Students protest against the hijab ban in Karnataka (file photo)
Bengaluru, Karnataka News Highlights: The Supreme court on Thursday, while dismissing petitions requesting urgent hearing of the case against the Karnataka High Court’s verdict upholding the power of educational institutions to ban wearing of hijabs inside the premises, asked the lawyer to not “sensationalise” the issue. The top court also declined to give any specific date to hear the petitions.
In a ruling that could help shape the debate on marital rape, the Karnataka High Court Wednesday refused to quash rape charges filed by a wife against her husband, defying the exception in law, and, instead, called on lawmakers to hear the “voices of silence.” “A man is a man; an act is an act; rape is a rape, be it performed by a man the ‘husband’ on the woman ‘wife’,” a single-judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna of the Karnataka High Court said. The “age-old…regressive” thought that “husbands are the rulers of their wives, their body, mind and soul should be effaced,” the court said.
Meanwhile, amid reports of diktats banning Muslim vendors from participating in annual festivals in coastal Karnataka, the BJP-led Karnataka government said it was the Congress government that introduced the rule to not lease temple property to non-Hindus. Also, after several incidents of stone-pelting on running Bengaluru Metro trains by miscreants, the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) have decided to increase the height walls near some of the lines protecting the upward and downward ramps of the Metro in the city.
The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday witnessed an uproar over the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh after the speaker referred to it as “our RSS” and a BJP minister backed him saying all Muslims and Christians in the country would become part of the Hindu right-wing organisation in the future.
Rural Development Minister KS Eshwarappa made the remark after Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri told Congress MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan that the day was not far when everyone would have to accept the RSS—a statement Congress members took exception to.
Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, while discussing the law and order situation in the state, spoke about his friendship with BJP leaders and ministers. “It is important to maintain mutual respect. Irrespective of which political ideology one believes in, first come personal relationships and then come party differences—BJP, RSS, Congress and others,” Siddaramaiah said. Read More
Sriram Sena convener Pramod Muthalik on Thursday said his organisation backs the drive of some Hindus boycotting Muslim traders in certain parts of Karnataka.
Stating that the Muslim's 'expansionism and separatism are dangerous and killer' for the country, Muthalik said, "Sriram Sena extends its full cooperation to such boycott, which has started in Karnataka."
" For the past two days boycotting trade activities with Muslims has begun in Karnataka. The drive that started from a religious fair in Kaup in Udupi district has spread to other parts of the state," Muthalik said at a press conference. (PTI)
Karnataka Energy Minister V Sunil Kumar said on Thursday that negligence in addressing a complaint had led to Wednesday’s transformer blast in Bengaluru that claimed the lives of a man and his daughter.
Kumar told the Assembly that the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (Bescom) had received a complaint at 12.50pm but it was not addressed. The explosion took place around 3.10pm.
The transformer installed on a footpath near the Manganahalli bridge exploded as Shivaraj (55) and Chaitanya (19) were passing it on a scooter. Shivaraj died on the spot while Chaitanya succumbed to burns a day later. Chaitanya’s marriage had recently been fixed and the duo were returning after booking a marriage hall. Read More
Karnataka reported 109 fresh Covid-19 cases and two deaths in the last 24 hours, the Health Department stated. The state has 1782 active cases at present.
Karnataka health and Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said Tuberculosis has been detected among several people who have recovered from COVID-19 and the government has sought a detailed report on this.
Speaking at an event organized by the Health Department on the occasion of World TB Day on Thursday, he said, “For the first time in India, Tuberculosis screening has been conducted by the government for those who have recovered from COVID-19 in the state. Among 25 lakh people who were tested, 144 people were found to have Tuberculosis. These people have contracted Tuberculosis after recovering COVID-19. So, the government has sought a detailed report on the incidence of TB in Covid-19 recovered patients. The State government is committed to make Karnataka TB free by 2025.”
The minister added that TB, like COVID-19, is a contagious disease. “COVID-19 is caused by a virus and TB is caused by a bacteria. The WHO has said that the entire world must be made TB free by 2030. However, our Union government led by our PM Narendra Modi has aimed to make India TB free much before that by 2025. This cannot be done just by doctors and the government. The entire society needs to join hands and work collectively to achieve this target.” Read more
The Karnataka Minister for Religious Endowments has asked all the temples under the Muzrai Department to mark Ugadi, the first day of the Hindu New Year, as a ‘Dharmika Dina’ (religious day).
Minister for Muzrai in Karnataka Shashikala Jolle in a release said, “The Religious Endowment Department in accordance with its religious background, we thought it was appropriate to celebrate Ugadi day as a religious day.” Read More
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will inaugurate the 19th edition of Chitra Santhe on March 27. Organised by Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, the art exhibition will be held from 8 am to 8 pm at Kumarakrupa road, Bengaluru.
In a major boost to its own diversification drive into non-defence and the government’s ‘Make in India’ programme, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Airports Authority of India (AAI), under it’s R&D initiative, at Wings India- 2022, has entered into an agreement for the joint, indigenous development of systems for air traffic management and surface movement of aircraft at airports in the country which were hitherto being imported.
Under this Agreement, BEL and AAI will jointly develop Civil Air Traffic Management System (ATMS) with Advanced-Surface Movement Guidance and Control System (ASMGCS), a complex ground surveillance system that manages air traffic at airports and in Indian Civil Airspace for safe operation of flights from take-off to landing.
The dual purpose of air traffic control is to ensure safety, maintaining separation between multiple aircraft, and efficient management of operations at the airport and Indian airspace. ASMGCS provides routing, guidance and surveillance services to aircraft and vehicles on the ground in order to maintain safe surface movement in all weather conditions at the airport.
"Some Muslims protested and closed shops after the Hhijab verdict. It's the next process (Muslims banned from trading in Hindu temple premises). Not allowing non-Hindus inside temple premises is permitted according to the existing law which Congress government had brought," Karnataka Home Minsiter Araga Jnanendra was quoted as saying by ANI.
He was responding to the row over Muslim shopkeepers being banned from putting up stalls in annual temple fairs, especially in coastal Karnataka.
Karnataka Minister and senior BJP leader K S Eshwarappa on Thursday claimed that all Muslims and Christians in the country will associate themselves with the RSS, some day in the future.
The Rural Development Minister's statement came during a discussion in the legislative Assembly, when the Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri used the term "Our RSS" and that a day would come when opposition legislators would also say the same, to which Congress legislators expressed reservation.
It all started when Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah made a reference to the saffron organisation, while speaking about his personal equations with some BJP leaders and Ministers.
"Personal relations are important, then comes party differences- BJP, RSS, Congress and others," the Congress leader said.
To this the Speaker in a lighter note asked Siddaramaiah, "why are you feeling troubled about our RSS?" As Siddaramaiah was clarifying that he was not speaking by attaching any feelings, Congress MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan asked, "You (Speaker) are saying-'Our RSS'- sitting on that chair?"
To this Kageri responded by saying, "what else, if not our RSS? Yes....it is Our RSS. RSS is ours....Zameer, I'm telling you one thing, if not today some day in the future, in our country, even you will have to say- Our RSS- definitely."
To this, some Congress legislators including Khan said, that day would never come and they would never say it. (PTI)
Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot on Thursday met the parents of Naveen SG, the Indian student who recently died in Ukraine amid the ongoing war.
The Karnataka High Court on March 15 has directed the deputy commissioner of Shivamogga to complete the mutation of 1,08,747.35 hectares of forest land expeditiously.
The court gave the order while hearing a writ petition filed by social activist Gireesh Achar which mentioned that in respect of Shivamogga district circle the total notified forest area is 3,61,229.86 hectares of which the total area mutated in the RTC is 2,52,482.51 hectares. However, 1,08,747.35 hectares of the forest land was yet to be mutated. The petitioner said the Bhadravathi forest division and Shivamogga forest division of the district should file an appeal against the illegal grant of forest land in respect of mutation in Shivamogga circle. Read more
The Karnataka High Court has said exempting a husband from allegation of rape and unnatural sex with his wife runs against the Article 14 of the Constitution, which speaks about equality.
"If a man, a husband, a man he is, can be exempted of allegation of commission of ingredients of Section 375 of the IPC, inequality percolates into such provision of law. Therefore, it would run counter to what is enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution," Justice M Nagaprasanna said in his order while dismissing a petition filed by a man seeking to quash the proceedings of allegedly committing rape and unnatural sex with his wife and sexually harassing his daughter.
Noting that the exception of sexual intercourse and other sexual acts by the husband stood exempted, the court said a woman being a woman is given certain status while a woman being a wife is given a different status. Likewise, a man being a man is punished for his acts whereas a man being a husband is exempted for his acts. (PTI)
The Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme has completed the preliminary design stage and detailed design phase has commenced. Speaking with The Indian Express, chairman and managing director of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), R Madhavan said the development of AMCA will lead to a quantum jump in technological capabilities of India.
“AMCA development programme is being progressed by ADA and HAL is its design partner. It is the indigenous fifth generation fighter and the specifications are in line with the Fifth Generation aircraft technology with features like stealth, internal weapons, super cruise, serpentine air intake etc. The prototypes are planned to be manufactured through SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) models involving Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), HAL and private players,” he said.
Last week, a new Flight Control System (FCS) integration facility, constructed at Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru, was inaugurated. The facility will support the Research & Development (R&D) activities for developing Avionics for Fighter Aircraft and FCS for the fifth generation aircraft. Read more
The Supreme court on Thursday, while dismissing petitions requesting urgent hearing of the case against the Karnataka High Court’s verdict upholding the power of educational institutions to ban wearing of hijabs inside the premises, asked the lawyer to not “sensitise” the issue. The top court also declined to give any specific date to hear the petitions. Responding to a request that the matter be heard next week as it would otherwise stop the girl students from appearing for their exams, Chief Justice of India N V Ramana said: “This has nothing to do with the exams…don’t sensitise.” Read more
After a gap of nearly two years, a former judge of the Karnataka High Court Justice K N Phaneendra has been appointed the Upa Lokayukta of the state.
Karnataka Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot issued a notification appointing Justice Phaneendra after Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai recommended his name for the post following a consultation with the Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court, Speaker of Legislative Assembly, Chairman of Legislative Council and Leader of Opposition in both the Houses of the state Legislature. Justice Phaneendra is likely to take oath next week. Read more
The Karnataka government has handed over the investigation into the murder of a Bajrang Dal worker in Shivamogga city of the state, which occurred on February 20, to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The NIA registered a formal complaint in the case of the murder of Bajrang Dal activist Harsha Nagaraj alias Harsha Hindu, 27, in a New Delhi court Wednesday after being handed the investigation, police sources said. On March 2, the Karnataka Police invoked sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, against 10 people arrested in the February 21 murder case. The NIA is expected to seek custody of the arrested suspects to carry out investigations in Shivamogga. Read more
The Regional Meteorological Centre has predicted cloudy sky in Bengaluru with a slight chance of rain. Mist very likely during early morning hours in some areas and surface winds likely to be strong and gusty at times, the department said. Maximum and Minimum temperatures very likely to be around 33 and 22 degrees Celsius respectively.
For 48 hrs.: Generally cloudy sky. Rain/Thundershowers likely. Mist very likely during early morning hours in some areas. Surface winds likely to be strong and gusty at times. Maximum and Minimum temperatures very likely to be around 33 and 22 degrees Celsius respectively.
The Supreme Court Thursday refused to give a specific date for the hearing challenging the Karnataka HC order upholding the ban on wearing hijab in educational institutions in the state. To the appellants who contented that exams were due and they were being prevented from entering school, Chief Justice of India N V Ramana said, “this has nothing to do with exams…don’t sensitise the issue”.
Wildlife activists have expressed concern over the recent incidents of feral dogs attacking wild sambars in Castlerock under Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary. Earlier this month, a wild sambar was found dead in the area after being attacked by the canines. A video also captured a sambar being chased by a pack of dogs.
When asked about the recent cases of dogs attacking sambars, a senior forest official said requesting anonymity, “The problem has not come to my notice yet. I will look into it. However, on several occasions, feral/stray dogs found within the forest area have been neutralised in order to save the wild animals. There is also a fear of diseases spreading from dogs to wild animals. They attack sambar, chital in packs of 15 or 20. We have also involved panchayat members and sensitised people to see to it that these dogs are not allowed into the forest area. We have no hold over the dog population in urban areas. But we have the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) standard operating procedures (SOPs) to deal with stray, feral dogs in tiger reserve areas.” Read more
Karnataka on Wednesday registered 93 fresh coronavirus cases and one fatality thereby taking the total to 39,44,970 and 40,042 respectively till date. As many as 128 patients got discharged today while the number of recoveries was 39,03,084, according to a bulletin.
Of the new cases, 75 were from Bengaluru Urban which recorded 92 recoveries and one death, said the bulletin. The number of active cases in the State was 1,802. While the positivity rate for the day was 0.28 per cent, the case fatality rate was 1.07 per cent. (PTI)
A special court in Bengaluru dealing exclusively with criminal cases involving the elected representatives has rejected a closure report filed by the state Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in a disproportionate assets case against Housing Minister V Somanna. Rejecting an ACB report of October 29, 2018, for closure of the case against Somanna, the special court also ordered filing of a criminal case and issuance of summons to the minister for court appearance by April 16. Read more
The Mangaluru police arrested two people for allegedly defacing a flex of Dr BR Ambedkar. Sharan (24) and Sujith (26) were arrested on Thursday morning and the police said that the accused had done it over personal enimity. A flex was installed by Dakshina Kannada Dalit Seva Samithi to organise district level programme on the occasion of 131 birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar.
After several incidents of stone-pelting on running Bengaluru Metro trains by miscreants, the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) have decided to increase the height walls near some of the lines protecting the upward and downward ramps of the Metro in the city.
According to senior BMRCL officials, at least five incidents have been reported in the last few years where miscreants throw stones on passing trains from outside the Metro compound walls. “The exact number of incidents has not been recorded, but at least five such incidents have happened in the last few years at a few stations. Magadi Road, Srirampura, Chickpet, National College and City Railway stations have recorded stone-pelting incidents in which the glass of the trains have suffered cracks,” officials said. Read more
According to recent Karnataka Forest Department data accessed by indianexpress.com, 5,322 acres of forest land has been encroached across six different ranges of the Koppa forest division. Notably, 33 persons alone have encroached at least 2,391 acres of forest land. Further, a total of 535 persons have been booked for violation of forest laws. In NR Pura forest range, 123 cases of encroachment have been registered, and 129 cases have been filed in Kalasa. Read more
Amid reports of diktats banning Muslim vendors from participating in annual festivals in coastal Karnataka, the BJP-led Karnataka government said it was the Congress government that introduced the rule to not lease temple property to non-Hindus.
A Congress MLA on Wednesday raised the issue in Karnataka legislative Assembly, saying temple trusts banning Muslims from taking part in bidding for stalls was dividing the society. “The history of the coastal district has several examples where Muslims and Hindus have co-existed in harmony, and have celebrated festivals together. Some cowardly people are installing hoardings that Muslims are not allowed. It has set a bad precedent, but, fortunately, at some places the Hindus have taken a stand against such diktats,” he said. Read more
In a ruling that could help shape the debate on marital rape, the Karnataka High Court Wednesday refused to quash rape charges filed by a wife against her husband, defying the exception in law, and, instead, called on lawmakers to hear the “voices of silence.”
“A man is a man; an act is an act; rape is a rape, be it performed by a man the ‘husband’ on the woman ‘wife’,” a single-judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna of the Karnataka High Court said. The “age-old…regressive” thought that “husbands are the rulers of their wives, their body, mind and soul should be effaced,” the court said.
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After several incidents of stone-pelting on running Bengaluru Metro trains by miscreants, the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) have decided to increase the height walls near some of the lines protecting the upward and downward ramps of the Metro in the city.
According to senior BMRCL officials, at least five incidents have been reported in the last few years where miscreants throw stones on passing trains from outside the Metro compound walls. “The exact number of incidents has not been recorded, but at least five such incidents have happened in the last few years at a few stations. Magadi Road, Srirampura, Chickpet, National College and City Railway stations have recorded stone-pelting incidents in which the glass of the trains have suffered cracks,” officials said. Read More
A group of senior journalists from all over India issued a collective appeal to constitutional institutions on Wednesday to step in and discharge their mandate in the wake of "attacks" on India's religious minorities, especially Muslims.
In the appeal, 28 senior journalists and media persons expressed concern over "hysteria" being built up nationwide that "Hinduism is in danger" and portrayal of Muslims as a "threat".
The appeal referred to the recent attempts to incite anti-Muslim sentiment at the screening of the film "The Kashmir Files"; the controversy over the hijab in Karnataka, targeting of Muslim women on social media platforms including the Bulli Bai app and other incidents and called for intervention of the president, judges of the Supreme Court and various high courts, the Election Commission of India and other constitutionally provisioned and statutory bodies. (PTI)
The Maari Gudi temple management at Kapu town in Udupi district of coastal Karnataka has decided not to allow 'people from other faith' to do business on its land during the annual temple festival on the request of certain pro-Hindu organisations.
The step was taken after outfits such as Hindu Jagarana Vedike and Tulunadu Hindu Sena, Kapu, appealed to the temple management not to allow the Muslim traders during the two-day religious fair on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The organisations said the Muslims had supported a bandh against the High Court verdict on the hijab issue, which showed their disregard for the law of the land and the judicial system in India. (PTI)
The Karnataka ISD division won the overall first winner in the National joint counter IED exercise, Agnishaman-V, conducted by the National Security Guard (NSG), Delhi, recently.
According to official sources, the Karnataka team, had come out with flying colors with an overall performance at the exercise which lasted for seven days.
The Karnataka State ISD Counter IED Team had participated in the National level Exercise as a team for the first time. Twelve states participated in the event and the competition was conducted in seven categories.
Two persons were seriously injured due to a transformer blast in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
The incident took place near Managanahalli bridge close to NICE road. The injured has been identified as Shivaraj (55) and Chaitanya (18). The duo has been shifted to Victoria hospital.
The Bengaluru police on Tuesday brought to the city a man from Tamil Nadu who had allegedly issued death threats to three Karnataka High Court judges, including Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, over the recent verdict on the hijab row.
The man has been identified as Rahamathulla, a native of Madurai, and he has been brought to Bengaluru from Tamil Nadu by the Karnataka police after producing a body warrant, said Home Minister Araga Jnanendra on Tuesday. The minister added that the Karnataka government had taken the threat to judges seriously, as it amounts to challenging the system, and there is a need to suppress such elements. Read More
Condemning the Karnataka Education Minister's stance over not allowing a re-examination for students who missed their exams owing to the hijab row, the Campus Front of India Karnataka state committee said, "The state government is tearing down the future of the students studying in preuniversity College (PUC), leading many Muslim female students in the state to be deprived of education."
Calling it an "agenda" to take away education from Muslim female students, the CFI added, "Education is the fundamental right of every citizen, the Constitution has not permitted any government to snatch these rights."
"In any of case, the government must let the students write their exams enjoying their right to religious freedom. And also the government must assure the religious fundamental rights of the students," Campus Front of India Karnataka State President Athavullah Punjalkatte insisted.
The Udupi District Street Vendors and Traders Association has urged the district administration to allow Muslim street vendors to carry out business during Hindu festivals and annual temple fairs.
Addressing reporters in Udupi, district secretary Mohammed Arif on Tuesday said banners were placed during the annual Kaup Marigudi festival stating that Muslim vendors should not be allowed entry.
Similar banners were also displayed in Padubidri temple festival.
The annual temple festivals in the coastal region of the state are usually held in April-May.
All Hindu and Muslim vendors were doing business like brothers so far, Arif said, adding that Muslim street vendors used to do business in festivals of all temples.
“We request the temple administration committees to allow us to do business like before,” he said. (PTI)
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has opposed the resolution adopted by the Tamil Nadu Assembly condemning the decision of Karnataka to proceed with the Mekedatu project across river Cauvery, saying that the issue is being used as a political pawn by Tamil Nadu.
Addressing the media on Tuesday, Bommai said the Cauvery water issue has been resolved by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and water allocation done. “There is Cauvery Water Management Authority for water releases. We have drawn up the Mekedatu project based on the quantum of rains in our basin and utilising it for drinking water purposes. Even then Tamil Nadu is raising objections and filing petitions in the court against the project,” he said. Read more
After a hoarding of the Bappanadui Sri Durgapameshwari temple’s annual festivities came up in Dakshina Kannada district, saying 'People who don’t respect the law or the land and who kill the cows that we pray... will not be allowed to do business', Mangaluru city police commissioner N Shashi Kumar said, “We are finding out who installed these flexes. If the civic agency is ready to file a complaint, we will consult our legal team and take action accordingly.”
Mohammed Arif, secretary of Udupi District Street Vendors’ and Traders’ Association, said there was never such a situation before. “There are about 700 registered members of which 450 are Muslim. We did not have any business for the last two years because of Covid-19. Now as we begin to start earning again, we have been left out by the temple committees,” he said. Read more
In Dakshina Kannada district, a hoarding of the Bappanadui Sri Durgapameshwari temple’s annual festivities stated, “People who don’t respect the law or the land and who kill the cows that we pray and who is against the unity will not be allowed to do business. We will not allow them to do business. Hindu is aware.”
Meanwhile, organisers of the annual festival of the Mahalingeshwara Temple scheduled on April 20 have barred Muslims from participating in the auction. In the invitation, the organisers have made it clear that only Hindus are eligible to participate in the bid on March 31. The temple authorities were unavailable for comment.
Similarly, the Hosa Marigudi temple in Kaup in Udupi district refused to allot stalls to Muslims in an auction held on March 18 for the annual fair that is being organised this week. Ramesh Hegde, president of the temple administration committee, said that they passed a resolution allowing only Hindus to participate in the auction of shops.
After a bandh called by Muslims over the HC verdict on hijab, many temples in the region bar entry to Muslims at its festivals. Read more
A large number of devotees, participating in the Sharanabasaveshwara Jatra, were showered with petals at Kalaburagi on Tuesday.
Prof KR Venugopal, whose appointment as vice-chancellor of Bangalore University was set aside by the Karnataka High Court, has moved the Supreme Court against the HC order.
The division bench of the HC on March 16 had upheld an order passed in 2019 by a single judge that had set aside the appointment of Venugopal as vice-chancellor of Bangalore University by the then Governor. Read more
A new study has quantified the economic burden of second-hand smoke exposure for persons aged 15 years and above in India.
According to the study, published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research, the annual direct economic costs attributable to Second-Hand Smoking (SHS) in India amounted to Rs 567 billion. This amounted to Rs 705 per adult non-smoker. The second-hand smoking-attributable costs were higher among the 20-24 age group, and women bear 71 per cent of the direct medical costs attributable to SHS. In India, 38.7 per cent of adults are exposed to second-hand smoking (SHS) at home and 30.2 per cent at work, the findings reveal. Read more
The Karnataka government on Monday amended the Karnataka Prisons Act of 1963 to ensure imprisonment of three to five years for prisoners caught using cell-phones in jail. The move comes after videos, shot in the prison, were circulated.
On Monday, law and parliamentary affairs minister JC Madhuswamy said there was rampant usage of mobile phones and other gadgets and several instances of convicts going out on parole and not returning to jail. “In order to curb these violations, we are bringing the modifications,” he said. Read more
Karnataka on Tuesday registered 92 fresh coronavirus cases and two fatalities -- in Bengaluru Urban and Haveri each.
Of the new cases, 81 were from Bengaluru Urban, which recorded 97 recoveries, said the bulletin.
The number of active cases in the state was 1,838. While the positivity rate for the day was 0.43 per cent, the case fatality rate was 2.17 per cent. (PTI)
In 2020 and 2021, 40,231 trees were axed in Karnataka for public infrastructure projects. In the same period, 3,00,848 seedlings were planted in the state under compensatory afforestation at a cost of Rs 2.04 crore, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said in Parliament on Monday.
Yadav told the Lok Sabha that 3,097,721 trees were cut across the country for carrying out public infrastructure projects and 36,487,665 seedlings were planted for compensatory afforestation at a cumulative cost Rs 358.57 crore. Read more
Dr TV Ramachandra, a faculty at the Centre for Ecological Sciences under the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), has said that the Mekedatu project will aggravate the water crisis in the region.
Speaking to indianexpress.com on the occasion of the World Water Day, Ramchandra said, “The project would submerge 5,500 hectares of prime forest, of which 3,500 hectares are in the Cauvery wildlife sanctuary. These forests have been helping in the infiltration of water to an extent of about 90-100 TMC. So, we are essentially submerging an invaluable forest ecosystem to construct a dam that stores 65 TMC. The main agenda is to loot natural resources and not solve any problem. Forest ecosystems provide services to an extent of Rs 7 to 8 lakhs per hectare per year (provisioning, regulating and cultural services). These ecosystems sequester carbon and minimise greenhouse gas (GHG) footprints. The government should take up sustainable options at decentralised levels and refrain from further degrading our ecosystems.” Read more
A postman at the Sunkadakatte post office in west Bengaluru has bagged the second rank in the Bengaluru City University exams.
Sanjay KP, 25, a postman by profession, completed his bachelor of arts degree with history, political science and economics as his main subjects at the VV Puram Evening College of Arts and Commerce.
"‘I am from a rural area near Mandya district where most people quit studies once they get a job but I have always been interested in reading. I wanted to support my family financially hence I joined postal services in 2015 as a postman and worked from 8 am to 3 pm,” Sanjay said. Read more
The Karnataka forest department is planning to build an Indian Forest Service (IFS) association building in Bengaluru, said sources. Multiple sources within the department have confirmed that Rs 8.5 crore has already been allotted for the construction of the building.
The move was met with derision by the serving officers who feel that the priority of the forest department and the government should have been to clear the pending salaries of daily-wage firewatchers. Read more
According to the Meteorological Centre, Bengaluru, rain and thunderstorm are likely in the city today (Wednesday) and Thursday. Bengaluru will have a generally cloudy sky. "Surface winds are likely to be strong and gusty at times," the Met department has forecast.
Maximum and Minimum temperatures are likely to be around 33 and 21 degrees Celsius, respectively today.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced that electricity will be given free of cost for up to 10 HP pump sets owned by coffee planters in Karnataka.
The decision was announced by CM Bommai in the state Legislative Assembly. The request for the same was raised by Madikeri MLA Appachu Ranjan. "Following the discussion with the power minister and other ministers, the state will grant a subsidy to the power supply to up to 10 HP pump sets installed in coffee estates," Bommai said.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) recently held a preparatory meeting with all stakeholders for the smooth conduct of the Karaga festival, which will be held from April 8 to 18 this year and culminate with a night-long procession.
The Bengaluru Karaga festival has a history of over 300 years. Largely associated with the Thigala community, the festival attracts lakhs of devotees every year from across the city. “The festival is celebrated to mark the return of Draupadi in the form of Adishakti,” a member of the festival committee said.
Notably, the festival was celebrated in a low-key manner in the past two years owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was held within the premises of Shri Dharmarayaswamy Temple in Nagarathpet. The procession marking the end of the 11-day festival was also cancelled by the authorities. Read more
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