A health professional collects swab samples for Covid testing (File/Express Photo: Amit Mehra)Karnataka Bengaluru Coronavirus News December 3 Highlights: The imposition of night curfew between December 26 to January 1 and a ban on New Year celebrations were among suggestions put forth by a technical advisory committee advising the Karnataka government on how to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, warning the state of a second wave in January 2021.
It has suggested measures like the “An early recognition of the second wave of Covid-19 in the state can be done by closely monitoring 7-day average growth rate and reproduction number (R0) at district and state levels. The second wave of Covid-19 is expected during January-February, 2021,” the committee, comprising of health experts, stated in a November 30 report.
Meanwhile, 1440 more people contracted the infection across the state on Wednesday while another 983 recovered from the same. As many as 24,150 cases are active as on December 2, as noted by the Department of Health and Family Welfare Services.
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Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa Thursday distributed the Kanaka Shri, Kanaka Gaurav, and Kanaka Yuva Puraskar in a bid to recognise and honour individuals for promoting the values and literature of Kanakadasa, a legendary Kannada saint-poet.
Observing the 533rd birth anniversary of Kanakadasa, Yediyurappa recalled a Kanakadasa keerthana pointing out one must not fight in the name of caste and community and that only the true worth of a good person should matter.
Kanakadasa, believed to have lived in the Vijayanagara empire during the 16th century, is popular for his keerthanas with social messages, being cited and recited by many across occasions in the state.
A 25-year old hacker arrested in connection with stealing Rs 11 crore from the government’s e-procurement portal in August 2019 was on Wednesday remanded in Central Crime Branch custody for 13 days.
The accused, identified as Sri Krishna alias Sriki is known to hack online poker games to win money and bitcoins online and use it to purchase drugs from the darknet. According to CCB police, Srikrishna, a resident of Jayanagar is the prime accused in the case of stealing Rs 11 crore from e-procurement portal.
“During the investigation, we found that he has hacked many websites, apps, online games sites. A separate case has been registered in Cottonpet police station regarding hacking. Sri Krishna will be in police custody for another 13 days, ” said Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Sandeep Patil. Srikrishna graduated in computer science from a college in Amsterdam in the Netherlands in the year 2017 and has good knowledge about computers and the internet.
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A special NIA court in Bengaluru Thursday sentenced varying jail terms and imposed fines on three people found guilty of smuggling fake Indian currency notes (FICN).
An NIA official confirmed that the judgment was pronounced after FICN worth Rs 6,84,000 in the denomination of Rs 2000 was seized from a gang of four within Madanayakanahalli police station limits in the city.
Meanwhile, during the investigation, the involvement of four others was also discovered — namely Vijay (from Karnataka), Sabiruddin, Abdul Kadir, and Jahiruddin (all three from Malda, West Bengal).
According to NIA sleuths, the accused have been identified as Mohammed Sajjad Ali, MG Raju, Gangadhar Ramappa Kolkar, and Vanitha. Ali has been sentenced to 6 years simple imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10,000; Raju to 5 years simple imprisonment and Rs 5000 fine and Kadir was sentenced to 2 years simple imprisonment along with Rs 5000 fine, officials added.
Karnataka will have a law against "love jihad", and officials have been directed to gather information regarding an ordinance promulgated in Uttar Pradesh in this regard, state Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Thursday.
Uttar Pradesh had recently promulgated an ordinance against forcible or fraudulent religious conversions, which provides for imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 50,000 under different categories.
"Love jihad" is a coinage used by right wing activists to refer to the alleged campaign of Muslims forcing Hindu girls to convert in the guise of love."...when Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh governments started mulling over it (a law), we too started thinking about it- how to do it, how to ensure that there was pressure or force involved (in conversion)- it is the main thing," Bommai said.
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Vivekananda Nareddula, a first-year student in the two-year Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB), may have lost his hands in an accident some years back but that didn’t put an end to his dream of becoming an entrepreneur someday.
A bilateral amputee, hailing from Narasaraopet in Andhra Pradesh, Nareddula believes he can accomplish anything that he sets his mind to. He said after losing his limbs to the accident, he began researching every idea he had at the time to follow his passion of bike-riding and set up his own venture, among others.
“I began questioning my ideas rigorously until I could figure out a plan to achieve it. A continuous effort to understand the things that suit me took much time. I consider every piece of learning in this phase to be achievements in the way of fulfilling my desire to be independent. I never called myself a disabled person. I am a differently abled person,” Nareddula said.
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In the wake of Cyclone Burevi, the South Western Railway has announced partial cancellation of Tuticorin - Mysusru – Tuticorin Express. According to the officials, the train scheduled on Thursday is cancelled between Madhurai and Tuticorin.
Congress corporator Abdul Rakeeb Zakir, one of the accused in the case relating to the violence the broke out in the city on August 11 night, was arrested, police said on Thursday.
Absconding corporator Zakir was arrested last night in Devara Jeevanahalli violence case that left four people dead, the police said in a brief statement, without divulging further details.
The Pulakeshinagar ward corporator’s arrest comes a fortnight after that of former Congress mayor R Sampath Raj, who had escaped from a hospital, where he was undergoing treatment for coronavirus. Both were at large and were arrested later.
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In a bid to facilitate more travellers between Karnataka and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, a special train will begin operations from December 9 thrice a week.
According to the South Western Railway, the special train will be operated between Machilipatnam and Yesvantpur stations in both directions.
While Train No.07211 Machilipatnam – Yesvantpur Tri-weekly Special is scheduled to depart from Machilipatnam on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 3.30 pm, it is scheduled to reach Yesvantpur at 10.10 am the next day. In the return direction, Train No.07212 Yesvantpur – Machilipatnam Tri-weekly Special will leave Yesvantpur at 2.20 pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays to reach Machilipatnam the next day.
En route, the train will have stoppages at Gudiwada, Vijayawada, Guntur, Narasaraopet, Markapur Road, Giddalur, Nandyal, Dhone, Gooty, Anantpur, Dharmavaram, Sri Sathya Sai Prasanthi Nilayam, Penukonda, Hindupur and Yelahanka in both directions.
"This Special Train will operate as a fully reserved service," SWR officials added.
A Passing Out Parade was conducted at Air Force Station Jalahalli in Bengaluru on Thursday to mark the culmination of intense training programme of air warriors, which was designed to equip and make them ready for future warfare, said a Defence press release.
The parade was reviewed by Air Commodore AS Minhas, Air Officer Commanding, Air Force Station Hakimpet. The Reviewing Officer presented trophies to the trainees who were assessed above par during the course of their training.
“The Reviewing Officer congratulated all the passing out trainees having performed well in different fields. He emphasised that the country has reposed enormous trust in each one of them to guard the Air Frontier of the Nation and reiterated the need to utilise the training in pursuance of excellence in their respective fields and to achieve professional goals,” the release added.
The Bengaluru Central Crime Branch (CCB) police have arrested one person involved in Drug racket in the city on Thursday.
According to Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Patil, the person identified as Robin native of Kerala has been arrested.
“He was buying drugs through darknet and LSD drugs bought from the Netherlands seized from him,” Patil said.
A case has been booked and further investigation is on, Patil added.
The Facebook account of BJP leader BL Santosh was allegedly impersonated by miscreants who sought a transaction worth Rs 15,000 from one of Santosh’ acquaintances.
A case has been registered at Cyber Crime, Economic Offences and Narcotics (CEN) police station in Bengaluru. A complaint was filed by Vinod Krishnamurthy, convenor of BJP social media cell in Karnataka, on Monday where he stated that friend requests were sent to multiple people by Santosh’ impersonators on Facebook who also cheated one of Santosh’ Facebook friend, Ajith Shetty Kiradi, of Rs 15,000.
Bengaluru Central CEN police have registered a case under sections of Information Technology Act and started investigation. Earlier, several police officials including IPS officers and other government officials Facebook accounts were impersonated in Karnataka.
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The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) has announced the round 1 seat allotment result of common entrance test (KCET). The candidates who have appeared in the exam can check the result through the official website -- cetonline.karnataka.gov.in. The result will be accessible using the CET number.
The allotment details are available through candidate login. The students will have to accept and freeze their options for counselling till December 5. Finally selected candidates will have to pay a fee and reserve a seat at the undergraduate engineering college. Selected candidates can pay the counselling fee from December 4 to 6.
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Mangaluru city police on Thursday arrested one person in connection with graffiti hailing terror groups in the city.
The arrested has been identified as Nazir Mohammed, native of Thirthahalli in Shimoga district. The graffiti was found on Thursday, which is the 12th anniversary of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
A pro-Hindu organisation had protested against the graffiti demanding the arrest of miscreants.
Also Read | Karnataka: Graffiti in support of terror gorups spotted in Mangaluru, police probe underway
Former corporator Abdul Rakeed Zakir, who was on the run for nearly two months, was arrested by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) in connection with the Bengaluru violence case.
Confirming the arrest, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Patil said, "Zakir, the accused in DJ Halli case, has been arrested yesterday (Wednesday) night." The arrest comes a fortnight after former Congress mayor R Sampath Raj was arrested in the case.
Zakir, a former corporator of Pulkeshinagar ward, was named as an accused in an interim chargesheet filed on October 12. As per the chargesheet, he was part of the conspiracy that led to the torching of Pulikeshinagar MLA Akhanda Srinivasamurthy’s house in Kaval Byrasandra on August 11.
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The Karnataka State Covid-19 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) has suggested the postponement of class 10 and 12 board examinations by at least two months, owing to the ongoing pandemic situation in the state.
According to the TAC, the same will be among recommendations submitted to the Departments of Primary and Secondary Education and Pre-University Education. While a final call on the timetable of the exams were expected to be taken this week, education department officials have now held the same also citing the delay in resuming offline academic sessions.
While all SSLC exams were held on revised dates for the academic year 2019-2020, the English exam for II PU (equivalent to Class 12) students was also held later leading to a delay in completion of exams due to the pandemic-induced-lockdown.
The Centre has decided to revive Bharat Gold Mines Ltd. (BGML) and restart operations for extraction of gold ore at Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), which has been closed since 2001.
Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi said, "National Mineral Development Corporation, Donimalai, will immediately begin iron ore mining across 597.54 hectares at Donimalai area, with the State government issuing a notification permitting iron ore mining under interim system on Wednesday.”
“After the August meeting with Karnataka CM Yediyurappa, I had asked Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd. to explore availability of gold ore at KGF. The study report had suggested a possibility of KGF still having gold ore. Consequently the Centre has decided to restart BGML operations,” he added in the release.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa Wednesday laid the foundation stone for the first waste-to-energy power plant in the State being set up in Bidadi, Ramanagara district in a virtual event.
While speaking on the occasion, he said around 5000 MT waste is generated in Bengaluru and the new plant is part of the scientific disposal of solid waste planned for the same.
"This plant would generate 11.5 MW power using 600 MT processed waste, every day. This plant is being built at a cost of Rs 260 Crore, out of which, Rs 130 crore each is borne by Karnataka Power Corporation Limited and BBMP. The work will be completed in two years and this plant will use 25 per cent of mixed waste," he said.
Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa convened a meeting with Consuls from different leading nations stationed at Bengaluru and invited them to invest in Karnataka.
He appraised the consuls about the advantages of investing in the State and offered to assist them in their future investment plans in the State in all possible manners. The Chief Minister explained that the Govt. of Karnataka has taken several measures to enhance investor friendliness in the State. Several initiatives such as launching of new industrial policy, amendment to laws to make it easier to procure land and labour reforms have created an invester-friendly ecosystem.
The delegation of Consuls was led by Vikram Vishwanath. Special Representative of the Government in New Delhi, Shankaragouda Patil, Senior officers of the Government were present during the meeting.
An adult individual's right to marry a person of his or her choice is a fundamental right that cannot be denied on the basis of caste or religion by anybody, according to an observation made by a division bench of the Karnataka High Court last week.
A bench of Justices S Sujatha and Sachin Shankar Magadum made the observation in the course of disposal of a habeas corpus plea filed by a 25-year-old software engineer, Wajeed Khan, over the refusal of the parents of a work colleague to acknowledge their interfaith marriage.
The petition, with the Bengaluru Police as respondents, sought the production of his fiancee Ramya G, a software engineer, and “to set her at her liberty”.
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A technical advisory committee advising the Karnataka government on how to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic has warned that a second wave of the coronavirus may hit the state in January and has suggested measures like the imposition of night curfew between December 26 to January 1 and a ban on New Year celebrations to minimise the impact on the state.
“An early recognition of the second wave of Covid-19 in the state can be done by closely monitoring 7-day average growth rate and reproduction number (R0) at district and state levels. The second wave of Covid-19 is expected during January-February, 2021,” the committee, comprising of health experts, stated in a November 30 report.
It said that the inputs of an epidemic intelligence team should be utilised for early recognition of the second wave by the state government and a “minimum of 1.25 lakh tests per day” should be conducted till the end of February, with at least one lakh being RT-PCR tests.
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