Karnataka, Bengaluru August 14 Highlights:
Meanwhile, the total Covid-19 cases in Karnataka crossed the 2 lakh mark on Thursday as 6706 more cases were reported. Over 1.21 lakh people have recovered from the coronavirus as opposed to around 38,000 on July 27 when the state breached the 1 lakh-mark.
At the same time, medical experts advised Karnataka's Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah home quarantine for some more days after he got discharged Thursday from Manipal hospital in Bengaluru after recovering from coronavirus.
"Siddaramaiah's vital parameters were stable and at discharge, he was comfortable and asymptomatic. He has been advised follow-up and home quarantine as per guidelines," Dr Sudarshan Ballal, Chairman of Manipal Hospitals, Bengaluru said.
Also Read | Siddaramaiah tests positive for Covid-19, days after Karnataka CM Yediyurappa
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Bengaluru-based artist A C Gurumurthy Friday released a drawing of the Bharat Mata which he did on his manual typewriter.
“The imaginary drawing depicts the mother goddess killing coronavirus with the Trishul, related to the expected Covaxin launch in India,” he said.
In a bid to decentralise Covid-19 response in the city, local civic body the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Friday launched a website.
Named 'BL Cares (Bengaluru Local Covid Awareness, Response & Emergency Sahaya)', the initiative is expected to help in collaboration with citizens at the booth-level to control the spread of the coronavirus.
"The website can be accessed at http://BLCares.in and booth-level committees will work in coordination with the Ward Committees," Bengaluru Mayor M Goutham Kumar said.
Bengaluru violence: Personnel of Rapid Action Force (RAF), KSRP and Bengaluru police conduct route march in KR Market, Chamarajpet, and Kalasipalya police station limits following August 11 Bengaluru violence.
The demarcation process of the state borders between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh at the Bellary Reserve Forest will be completed in two months, government officials confirmed on Friday.
Confirming this, N Manjunath Prasad, Principal Secretary, Revenue said, 'After today's meeting held with the Surveyor General of India and the Government of Andhra Pradesh, it has been decided that the border demarcation process at Bellary Reserve Forest will be completed in two months.'
As many as five police officers from the Karnataka State Police force have been picked winners of police medals conferred on officers as part of the Independence Day celebrations.
Among the 80 winners of President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service from different states is Prasanna Kumar Lakshminarasimha Venkateshaiah, an Assistant Sub-Inspector, CID, Bengaluru.
Meanwhile, 18 officers from the state have been picked awardees of the Police Medal for Meritorious Service. They are:
Earlier on Thursday, four other police officers from the State were picked winners of the 'Union Home Minister's Medal for Excellence in Investigation 2020' conferred to officers in recognition of their commendable services.
The officers picked from the state are:
National flags manufactured by members of Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangha(KKGSS) in Hubballi for Independence Day. KKGSS is the only authorised centre to produce national flags in the country.
Photos by PIB Karnataka
Senior Sandalwood actor Shivarajkumar has sought help from the government to make policy-related decisions to make viewers feel safe to come back to theaters. “The industry cannot let theaters go,” he said in a meeting with Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwathnarayan, adding that streaming platforms were acting as a bonus for some producers.
Responding to the demands, Ashwathnarayan assured representatives of the industry of a meeting with Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa next week. He added, “We should discuss the matter with the Department of Labour as well.”
Fondly called Shivanna, the actor was picked to present the challenges faced by the industry after several producers, directors, actors, and other prominent personalities requested him to be their voice to the government. The Kannada Film Producers’ Association was among those who pushed for the same. Read more here
In the last two weeks, the situation in Karnataka has been showing signs of improvement. The growth rate has been on a consistent decline, from a high of about 8.5 per cent per day in the first week of July to just about 3.4 per cent now. The active cases has also just begun to show a declining trend. On three of the last four days, the daily recoveries in the state have been more than the new cases. Read Amitabh Sinha's Explainer
The Karnataka government is likely to set up a dedicated Cinema Promotion Board in a bid to offer a helping hand to the film industry largely affected by the Covid-19-induced lockdown and crises.
Confirming the same, Deputy Chief Minister Ashwathnarayan CN Thursday said, "The government is looking at the possibilities of setting up a Kannada Cinema Promotion Board to help revive the Kannada film industry. This would enable us to offer incentives and concessions and to set up affordable Janata theatres in the state. These considerations are being deliberated as part of revising the existing cinema policy."
As the Karnataka Governor, Chief Minister, and other top dignitaries are expected to attend the Independence Day parade at Field Marshal Manekshaw Parade Ground on Saturday, Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Kamal Pant said the event will be held amidst tight security.
"Around 680 police personnel, including 9 DCPs, 14 ACPs, and 31 inspectors will be deployed. A unit of the Garud Commando Force, 10 KSRP platoons, and 10 KSRP battalions will also be at the venue apart from enhanced security measures taken across the city already," Pant said.
The Bengaluru police have arrested 60 accused including Congress corporator Irshad Begum’s husband, Kaleem Pasha on Friday morning regarding Devarajeevanahalli (DJ Halli) and Kadugondanahalli (KG Halli) violence which took place on Tuesday night.
Irshad Begum is a Bruhath Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike(BBMP) corporator from the Nagwara ward. Speaking to Indianexpress.com, Sandeep Patil, the Joint Commissioner of Police (crime), said, "In the violence and rioting cases in the city so far we have arrested 206 accused including Kaleem Pasha and a detailed investigation and the process to identify the others are still underway."
As the number of fresh Covid-19 cases and fatalities linked to the pandemic surge in Bengaluru, the capital city alone reported 1893 new cases while the same was 5985 across Karnataka on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the number of active containment zones in the city comprising 198 wards rose to 13,448.
The health department also attributed 22 more deaths that took place over the last few days to Bengaluru's death toll on Sunday.
With this, 1338 deaths have been reported cumulatively from the city.
Karnataka Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar Thursday appealed to private hospital managements to ensure that no doctors and nurses are removed from services, in a bid to keep the pursuit in containing the coronavirus pandemic on.
'All precautionary measures should be taken by hospitals to protect doctors and nurses and it should be ensured that none of them are removed from service,' Sudhakar said.
During the meeting, Jawaid Akhtar, Additional Chief Secretary (H&FW) informed the attendees that the Standard Operating Procedure on the use of remdesivir was finalised and the drug would be supplied to all private hospitals facilitated by the Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST).
Unidentified miscreants allegedly covered a flag atop the canopy over a statue of Sri Adi Shankaracharya in the temple town of Sringeri in Chikkamagaluru district on Thursday.
The incident created a tense atmosphere in the town. Following the incident, devotees of Shankaracharya led by BJP leader and former MLA D N Jeevaraj staged a protest and demanded arrest of culprits. BJP leaders alleged it was the flag of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).
Udupi-Chikkamagaluru SP Shobha Karandlaje in a tweet blamed the SDPI for the incident. “Anti social elements are inciting people to propagate their sinister agendas. I condemn the incident of planting SDPI flags at Sringeri. Serious action will be taken against those who are behind this incident,” Shobha said.
Meanwhile, Chikkamagaluru police said the flag resembled the SDPI's flag but it was not the same flag. Chikkamagaluru SP Hakay Akshay Machindra said, “It is suspected that the miscreants threw the flag on the statue and investigation is underway. It is some blue, red and green flag, resembling the SDPI's flag but it was not the same flag.”
The total Covid-19 cases in Karnataka crossed the 2 lakh mark on Thursday as 6706 more cases were reported. Meanwhile, over 1.21 lakh people have recovered from the coronavirus as opposed to around 38,000 on July 27 when the state breached the 1 lakh-mark.
The nephew of a local Congress MLA, P Naveen, 32, whose purported derogatory social media post allegedly triggered violence in areas of east Bengaluru and an attack on DJ Halli police station on Tuesday night, was taken into custody for five days on Thursday.
Naveen, an aspiring politician and nephew of Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy, the Congress MLA from Pulikeshi Nagar, where the violence occurred, is being interrogated to ascertain the motive behind the derogatory post.
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