Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, Health Minister K Sudhakar, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai, and top government officials Wednesday attend the Prime Minister's meeting with states to assess Covid-19 situation.Karnataka Bengaluru Coronavirus News March 17 Highlights: The Karnataka government Wednesday decided to open three Covid care centres in Bengaluru in a bid to take care of a possible surge in Covid-19 cases in the city.
“During the last about 10 days, Covid-19 cases (in Karnataka) are showing an increasing trend. The positivity rate has also increased to 1.65% as on March 15. It is decided to set up three COVID Care Centers in Bengaluru in advance to take care of an immediate surge”, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a video conference.
As many as 1135 more people contracted coronavirus infection in Karnataka on Tuesday, as the state reported the biggest surge since the beginning of 2021. While 710 of the new cases were reported from Bengaluru alone, three deaths in the city were linked to the pandemic.
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The initiative is part of Project RE-HAB (Reducing Elephant - Human Attacks using Bees). (Express)
Days after a case of an alleged assault involving a beauty influencer and a Zomato delivery executive gained widespread attention, the Bengaluru City Police Wednesday confirmed that the woman is yet to be summoned for questioning.
Speaking to Indianexpress.com, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Joshi Srinath Mahadev said, "A notice will be issued to the accused, including the woman, only after the team probing the case finishes collecting all pieces of evidence. The accused will be summoned for questioning only after this."
When asked for confirmation on rumours that Hithesha Chandranee left the city after her address was leaked on social media after the row, he said, "She is free to go anywhere until the notice is issued. We will summon the accused when need arises."
The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Karnataka Police Wednesday arrested two Nigerian nationals for allegedly peddling drugs in and around Bengaluru.
According to Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Patil, ecstasy, LSD, and cocaine worth Rs 75 lakh were seized from the accused. "Two drug peddlers, originally hailing from Nigeria, were arrested in Amruthahalli and Sampegahalli in different raids. Initial probe indicated that drugs were procured via the darknet," he said.
Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's advice to step up vaccination in states in view of the recent resurgence of more Covid-19 cases, the Karnataka government Wednesday requested the Centre to permit vaccination in places other than health facilities.
"Covid vaccination is now permitted only at health facilities by the Government of India. We have requested permission to take up vaccination drives in old age homes, apartment complexes, and other inaccessible areas," CM B S Yediyurappa said.
A baby girl was born on board IndiGo's Bengaluru-Jaipur flight mid-air on Wednesday morning with the help of cabin crew and a doctor, according to an airline statement.
"A baby girl was born mid-air on board flight 6E 469 from Bangalore to Jaipur. The baby was delivered with the help of the IndiGo crew, effectively assisted by Dr. Subahana Nazir, travelling with us on the same flight," the airline's statement noted.
Jaipur airport was immediately informed to arrange for a doctor and an ambulance on arrival, it said.
"Both the baby and mother are stable," it mentioned. The flight departed from Bengaluru around 5.45 am and landed in Jaipur around 8 AM on Wednesday. (PTI)
Namma Metro services between Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Station (Majestic) and Mysuru Road on the Purple Line will be suspended from March 21 to 28, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) informed on Wednesday.
This is in the wake of pre-commissioning works on Namma Metro's Purple Line from Mysuru Road to Kengeri which includes modification works to the signalling system, officials said.
"However, on the Green Line, there will be no change in the train services between Nagasandra and Silk Institute stations," BMRCL Chief PRO B L Yashvanth Chavan said.
A private college lecturer from Bengaluru was allegedly defrauded of Rs 10 lakh by a man who promised to help him invest in crptocurrency. A complaint has been lodged at the Central CEN police station in the city, police said.
According to police officials, the 38-year-old victim said that the incident took place on February 22 after he tried to log in to a trading platform to invest in cryptocurrency. “As he was unaware of how to handle cryptocurrency, he had visited certain groups on Telegrams where discussions on the same took place. As he (the victim) had doubts regarding how to use CoinSwitch Kuber, the trading platform, the hacker approached him promising help in handling bitcoins to ensure high returns,” the police said.
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The Karnataka government Wednesday decided to open three covid care centres in Bengaluru in a bid to take care of a possible surge in Covid-19 cases in the city. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the same during a video conference.
"During the last about 10 days, Covid-19 cases (in Karnataka) are showing an increasing trend. The positivity rate has also increased to 1.65% as on March 15. It is decided to set up three COVID Care Centers in Bengaluru in advance to take care of an immediate surge." Yediyurappa said.
He added that the state is also focusing on intensifying the vaccination rate at about 3500 centers. "We have planned to increase the vaccination to about 3 lakh persons per day," CM Yediyurappa said.,
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, Health Minister K Sudhakar, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai, and top government officials Wednesday attended the Prime Minister's meeting with states to assess Covid-19 situation.
During the meeting, Karnataka informed that the daily testing target will be raised to one lakh in a bid to identify cases at the earliest. PM Modi directed states to increase vaccination centres and to scale up RT-PCR testing.
The Panchamasali Lingayats — a sub-sect of the dominant and politically significant Lingayat community in Karnataka — on Monday temporarily called off their agitation for reservation under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota after Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa sought six months to address their demand in a constitutional and legal manner.
The community had held a protest march on January 14 and was agitating in Bengaluru from February 21 for inclusion in the OBC quota of 15 percent in government jobs and education. It currently enjoys a quota of five percent.
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In a bid to mitigate man-elephant conflict in a manner that does not harm the animals and is also cost-effective, a ‘fence of honey bees’ is being erected around a Karnataka village.
As part of Project RE-HAB (Reducing Elephant – Human Attacks using Bees), boxes with bees are being placed in four locations near Chelur village in Karnataka’s Kodagu, an area that has seen man-elephant conflict.
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The Karnataka State Board of Auqaf has issued a circular to all the mosques and dargahs in the state directing them not to use loudspeakers between 10 pm and 6 am. The circular mentions that the ambient noise level caused then have "deleterious effects on human health and the psychological well-being of people".
"It is observed that increasing the ambient noise level around many a Masjid and Dargahs due to generator sets, loudspeakers and public address systems have deleterious effects on human health and the psychological well-being of people," the order noted.
The circular added that those violating the norms would be liable for legal action under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
Prices of petrol and diesel were unchanged for the 18th consecutive day at their record highs across the country on Wednesday.
Petrol price in Bengaluru stands at Rs 94.22 per litre while diesel is available for Rs 86.37.
In Mumbai, petrol is retailing at Rs 97.57, while diesel costs Rs 88.60, data available on Indian Oil Corporation’s website showed. The same in Delhi is Rs 91.17 and Rs 81.47 for each litre of petrol and diesel respectively.
Days after the tension over the disputed areas of the Maharashtra-Karnataka border, Shiv Sena on Tuesday reiterated that the Centre should declare the disputed areas as a Union Territory if the attacks on Marathi people in Belgaum do not stop.
An editorial in Saamana said that the attack on Marathi people in Belgaum is harrowing and Maharashtra needs to be united to counter it.
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Employees working in the hospitality sector in Bengaluru have written to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan demanding free Covid-19 vaccine. "As the hospitality sector is very important, prioritising Covid vaccination is also very important. With employees of this sector including those working in restaurants, hotels, catering, and for food delivery work as corona warriors, we request you to arrange free vaccination for them," P C Rao, President of Bruhat Bangalore Hotels Association said.
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