Karnataka Revenue minister flings kits at Sportspersons, faces flak
Bengaluru, Nov 1: Karnataka Revenue Minister R V Deshpande has courted a controversy after a video showing him throwing sports kits at sports persons at a function went viral with union Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore and state BJP flaying him for his conduct.
The incident took place on Wednesday in Haliyal in Uttara Kannada district, the assembly constituency of the Minister when he was distributing the kits to talented sportspersons. Deshpande, however, accused media of misinterpreting it.
In the video, Deshpande is seen flinging kits from the stage to sports persons standing on the ground.
Karnataka BJP and Minister Rathore have hit out at Deshpande for his conduct.
"Absolutely unacceptable behavior! Mr Deshpande,please do not undermine the dignity of those athletes or your position," Rathore said in a tweet.
Karnataka BJP in a tweet said, "Don't be confused, that's not a hooligan throwing things around. This is Revenue minister Sri. R V Deshpande throwing sports kit at sportspersons.
"He seems to be inspired by Sri. HD Revanna. After all such uncivilised culture is a part & parcel of Congress party," it said.
Earlier in August, public works minister H D Revanna had come in for sharp criticism after a video purportedly showing him throwing biscuit packets to the flood victims staying in the relief camps in Hassan district went viral.
Facing the flack, Deshpande said, he distributed sports items to talented sportspersons of Haliyal with "good intention" and in "good spirit", and "they are like my own family members."
He said the media had misinterpreted his conduct.
"Whether I am meeting a Union Minister or an Industrialist or a common man, I treat every person with the same respect. That is the culture I have been inculcated with," he said in a tweet.
"Unfortunate that some of our media friends have misinterpreted the whole incident" and playing part of the video clipping again and again, he said.
"I hope everybody will understand the good intention and my concern," the minister said in another tweet.
#WATCH Karnataka Revenue Minister RV Deshpande throws sports kits from a stage at national, state and district level athletes, in Karwar's Haliyala. (31.10.18) pic.twitter.com/m82LYSh9wL
— ANI (@ANI) November 1, 2018
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
