Articles by Nikita Malusare

Police team in the press conference where the arrest of two people was announced. Pic: Nikita Malusare Bengaluru police nabbed two more people in relation to Vibgyor High School Marathahalli incident. Bangalore Police Commissioner, M N Reddi informed in a press conference held on July 29, 2014, that gym instructors Waseem Pasha (28) and Lalgiri (21) have been arrested on the basis of investigation and CCTV footage. They also claimed that the incident took place on July 3, 2014, contrary to the complaint filed by the parents of the abused child in Varthur police station that puts the date as…

  Going by media reports, it appears as if there is a sudden spurt of crime against women and children, in the garden city known for peace. However, according to the data, it shows that the crime against women and children always existed, in all parts of the state and the country. It is not true that Vibgyor is the only school that such a ghastly incident took place. There are other schools in which such incidents happened, but escaped media limelight. The bottomline is, crime against children in the city always existed, to which we as a society chose…

M N Reddi addressin the media. Pic: Nikita Malusare Vibgyor High school chairman Rustum Kerawalla has been arrested on Tuesday evening, July 22, 2014, by the Bangalore city Police in Daman in connection with the rape case, and will be brought to Bangalore. Bangalore Police Commissioner M N Reddi announced this in a press conference held at the Police Commissioner’s office on Infantry Road on Wednesday, July 23, 2014. Rustum Kerawalla was produced in front of second additional sessions court, Bangalore Rural, and was released on bail, on the condiction that he should present himself in Varthur police station once…

Raghavendra H Auradkar addressing the press on July 20, 2014. Pic: Nikita Malusare “This guy arrested today for the horrific [alleged] rape of the six year old has taught hundreds of kids in this area according to the word around these parts. He used to come to our apartment and teach kids two days a week or so!” wrote Whitefield area resident and civic activist Sanjay Vijayaraghavan on Facebook on Sunday night. Shobha Belakerappa, an IT professional, had similar emotions: “My son was being coached by the same instructor as part of regular SPA activity, as well as summer camp…

School might lose its recognition if the ISCE board considers the State government's request. Pic: Nikita Malusare The already-battered parents of Vibgyor High school students in Marathahalli, Bengaluru, were in for a rude shock on July 18, 2014, Friday late evening. In the backdrop of widespread criticism in the media, the Department of Public Instruction, Karnataka, wrote to ICSE board, requesting that the recognition given to Vibgyor High school in Marathahalli, be withdrawn. A press release from Commissioner for Public Instruction, Mohammad Mohsin, stated: “The Department has viewed seriously on a sexual assault on a child studying in that [Vibgyor]…

Compact Fluorescent Lamps fall under e-waste category, however Bangalore does not have a system to recycle them. Pic: Wikimedia and Wikihow We feel good about the savings Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFLs) achieve in terms of energy efficiency and cost, and the bright lights that light up our homes. The city of Bengaluru sees high CFL usage. However, once a CFL loses its life, what does one do? Throw it carelessly into dustbin away from one’s eyes, and forget it? What happens to it then? Here’s what happens. The CFL light joins a pile of garbage, tied inside a plastic cover.…

Trucks that don't exist in reality are added to garbage transport database of BBMP by adding random numbers, which sometimes include two-wheelers and buses! Pic: Shree D N First the High Court, then the Chief Minister. Now it is the turn of Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) of Karnataka to point fingers at Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s garbage management. CAG has noted that BBMP has spent more than the amount allotted towards Solid Waste Management expenses; At the same time, BBMP has lost more than 66 crores by not collecting cess in 2008-11 from 18.38 lakh households! In the CAG Report…

Chandru Kumar, a resident who lived off Mysore Road near Nayandahalli junction in Bengaluru is a disgruntled man today. Thanks to the non-coordination between Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) and Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), Chandru Kumar and 69 others had to lose their land to make way for the pending flyover on Mysore Road on Outer Ring Road junction. Chandru Kumar had never imagined four years ago that he had to sacrifice his land for the new flyover coming up near the junction of Outer Ring Road and Mysore Road. There was ample space on the road for the…

  Bengaluru has largest internet penetration among the cities in the state. The chances of Section 66A of Information Technology Act being used here are high compared to other cities. In the first part, we explained what is Section 66A of IT act and various views on the same. In this write up, we try to provide some guidelines on how the law is implemented, and how to be safe. What constitutes offense?Advocate Pavan Duggal in his article Section 66A OF IT Act - your friend or foe? has cited 17 points that may get you booked under Section 66A…

Just as the new Prime Minister, Narendra Modi took charge, there were reports of an MBA student interning at Bangalore, being arrested under section 66A of the Information Technology Act 2008, for sending an anti-Modi MMS on WhatsApp. This was the second such case to be booked under the section in 12 days; the first was when a man in Goa was arrested for posting an anti-Modi comment on Facebook. The Goa arrest was made on May 12th, before the election results were declared, while the Bangalore arrest was made on May 24th. This raised questions on freedom of expression,…