Here are the big stories from Karnataka today

Karnataka Today newsletter: Security heightened at BJP State office in Bengaluru, and more

A day after the NIA chargesheet mentioned about the accused in The Rameshwaram Cafe blast case planning an attack on the BJP State office in Bengaluru, security has been tightened at the party’s Malleswaram office since Tuesday (September 10, 2024). A team of police personnel as well as a platoon of armed reserve police have been deployed at the office while a door-framed metal detector has been installed at the entrance to check on people visiting the office.

A security audit has been done to check the CCTV cameras within and around the office building. Policemen in plain clothes have also been deployed and the local intelligence network has been reviewed to keep an eye on any suspicious activity. City Police Commissioner B. Dayananda said that all precautionary measures had been taken to ensure security, while refusing to comment further.

Even before completion of the ambitious K-100 project, which involves beautification of a storm water drain, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has placed flower pots inside the drain still filled with sewage. The K-100, conceptualised in 2020, aims to beautify a 9.2-km stretch of storm water drain between K. R. Market and Bellandur.

A few days back, the BBMP has placed circular flower pots inside the drain, located in front of Shantinagar bus stand. The stretch of the drain is filled with water mixed with sewage despite a treatment plant being set up. Sources said despite a sewage treatment plant being established, sewage water continues to flow into the drain emanating foul smell. 

Unable to tolerate the presence of a pet dog, a few residents of a PG accommodation in Mangaluru handed over the canine to sanitation workers of Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) to dump it alive at the civic body’s solid waste processing site at Pachchandy on the outskirts of the city.

Incidentally, the dog, mid-way on its journey to the site aboard the garbage truck, reportedly jumped off and fled. After video clippings of the dog being dragged to the MCC’s garbage transporting vehicle went viral on social media sparking outrage, the Zilla Prani Daya Sangha, under the government, issued a show-cause notice to the MCC on Wednesday (September 11, 2024).

St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, Bengaluru, in association with the Brigade Foundation, launched a 108-bed hospital unit on Kanakapura Road on September 10.