Out of the total, 565 infections were reported in Bengaluru.(File)Bangalore News Highlights: Karnataka on Thursday reported 707 new Covid-19 cases and three deaths. Out of the total, 565 infections were reported in Bengaluru. As many as 252 people recovered from the disease.
The Congress party in Karnataka outsmarted the ruling BJP as the grand old party emerged as the single largest party in the urban local bodies polls, voting for which was held on December 27 and the results were announced on Thursday.
A total of 58 Urban Local Bodies consisting of 1,184 wards went to polls. Of the total 1,184 seats that went to the polls, the Congress won 498 seats, BJP 437, JDS 45 and others 204. The Congress polled 42.06 per cent votes, BJP 36.90 per cent, JDS 3.8 per cent and others 17.22 per cent.
In a sudden spike in the number of Covid-19 cases in a day, Karnataka Wednesday recorded 566 new cases of which, Bengaluru alone accounted for 400, pushing the total number of active cases in the state to 7,771. Bengaluru also saw the maximum number of deaths due to the virus in the day after it clocked four of the six deaths. The two others were recorded in Chitradurga and Tumkuru. Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar also confirmed that five new cases of Omicron were recorded across the state. All the five patients have travel history and have been isolated, he added.
Pro-Kannada outfits have withdrawn their call for December 31 Karnataka Bandh after discussing various issues associated with the bandh call, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said.
Speaking to media persons after holding talks with a delegation of various pro-Kannada organisations led by Vatal Nagaraj, Praveen Shetty, Sa Ra Govindu, KR Kumar, Shivarame Gowdru and others who had given the Bandh call, Bommai said, “as Kannadigas you and me are united in the fight to protect Kannada and the borders of Karnataka.”
Leaders of pro-Kannada organisations have decided to withdraw their Bandh call honouring the request from the government. “I congratulate them for that. There will be no Karnataka Bandh tomorrow(Dec 31). They have assured that there will be no problem for normal life and businesses,” Bommai said.Replying to a question about banning MES, the Chief Minister said, it is being examined under the legal provisions. It has been conveyed to the delegation.
Continuing to see a surge in the spread of Covid-19 infections, Bengaluru Urban logged 565 fresh cases out of 707 cases in Karnataka. The active case tally in the state stood at 8223.
The state health department reported 252 recoveries and three deaths in Bengaluru Urban. The state conducted 114,686 tests.
In a cluster outbreak in Kolar district, 10 students of Morarji Desai Residential School tested positive for Covid-19. All of them are asymptomatic.
However, the Covid positivity rate in the state is still less than 1 percent. The positivity rate for the day was 0.61 percent and case fatality rate at 0.42 percent.
Karnataka on December 29 reported five more cases of Omicron out of which four had international travel history. Read more
Rahul Gandhi congratulates "Team Congress" for their victory in Karnataka local body polls.
A property dispute and an affair led to the murder of the 42-year-old Bengaluru woman, Archana Reddy, the police said following seven arrests in the case. According to the police, Archana’s 21-year-old daughter from her first husband was in a relationship with her second husband, Naveen, 33. The daughter, Yuvika Reddy, 21, was also demanding her share in the ancestral property, which her mother was unwilling to part with, the police added.
Those arrested include Yuvika, Naveen, and his aides Santosh Kumar (29), Anupam Singa (24), Narendra (30) and Anand (29).
On Monday night, Archana Reddy, a resident of Bellandur, was hacked to death by a few men near Hosa road around 10.30pm when she was heading home in her car. Her minor son, also from the first husband, was with her. Read more
More than 2100 acres of the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) have been encroached and over 700 cases registered in connection with the same, official documents of the Karnataka Forest Department show.
Official records state that BNP is spread over 64,373.78 acres and comprises 13 reserved forests across the districts of Bengaluru Rural, Bengaluru Urban and Ramanagara. Anekal, Bannerghatta, Harohalli and Kodihalli are the four wildlife ranges which are part of BNP.
Officials told The Indian Express that in all these cases, not a single eviction has been carried out. “In Bengaluru Urban area, 1121 cases and in Bengaluru rural, 744 cases of forest encroachment have been registered by the department. Unfortunately, there are political interests involved which impedes our work to evict encroachments,” a senior forest official said. Read more
The Congress party in Karnataka outsmarted the ruling BJP as the grand old party emerged as the single largest party in the urban local bodies polls, voting for which was held on December 27 and the results were announced on Thursday.
A total of 58 Urban Local Bodies consisting of 1184 wards went to polls. Of the total 1184 seats that went to the polls, the Congress won 498 seats, BJP 437, JDS 45 and others 204. The Congress polled 42.06 per cent votes, the BJP 36.90 per cent, the JDS 3.8 per cent and others 17.22 per cent.
Of the 166 City Municipal Council wards, the Congress got 61, the BJP 67, the JDS 12 and others 26. Of the 441 Town Municipal Council wards, the Congress got 201, BJP 176 and JDS 21. Of the 588 wards of the Pattana Panchayats, the Congress bagged 236, the BJP 194 and the JDS 12 while others won in 135 wards.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has booked three customs officials and two others in connection with red sanders smuggling. The officials also face charges of receiving Rs 8 lakh in bribes. The FIR was registered after CBI conducted a preliminary inquiry that revealed smuggling links between the accused, Venkatesh C and Ananthapadmanabha Rao K, both Superintendent of Customs at Air Cargo Complex in Devanahalli, and Customs inspector Ravinder Pawar, and two individuals, Satish Kumar T and Nazeeb Z. The red sanders was shipped after declaring them as industrial pipe spares sometime between June and July this year. Read More
Karnataka on Wednesday reported five more cases of Omicron, taking the state’s tally to 43. Four of the five patients have international travel history. The fresh cases include a 22-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man who returned from the United States of America, a 53-year-old man with a travel history to Dubai, a 61-year-old man who came to Bengaluru from Ghana, and a 41-year-old man who travelled from Mumbai to Bengaluru. Read More
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Here is a list of areas in Bengaluru city where there might be an outage:
West zone: Power cuts will start from 9 am to 5 pm. Affected areas are Uttarahalli Road, Konchandra Road, Kodipallia, Annapoorneshwari Layout, Bhoomika Layout, Patangiri, BHEL Layout, Shruasti Nagar, Virabhadraswara Nagar, D Group Layout, Hosahalli Road, Gantakanadoddi, Apurva Layout, BWSSB Office, Kengeri Main Road, Dubasipalya, BEL 1st Stage, BEL 2nd Stage and Bhavaninagar.
East zone: Power cuts from 10 am to 5 pm. Affected areas include Jogupalya Main Channel Road, Ilpe Thopu, Venkateshwara Layout, Bileshivale and Coffee Board Layout.
North zone: Power cuts from 10 am to 5.30 pm. Affected areas are New BEL Road, Dollars Colony, Yeshwanthpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Model Colony, KN Extension, LN Colony, Siddartha Slum, Ramachandrapura Village, Aditya Nagar, Ms Palya, Akshayanagara, Doddabetahally, Maruthi Nagar, a part of Vidyaranyapura, Basavasamithi Nanjappacircle,Thindlu Village, Amruthahalli, Jakkur, Anandnagar, SBM Colony, Kunthi Grama, Hebbal, Vinayak Nagar, Shetihalli and Mallasandra.
South zone: Power cuts from 10 am to 5.30 pm. Affected areas are JP Nagar 6th Phase, Puttenahalli, Sangam Circle, LIC Colony, JP Nagar 1st Phase, Banashankari 2nd Stage, Ambedakar Nagar, SP Road, Uttarahalli Main Road, JP Nagar 2nd Phase, 3rd Phase ,4th Phase, 5th Phase, 15th Cross, Dollar Layout, Munireddy Layout, Chikkalasandra Bus Stop, Siddapura, Ejipura, Marathalli, Sanjay Nagar, Manjunatha Nagar, Ashwath Nagara and KRB Layout.
The BJP government in Karnataka is planning to bring in a law to free Hindu temples and religious institutions from state control. Speaking at the two-day state BJP executive committee meeting in Hubballi on Wednesday, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said, “Currently, Hindu temples in the state are under different types of control bylaws and rules. Temples that have suffered in the hands of bureaucrats will be freed by our government. We will bring a law which will give rights to the temple management to look after their own development.” Read More
Based on a complaint against four senior Karnataka forest department officials, who are accused of helping a family encroach forest land at Sagar taluk in Shivamogga district to use it for non-forestry purposes, the Union environment and forest ministry has directed the Karnataka government to ascertain the facts of the case and take punitive action if the officials are found to be guilty. The direction, issued on December 9, also mentioned that the additional chief secretary, department of environment and forest should submit a progress report. Read More
Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar confirmed five new cases of Omicron in the state. All five patients have travel history. They have been isolated and primary and secondary contacts have been identified and tested.
The Bengaluru police Wednesday arrested two men for allegedly trying to sell the hide and horns of two blackbucks.
The police said one of the accused, Yarriswamy (37), a native of Ananthapura in Andhra Pradesh, had allegedly killed the blackbucks. He then contacted his friend Lokesh (45) to sell off their horns and skin. They had come to JP Nagar to meet a potential customer.
Based on a tip-off, the accused were arrested in Sarakki market, said the police. Blackbucks are protected animals under Schedule I of the Wildlife Act since 1972.
Karnataka reported 566 fresh Covid-19 cases today.
In what will come as a much-needed breather for him, a two-day BJP state executive committee meeting that ended on Wednesday rallied behind Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, with sources saying a warning was issued against encouraging speculation that he was to be removed.
The vote of confidence for Bommai comes amidst open calls by BJP leaders for change at the top, and Bommai himself saying in a tearful outburst last week that nothing was permanent. Brought in as a replacement for veteran B S Yeddiyurappa in July, Bommai, a former JD(S) leader, is considered a stop-gap by the many power centres in the state unit – the message being that the BJP will not go with him as its face for the 2023 Assembly elections. Read More
The BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta has instructed the BBMP officials to introduce necessary measures to control the spreading of the covid-19 variant in BBMP limits by joint operations with the police officials ensuring the strict enforcement of the regulations given by the state government.
Addressing a virtual meeting with the police department on Covid management in the city, the BBMP Chief Commissioner said there are 150-200 covid-19 cases on average registered in BBMP limits every day.
He said it has increased up to 250 recently and is necessary to stop the increase in the number. With this regard, BBMP officials and Police personnel have to take up joint operations.
BJP MLA and Chief Minister's Political Secretary M P Renukacharya on Wednesday said most legislators in the party expect a Gujarat-like overhaul of the Karnataka Cabinet and urged those who have become Ministers in successive BJP governments to voluntarily resign and make way for fresh faces.
He said the fresh faces with fresh ideas were necessary to add charisma to the party and to the government.
"The expectation of most of the legislators is that the Cabinet should be formed in Karnataka in the Gujarat model, there is hundred per cent no change in the Chief Minister, Bommai will continue as the CM," Renukacharya said. (PTI)
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday indicated that he is likely to review the COVID-19 containment measures announced by his government, including the 'night curfew', in the wake of opposition from businesses.
The night Curfew announced by the government for 10 days as part of its containment measures to control further COVID spread, has come into effect across the state from Tuesday night. It will be effective from 10 PM to 5 AM every day till January 7 morning, during which no activities will be allowed. 'I'm observing all of them, lets see, after I go to Bengaluru tomorrow, I will take a decision in this connection,' Bommai said in response to a question by reporters here, regarding opposition to night curfew.
As part of containment measures, the government also banned all New Year parties and gatherings in public places, and places like eateries, hotels, pubs, clubs and restaurants have been asked to operate with 50 per cent of their seating capacity from December 30 to January 2. ---PTI
Based on a complaint against four senior Karnataka forest department officials, who are accused of helping a family encroach forest land at Sagar taluk in Shivamogga district to use it for non-forestry purposes, the Union environment and forest ministry has directed the Karnataka government to ascertain the facts of the case and take punitive action if the officials are found to be guilty.
The direction, issued on December 9, also mentioned that the additional chief secretary, department of environment and forest should submit a progress report. Read more