Karnataka education dept directs all schools in state to not begin admission process

Education

The state government issued this order after several parents complained that schools had asked them to pay fees for new admissions and also for existing students.

TNM Staff

Representation photo

The Karnataka government on Friday issued an order to all schools in the state to postpone admissions until further notice in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The state’s Department of Public Instruction issued an order to this effect after the Primary and Secondary Education Department received complaints that several schools had sent messages to parents asking them to pay the fees for the next academic year.  Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar told the media that apart from new admissions, admitting a child to higher classes will also have to be postponed until further orders.  “We have issued a general instruction that no school must initiate the process of admission till the corona crisis is over. Admitting a child to a higher class, must also to be viewed on the same lines. I will instruct my officers to look into this and ensure such issues are not precipitated at this juncture and no parent is unduly harassed at this moment of social crisis. The school managements must act responsibly at this time and it’s my hope that they understand the government's concern,” Minister Suresh Kumar said.  According to Education Department officials, the issue began after several parents complained that ICSE Board schools had asked them to pay the fees for the next academic year before March 31.  “Some schools had also issued dates for new admissions in April and asked parents to pay online. We received complaints of one particular school, which issued a notice that admissions for Pre KG would be open on April 15 and those for LGK, UKG and Class 1, would be open on April 16,” the official said.  Several parents had also complained that the schools were asking them to pay for uniforms, when many of the students had not even completed their final exams.  The Department of Public Instruction has said that all schools including government, private (aided and unaided) would be penalised if the order to postpone the admission process was violated. “If any school management is found violating the directive, they will be punished under Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897,” the department’s order states.  Parents have been asked to not go to schools upon receiving messages to pay the fees for admissions. It has also asked teachers to stop visiting schools.  Deputy Directors in the department have been asked to monitor the situation and enforce this order.   

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Infosys techie arrested in Bengaluru for FB post asking people to sneeze in public

Coronavirus

Infosys tweeted that the employee has been terminated after an independent probe.

TNM Staff

Infosys Website

The Central Crime Branch on Friday arrested a 25-year-old techie working with Infosys in Bengaluru for allegedly spreading hate messages about coronavirus on social media.  In a Facebook post uploaded on Friday, the man put up a Facebook post calling for people to sneeze in public and spread the virus. "Let's join hands, go out and sneeze with an open mouth in public. Spread the virus," he wrote. CCB sleuths arrested the techie on Friday after taking suo motu cognisance and registered a case against him under section 505 (making statement which causes alarm or fear in public, and also inciting & provokes others) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Infosys has also terminated his employment.  "A 25-year-old man uploaded a post on social media telling people to go and sneeze in public. The post has been taken down. The man works in a software company. He is a resident of Bengaluru and worked in a senior position in the company,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Patil said.  Infosys had earlier on Thursday said in a tweet that they were investigating the matter. "We are deeply concerned with an inappropriate post being attributed to an Infosys employee. We strongly reaffirm our commitment to responsible social-sharing. Our preliminary enquiry, and discussions with our employees suggest that this could be a case of mistaken identity." We are deeply concerned with an inappropriate post being attributed to an Infosys employee. We strongly reaffirm our commitment to responsible social-sharing. Our preliminary enquiry, and discussions with our employee suggest that this could be a case of a mistaken identity. — Infosys (@Infosys) March 26, 2020 The company further stated that due to the seriousness of the situation, an independent investigation was launched and appropriate action would be taken against the employee.  On Friday, the company tweeted that the probe had been completed and contrary to earlier claims, it was allegedly not a case of mistaken identity.  Infosys has completed its investigation on the social media post by one of its employees and we believe that this is not a case of mistaken identity. (1/2) — Infosys (@Infosys) March 27, 2020 “Infosys has completed its investigation on the social media post by one of its employees and we believe that this is not a case of mistaken identity. The social media post by the employee is against Infosys’ code of conduct and its commitment to responsible social sharing. Infosys has a zero tolerance policy towards such acts and has accordingly, terminated the services of the employee,” the company tweeted on Friday night.   

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Trump's push for risky malaria drugs disrupts coronavirus response

“All this buzz is confusing the American public," said one senior Health and Human Services official involved in drug policy.

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Scott Gottlieb forecasts the next coronavirus outbreaks

The former FDA commissioner is worried about the next New York City.

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Migrant workers in Kerala forced to walk to Karnataka border, sheltered in Kodagu

Coronavirus

Currently, 133 migrant labourers, who hail from various districts in central and northern Karnataka, are camped in Kodagu.

Prajwal Bhat

It was midnight when Bheemendra Nayaka, a migrant worker in Kerala, reached the checkpost in Makkuta on the border of Kerala and Karnataka. By then, he had been on the move for seven hours trudging through forests and walking through empty roads. Like thousands of migrant labourers across India, Bheemendra was hit by the sudden lockdown announced in the country on Tuesday.  Migrant labourers like him, working in Urathur in Kannur district of Kerala, were left with no work after the nationwide lockdown came into effect on Tuesday. “We are involved in construction work. Some of us use the machines to cut stones, others lift and transport it. We did not know what to do when the lockdown was announced,” 30-year-old Bheemendra told TNM.  “There was confusion after the lockdown was announced and we did not immediately leave for home. We were looking for some kind of transport to take us home,” he said. His home is in Yennekoppa, a village in Soraba taluk in Shivamogga district of Karnataka, which is about 400 kilometres away from Urathur.  But left with no option, he, along with a group of labourers, decided to start their journey by foot around 3 pm on Thursday afternoon. After covering around 20 km, the group reached the Makkuta checkpost in Kodagu district of Karnataka, which is a state border.  The police officials at the checkpost alerted the Kodagu district administration about a group of migrant labourers trying to walk and cross into the state. “We were surprised when we got the call but this is a humanitarian crisis and we had seen the stories of migrant labourers walking long distances,” Kodagu Deputy Commissioner Annies Joy told TNM. The Kodagu district administration decided to keep all migrant labourers walking into the district sheltered in a school. Currently, 133 migrant labourers, who hail from various districts in central and northern Karnataka, are camped in Kodagu. The people camped there come from Shivamogga, Gadag, Koppal and Haveri, among other districts in Karnataka.  A shelter with bunk beds, was set up at Morarji Desai Residential School in Virajpet taluk of the Kodagu district. “We are checking their travel history and where they have come from. We are also conducting medical checkups,” she said. The people sheltered include women and children. “Everybody says you cannot let people into your state. But hundreds of people walk long distances. We need to ensure they are taken care of,” Annies said.  Incidentally, at a press conference on Thursday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan responded to the media reports that said that migrant workers were being forcefully evicted in some places in the state. He said that strict action will be taken against anybody doing so. The CM added that the state government will ensure food and medicine to the migrant labourers.  So far, none of the people staying in Kodagu have shown symptoms and the district administration is working with politicians and district administrations in central and northern Karnataka to arrange transport. “We need to ensure they maintain physical distance so we are in the process of arranging vehicles for them. Until then, we will be taking care of them,” Annies added.

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After long, crowded lines, Bengaluru police exempt some services from carrying passes

Coronavirus

But despite the exemptions announced, many queued up to obtain passes on Friday.

Prajwal Bhat

The Bengaluru police has exempted certain categories of people providing essential services from carrying movement passes during the lockdown. Employees of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), banks, courts, insurance officials, doctors and staff working in medical establishments will no longer be required to carry movement passes in the city during the lockdown enforced till April 14 due to contain the spread of coronavirus in India.  Media professionals, foreign consulate officials and private security guards carrying official IDs have also been exempted from carrying movement passes.  The list of exemptions was decided at a meeting of the Karnataka State Executive Committee (SEC), held on Thursday.  The decision was taken after thousands of people queued up to obtain movement passes for themselves and their colleagues following the Bengaluru police’s announcement to allow movement of essential services on Wednesday. The passes were issued at the offices of the Deputy Commissioners of Police across Bengaluru’s eight divisions.  Read: Bengaluru Police to issue movement passes for essential services staff According to SD Sharanappa, DCP, Bengaluru (East), 2,603 passes have been issued at his office since the system was put in place on Wednesday. In addition to this, 666 passes for two-wheeler vehicles and 544 passes for four-wheeler vehicles have been issued. As per Chethan Singh Rathore, DCP, Bengaluru (Central), 2,100 people were issued passes on Thursday alone.  But despite the exemptions announced by the police, TNM met Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) officials, grocery shop owners, bank employees and security guards standing in queues outside the offices of DCPs. “We are BESCOM staff but our vehicle was stopped by the police on (Thursday) morning. To avoid any more hassle, we decided to apply for passes,” said a person who was in the queue outside Cubbon Park Police Station, which is the office of DCP Bengaluru (Central). Another person who runs a supermarket in Indiranagar said that his staff members had a similar issue. “The staff found it difficult to reach the shop since the police stopped them. So, we decided to apply for passes. We turned up on Thursday and Friday, and waited for hours in the queue but we are yet to receive our passes,” he said, standing in the queue formed outside Halasuru police station, which is the office of DCP Bengaluru (East). There was also little physical distancing practiced in the queues formed outside the Cubbon Park police station on Thursday. Public health experts say that this could also increase the spread of COVID-19.  Speaking to TNM, T Sundararaman, former Executive Director of the National Health Systems Resource Centre, an advisory body to the health ministry, said, “Yes, the risk level increases if people are gathered together in a crowd because if one person is infected, it could put others at risk. But if you shut down groceries and other essentials, people will break out anyway. It is better to create a system where people maintain physical distance and are participating in this as willing volunteers.” On Thursday, the Karnataka SEC decided to allow a list of essential service providers to commute in Bengaluru by showing their official IDs to the police. Earlier, only government employees, Karnataka High Court officials, and goods vehicles had been exempted from having passes to move freely in Bengaluru.  “(In order) to minimise the harassment and ensure the smooth functioning of essential services, we decided to exempt many people from carrying movement passes,” said DCP Sharanappa.   Alongside the exemptions for bank employees, insurance officials and healthcare workers, print and electronic media professionals and foreign consulate officials carrying their official IDs will also be allowed to commute during the lockdown without the need for a pass. Private security guards and goods vehicles transporting essential supplies will also be permitted by the police to commute without passes. 

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Online petition demands public consultation before tabling Bill on Bengaluru governance

Law

Incidentally, when Revenue Minister R Ashoka wanted to pass the Bill on Tuesday without any discussion, he was opposed by his own fellow BJP MLAs.

TNM Staff

An online petition has been initiated by a Bengaluru activist demanding public consultation before the new Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike  (BBMP) Bill is tabled in the state Assembly yet again. Among the highlights of the Bill are five-year fixed terms for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, unlike the current one-year term. But critics of the Bill say these are not enough to solve the existing problems such as lack of executive powers to the Mayor and also weak ward committees.  At the time of publishing this story, the petition demanding public consultation garnered 168 signatures. In his petition, a city-based activist Sandeep Anirudhan, said, “Democracy is by the people, of the people and for the people.  How is it ever going to fulfil its potential when 'by' and 'of' are missing in the mix?” “The Local Self Governance in Bengaluru has long been broken because it simply does not exist.  We have an urban local body, established by the BBMP under the outdated Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act, which, by design, is colonial and centralisation of power in the state government, which reduces city and town governments to colonies (sic),” the petition added. Incidentally, when the Karnataka government, through Revenue Minister R Ashoka, wanted to pass the Bill on Tuesday without any discussion, but he was opposed by his own fellow BJP MLAs. The MLAs demanded that they debate the contents of the BIll in detail before voting on the significant piece of legislation. The Congress party, which had also opposed the unilateral passing of the Bill, had approached the Speaker to send the Bill to the Select Committee of both the Houses.  Speaking to TNM, Congress MLA from Shivajinagar ward Rizwan Arshad on Tuesday said that he was in favour of wide-ranging discussions and deliberations on the Bill with every stakeholder of the city.  With opposition within the government and the Opposition front, the Speaker sent the Bill to the joint select committee of the Karnataka legislature. The Bill will be taken up for deliberation in the Assembly in the Monsoon (next) Session as Tuesday was the last day of the Budget Session.  Speaking to TNM, Sandeep added that there are issues that need further clarity as the Bill is not accessible to the public. “Will the BBMP be truly restructured to meet the needs of Local Self Government? Will the democracy at the grassroots finally materialise? Will all the Parastatals be merged under the local government? Will Bengaluru finally have a local government devoid of state government's interference?” he said, explaining some of the concerns. 

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