BJP MLAs detained for staging demonstration outside Karnataka Assembly
Bengaluru, July 19: BJP MLAs, including former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, were detained and taken to the Vidhana Soudha police station for staging a demonstration outside the Karnataka Assembly in protest against the suspension of 10 party legislators.
JD(S) second-in-command and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy too had briefly joined the BJP during the protest.
Bommai termed the suspension "illegal" and "murder of democracy".
He alleged that the Siddaramaiah government has adopted a "dictatorial" attitude and is trying to stifle the voice of the opposition. "We will take the issue to the people".
Ten BJP MLAs were suspended from the Karnataka Legislative Assembly for the remainder of the session by Speaker U T Khader for their "indecent and disrespectful conduct" in the House on Wednesday.
The 10 MLAs are C N Ashwath Narayan, V Sunil Kumar, R Ashoka, Araga Jnanendra (all former Ministers), D Vedavyasa Kamath, Yashpal Suvarna, Dheeraj Muniraj, A Umanath Kotian, Arvind Bellad and Y Bharath Shetty.
The assembly session began on July three and is slated to end on July 21.
The Speaker's action came after the House witnessed chaotic scenes as some members of the BJP tore copies of bills and the agenda and threw them at the Chair, as they were upset over the Speaker's decision to conduct the proceedings of the House without giving a lunch break.
This was amid the BJP's protest against the Congress government for allegedly "misusing" IAS officers for the meeting of opposition leaders from around the country that was held in Bengaluru in the past two days.
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After fake ID crackdown, IRCTC daily new accounts down to 5000 from one lakh: Railways
New Delhi (PTI): With a new, stringent system to establish user identity, the number of new user IDs being added daily on the IRCTC website has declined to about 5,000 from nearly one lakh, officials said on Saturday.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw noted that the crackdown by Indian Railways on train ticket booking through fake identities is yielding positive results, according to a press note.
Before the latest reforms, this number had touched nearly one lakh new user IDs per day, it said.
"Following the introduction of a stringent system to establish user identity and detect fake IDs, about 5,000 new user IDs are now being added daily on the IRCTC website," the note said.
The officials stated that these steps have already helped Indian Railways deactivate 3.03 crore fake accounts.
"Another 2.7 crore user IDs have either been temporarily suspended or identified for suspension based on the suspicious activities they are indulging in," they said.
The Union minister directed officials to ensure that the ticketing system is reformed to a level where all travellers are able to book tickets easily through a real and genuine user ID, the press note added.
Additionally, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has directed officials to provide local cuisine of the region in Vande Bharat trains.
Introducing local cuisine that reflects the culture and tastes of the regions being traversed will significantly enhance the passenger experience, officials said.
This facility will be expanded to all the trains progressively in future, they added.
