Meanwhile, a Karnataka BJP minister has submitted a formal complaint against Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to Governor Vajubhai Vala, accusing him of “serious lapses” and of running the administration in an “authoritarian way”.
READ | Karnataka minister complains to Guv against CM Yediyurappa: ‘Serious lapses, authoritarian’
At the same time, the Karnataka High Court Wednesday permitted investigation against Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa in a criminal case registered against him for allegedly trying to poach an MLA from Janata Dal (Secular) with the offer of money and a ministerial berth, in 2019.
READ | Audio clip case: Karnataka HC allows probe against CM Yediyurappa for ‘trying to poach MLA’
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A day after choosing not to operate taxi services in Bengaluru, cab drivers in the city Thursday decided to call off the strike. The decision, according to a member of the Karnataka Ola, Uber Drivers, and Owners Association, came after discussions held with government officials.
"Our demand for a common tarrif is being looked into by government officials. They have asked us for time till Monday to study the financial and legal aspect of a unified fare structure," the member said.
Most cab drivers had decided to stay off roads from Wednesday morning after a driver (registered with KSTDC) succumbed to burns after setting himself ablaze at Bengaluru International Airport on Tuesday evening, allegedly pained by financial constraints. This had impacted airport passengers the most.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, BJP's Tamil Nadu in-charge C T Ravi and state ministers on Thursday joined millions others in greeting Tamil superstar Rajinikanth on being chosen for the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award for the year 2020.
The actor's Karnataka connection is well known. Born to a Marathi family in Bengaluru, Rajinikanth's original name is Shivaji Rao Gaekwad. He did his schooling in Bengaluru and spent much of his prime in the Garden City. He had served as a bus conductor in the Bangalore Transport Services (BTS), the previous avatar of Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) before trying his luck in tinsel town where he outshone many of his contemporaries.
Celebrations broke out in parts of Bengaluru with a substantial Tamil population as the news came about the Phalke award to Rajinikanth.
"Heartfelt congratulations to the globally acclaimed film actor, fondly addressed as Thalaiva by his followers and superstar Rajinikanth, on being honored with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award. On behalf of all the Kannadigas, I wish him all the best," the Chief Minister tweeted.
Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan and Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar too greeted the actor. (PTI)
A day after Karnataka BJP minister K S Eshwarappa submitted a formal complaint against Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to Governor Vajubhai Vala for "interfering" in his department, a group of ministers termed the former's actions as "inappropriate."
"If he (Eshwarappa) had any objection, those had to be discussed with the CM first. Instead of meeting the governor, who, merely works on the advice of the Council of Ministers, he should have tried to resolve tha matter internally. Taking it to the Governor is not appropriate,” Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said.
Meanwhile, according to BJP sources, as many as 50 BJP legislators have signed a resolution demanding Eshwarappa's resignation, in a show of support to CM Yediyurappa.
A day after hundreds of drivers protested differences in tariff maintained for cab services in the state, Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) managing director Vijay Sharma clarified that taxi rates were fixed based on instructions by the state government.
"We are charging Rs 24 per kilometre as per government orders. Private online cab aggregators (like Ola and Uber) charge lesser than this which is part of their business model," he said.
Most cab drivers decided to stay off roads on Wednesday after a driver (registered with KSTDC) succumbed to burns after setting himself ablaze at Bengaluru International Airport on Tuesday evening, allegedly pained by financial constraints.
Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) announced that it handed over Cold Chain Equipment comprising 97 Deep Freezers and one Walk-in-Freezer to the Department of Health & Family Welfare.
According to officials, the equipment, procured by BEL at a cost of around Rs 1 crore, will be used to store vaccines at Government district hospitals, community health centres and primary health centres in the state.
A day after senior Karnataka BJP minister K S Eshwarappa accused Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa of “serious lapses” in a letter to Governor Vajubhai Vala, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah on Thursday demanded President’s rule in the state.
“The allegations made by senior minister Eshwarappa are of serious nature. The Governor should intervene, dismiss the government and recommend for President’s rule (in Karnataka),” the senior Congress leader said in a statement.
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As the state geared up to vaccinate everyone above 45 years of age from Thursday, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar appealed to the eligible people to make use of this protective cover against coronavirus.
Cautioning people not to underestimate the danger posed by Covid, Yediyurappa tweeted, "Our protective cover is the vaccine against corona. Everyone over the age of 45 can get the vaccine today. Go to your nearest vaccination centre and get the vaccine. Together we can defeat coronavirus."
Health Minister Sudhakar too tweeted, "As we begin vaccinating all citizens aged above 45 years from today, 5,500 vaccination sites will be operational across the state including 650 private and 4,850 government facilities."
According to him, 1.5 lakh doses of vaccine is supplied to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, the civic body, which is distributed to about 600 sites across the state capital. (PTI)
Bengaluru’s municipal body will have new heads beginning Thursday.
Senior IAS officer Rakesh Singh took over charge the new BBMP Administrator from his predecessor Gaurav Gupta.
Meanwhile, Gupta took over as BBMP Commissioner, a position transferred to him from N Manjunatha Prasad.
A Karnataka BJP minister has submitted a formal complaint against Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to Governor Vajubhai Vala, accusing him of “serious lapses” and of running the administration in an “authoritarian way”.
In a letter running into five pages, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (RDPR) Minister K S Eshwarappa also accused the CM of making allocations worth Rs 774 crore from the RDPR department bypassing him.
This, Eshwarappa said, was a violation of the Karnataka (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1977, and also against the “established practices and procedures relating to the affairs of the state”. He added that the release of those funds was stayed by him “on the advice of State Party President and other senior leaders of the party.” This was then challenged by pressure exerted on the RDPR principal secretary from the Chief Minister’s Office, Eshwarappa alleged.
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With the next phase of vaccination for everyone over the age of 45 years rolled out from today, the Karnataka government has said that all preparations to ensure smooth implementation of vaccination for the target age group. In a release, the government said that the target population for the drive is estimated to be 1.66 crore.
In addition to existing COVID-19 vaccination centres, the state has planned to intensify this vaccination drive by extending vaccination services at Health and Wellness Centres (HWC) and subcentres. Around 5500 vaccination centres will be conducting COVID-19 vaccination. This will help people to access vaccination at their nearby locations. COVID-19 vaccination will continue at all PHCs, UPHCs, CHCs, Taluka Hospitals, District hospitals, Medical colleges and private hospitals as already being done.
Apart from these, districts have flexibility to schedule vaccination in HWCs and sub-centres and the vaccination will be conducted under the supervision of medical officer as per micro-plan on prior intimated dates. The state has provided broad guidelines to districts to strategize vaccination through support from all the line departments and NGOs.
The release said that the state has a stock 13.5 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine and 1.5 lakh doses of Covaxin vaccine and has been supplied to all the cold chain points across the districts as per their requirement. Government of India has assured the state that additional vaccine doses will be supplied regularly in the coming days as per daily coverage. Trainings have been held for all the district level officers, medical officers, health supervisors, Junior health assistants, MidLevel Health providers (MLHP), ASHAs and mobilisers for next phase of the vaccination campaign. Various IEC activities are being held at state and district levels for awareness among the general public.
The release urged all those eligible for vaccination should come forward and get vaccinated to get protection. People should register themselves on Co-WIN portal https://selfregistration.cowin.gov.in/ or through Arogya Setu app to book their desired vaccination date. Walk-in registration will also be available at
all the vaccination centres.
Till date, Karnataka has vaccinated more than 39 lakh people since 16th January 2021. This includes vaccination of healthcare workers, frontline workers, persons above 60 years age and persons aged 45 to 59 with comorbidities.
Satish Jarkiholi, Congress candidate from Belgaum, has emerged as the richest among the 47 likely contestants of the April 17 by-polls in Karnataka.
Serving at present as the Yamkanmaradi MLA, Jarkiholi declared assets owned by him and his family at Rs 148 crore. This means his assets grew by over 3.5 times since the 2018 Assembly elections, when they were worth Rs 42 crore. The legislator’s family has liabilities of Rs 15 crore.
Jarkiholi is not the only crorepati candidate in the bypoll fray. In fact, among candidates fielded by all major parties across the three seats, the poorest is Basavanagoud R Turvihal, Congress candidate from Maski, who owns assets worth Rs 1.92 crore. His assets have dipped somewhat from the Rs 2.22 crore in 2018.
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The Karnataka High Court Wednesday permitted investigation against Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa in a criminal case registered against him for allegedly trying to poach an MLA from Janata Dal (Secular) with the offer of money and a ministerial berth, in 2019.
An interim order pronounced by Justice John Michael Cunha on Wednesday vacated the earlier order (dated February 2019) which had stayed probe into the case. Sharanagouda Kandakur, son of JD(S) MLA Naganagouda Kandakur, had allegedly recorded a conversation that took place between him and Yediyurappa at Yadgir Circuit House on the night of February 7, 2019.
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As 26 more deaths people succumbed to coronavirus infection from across the state, Karnataka witnessed its highest single-day death toll on Wednesday. While 18 fatalities were reported from Bengaluru Urban, two each of the deceased were from Kalaburagi and Tumkur districts.
As many as 18 people who died of the infection were aged 60 or above. The youngest among them was a 25-year-old male patient who was diagnosed with Influenza-like Illness (ILI) at a private hospital in Bengaluru.
To date, 12,567 have died since the pandemic broke out. Out of this, 210 were recorded in March 2021 alone.
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the municipal body governing the Karnataka capital, will have a new commissioner and an administrator from April 1, as the city is witnessing a steady daily growth in new Covid-19 cases during what is being considered by many to be a second wave of the pandemic.
Senior bureaucrat Gaurav Gupta will replace N Manjunatha Prasad as the commissioner. Gupta, a 1990-batch IAS officer, had taken over as the administrator of BBMP in September last year after the term of the council came to an end.
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