Ex-Karnataka ADGP B Bhaskar Rao joins AAP
New Delhi, Apr 4: B Bhaskar Rao, a 1990-batch Karnataka cadre IPS officer and a native of Bengaluru, joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) here on Monday after serving the police force for 32 years in various capacities.
He was welcomed to the party fold by senior AAP leader and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
AAP's Karnataka unit convenor Prithvi Reddy, election in-charge for the state and Timarpur MLA Dilip Pandey, organisation secretary Damodaran and other leaders were present on the occasion at the party headquarters here.
Rao, who was serving as the Additional Director General of Police (Railways), had resigned from the service in September last year, citing personal reasons.
He demitted his office on Friday to join the AAP after the Karnataka government accepted his resignation and relieved him of his duties.
Rao's joining is seen as a shot in the arm of the AAP with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party preparing for the Karnataka Assembly elections next year, starting with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (Greater Bengaluru Municipal Corporation) polls this year.
The party leaders believe that the popularity and clout of the former IPS officer would help the AAP better execute its expansion plan in the run up to the assembly elections in the state, currently ruled by the BJP.
Riding high on its stupendous victory in Punjab, the party is hoping to gain its toehold in the southern state this time.
During his service, Rao held various positions and served as Bengaluru Police Commissioner, State Transport Commissioner and Additional Director General of Police (ADGP)-Internal Security.
He received the President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 2015, Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 2008 and United Nations Medal for the Services rendered in International Peacekeeping in a warzone in 2000.
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Odisha govt halts salaries of 5 teachers after school fire injures 4 students
Bhubaneswar (PTI): The Odisha government on Tuesday halted the salaries of five teachers and issued show-cause notices to other staff of a state-run high school in Rayagada district, a day after four students sustained severe burn injuries in a fire incident on the premises of the institute.
School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond told PTI that he has directed the department secretary to submit a detailed report on the incident and ordered a departmental inquiry to ascertain negligence, if any.
The students suffered burn injuries while playing around a fire during school hours.
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“The department has stopped the salaries of five teachers and issued show-cause notices to other staff members in connection with the incident,” he said.
The minister said that further action would be taken against teachers or staff if negligence in duty was established.
School and Mass Education Secretary N Thirumala Naik said three of the injured students were undergoing treatment at a hospital in Rayagada, while one critically injured student has been shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.
The school headmaster had lodged a complaint at Muniguda police station on Monday. Police have recorded statements of the injured students, officials said.
According to preliminary findings, the incident occurred when a classmate of the injured students allegedly threw colour thinner, an inflammable substance, onto a fire that had been lit by the students on the school building’s balcony.
Muniguda police station in-charge inspector Saudamini Behera said the students were playing on the school roof around 2 pm on Monday when they found a bottle of thinner stored there.
They allegedly poured it on the floor and set it on fire using a matchstick. One of the boys later added more thinner, causing the flames to flare up and injure four students, she said.
