BENGALURU: The agency at the epicentre of the alleged voter data theft in three Karnataka constituencies is a company registered with the Union ministry of corporate affairs and not the accredited NGO that civic authorities claimed it was, a probe instituted by the Election Commission has revealed.
Chilume Educational, Cultural and Rural Development Institute had been enlisted by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike to update electoral rolls in the greater municipal corporation area, an exercise that it allegedly misused to selectively delete names of voters, farm data and sell it to interested parties.

“Chilume doesn’t figure in the repository of NGOs maintained by the Centre,” said regional commissioner Amlan Aditya Biswas, who is investigating the suspected data theft. “It is neither a trust nor a society. It was registered in 2018 as a private firm under the Companies Act. There is a specific government order that states NGOs can be roped in for election purposes, but our investigation has revealed Chilume isn’t one.”
Several representatives of Chilume, including its director Krishnappa Ravikumar, and a few civic officials linked to the alleged data theft were arrested last month. Two bureaucrats — Bengaluru Urban deputy commissioner K Srinivas and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike special commissioner S Rangappa — are under suspension.
BBMP had first engaged Chilume for revision of the electoral rolls in 2017 after officially identifying it as an NGO. The findings of the probe so far suggest the corporation didn’t run a background check before handing the firm the responsibility. “Chilume is not even registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act, which would have given it the status of a not-for-profit organisation,” an official said.
All payments by the civic authorities were in the name of “Chilume Trust”. Regional commissioner Biswas said the list of recognised NGOs includes a solitary organisation named Chilume Trust, registered in 2006 and founded in Kerala. The agency under investigation is registered as Chilume Enterprises Pvt Ltd.
N Manjunatha Prasad, principal secretary to CM Basavaraj Bommai, was the BBMP commissioner when Chilume got its first rolls revision job. He claimed the organisation may have forged documents to appear as an NGO while seeking to be involved in the exercise. “If they are found to have done so, they will be punished,” he said.
Three special officers are currently supervising an EC-mandated audit of all updates to the electoral rolls of Chickpet, Shivajinagar and Mahadevapura constituencies since January 1. The probe was instituted after Congress lodged a complaint with the EC last month alleging that 27 lakh names were deleted and 11 lakh added to the voters’ lists in the three constituencies. It said employees of a private company collected data, masquerading as government officials.

MUMBAI/BENGALURU: Six trucks from Maharashtra were allegedly attacked by the Kannada Rakshana Vedike upon entering Karnataka in Belagavi district on Tuesday, leading to a sharp escalation in the inter-state border row between the two BJP-ruled states.
The violence erupted near Hirebagewadi, 24 km from Belagavi, with Vedike activists pelting stones at the buses, a day after the Karnataka government issued prohibitory orders barring a two-member team of Maharashtra ministers from entering the district.
Shiv Sena (UBT) workers retaliated by defacing four Karnataka state transport buses near Pune. The border issue is set to come up in the Supreme Court shortly, and Karnataka is due for polls in April-May 2023.

BJP blames Congress, JD(S) for Maharashtra-Karnataka row
As the border dispute touched a flashpoint on Tuesday with buses being targeted on both sides, Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis called Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai to condemn the violence, in what appeared to be a coordinated effort by the BJP central leadership to douse the fire.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar gave the Karnataka CM a 24-hour “ultimatum” to stop the violence. He said there was “a limit to Maharashtra’s patience”. Pawar blamed Bommai for instigating the border crisis and said the Centre needed to step in.
NCP’s ally Shiv Sena (UBT) also went on the offensive, with party MP Sanjay Raut declaring, “If Maharashtra rises, it will be difficult for the government.” He added, “Where is the chief minister? How can he watch Maharashtra being insulted? This is a weak government. Even today, the only retaliation has come from the Shiv Sena.”
BJP, on the other hand, blamed Congress and Janata Dal for the violence. “ Congress and Janata Dal are behind this incident. Congress is hoping to gain from this in the future,” BJP’s Keshav Upadhyay alleged. NCP’s Jitendra Awhad asked why Maharashtra was suddenly facing problems along its border villages, not just those next to Karnataka but also along the border of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
Fadnavis said he will be speaking to Union home minister Amit Shah. “Bommai has assured me action will be taken immediately and no one will be spared,” he said. “We are working towards development, and such an atmosphere between states is not desirable, especially since this matter is before the Supreme Court. If a state doesn’t listen, the issue will have to be taken to the Centre,” Fadnavis said.
Meanwhile, sarpanches of 12 of 55 villages in Nashik’s tribal-dominated Surgana taluka, whose residents had said they wanted to merge with Gujarat, also came forward to say people there had no intention of leaving Maharashtra.
Bommai said his state did not intend to create a new controversy. “I said there will be reactions on both sides and, therefore, we must not disturb the cordial relationship between the two states,” he said. “The SC is seized of the matter and we are confident of winning this legal battle. Our government is committed to protecting our border and our people, and taking care of Kannadigas living in Maharashtra, Telangana and Kerala,” he added.
Meanwhile, Sena activists were detained while trying to cross over to Karnataka. As a precautionary measure, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation stopped bus services from plying to Karnataka. The Karnataka police stepped up vigil along the border, with over 1,000 police personnel deployed.

A number of reports circulating the internet report that Switzerland is mulling over banning electric vehicles, however, that is not entirely the case. In fact, Switzerland has only drafted emergency proposals to avoid an energy crisis that they anticipate during the winter season.
Confused? Well, 60 percent of Switzerland’s energy supply depends upon hydroelectric power, according to the Telegraph. As water resources freeze up during the winter, it becomes difficult to produce more energy and the country depends upon its reserves to survive the season.

Is that why they have banned EVs? To conserve energy reserves?
Not exactly, the country has only drafted emergency proposals that outline four stages of escalation in the event of an energy crisis. Moreover, restrictions on electric mobility would kick in only in the third stage. According to the draft prepared by the Swiss Federal Council, ‘private use of electric cars is only permitted for absolutely necessary journeys.’ This a reminder, that this would be the SOP in case the energy crisis escalates to level three.
Observation:
Reports of Switzerland’s energy management plans broke on the same day as the Delhi government announced that it is re-imposing a ban on BS3 petrol and BS4 diesel vehicles from plying on the roads due to ‘severe’ AQI, triggering Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)’s Stage-III restrictions.

What is worthy of observation here is that both Switzerland and India are planning to, or deploying, covid lockdown-style plans to mitigate the different crises of energy and air pollution. The one thing common here is that they are going after mass mobility. India is going after fossil fuel cars due to pollution and Switzerland may go after EVs to conserve its energy reserves.
Takeaway:
The takeaway here is simple, EVs are currently being touted by some as a one-stop solution for every country to reach their net-zero carbon emission goals by 2070. However, as many experts have pointed out on TOI Auto’s platform, that is not the case. In fact, the future of mobility depends upon several kinds of solutions that suit a country based on its geographical location, energy resources and domestic resources. While pure EVs might be the perfect solution for countries that predominantly utilise renewable energy, for other countries such as India, Japan and Switzerland, hybrid electric vehicles could be more suitable in the short to medium-term as they do not depend on energy sources but rather generate their own while lowering emissions and fuel-consumption significantly. Clearly, EVs are the next big step in the world of mobility but they are still far off from mass adoption across geographies like oil is.

In June 2022, Ahmad Al Khowaiter, Chief Technology Officer, Aramco told TOI Auto, ‘We do feel that globally, hybrids actually have the biggest role to play in reducing the emissions of ICE engines. In terms of improving combustion efficiency and having an immediate impact around the world. We think there is going to be a mix of hybrids and other technologies going forward. A growing share of pure EVs will help but it also makes a lot of sense to accelerate low-carbon and alternative fuels such as Ethanol.’
What are your thoughts on India becoming 100 percent electric and by when do you think this could happen? Tell us in the comments.