Karnataka Bengaluru Coronavirus September 17 Highlights: CM Yediyurappa meets Defence Minister, Finance Minister in Delhi, discusses State development

First-time Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka Ashok Gasti, who has been admitted to a private hospital in Bengaluru after testing positive for Covid-19, is critically ill and on life support system.

In a statement, Manipal Hospital clarified that the 55-year-old BJP leader is still “on life support system in the ICU” at the hospital located on Old Airport Road.

“Ashok Gasthi, Member of Parliament from Rajya Sabha, was admitted with severe COVID-19 pneumonia at Manipal Hospitals, Old Airport Road. He is critically ill with multi-organ failure on life support system in the Intensive care unit,” Dr Manish Rai, Hospital Director said in a statement.

According to party sources close to the leader, Gasti was admitted to the hospital on September 2 after he was suffering from breathing problems. “He was tested positive for coronavirus infection then and was placed on ventilator support as his health condition worsened in the next few days.”

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Former Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Thursday demanded the BJP-led union government to amend the Constitution to give equal status to other Indian languages similar to Hindi to be used as an administrative language.

The Janata Dal (Secular) leader expressed his displeasure on the negative reply given by the Union Home Ministry to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday clarifying its plans not to amned the Official Languages Act.

In a series of tweets, he said, 'Article 343, 344 and 345 in the Constitution encourages promotion of Hindi. Let BJP leaders, who talk about changing the Constitution, make an effort to amend the law to give equal primacy to regional languages at par with Hindi.'

Kumaraswamy further 'reminded' the BJP that it 'has formed the government at the Centre with the support of MPs elected from non-Hindi speaking states, as well.' He added, 'It is the BJP's moral duty to pay back their debt by introducing all Indian languages in the Centre's administration.'

Expressing displeasure on various decisions taken by the Narendra Modi-led union government, Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah Thursday said, "More than two crore salaried jobs and 12 crore overall jobs have been lost in last 6 months. The unemployment rate in the country has reached a 45-year high due to decisions of the Modi government."

Further, the former Karnataka CM tweeted, "To honour his achievement, disheartened unemployed youths have decided to celebrate this day as #NationalUnemploymentDay."

He added, "This crisis will create huge demographic dividend problems wasting precious years of our youths."

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa attends Kalyana Karnataka Utsav in Kalaburagi, marking the first anniversary of setting up the Kalyana Karnataka Development Board in the region.

September 17, earlier observed as Hyderabad - Karnataka Liberation Day was rechristened as Kalyana Karnataka Day last year by the incumbent BJP government. As part of the celebrations, the CM and other dignitaries also paid a floral tribute at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel statue in the city.

After the event, Yediyurappa boarded a special flight to Delhi where he will attend the pooja for the commencement of construction of Cauvery - Karnataka Bhavan at Kautilya Marg on Friday. The CMO has also confirmed the CM’s appointments with union ministers and the top brass of BJP scheduled till Saturday.

#Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa attends Kalyana Karnataka Utsav in Kalaburagi, flies to Delhi after the event. @IndianExpress

Live updates: https://t.co/S97K0nPR6P pic.twitter.com/kZ0xESReVH

— Express Bengaluru (@IEBengaluru) September 17, 2020

A fact-finding committee formed by several civil society organisations (CSOs) based in the city Wednesday urged the Bengaluru City Police probing the incident and the violence — that took place then at the streets of East Bengaluru on August 11 — to widen the scope of investigation against the alleged Facebook post believed to have led to the same.

In a report titled ‘Communalising Violence in DJ Halli’, the committee alleged, “Facebook failed to take action against Naveen’s post that amounts to hate speech. Several sections of the media have misportrayed the incident in a communal light by spinning conspiracy theories and targeting the Muslim community.”

The fact-finding committee claimed that it inferred several facts on the incident, after “a thorough inquiry into the incident, documenting several testimonies, and gathering evidence from all those involved across the spectrum.”

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Actor Sanjjanaa Galrani Wednesday was sent to Parappana Agrahara jail after she was produced before the 1st Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) court as her police custody ended. She will be in judicial custody till September 18.

Galrani, police say, was closely watched after her friend Rahul Thonshe was arrested a few days before her she was held. Sources in the CCB told Indianexpress.com that the raids at her residence on September 8 were carried out based on Thonshe’s statement. She was arrested later that day.

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Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwathnarayan Wednesday hinted that the state will soon appoint officers from the Indian Administration Service (IAS) and Karnataka Administration Service (KAS) as registrars of state-run universities.

"An ordinance has been introduced to appoint officers of IAS or KAS cadre for the posts of registrars in all the universities. This was done to speed up the administration process. This would be obtained approval in the present session itself," Ashwathanarayan said.

Several educationists had earlier pointed out that appointing civil servants in place of senior professors would contribute to better administration of public universities in the state. Earlier in 2018, the Siddaramaiah government had approved the same as part of revamping the Karnataka State Universities Bill.

A Bengaluru sessions court has rejected the bail plea of a key accused in the August 11 violence in the city, specifically relating to an attack on the residence of a Congress MLA and two police stations, after the Karnataka government argued that the accused had allegedly conspired the violence with a prominent political leader in the state.

Arun Manoraj, 34, nephew and personal assistant of former Bengaluru mayor and Congress leader Sampath Raj, was arrested for the August 11 attack on the residence of Akhanda Srinivas Murthy, Congress MLA from Pulakeshinagar constituency. The police had said that Manoraj’s phone was used to mobilise people for the attack.

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The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) has extended the application deadlines for the diploma common entrance test (DCET) and postgraduate common entrance test (PGCET).

Candidates seeking admission to the second year or third-semester engineering courses under the lateral entry scheme can apply till September 21, 5.30 pm while the fee payment is allowed till September 22.

Similarly, candidates applying for admissions to MBA, MCA, ME, MTech, and MArch courses can also apply until September 21, 5 pm.

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The interval between hospital admissions and deaths in Covid-19 cases in Karnataka has seen a gradual improvement from an average of two days in July to around six days in early September, according to data provided by the state government in its daily health bulletins.

The data shows that nearly 45 per cent of the total 6,462 Covid deaths between July and early September occurred within two days of admission in a hospital while seven per cent died at home or were already dead before reaching hospital.

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As the probe by the Central Crime Branch (CBB) of the Bengaluru City Police is still underway to unearthen the more links from Sandalwood (Kannada film industry) to probale drug rackets in the city, actor Sanjjanaa Galrani was Wednesday remanded to juidicial custody.

The actor was sent to Parappana Agrahara jail after she was produced before the 1st Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) court as her police custody ended. She will be in judicial custody till September 18.

Earlier, her colleague Ragini Dwivedi was remanded by the same court till September 28 after which she was shifted to the same prison located on the outskirts of the city, on Monday.

As the probe by the Central Crime Branch (CBB) of the Bengaluru City Police is still underway to unearth more links from Sandalwood (Kannada film industry) to probable drug rackets in the city, actor Sanjjanaa Galrani was Wednesday remanded to judicial custody.

The actor was sent to Parappana Agrahara jail after she was produced before the 1st Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) court as her police custody ended.  She will be in judicial custody till September 18.

Earlier, her colleague Ragini Dwivedi was remanded by the same court till September 28 after which she was shifted to the same prison located on the outskirts of the city, on Monday.

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