Students wearing hijab seen protesting at MGM College in Udupi February 8, 2022. (Express photo by Jithendra M)Bangalore news highlights: Chief Justice of Karnataka Ritu Raj Awasthi constituted a three judge bench to hear the Hijab row from Thursday. The bench will comprise of the CJK, Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice Khazi Jaibunnisa Mohiuddin. The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday referred the hearing petitions challenging the hijab ban in certain colleges in the state to a larger bench. Meanwhile, Karnataka police has banned protests, agitations, demonstrations and gathering within the area of 200-meter radius from the gate of schools, PU colleges, degree colleges or other similar educational institutions in Bengaluru city for two weeks.
‘In view of the enormity of questions of importance which were debated, the court is of the considered opinion that the Chief Justice should decide if a larger bench can be constituted in the subject matter,’ Justice Dixit said. ‘The bench was also of the view that the interim prayers should also be placed before larger bench that may be constituted by Chief Justice Awasthi exercising his discretion,’ Justice Dixit noted in the order. The court, which heard petitions on the issue Tuesday, appealed to the students and people to maintain peace and tranquillity.
The state government Tuesday announced the closure of high schools and colleges for the next three days following tensions over the hijab row in different parts of the state. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Wednesday weighed in on the ongoing hijab row in Karnataka, saying that it is a woman’s right to decide what she wants to wear, be it a bikini, a ‘ghoonghat’, or a ‘hijab’.
Jammu and Kashmir's National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah said, "There is nothing wrong with it (wearing hijab). India is a free country and it is up to a girl to decide whether to wear it or not. It doesn't harm anybody at all."
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday condemned the row over Muslim girls' rights to wear the hijab in educational institutions and said attempts are being made to inject communal venom in the minds of children.
He was responding to a question on the hijab controversy in Karnataka and alleged social media campaign against Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan on the way he offered his last respects to legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar.
"Our educational institutions should become a fertile ground for secularism. Instead, efforts are on to inject communal venom in the minds of the children. It is very dangerous," the Chief Minister told reporters here.
Vijayan said the communal attack against Khan was a serious issue and urged people to take steps to protect secularism in the country. He said Khan paid respectful homage to late Mangeshkar and it was not done secretly. (PTI)
Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar on Wednesday said that the Constitution is our priority, 'it's our Bible, Bhagwad Gita and Quran'
'Due to problem created by some individuals, India is burning. We should look at values of education & culture. We are all 'One', whichever community we belong to,' Shivakumar added.
'Our Constitution has given us an opportunity to wear whatever we want. Lots of changes are going on in Karnataka. On behalf of Karnataka Congress, I'm requesting everyone to maintain peace. Children's future is important. I hope court will protect the Constitution,' the state Congress President added.
Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Puducherry on Wednesday appealed to the Chief Minister N Rangasamy to break his silence in taking action against those intervening in religious customs of minorities and protect religious harmony in the Union Territory.
Addressing reporters through virtual mode, Narayanasamy said a girl student of a school in neighbouring Ariyankuppam was asked by a teacher to remove her hijab (scarf) while attending classes. "This instruction of the teacher to the student is highly condemnable and clearly indicates teacher`s intervention in the religious beliefs and customs of the minority community," he said and appealed to the Chief Minister to intervene and ensure a harmonious environment by taking action against the teacher.
Narayanasamy said there were also reports of drills and yoga practices reminiscent of what the RSS was practicising being sought to be introduced in a school in Mannadipet constituency from where Home and Education Minister A Namassivayam (Bharatiya Janata Party) was elected to the territorial Assembly in 2021. (PTI)
Congress party on Wednesday released an open letter, issued by AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala addressing the students of Karnataka.
Commenting on the Hijab row going on in the state, 'Let's reject this agenda of hate and continue being friends, holding hands and walking together for a better future. In this land of Holy Shankaracharya, Ramanuja & Basavanna, the Hindu-Muslim-Christian-Buddhist-Parsis have coexisted for thousands of yers. Infact, we have come to respect each other's culture and practices with pride.'
Amid the ongoing row over wearing hijab by some students in Karnataka, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij on Wednesday said there is no objection to the headscarf, but the prevailing dress code in schools and colleges must be followed.
"If anyone wants to wear a hijab, we have no objection to it, but if they want to go to school and college (wearing hijab) then they will have to follow the dress code prevalent in those institutions," Vij, a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, said. “And if one does not follow that (the dress code) then they can stay back home, no problem," he added. (PTI)
Karnataka on Wednesday reported 5,339 fresh Covid-19 cases, 16,749 recoveries, and 48 deaths. Active cases currently stands at 60,956.
Chief Justice of Karnataka Ritu Raj Awasthi constitutes a three judge bench to hear the Hijab row from Thursday. The bench will comprise of the CJK, Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice Khazi Jaibunnisa Mohiuddin. (ENS)
Amid the ongoing Hijab row in Karnataka, the State Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai met Wednesday and took stock of the developments and decided not to take any decision as the matter is sub-judice in the Karnataka High Court.
After the cabinet meeting, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said, “We have not taken any decision since the matter is in Karnataka High Court. The Karnataka government will take a decision based on the verdict of the Karnataka High Court on the Hijab row.” (Read more)
Amid the 'hijab' controversy in neighbouring Karnataka, hundreds of women on Wednesday held a demonstration in Mumbra township of Maharashtra's Thane district in support of the Islamic headscarf for female Muslim students.
The protesters, who also included Hindu women, said 'hijab' was their 'ornament'.
Protests for and against the 'hijab' intensified in different parts of Karnataka and turned violent in some places, after the government there issued an order last week making uniforms prescribed by it or management of private institutions mandatory for its students at schools and pre-university colleges across the state.
Muslim as well as Hindu women in Mumbra, a Muslim-dominated township in Thane, held the protest at Retibunder area, carrying placards and banners in favour of hijab and condemning the BJP government in Karnataka for its decision. The protesters shouted slogans of 'Allah-hu-Akbar' and 'Jai shri Ram'. The protest was led by social activist Ruta Awhad. (PTI)
The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Wednesday claimed that the ongoing row over wearing of hijab in educational institutions in Karnataka is a conspiracy of Congress-led "tool kit gang" to push "separatist agenda" and create an atmosphere of "anarchy" across the country.
Slamming the Congress on the issue, the saffron group's joint general secretary Surendra Jain alleged that Popular Front of India (PFI) is also involved in the conspiracy and appealed to the Karnataka government to expose the culprits and ensure they get "strictest punishment".
"The row over hijab, which started from Udupi, Karnataka, has now taken a massive form in the country. It's no more just a controversy. It has become 'hijab jihad'. Fanatic elements going ahead with this separatist agenda. Tool-kit gang under the leadership of Congress has become active across the world to create an atmosphere of anarchy in the country under a conspiracy," Jain charged in a video message. (PTI)
Senior BJP leader and Karnataka Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj K S Eshwarappa on Wednesday claimed 'Bhagwa dhwaj' (saffron flag), may become the national flag some time in the future. He, however, said the tricolour is the national flag now, and it should be respected by everyone.
'Hundreds of years ago the chariots of Sri Ramachandra and Maruthi had saffron flags on them. Was the tricolour flag there in our country then? Now it (tricolour) is fixed as our national flag, what respect it has to be given, should be given by every person who takes food in this country, there is no question about it,' Eshwarappa said.
Responding to a question by reporters, whether the saffron flag can be hoisted on the red fort, he said, 'not today, some day in the future.' 'Discussions are today taking place in the country on 'Hindu vichara' and 'Hindutva'. People used to laugh at one point when we said Ram Mandir will be constructed in Ayodhya, aren't we constructing it now? In the same way some time in the future, after 100 or 200 or 500 years Bhagwa dhwaj may become the national flag. I don't know.' Further stating that now tricolour has been constitutionally accepted as the national flag, the Minister said, it should be respected, and those who don't respect it will be a traitor. (PTI)
The hijab issue which first surfaced at a pre-university in Udupi could have been resolved locally and the Sangh Parivar outfits are responsible for spreading it to other districts, Campus Front of India (CFI) Karnataka state president Atauallah Punjalkatte alleged on Wednesday.
Addressing reporters at Udupi, he claimed that the Udupi MLA Raghupati Bhat had also encouraged the Sangh outfits even when the High Court was hearing the issue.
He said the government had not taken any action against those who hoisted saffron flag on the flag post meant for hoisting the national flag in Shivamogga. There was also no action against attempts to carry out attack Muslim students. Punjalkatte said the CFI will stand by the students to protect their constitutional rights and fight the case legally. (PTI)
Pakistan's senior ministers waded into the ongoing hijab row in Karnataka, with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday saying that depriving Muslim girls of education is a grave violation of fundamental human rights.
The hijab controversy first erupted in January at a government PU College in Udupi, where six students who attended classes wearing headscarf in violation of the stipulated dress code were asked to leave the campus, has spread to different parts of the state with Hindu students too responding by turning up in saffron shawls. Such saffron-clad students are also being barred from entering classes.
"Depriving Muslim girls of an education is a grave violation of fundamental human rights. To deny anyone this fundamental right & terrorise them for wearing a hijab is absolutely oppressive. World must realise this is part of Indian state plan of ghettoisation of Muslims," Qureshi tweeted.
Information and broadcasting Minister Fawad Hussain said what is going on in India is terrifying. "Indian Society is declining with super speed under unstable leadership. Wearing Hijab is a personal choice just as any other dress citizens must be given free choice," he tweeted. (PTI)
Nearly 500 students of Kolkata's Aliah University on Wednesday took out a rally in Park Circus area, with many women wearing hijab, amid a row over sporting the headscarf in Karnataka. The participants, carrying the national flag, travelled around Entally and Park Circus before returning to their campus.
"As citizens of India, we have the right to decide what we wear and the right to follow our own religious practises,” read placards in Bengali, English and Hindi held by the students, referring to the controversial developments in the southern state over wearing hijab.
“Down with right-wing forces that want us to go back to the medieval ages," texts on some other posters read.
Incidents of stone-pelting and use of force by police were reported in Karnataka on Tuesday, as the hijab ban row escalated and protests by students spread to more colleges, prompting the state government to declare a three-day holiday for all educational institutions.
The hijab controversy first erupted in January at a government PU College in Udupi, where six students who attended classes wearing the headscarf in violation of the stipulated dress code were asked to leave the campus. The row has spread to different parts of the state with Hindu students responding by turning up in saffron shawls. (PTI)
Amid the hijab row in Karnataka, Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Wednesday said some people are giving 'communal colour' to a decision on dress code and discipline of institutions as part of their 'conspiracy to defame India's inclusive culture'.
With Pakistani ministers Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Chaudhary Fawad Hussain wading into the hijab row, criticising India over the issue, Naqvi also shot back saying Pakistan, which is a 'jungle of crime and cruelty' for minorities, is preaching India on tolerance and secularism.
The reality is that the socio-educational-religious rights of minorities are being trampled brazenly in Pakistan, Naqvi told reporters here.Equal rights, dignity and prosperity of the minorities, including Muslims, is a part of India's commitment to tolerance, harmony and inclusivity, he asserted.
He pointed out that out of every 10 Muslims living in the world, one lives in India, there are more than three lakh active mosques in India and there is an equal number of other places of worship of the Muslim community.
Amid the ongoing Hijab row, Karnataka BJP MLA M P Renukacharya on Wednesday claimed that rape cases are increasing as some dresses worn by women 'excite' men, as he tried to make his case for girl students in colleges to either wear uniform or dress that fully cover their body.
Later realising that his remarks would stir controversy, the political secretary to the Chief Minister said that he would apologise to women, if his statement has hurt them. The Honnali MLA was reacting to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's tweet regarding the hijab row.
"Whether it is a bikini, a ghoonghat, a pair of jeans or a hijab, it is a woman's right to decide what she wants to wear. This right is GUARANTEED by the Indian constitution. Stop harassing women," she had tweeted.
"Priyanka Gandhi is a woman, a Congress leader.....we are not questioning the fundamental rights of women (on the hijab issue).
Kerala and Bombay High Courts have said that uniform is mandatory at schools and colleges, the government has also said the same. Using bikini word for girl student's (dress) is ignoble," Renukacharya said.
Women staged a demonstration at the Ujale Shah Eidgah, Saidabad in Hyderabad to extend their support to the girls protesting to wear hijab in Karnataka.
Justice Krishna S Dixit who was hearing since Tuesday a batch of petitions against Hijab ban in classrooms, maintained that these matters give rise to certain constitutional questions of seminal importance in view of certain aspects of personal law.
'In view of the enormity of questions of importance which were debated, the court is of the considered opinion that the Chief Justice should decide if a larger bench can be constituted in the subject matter,' Justice Dixit said.
'The bench was also of the view that the interim prayers should also be placed before larger bench that may be constituted by Chief Justice Awasthi exercising his discretion,' Justice Dixit noted in the order. The Hijab row had spread to more colleges in Karnataka on Tuesday and taken violent turn in many campuses in different parts of the State, with spiralling protests for and against wearing of the headscarf by Muslim women students.
The petitions were filed by some Muslim girls studying in Government Pre-University colleges in Udupi district against a ban on their entry into classrooms with their hijabs on. (PTI)
On Karnataka hijab row, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Hema Malini said, "Schools are for education and religious matters should not be taken there. Every school has a uniform that should be respected. You can wear whatever you want outside the school."
AIMIM activists put up banners in Maharashtra's Beed city in support of 'hijab' for female Muslim students, and said the Indian Constitution gives the right to citizens to follow their religious culture.
The banners, conveying the message 'pehle hijab fir kitaab' (hijab first, book later), were displayed on Monday in Bashirganj and Karanja areas of Beed and were removed on Tuesday.
Beed city police station's inspector Ravi Sanap told PTI on Wednesday: "The situation in Beed is peaceful. We told them (the activists) that they had put up the banners without permission.
They understood and removed the banners." Protests for and against the 'hijab' had intensified in parts of neighbouring Karnataka and turned violent in some places on Tuesday, after the state government last week issued an order making uniforms prescribed by it or management of private institutions mandatory for its students in schools and pre-university colleges. (PTI)
The Karnataka cabinet on Wednesday decided to wait for the High Court's verdict on the 'hijab' row, before taking any further decision on the matter, which has snowballed into a major controversy.
However, the single bench hearing of the case has referred it to the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court. The Karnataka High Court resumed hearing on the petitions filed by five girls studying in a Government Pre-university College in Udupi, questioning hijab restriction in the college.
"We (at the cabinet) discussed the Hijab row, but as the High Court is hearing the matter, we felt it is not appropriate for the cabinet to take any further decisions on the issue today. It was decided to wait for the court's verdict before taking any decision," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said.Briefing the reporters about the cabinet decisions, he said as the matter is sub-judice, discussing it will not be appropriate, as material and merit of the case will get involved.
As protests for and against the hijab intensified in different parts of Karnataka and turned violent in some places, the government had declared a holiday to all high schools and colleges in the state for three days. (PTI)
Single bench hearing of the Hijab case after being referred to the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court ended. Justice Krishna Dixit said that these matters give rise to certain constitutional questions of seminal importance in view of certain aspects of personal law.
The single Bench of Justice Krishna Dixit while hearing the matter refered the case to a larger bench. The Justice observed in the order that the question of interim relief will also be considered by the referred bench.
Demonstrations, gatherings, agitations or protest of any type within the area of 200-meter radius from the gate of schools, PU colleges, degree colleges or other similar educational institutions in Bengaluru city, prohibited for two weeks with immediate effect, the Police Department of Karnataka said.
Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Wednesday said that if there is a prescribed uniform in schools or colleges, it should be followed.
"Only education should be the focus at centers of education. Religious or political issues should not be brought to schools/colleges:on Karnataka hijab row," he added.
The BJP government in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday said that no proposal to ban 'hijab' in educational institutions in the state is under its consideration even as state school education minister Inder Singh Parmar, who had backed 'hijab' ban and proposed a dress code in schools, said that his statement was "wrongly interpreted".
“There is no controversy over (the wearing of) 'hijab' in Madhya Pradesh. No proposal is under consideration of the state government regarding hijab ban. So, there should be no confusion in this regard,” Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra, who is also spokesperson of the state government, told reporters.
When asked about the protests for and against the wearing of 'hijab' or headscarves in Karnataka, Mishra said this matter is related to Karnataka which is pending before the High Court there. (PTI)
The Karnataka High Court has begun hearing petitions on the hijab row.
Justice Krishan Dixit, who is hearing the petitions said that he feels this matter requires consideration of a larger bench, according to an update from the legal website Live Law. However, advocate Kaleeshwaram Raj pointed out that the Madras and Kerala HC judgments on previous hijab-related issues were decided by single judge benches.
Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister said that the incident in Mandya where a burqa-clad college girl, when heckled by a group of men in saffron shawls, responded with 'Allah-hu-Akbar', cannot be encouraged.
In a late-night operation on Monday, the Mysuru district administration in Karnataka demolished the over 140-year-old New Type Model (NTM) School to make space for the construction of the Swami Vivekananda Memorial Centre. The Kannada-medium government school was built exclusively for girls by the Mysuru royal family in the 1880s.The demolition comes amid opposition by Kannada activists, farmer leaders and Dalit activists even as representatives and supporters of the Ramakrishna Ashrama have been fighting to set up the memorial on the premises. Around 250 police personnel were deployed and four earth movers brought in to demolish the school.
In southern Karnataka, where the hijab issue has rapidly widened communal faultlines, prohibitory orders were imposed in Shivamogga town Tuesday while the police opened fire in the air in Davangere after a large number of students and pro-Hindutva activists gathered before a college.
In CM Basavaraj Bommai’s home district of Haveri, four youths wearing saffron shawls were arrested for allegedly assaulting police personnel. The incident occurred while the youths were being taken into custody after one of them “tried to breach the peace” at the Hirekerur first grade college.
According to official sources, stone-pelting by protesters and lathicharge by police were also reported Tuesday from Bagalkot and Vijayapura in northern Karnataka. (Read more)
The government will not spare anyone who takes law and order into their hands, Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister BC Nagesh said Wednesday.
His comments echo that of Home Minister Araga Jnanendra who said earlier in the day that a few people have been arrested in connection with the hijab row unrest.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Wednesday said that depriving Muslim girls of education is "a grave violation of fundamental human rights".
While he stopped short of naming the Karnataka hijab row, Qureshi said in a tweet that the "world must realise this is part of Indian state plan of ghettoisation of Muslims."
National Students Union of India (NSUI) members Wednesday hoisted the India national flag at Shivamogga Government College where an intense face-off was seen Tuesday between pro-hijab and anti-hijab students.
Leaders of Congress and the BJP had exchanged heated words Tuesday, with the D K Shivakumar alleging that the national flag at the campus was "replaced" with a saffron flag. However, BJP leaders said that there was no evidence of this.
"The situation in some Karnataka educational institutions has gone so out of hand that in one case the National flag was replaced by a saffron flag. I think the affected institutions should be closed for a week to restore law and order. Teaching can continue online," Shivakumar wrote on Twitter.
Home Minister Araga Jnanedra criticised Shivakumar's statement. "There was no national flag on the pole and he needs to get the correct information before making such statements," the Minister said.
The local authorities said that the flag pole is inside the Government First Grade College in Shivamogga. The national flag is hoisted at the campus on Republic Day and Independence Day, and the Karnataka state flag is hoisted on Kannada Rajyotsava. On other days, no flags are hoisted.
Calm prevailed on Wednesday in the educational institutions which witnessed tense moments over the Hijab row earlier, as the Karnataka government had ordered closure of all high schools and colleges in the state for three days.
Most of them returned to the online mode of teaching, sources said. Primary schools functioned as usual across the state without any interruption.
Vikas M, studying in a pre-university college in Bengaluru said the second and third wave of Covid-19 had badly affected their studies due to which they could not complete their courses, especially the practical classes. "Now, this issue has further hampered our studies. Online classes are no match to the physical classes but we have to cope with it," Vikas told PTI. (PTI)
Congress spokesperson M Lakshman Wednesday hinted at coordinated efforts to create unrest in colleges, saying saffron shawls were ordered from Bengaluru.
Speaking at Mysuru, he alleged that around one lakh saffron shawls were transported from Peenya Industrial Area in Bengaluru. He added that he will soon reveal the names of those who ordered them.
As the controversy over the hijab escalated in Karnataka Tuesday, it found an echo in Madhya Pradesh where the government said it was working on a uniform dress code, but at least two states, where the BJP is ruling in alliance, struck notes of concern.
On Tuesday, even as Madhya Pradesh School Education Minister Inder Singh Parmar called for a hijab ban, his counterpart in Bihar, Education Minister and senior JD(U) leader Vijay Kumar Choudhary told The Indian Express: “We have no such problem (Karnataka-like) in Bihar.”
Asked about the government’s response if there were demands as in Karnataka, he said: “Please pray that no such situation arises”. (Read more)
CPI(M) MP Elamaram Kareem wrote to Education Minister Dharmendra Padhan Wednesday, requesting urgent intervention into the incidents in Karnataka that prevented hijab-wearing Muslim students from attending classes for the past few days.
"Till now the Muslim girls were wearing the headscarves without any objection," he wrote. "The students have been wearing hijab along with the uniform since so many years. In some educational institutions, the colour of the headscarf is also prescribed for the students to follow uniformity in the dress code. In other words, for decades there was no controversy," he said.
Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashoka said Wednesday that the dress code is compulsory in schools. "Government is not in favour of either hijab or kesari (saffron). Students can wear whatever they want on streets, but dress code is compulsory in schools," he said.
Schools and colleges in many parts of Karnataka remained shut Wednesday, the first of the three days holidays declared by the state government following tensions over hijab row.
Urging Indian leaders to “stop the marginalisation” of Muslim women, Nobel laureate and women’s rights activist Malala Yousafzai Tuesday expressed concern about the recent incidents of female students not being permitted to attend classes while wearing hijab in Karnataka.
Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said that people have been arrested in connection with the hijab row. "We have arrested a few people, they are outsiders, not students, after inquiry, we will let you know," he said Wednesday, according to news agency ANI.
"The government is expecting court orders by the end of the day. We can't advise the court. We have to accept it when the court orders," he added.
The hijab issue in Karnataka is a deliberate attempt by political parties to polarise votes and instigate fights between Hindus and Muslims, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said.
Whether it is a bikini, a 'ghoonghat', a pair of jeans or a 'hijab', it is a woman's right to decide what she wants to wear, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Wednesday amid the ongoing hijab row in Karnataka. She asserted that this right is guaranteed by the Constitution.
The row has also taken a political colour as the ruling BJP stood strongly in support of uniform-related rules being enforced by educational institutions, calling the headscarf, a religious symbol, while the opposition Congress has come out in support of Muslim girls. (PTI)
The Karnataka High Court will continue to hear petitions on the hijab row that has paralysed educational institutions in many parts of the state. The hearing is expected to commence at 2.30 pm Wednesday, according to legal news website Live Law.
The court, in the hearing that spanned over three hours, saw senior advocate Devadutt Kamath appear on behalf of the petitioners to argue the state’s lack of power to restrict the wearing of a hijab.
“I am a Brahmin. My son goes to a school wearing a namam… Would that also not be permissible?” Kamath asked. The petitioners made four key arguments challenging the college’s ban on hijab and the Karnataka government order validating that decision. (Read more)
Bengaluru city is likely to see a maximum temperature of 29.5 degree Celsius and a minimum temperature of 16.8 degree Celsius, according to an 8.30 am update from the Meteorological Centre in Bengaluru. The humidity is set to be 74%. No rainfall has been predicted.
Here's the local forecast:
For 24 hrs: Mainly clear sky. Fog/mist very likely during early morning hours in some areas. Maximum and minimum temperatures very likely to be around 30 and 16 degrees Celsius respectively.
For 48 hrs: Mainly clear sky. Fog/mist very likely during early morning hours in some areas. Maximum and minimum temperatures very likely to be around 30 and 17 degrees Celsius respectively
The number of new Covid-19 cases recorded in the past 24 hours fell below 5,000 Wednesday. Here are the key figures, according to the state Health Ministry.
?? Number of new cases in Karnataka: 4,452
?? Number of new cases in Bengaluru: 2,139
?? Number of deaths in the state: 51
?? State positivity rate: 5.01%
?? Number of active cases in the state: 72,414
The Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA) has written to Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai requesting him to release the reserved beds in private health centres that have been set aside for Covid-19 patients referred by government authorities.
The PHANA stated that the beds reserved for Covid-19 patients on the direction of the government have mostly remained unoccupied and it was becoming difficult for the hospitals to admit non-Covid patients. Read More
Four youngsters wearing saffron shawls were arrested in Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s home district of Haveri for allegedly manhandling police officials when the personnel arrived to take them into custody. The incident took place in Hirekerur First Grade College.
A police officer said that among the four, one studied in the same college and tried to breach the peaceful environment in the campus by entering the premises wearing saffron shawls.
“Though our officials tried to bring the situation under control, they manhandled and misbehaved with the police. We have registered a case under Sections 143, 353, 504 and 506 of IPC,” added the officer.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai Tuesday said that the Karnataka government has decided to oppose Tamil Nadu's Hogenakkal hydro electric project and Cauvery, Gundar and Vaigai river linking project by filing objections in the court.
Speaking to the media in New Delhi, after chairing a meeting with senior counsels who represent the state in the legal battle, State Advocate General and senior officers on 'Inter-State Water Disputes', Bommai said: 'Karnataka has always been united when it comes to protecting state's interests related to its land and water. As for the Mekedatu project, it is coming up before the NGT and there is also another case coming up for hearing together. We will present our stand clearly by filing our objections.'
Replying to a question on notifying the award of Krishna Tribunal-2, Bommai said, the judge had recused before the last hearing. 'This time we have submitted a petition to Registrar General for appointing a new Judge before the next hearing. The Chief Justice would decide on that. If not we have decided to make a submission in the court regarding this,' Bommai said.
The police on Tuesday arrested six persons while they were trying to sell 3.48 kg of ambergris (sperm whale vomit) worth Rs 3.48 crore from Bantwal in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka.
The arrested have been identified as Prashanth (24) from Kundapur, Sathyaraj (32) of Bengaluru, Rohit (27) of Thenkapadav, Rajesh (37) of Addur, Virupaksha (37) of Thenkayedapadav and Nagaraj (31), a resident of Kaup.
Police sources said they were found selling the ambergris, a high-valued banned substance under the forest and environmental laws, near the Navodaya school at Balepuni in Bantwal taluk. One Kg of ambergris costs Rs 1 crore in the international market and smugglers target whales for the substance. (PTI)
A special House committee of the Karnataka legislative council, which was formed to look into discrepancies in the functioning of the elite clubs and alleged dress code rules, has been carrying out inspections from January this year.
Speaking to The Indian Express, committee chairperson and BJP MLC Ravikumar N said that the committee is planning to recommend to the government to issue directives stating that elite clubs should stop following any kind of dress code. “Following unnecessary dress codes, including asking people to wear formals and banning Indian wear and sandals, is condemnable. This practice should be stopped,” Ravikumar said.
He added that the members of the committee have visited various clubs in Bengaluru from January this year. They will be visiting other clubs, including elite clubs in Mangaluru, Kalaburagi and Belagavi districts, soon, he added. Read more
Witnessing a further dip in the number of new infections, Karnataka on Tuesday recorded 4,452 Covid-19 cases. The also registered 51 deaths with a positivity rate of 5.01 per cent.
Capital Bengaluru logged 2,139 fresh infections and saw 17 new fatalities, with a positivity rate of 4.22 per cent.
The total number of active cases in the state stood at 72,414 cases, after 19,067 persons were discharged.
State Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Tuesday said 90 per cent of Karnataka’s population is now fully vaccinated against Covid-19 with both vaccine doses.
"90% of Karnataka is now fully vaccinated with both doses! Two districts -- Bengaluru Rural and Vijayapura -- have achieved 100 per cent second dose coverage. Congrats to all the health workers and district administrations involved in this," the minister tweeted.
The data shared by him showed that Gadag and Kodagu have achieved 98 per cent and Mysuru, Chikkaballapura, Kolar, Mandya and Hassan achieved 94 per cent double dose vaccination. (PTI)
An order issued by the Karnataka government's Department for Pre-University Education on February 5 has not made uniforms compulsory in pre-university colleges, but has attempted to argue that banning headscarves or hijabs for students attending classes is not a violation of the right to practise their religion.
The government order seems directed at justifying a recent ban on Muslim girl students for attending class wearing headscarves or Hijabs in a few government pre-university colleges in the state. Read more
Karnataka is being dealt fatal blows, as new wounds are being inflicted on a population already laid low not just by devastating medical and economic crises, but by the impatient haste with which the Hindu Rashtra is being birthed.
The heightened war cries about the prohibition of hijab in the sarkari classroom, which has set the state aflame, are further signs of the new directions in which the state leaders are carrying out, with the zeal of new converts, the mandate of their masters in Delhi/Nagpur.
The chief minister himself has aided and emboldened the actions of groups who initiate actions which the political and judicial establishment are expected to endorse. He has, on at least two recent occasions, justified the actions of those (usually young men) who are “reacting” to “provocations”. Read more
After six students were banned from entering a college in Karnataka’s Udupi district for wearing a hijab last month, the row over whether educational institutions can impose a strict dress code that could interfere with rights of students has spilled to other colleges in the state. The issue throws up legal questions on reading the freedom of religion and whether the right to wear a hijab is constitutionally protected.
Article 25(1) of the Constitution guarantees the “freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion”. It is a right that guarantees a negative liberty — which means that the state shall ensure that there is no interference or obstacle to exercise this freedom. However, like all fundamental rights, the state can restrict the right for grounds of public order, decency, morality, health and other state interests.
Over the years, the Supreme Court has evolved a practical test of sorts to determine what religious practices can be constitutionally protected and what can be ignored. In 1954, the Supreme Court held in the Shirur Mutt case that the term “religion” will cover all rituals and practices “integral” to a religion. The test to determine what is integral is termed the “essential religious practices” test. (Read more)
In a first-of-its-kind move in Karnataka, the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve (NTR) has decided to induct college students as interns. A few selected students will join the Nagarahole Tiger Conservation Foundation (NTCF) programme to get hands-on experience on the functioning of the forest department, the authorities said. The NTCF is a registered society of the NTR.
‘An internship is an opportunity for a candidate to secure practical work experience… Indian students from recognized universities in India securing at least 60 per cent marks in their last degree or certificate examination or those who are pursuing their degrees are eligible for the internship,’ the NTCF stated in a circular.
The minimum duration of the internship is two months, and it can be extended up to five months depending on the performance of the candidate and requirement of the NTCF, the Foundation said. Read more
The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday appealed to students and people to maintain peace and tranquility as the Hijab row escalated in parts of the State. After hearing the petitions filed by some students studying in a Government Pre-University College for Girls in the coastal town of Udupi, the court posted the matter for Wednesday.
'This Court requests the students and the public to maintain peace and tranquility. This Court has full faith in the wisdom and virtue of public at large and hopes that the same would be put to practice,' the single bench of Justice Krishna S Dixit said.
Asking people to have faith in the Indian constitution, Justice Dixit observed that only some mischievous people were keeping the issue burning. Justice Dixit also pointed out that agitations, sloganeering and students attacking each other were not good. (PTI)
The Karnataka High Court has requested the students community and public to maintain peace and tranquility as the issue is sub judice in the court of law.
Justice Krishna Dixit made the request after being informed by state advocate general Prabhuling Navadgi that the issue was creating disturbance in public order while the court was seized of the matter.
The HC has expressed hope that it would be able to finish the hearing soon. "The court has full faith in the wisdom and virtue of the public at large," the judge said. The case has been adjourned for further hearing on Wednesday.