Karnataka Bengaluru Coronavirus October 19 Highlights: University of Mysore holds importance in India’s history and future, says PM Modi

A spat over Navaratri celebrations at Karnataka’s Sigandur Chowdeshwari Temple took an ugly turn after the chief priest’s brother assaulted a member of the temple management. A video of the assault went viral on Friday, prompting the Karnataka government to seek a report from the Shivamogga district administration.

Chowdeshwari temple, a well known religious centre in Sigandur, is privately managed by one Ramappa and his family, while Sheshagiri Bhat was appointed as the temple priest.

According to Sagar police, Ramappa and chief priest Sheshagiri Bhat have been at odds over various issues in the last few months. Bhat’s family, police said, resorted to violence after the temple management refused to grant permission to conduct Chandika homa during Navaratri.

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Beginning November 1, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) will not accept cheques or demand drafts towards payment of water and sanitary bills, an official notification read.

As per the notification, cash deposited through kiosks and digital payments via BBPS, PayTM, BJIM, PhonePe, Google Pay, PayU, Amazon Pay, QR code, and RTGS/NEFT bank transfers will be accepted without transaction charges.

However, transaction charges will be included for the use of payment gateways of ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, and BWSSB's mobile application, according to officials.

Speaking about the new National Education Policy, PM Modi termed it a "huge campaign" to bring in fundamental changes to the entire education setup in the country "from pre-nursery to Ph.D."

He added that the focus of the policy is to provide a multidimensional approach to learning to make the country's able youth more competitive.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday during his convocation address at the centenary convocation of the University of Mysore congratulated graduates in Kannada.

"I congratulate you all on this memorable occasion. Special wishes to the professors and other staff members of the varsity as well," he said.

PM Modi also wished the people of Karnataka a happy Dasara, during the initial minutes of his address.

Prime Minister @narendramodi congratulates graduates in Kannada during his address at the centenary convocation of the University of Mysore. @IndianExpress @ieeducation_job pic.twitter.com/eD0k4ymupq

— Ralph Alex Arakal (@ralpharakal) October 19, 2020

A fire broke out in a hotel in Netkallappa Circle, Basavanagudi on Monday morning. According to authorities, no casualties have been reported in the incident.

#Bengaluru | A fire broke out in a hotel in Netkallappa Circle, Basavanagudi on Monday morning. According to authorities, no casualties have been reported in the incident. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/xKBTU6IuTN

— Darshan Devaiah B P (@DarshanDevaiahB) October 19, 2020

During his virtual address at the centenary convocation of the University of Mysore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the efforts made in the field of higher education in the country in the last five to six years were not confined to opening new institutions.

"These institutions also work to ensure reforms in social participation for better governance. More autonomy is also being given to such institutions," he said.

"Even after so many years of independence, there were 16 IITs in the country. In the last six years, one new IIT has been opened every year, on average. One of it is located in Dharwad, Karnataka," he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday during his convocation address at the centenary convocation of the University of Mysore (UoM) said the varsity was important in the history and the future of the country.

"The University of Mysore is a major hub of the rich education system of ancient India and holds the aspirations and capabilities of future India," he said.

Under the Centre’s UDAN scheme, Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, has decided to operate Mysuru-Mangaluru flight.

Alliance Air was tentatively scheduled to commence from October 25 but Mysuru Airport Director R. Manjunath said that the date of commencement will be confirmed in a day or two.

According to airport authorities Mangaluru would be the seventh destination to have air connectivity from Mysuru. The other cities already linked to Mysuru include Bengaluru, Kochi, Chennai, Belagavi, Goa and Hyderabad.

Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha and several Industrial bodies had appealed to the air service provider to operate flights between the two cities.

The Karnataka government has issued an order prohibiting any processions or programmes to commemorate Eid-Milad festivities on October 30, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sermons organised at Mohalla levels, use of loud speakers in public places, and entry of citizens above 60 years and children below 10 to mosques are prohibited by the state government.

According to the order issued by the Department of Minority Welfare, Haj and Wakf, sanitisers and hand-washing facilities should be provided at the entrance of the mosque, social distancing should be maintained at mosques and masks are compulsory.

A 35-year-old man, armed with a knife attacked pedestrians in Bengaluru with a butcher's knife snatched from a mutton stall on Sunday, killing one and injuring five others.

According to the police, the man, later identified as Ganesh (35), walked for almost two kilometres around Anjanappa Garden, Bakshi garden and Balekai Mandi stabbing people without any provocation. "Preliminary investigations have revealed that none of the victims were known to Ganesh. The accused has been arrested and an investigation is underway", the police said.

"Ganesh’s family claims he is mentally unstable. We are waiting for the medical reports", they added.

Ganesh was pinned down by the patrolling team which rushed to the spot after residents who panicked witnessing the incident alerted the police. The weapon was also recovered from him from the spot, according to the police.

While the deceased has been identified as Mari R (a 30-year-old daily wage labourer), the other injured victims are Velayudham, Rajesh Suresh, Anand, and Prakash.

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As the flood situation continued to persist leaving hundreds of villages in Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur and Vijayapura districts inundated with Krishna and Bhima rivers in spate, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa announced that he would take an aerial survey on Oct 21 to assess the extent of damage caused by the same.

In a statement, he said that many villages in these districts were "either completely or partially submerged" due to floods caused by heavy rains last week.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) said that at least 20,269 people, including 15,078 in Kalaburagi have been evacuated by the Army, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) besides local police and district authorities.

This is the third time the state has been hit by floods in the past three months following heavy downpour.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the centenary convocation of the University of Mysore (UoM) via video-conferencing on Monday.

Coincidentally, the University's 100th convocation will be held on the same date as its first, which was held on October 19, 1919.

During the event, UoM will also confer an honorary doctorate degree to Infosys Foundation chairperson and author Sudha Murthy. Chancellor of Varsities Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala, syndicate and academic council members, MPs, MLAs, MLCs, statutory officers, district officers, students and parents are set to witness the ceremony online, in view of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic situation.

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Bengaluru City Police has served a notice to Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi’s wife Priyanka Alva asking her to appear in the city on Tuesday. The development comes days after CCB officials raided the actor's Mumbai residence in search of his absconding brother-in-law Aditya Alva — one of the main accused in the Sandalwood drug case.

“We had served a notice to Priyanka Alva to appear before us on Friday. However, on failure to do so, another notice was issued, asking her to be present at the CCB office in Chamarajpet on October 20,” a CCB officer confirmed.

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With 7184 more people contracting coronavirus on Sunday, the total tally in Karnataka rose to over 7.58 lakh with more nearly 1.1 lakh cases termed 'active' by the Department of Health and Family Welfare Services.

While 1,05,067 samples were tested (including 21,876 Rapid Antigen Detection Tests), a positivity rate of 6.7% was recorded as opposed to 7.7% the previous day. Meanwhile, 3535 more cases were confirmed in Bengaluru which also has the highest number of active cases to date (64,435). Other districts that reported the most cases on October 18 were Mysuru (404), Mandya (308), Bengaluru Rural (288), and Hassan (257)

Meanwhile, 6.37 lakh people have recovered from the infection cumulatively as the total death toll rose to 10,427 after 19 more deaths in the last few days were linked to the pandemic on Sunday.

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