Karnataka Bengaluru March 18 Highlights: 1000-bed Covid Care Centre in Bengaluru to be operational by Monday

In a bid to enhance micromanagement of cases, Health Minister Sudhakar said war rooms will begin operations like how they did during the peak time of the pandemic last year. 

"War rooms will start operating as it was during last year to enable the government monitor the situation using real-time data. We have also decided to recruit resident doctors and paramedical staff on a temporary basis," he added.

#Covid19: War rooms to operate like last year to monitor situation using real-time data, #Karnataka Health Minister @mla_sudhakar says as part of discussing plans to mitigate a possible second wave. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/yA92dzCJct

— Ralph Alex Arakal (@ralpharakal) March 18, 2021

Stepping up preparations to mitigate a possible second wave of Covid-19 cases in Bengaluru, Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar Thursday said that a covid care centre (CCC) will become operational by Monday next week. 

He was speaking to reporters in Vidhana Soudha after meeting top officials and senior doctors from government hospitals in the city to discuss containment measures. 

Earlier on Wednesday, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi that three such CCCs will be set up in the state capital. Bengaluru accounts for over 72 per cent of the total active cases in the state at present.

The cybercrime department of the Bengaluru City Police has urged people to be cautious while sharing intimate content online to people they befriended on social media.

“Citizens are requested to exercise utmost caution while dealing with any stranger on social media and should make it a practice of using the privacy controls in mobile devices as well as in applications,” Umesh Kumar, ADGP, Criminal Investigation Department (CID), said.

Read more

The Karnataka government has indicated that the next academic year for schools is likely to begin on July 15. “We (the state government) are planning to begin the next academic year on July 15. We desire to do so considering the goodwill and educational progress of our children. 

However, we have to keep the current Covid-19 situation in mind as well,” Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar said. 

Read more

With Akhil Bharatiya Prathinidhi Sabha (ABPS) — the annual conclave of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) highest decision making body — scheduled to be held on Friday and Saturday, a new national general secretary is expected to be elected in Bengaluru. 

According to RSS Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh Arun Kumar, the conclave will pick a new sarkaryavah (general secretary) on Saturday. ABPS 2021 was moved to Bengaluru from Nagpur earlier this year citing the prevailing Covid-19 situation in Maharashtra.

In yet another twist to the sex-for-job CD scandal allegedly involving former Karnataka Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, the family of the woman allegedly seen in the video has filed a complaint saying their daughter was kidnapped by unknown people in Bengaluru. A special team was constituted on Wednesday by the Belagavi police to investigate the claim.

According to Belagavi police, the complaint was filed by her father at APMC police station in the city after which a case was registered under sections 363, 368, 343, 346, 354, and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Read more

With Karnataka continuing to report a surge in new Covid-19 cases since the beginning of this month, a meeting convened by Health and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar is underway in Bengaluru. 

According to the Minister's office, the "Emergency meeting of senior officials and heads of key Government Hospitals" is discussing strategy and measures regarding Covid-19 containment.

Karnataka has reported 12,363 new cases since March 1. Active cases have nearly doubled since last month. While there were 5804 active cases on Feb 28, the same has spiked to 10,220 on March 17.

Following a recent spike in the number of Covid-19 cases on the campus of Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), the Udupi district administration has declared it as a containment zone. The development comes after 59 cases were reported from the campus.

“Of the 59 cases reported from MIT campus since March 11, 42 positive results were obtained on Monday and Tuesday alone. More students, faculty, and others residing in the campus will be tested. Only faculty and essential staff will be allowed into the campus with proper identification. Movement of residential students have also been restricted,” a government official explained.

Read more

Two days after a Zomato delivery executive filed a counter-complaint against a beauty influencer who had filed a case against him on charges of assault, the Bengaluru City Police Wednesday said they were collecting evidence in the case and will summon the woman for questioning after that.

Speaking to indianexpress.com, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Joshi Srinath Mahadev said, “A notice will be issued to the woman after the team probing the case is done collecting evidence. She will be summoned for questioning only after that.”

Earlier, there were rumours on social media that Chandranee had left the city after her residential address in Bengaluru was leaked online. However, officials from the jurisdictional Electronic City police did not comment on her whereabouts but said she was not at her residence on Wednesday.

Read more

Prices of petrol and diesel were unchanged for the 19th consecutive day at their record highs across the country on Thursday. 

While each litre of petrol costs Rs 94.22 in Bengaluru, diesel is available for Rs 86.37 per litre. 

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.

Daily flights between Kalaburagi and Mumbai will begin operations on March 25, Alliance Air announced. The airline company, a subsidiary of Air India, is planning to deploy its 70-seater aircraft to connect these two cities.

According to Alliance Air, Flight 9I 665 will take off from Mumbai at 7.20 am to arrive in Kalaburagi at 9 am. On its return journey, 9I 666 will take off from Kalaburagi at 9.25 am and arrive in Mumbai at 10.55 am.

The young woman, who allegedly featured in a video CD with Ramesh Jarkiholi that forced him to resign as Karnataka Water Resources Minister on March 3, has been missing since March 2, her father has told police in a complaint. He has also claimed that she has been abducted and is being held captive.

In his complaint to the APMC Yard police station in Belagavi Tuesday, the woman’s father said the family has not been able to reach her since March 2 — it was the day TV channels played the video clip. He claimed his daughter was whisked away from near her PG accommodation in Bengaluru and was being held captive at a secret location.

Read more

As Bengaluru continues to report most Covid-19 cases in Karnataka, local civic body the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Wednesday identified ten wards that recorded most cases in the last 10 days. 

Wards that reported most cases:

• Bellandur
• BTM Layout
• Hagadur
• Konanakunte
• Shantala Nagar
• New Thippasandra
• Jnanabharathi
• Gottigere
• Banaswadi
• Jaraganahalli

Meanwhile, five wards in the city reported either none or one case during the same timeframe. These are Dodda Bommasandra, Rayapuram, Neelasandra, Kempapura Agrahara, and Jagajivanaram Nagar.

Several areas in and around Kengeri in Bengaluru will face disruption in electricity supply for eight hours on Friday and Saturday, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) informed. The power cuts will be from 9 am to 5 pm in the wake of underground electric cable-laying work in the Kengeri subdivision. 

Areas to be affected, as per the BESCOM notification: 

• Kengeri Satellite Town
• BMTC Bus Stand
• JB Layout
• Kommaghatta Road
• Dodda Marammana Temple, and adjoining localities.

Good morning!
Welcome to the live blog from Bengaluru where we bring to you the latest updates on COVID-19 vaccination drive, COVID-19, lockdown 6.0, unlock phase 6, BBMP and more across Bengaluru and Karnataka. Follow the blog to stay up to date with the state in real time.