies of women showing signs of sexual assault, all under pressure and intimidation from powerful individuals. Despite those threats, he recently recorded a detailed statement and even handed over human remains from one burial site, the report added. The lawyers further alleged serious violations of legal protocol, accusing the investigation officer of attempting to break attorney-client confidentiality by pressing for details on whether the whistleblower had authorised them to release redacted documents to the media. The whistleblower reportedly believed that police would immediately begin the mahazar and documentation the morning after his sworn statement was recorded on July 11. But as of July 16, no such action has been taken. (Also Read: Bengaluru MP's poll finds 91% of Bengalureans want Metro phase 3A, not car-only tunnel)
New Indian Express
17-07-2025
- New Indian Express
Dharmasthala mass burial case: Police say whistleblower ‘missing'; lawyers say no
MANGALURU: Unravelling the mystery surrounding the alleged rape, murder and burial of several women in Dharmasthala has presented the Dakshina Kannada police with an arduous task. With questions swirling about the whereabouts of the former sanitation employee-turned-whistleblower despite police offering protection under Witness Protection Scheme, police have sought permission from court to conduct brain mapping, fingerprint, and narco analysis tests on him, subject to his consent. On Wednesday, SP Dr Arun K said the whistleblower's whereabouts were unknown. The whistleblower's lawyers, however, said police's claim was false. They said the complainant is available to cooperate with the probe but police are not prompt in their response. The SP cited Rule 7 of the Witness Protection Scheme, stating that enforcement of protection requires both the consent and active cooperation of the witness, neither of which had been forthcoming. On July 10, police had communicated the necessary procedures for extending protection to the complainant's legal representative, but since then, communication had remained limited to email and no concrete information on the complainant's current location.
