Heavy rains continued in Bengaluru on Friday evening as well, leaving many areas including Koramangala, Doddakammanahalli, Hosakerehalli, and others waterlogged. Karnataka Bengaluru Coronavirus News October 23 Highlights: The Karnataka government Friday decided to reopen colleges (engineering, diploma, degree) from November 17.
“Students can choose to attend offline, online or blended learning sessions. Batch strength will be decided based on prior registration. Task forces will be deployed across colleges to ensure Covid-19 and related guidelines are in place and are implemented,” Deputy CM Ashwathnarayan CN said in Bengaluru.
Earlier today, CM Yediyurappa had met top officials of higher education, health, transport, social welfare, backward class, finance departments in Bengaluru to discuss the same, in the wake of the ongoing pandemic situation in the state.
Meanwhile, the active number of Covid-19 cases in Karnataka dropped below the one-lakh mark on Thursday after nearly a month as discharges outnumbered new cases for the eighth consecutive day in the state. While the number of active cases on October 22 is 92,927, the same had been over a lakh since September 26.
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The 12-meter long AC e-bus has been provided by a Hyderabad-based company.
Heavy rains lashed parts of Bengaluru on Friday, leaving many areas waterlogged and traffic disrupted. Most parts of South Bengaluru were affected after rain.
Videos recorded by local residents shows a car floating in Gurudutta Layout near Hosakerehalli alongside Vrishabhavathi drain during rains. Vehicles in the basement of some apartments and houses in the low-lying areas were submerged.
Traffic was disrupted on Mysuru Road, Silk Board junction, Hosur road, Bannerghatta road, Basavanagudi, Nayandahalli, RR Nagar, BG Road, Nayandahalli and other roads.
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Traffic is disrupted due to heavy rain on Mysuru road, Silk Board junction, Hosur road, Bannerghatta road, Basavanagudi, Nayandahalli, RR Nagar, BG Road, Nayandahalli and other roads in Bengaluru city.
The worst affected areas were Koramangala, BTM Layout, Jayanagara, Basavanagudi, RR Nagar, Hosakerehalli, Basavangudi, Nagarabavi, Kengeri, Malleshwaram, and other parts of the city.
“As per latest observation Bengaluru City and Neighbourhood is expected to receive light to moderate spells of rain with intermittent heavy spells of rainfall at a few places during the next 24 hours,” India Meteorological Department(IMD) said in its forecast.
Bengaluru on Friday evening received heavy rain across the city leaving many areas waterlogged, traffic disrupted and drains overflowing.
Most parts of South Bengaluru are affected after rain. Video footage sent by the local resident shows a car sailing on in Gurudutt Layout near Hosakerehalli alongside Vrishabhavathi drain during rains. Vehicles in the basement of some apartments and houses in the low-lying areas were submerged.
Heavy rains continued in Bengaluru on Friday evening as well, leaving many areas including Koramangala, Doddakammanahalli, Hosakerehalli, and others waterlogged. As per the observations made by the India Meteorological Department, Bengaluru City received 13.2 mm rain from 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm on Friday. During the same time, HAL airport and surrounding areas received 1.3mm rain while KIAL Airport reported 7.7mm rain.
The Karnataka government has allowed pooling of samples for Covid-19 testing in districts with less than 5% weekly positivity rate.
The Commissionerate of Health and Family Welfare issued a circular instructing to pool 5 samples at once. Based on the result of the sample pool, further action should be taken.
The total number of RTPCR test targets given to each district, however, will remain unchanged.
The Karnataka government has decided to allow students to chose from either attending offline or online classes as part of its plan to reopen colleges in the state in the wake of the Covid-19 situation.
"Students will be allowed to chose to attend offline, online, or blended learning sessions while parental consent will be necessary for those opting for the offline mode,” Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwathnarayan said.
Further, the government has decided to issue clear guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOP) to conduct offline classes depending on the response from the students and other stakeholders of the system.
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The 47th Foundation Day of Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) is scheduled to be held on October 28 (Wednesday), as the Institute prepares for the same being held virtually, for the first time ever in its history, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic situation.
According to the Institute, the event will be aired online on YouTube from 5 pm on the scheduled date. "Apart from addresses by Dr Devi Prasad Shetty, Chair, Board of Governors, IIMB and Professor Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, IIMB, the event will include a virtual lecture on: 'Reimagining the Indian Healthcare System' by Chief Guest Dr Gangadeep Kang," a statement added.
Dr Kang is acclaimed to be the first woman from India to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. "She is also the first Indian woman to be elected to Fellowship of the American Academy of Microbiology and is the only physician-scientist to receive the Infosys Award in Life Sciences," the Institute added.
The South Western Railway (SWR) Friday announced the extension of weekly Kisan Rail special services on the KSR Bengaluru – Adarshnagar – KSR Bengaluru route. While Train No.0625 is scheduled to operate from KSR Bengaluru to Adarshnagar every Saturday from October 24 to December 26, the train will leave Bengaluru at 4.45 pm, starting this week.
En-route the train will arrive/depart with stoppages at Mysuru(Tuesday-19.30/20.20hrs) Hassan(22.10/22.20 hrs) Arsikere(23.10/23.20 hrs) Davanagere(Sunday-01.50/02.00 hrs) Hubballi(04.50/05.10 hrs) Londa (07.00/07.15 hrs) Belagavi(08.30/08.50 hrs) Miraj(13.10/13.30 hrs) Sangola(16.00/17.20 hrs) Kurdwadi(18.40/19.00 hrs) Daund(20.40/21.10 hrs) Manmad (Monday-01.45/02.05 hrs) Bhusaval(05.20/05.40 hrs) Itarsi(10.30/10.40 hrs), Bhopal (12.30/12.40 hrs) Jhansi(17.00/17.10 hrs) Agra Cantonment(19.55/20.05 hrs) Mathura (20.50/21.00 hrs) H. Nizamuddin (23.45/00.30 hrs).
In the return direction, Train No.06526 Adarshnagar – KSR Bengaluru Weekly Kisan Rail Special is scheduled to leave Adarshnagar at 11 am on Tuesdays to reach KSR Bengaluru on Fridays with effect from October 27 to December 29.
En-route the train will arrive/depart with stoppages at H. Nizamuddin(Tuesday-12.00/18.30hrs – for pit line attention and loading) Mathura(20.55/21.05 hrs), Agra Cantonment (22.00/22.10hrs) Jhansi(Wednesday-01.15/01.25 hrs) Bhopal(06.00/06.10hrs) Itarsi (08/08.10hrs) Bhusaval(13.50/14.10hrs) Manmad(17.20/17.40hrs) Daund(23.20/23.30hrs) Kurdwadi(Thursday-01.20/01.30hrs) Sangola(03.00/04.00hrs) Miraj(08.00/08.30 hrs) Belagavi (11.40/11.50hrs) Londa(13.30/13.45hrs) Hubballi(15.45/16.05hrs) Davanagere(19.05/19.15 hrs) Arsikere(21.40/21.50hrs) Hassan(22.40/22.50 hrs) Mysur (Friday-01.20/01.50hrs)
"Railway customers may please note that loading/unloading is permitted at any of the en-route stoppages. Consignments must be loaded within the allowed time. Passengers will not be allowed to travel in the train," SWR said in a statement. Farmers may make the best use of this facility to get right price for their commodity, it added.
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad inspected the working of a Mini Transfer Station at RMV 2nd stage, in Radhakrishna Ward along with BBMP Administrator Gaurav Gupta.
“Such transfer stations have compactors that helps to reduce the total tonnage of waste collected and in turn avoid transporting it across the city,” Manjunath Prasad said.
South Western Railway will soon run a weekly superfast Festival Special Express between Prayagraj and Yeshwanthpur.
“It is decided to run Train No. 04133/04134 Prayagraj - Yesvantpur - Prayagraj Weekly Superfast Festival Special Express in view of Durga Puja, Deepawali and Chhath Puja,” SWR said in a release.
Train No. 04133 Prayagraj - Yesvantpur Weekly Superfast Festival Special Express will depart from Prayagraj at 23.30 hrs on every Sunday and arrive at Yesvantpur at 18.30 hrs on the respective Tuesday with effect commencing journey from Prayagraj from 25.10.2020 to 29.11.2020 (6 Trips).
Enroute, the train will have stoppages at Manikpur – 01.38/01.40 hrs, Satna – 02.50/02.55 hrs, Katni -04.15/04.20 hrs, Jabalpur – 05.35/05.45 hrs, Itarsi – 09.25/09.35 hrs, Nagpur – 15.50/15.55 hrs, Ballarashah – 19.55/20.00 hrs, Warangal – 23.35/23.40 hrs, Vijayawada – 03.35/03.45 hrs, MGR Chennai Central – 11.30/11.55 hrs, Katpadi – 13.48/13.50 hrs, Jolarpettai – 15.10/15.15 hrs and Krishnarajapuram – 16.43/16.45 hrs.
In the return direction, Train No. 04134 Yesvantpur - Prayagraj Weekly Superfast Festival Special Express will depart from Yesvantpur at 07.10 hrs on every Wednesday and arrive Prayagraj at 22.40 hrs on the next day i.e. on Thursday with effect commencing journey from Yesvantpur from 28.10.2020 to 02.12.2020 (6 Trips).
Krishnarajapuram – 07.53/07.55 hrs, Jolarpettai – 10.18/10.20 hrs, Katpadi – 11.30/11.35 hrs, MGR Chennai Central – 14.15/14.40 hrs, Vijayawada – 21.10/21.20 hrs, Warangal – 00.05/00.06 hrs, Ballarashah – 03.55/04.00 hrs, Nagpur – 07.30/07.35 hrs, Itarsi – 12.30/12.35 hrs, Jabalpur – 15.45/15.55 hrs, Katni - 17.05/17.10 hrs, Satna – 18.30/18.40 hrs and Manikpur – 20.10/20.12 hrs
A ceremonial passing out parade for 1129 Ab-Initio trainees of Integrated Pattern of Training (IPT) of Air and Ground streams was held at Air Force Station Jalahalli in Bengaluru today. The curriculum for the training of these air warriors was designed to equip them for future warfare. The Chief Guest and Reviewing Officer for the ceremony was Air Commodore Biji Philip, Commandant Air Force Technical College.
For excelling in various fields, the trainees were awarded trophies by the reviewing officer. The Best in Trade trophies were presented to Leading Aircraftsman Monu for Electronic Fitter, Leading Aircraftsman Raghuveer Singh Rathore for Electrical Fitter (R) Ground, and Leading Aircraftsman Kunal Gehlawat for Electrical Fitter (R) Aviation. Aircraftsman Mohammad Rashid secured Best in General Service Training while Leading Aircraftsman Kunal Gehlawat secured the Best All Rounder Trophy.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) Friday predicted rains/thundershowers 'at most places over Coastal Karnataka, at many places over South Interior Karnataka and at isolated places over North Interior Karnataka.'
Meanwhile, the department also observed the highest maximum temperature in Kalaburgi (33.2 degree-Celsius) and the lowest minimum temperature of 15.4 degree-Celsius in Bidar. Rain/thundershowers are likely in Bengaluru city for the next 24 hours, the forecast added.
Further, as per a forecast report issued at 3.10 pm, "Thunderstorm with lightning accompanied with light to moderate spells of rain/showers is likely at Bengaluru Rural, Bengaluru Urban, Tumkur, Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Ramanagara, Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada districts in the next three hours."
The Karnataka High Court on Friday granted bail to Congress MLA from Pulikeshi Nagar, Akhanda Srinivas Murthy’s nephew P Naveen, whose purported derogatory social media post allegedly triggered violence in areas of east Bengaluru and an attack on DJ Halli police station in August this year.
While Naveen was granted bail on October 14, he will only be released after he furnishes a bond of Rs 2 lakh.
The court also directed the Congress MLA’s nephew to not leave Bengaluru, appear at the jurisdictional police station on the 1st of every month, not tamper with the evidence and not make similar posts on social media.
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The Karnataka government Friday decided to reopen colleges (engineering, diploma, degree) from November 17.
“Students can choose to attend offline, online or blended learning sessions. Batch strength will be decided based on prior registration. Task forces will be deployed across colleges to ensure Covid-19 and related guidelines are in place and are implemented,” Deputy CM Ashwathnarayan CN said in Bengaluru.
Earlier today, CM Yediyurappa had met top officials of higher education, health, transport, social welfare, backward class, finance departments in Bengaluru to discuss the same, in the wake of the ongoing pandemic situation in the state.
Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday said that the state had attracted investment worth Rs.10,255 crore in the last three months amidst COVID-19 pandemic.
In a series of tweets, Yediyurappa said “Karnataka continues to be the most preferred destination for investors and has attracted the highest FDI inflow in the country in Apr-Jun 2020 quarter. The state received investments worth Rs.10,255 crore ($1,350m) in these three months amidst pandemic.”
“Karnataka continues to be the power house of research & innovation. It is a matter of pride that 15 Karnataka startups won National Startup Awards in wide-ranging sectors from urban mobility to satellite technology, organic farming to augmented reality,” he added.
Two companies of paramilitary forces arrived in Bengaluru on Friday to ensure peaceful conduct of Rajarajeshwari Nagar (RR Nagar) by-poll.Sanjeev M Patil, DCP (west) said, “Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) arrived in the city for the upcoming RR Nagar by-poll.
CISF companies are being deployed in west division,”According to Patil, one CISF team is from Bengaluru only and another team is being grouped from Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Mysuru.RR Nagar constituency in Bengaluru along with Sira constituency in Tumakuru district will go for bypolls on November 3.
The bypoll in Sira was necessitated following the death of JD(S) legislator B Sathyanarayana in August this year, while the Rajarajeshwari Nagar seat fell vacant after the disqualification of Congress MLA N Munirathna under the anti-defection law last year.
Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashoka said as per a preliminary assessment, about 12,700 homes have been damaged and there are crop losses on 6.5 lakh hectares of land in North Karnataka due to the floods in October.
According to the Revenue Minister, at present, 12 taluks and 247 villages have been affected by floods. “The current floods have resulted in 10 deaths and damages to 12,700 houses, crop loss is reported in 6.3 lakh hectare cultivated land due to flooding in Rivers Bhima, Krishna and their tributaries during the monsoon season in North Karnataka,” Ashoka said.
“Immediate assistance of Rs 127.93 crores is being released to all affected families from August to till date," he added.
Earlier, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had sought a special package of Rs 10,000 crore with the government having estimated losses exceeding Rs 21,500 crore in three spells of extreme rainfall in August, September and October.
The CID Cybercrime Division of the Bengaluru City Police Thursday arrested four persons from Rajasthan who allegedly impersonated public figures, government officers, police officials on social media to transfer funds from friends and followers.
According to the police, the accused — identified as Ansar, Balvinder Singh, Saini, and Saddam — were arrested after the investigating team visited Bharatpur and other places in Rajasthan based on leads received during the probe.
In the past few months, the Cybercrime Division had registered at least four cases based on several incidents. “Over 10 such cases were filed in different police stations across Karnataka after which a team including K R Nagaraj (DSP, Cyber Crimes Division, CID), and Nayaz Ahmed (Police Inspector, CCD, CID) was formed to investigate the matter,” an officer from the Bengaluru Cybercrime Division told indianexpress.com.
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Retired police officers in Karnataka will soon get identity cards similar to IAS, IPS and IFS officers.
On Thursday in a circular, Karnataka Director General & Inspector General of Police (DG & IGP) Praveen Sood directed his officers to issue ID cards from police constables to SPs (non-IPS), on the day of their retirement.
According to circular, identity cards to retired police will help them during visits to government offices or in their travel. ID cards will also gain them entry to police canteens.
"Personnel working in IGP and SP offices, CID, Internal Security Division, Training, Railways, State Intelligence, and other special units must be issued ID cards on the day of their retirement," said in the circular.
North East Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC), which operates buses in Kalyana Karnataka region, has withdrawn the 10 percent additional charge that the corporation was collecting from passengers travelling during the weekend.
“As people are showing little interest in using public transport on major routes owing to COVID-19 and as prices offered by the private players on major routes are relatively lesser than that offered by NEKRTC, the 10 % additional charge imposed on these routes during the weekend is withdrawn to attract more passengers,” Managing Director of NEKRTC M. Kurma Rao said in a media release.
NEKRTC also said that the additional charge will remain withdrawn till December 31, 2020. NEKRTC had imposed a 10 percent additional charge on major routes for buses leaving the originating station on Fridays and destination stations on Sundays.
After a gap of six years, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) Wednesday began trial runs for an electric bus in the city. The 12-meter long AC e-bus has been provided by a Hyderabad-based company.
The trials, which had to be put on hold due to operation and financial issues, resumed after an inspection by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and Deputy CM Laxman Savadi. The bus, with sandbags in place of passengers, is being tested on different routes in Bengaluru.
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The Karnataka State cabinet on Thursday granted approval to implement the Bhagyalakshmi scheme, which provides financial security to girl child of Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
The Bhagyalakshmi scheme will be implemented through Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana of the postal department instead of LIC, the government said.
Bhagyalakshmi scheme is one of the flagship schemes of the BS Yeddyurappa-led BJP government in the State. According to government order, under this scheme, a girl child belonging to BPL families is eligible to receive Rs one lakh after completing 18 years of age.
A day after conducting an aerial survey of districts in north Karnataka affected by the recent heavy rains and floods, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa Thursday sought special assistance of Rs 10,000 crore from the centre, pointing out that the situation this year is more severe than the previous years.
The CM said that a cumulative loss of Rs 21,609 has been reported due to heavy rains and floods, experienced thrice already in this year. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the CM mentions the estimated loss during the first spell of extreme rainfall and flood between August and nid September to be Rs 9,441 crore. The same is around Rs 5,568 crore considering the second spell of incessant rains that took place during the second half of September, while the latest spell which began on October 10 has reported damage and loss of about Rs 6,500 crore, Yediyurappa stated.
Heavy rain and release of water into the Bhima river from dams in Maharashtra had caused devastating floods in North Karnataka districts. Yediyurappa had said on Wednesday that around 43,000 people were evacuated after 247 villages were inundated due to heavy rains and floods across Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur, Vijayapura, and Bidar districts.
Air Marshal RD Mathur, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Training Command, Indian Air Force, Bengaluru Thursday emphasised the need for air warriors to impart and maintain the highest standards of training, in view of the technological advancements that the Indian Air Force has made over the years.
"Our trainees should sustain the steep learning curve and be fully effective air warriors upon completion of training," Mathur urged. Mathur, the Param Vishisht Seva Medal awardee of the year, had taken over the command from Air Marshal AS Butola earlier this month.
He was addressing personnel at the Airmen Training School in Sambra, located in Belagavi district. Further, he reviewed all training activities conducted at the school and inspected various critical infrastructure projects being undertaken for the trainees.
The Karnataka government Thursday approved a new solid waste management (SWM) policy asking urban local bodies (ULBs) across the state to ensure 100% door-to-door collection and segregation of waste is achieved by 2021. As per the Karnataka State Urban SWM Policy (2020), it has been directed to take measures to ensure waste-burning is stopped by December 2021 with ULBs clinching the amount of waste reaching landfills to below 30 per cent.
Further, December 2021 is also set as the deadline to ensure all biodegradable waste is processed using appropriate technology. By 2023, ULBs have been asked to come up with bio-mining or other appropriate methods to manage dump yards.
Strategy to handle dry and wet waste, management of hazardous, sanitary, and special wastes, education and welfare of sanitation workers, and monitoring and evaluation of the SWM system are among other points emphasised in the new policy.
Heavy rains that continued in Bengaluru for the past few years resulted in the city's iconic Sankey Tank getting filled to the brim and beginning to overflow for the first time in 12 years.
Deputy Chief Minister Ashwathnarayan CN, who also represents the Malleswaram constituency, visited the Tank on Thursday to offer 'bagina' on Thursday. He cited the reason behind the tank overflowing was due to the steps taken to ensure that water falling into the catchment area reaches the tank. "Measures were taken to desilt the canals that lead to the tank. This action along with abundant rains has helped the tank accumulate so much water," he said.
He added that soak pits will be built and the water-filling capacity of tanks across the city would be enhanced soon to avoid wastage of rainwater.
Situated near Malleswaram, Sankey tank and its surroundings is also a major lung space in the city and is a preferred tourist spot.
The Covid-19 positivity rate in the last 24 hours dropped to 5.38 per cent in Karnataka as 5778 more people contracted the infection on Thursday, of which 2807 were in Bengaluru. With this, the total tally in Karnataka rose to over 7.88 lakh with 6.84 lakh people recovering from coronavirus so far.
Meanwhile, 'active' cases dropped below the one-lakh mark after nearly a month as discharges outnumbered new cases for the eighth consecutive day in the state. While the number of active cases on October 22 is 92,927, the same had been over a lakh since September 26.
At the same time, 1,07,354 samples were tested (including 20,853 Rapid Antigen Detection Tests)across the state. Other districts that reported the most cases on October 20 were Mysuru (308), Bengaluru Rural (280), Chikkaballapura (237), Mandya (191), and Tumkur (184). The death toll rose to 10,770 as 74 more deaths in the last few days were linked to the pandemic on Thursday.
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Welcome to the live blog from Bengaluru where we bring to you the latest updates on COVID-19, lockdown 5.0, unlock phase 5, North Karnataka rains, North Karnataka floods, Sandalwood drug case, Bengaluru violence, RR Nagar and Sira bypolls and more across Bengaluru and Karnataka. Follow the blog to stay up to date with the state in real time.