'No complete lockdown in Karnataka on Sunday': CM Yediyurappa confirms

Coronavirus

The Karnataka government had earlier announced on May 18 that a complete lockdown in the state would take place on May 24 and 31.

TNM Staff

The Karnataka government has confirmed that the complete lockdown proposed for Sundays will not be followed this week.  In a statement released by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), it was clarified that the lockdown restrictions will not be followed due to public demand.  "Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has said that due to public demand, there will be no complete lock down on Sunday 31.05.2020 for the benefit of the people of the state," read the statement from the CMO. ಈ ಭಾನುವಾರ ಕಂಪ್ಲೀಟ್ ಲಾಕ್ ಡೌನ್ ಇಲ್ಲ ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕರ ಬೇಡಿಕೆ ಹಿನ್ನೆಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ, ರಾಜ್ಯದ ಜನತೆಯ ಹಿತದೃಷ್ಟಿಯಿಂದ ನಾಳೆ ದಿನಾಂಕ 31.05.2020 ಭಾನುವಾರದಂದು ಕಂಪ್ಲೀಟ್‌ ಲಾಕ್ ಡೌನ್ ಇರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂದು ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ ಶ್ರೀ ಬಿ ಎಸ್ ಯಡಿಯೂರಪ್ಪ ಅವರು ತಿಳಿಸಿದ್ದಾರೆ.1/2 — Karnataka Varthe (@KarnatakaVarthe) May 30, 2020 "Against this backdrop, all day-to-day activities on Sundays are as usual," added the statement.  The Karnataka government had earlier announced on May 18 that a complete lockdown in the state on Sundays starting from 7 pm on Saturday evening and ending at 7 am on Monday morning.  Other than essential services, strict curfew was followed in Bengaluru and other parts of the state on May 24. Public transport was stopped and shops remained closed on this day. The curfew restricted people's movements until 7 am on Monday when normal services resumed.  This was expected to be followed once again on May 31, the last day of the current lockdown rules announced by the government. However, the state government has decided against holding a lockdown this Sunday.  Day curfew withdrawn on Sunday. ನಾಳೆ ದಿನಾಂಕ 31.05.2020 ಭಾನುವಾರ ಕಂಪ್ಲೀಟ್‌ ಲಾಕ್ ಡೌನ್ ಇರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಈ ಹಿನ್ನೆಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ, ನಾಳೆ ಎಲ್ಲ ದೈನಂದಿನ ಚಟುವಟಿಕೆಗಳು ಎಂದಿನಂತೆ ಇರಲ್ಲಿದ್ದು, ಸಂಜೆ 7 ಗಂಟೆಯಿಂದ ಬೆಳಗ್ಗೆ 7 ಗಂಟೆಯವರೆಗೆ ಕರ್ಫ್ಯೂ ಜಾರಿಯಲ್ಲಿರುತ್ತದೆ.#BBMPFightsCovid19 #BBMP #Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/h6Sr3CuSW4 — B.H.Anil Kumar,IAS (@BBMPCOMM) May 30, 2020 This is despite the fact that on Friday, the state reported the highest single-day increase in coronavirus cases. 248 new cases were reported on the day taking the state's total tally to 2781. 303 of these cases have been reported in Bengaluru while almost half of the cases reported are those who returned from Maharashtra to the state over the past few days.  Despite the increasing cases, the state government has favoured reducing the restrictions of the lockdown within the state. The state government however has mandated institutional quarantine for international and inter-state travellers flying in from high-risk states. 

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Bajrang Dal leader booked for assault, forcing minor to chant ‘Jai Sri Ram’ in Karnataka

Crime

The Vittala police in Bantwala taluk have registered a case and are investigating.

TNM Staff

A 25-year old Bajrang Dal leader in Bantwala taluk was booked on charges of threatening and assaulting a boy and forcing him to chant 'Jai Sri Ram' in Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka, police said on Friday. The accused Dinesh is reportedly a leader of the Bajrang Dal. Along with him were minors, one aged 17, and two others aged 16 years old. The three minor boys have also been booked by the police, Deccan Herald reported. The incident occurred in communally sensitive Bantwal taluk a few days ago. After a video of the incident was spread widely on social media, the victim along with his parents filed a complaint with the Vittala police on Thursday. Reports say that the boy did not tell anyone about the attack, but when the video went viral, his parents decided to act. Based on the complaint received, a case was registered at Vittala police station against Bajrang Dal leader Dinesh of Kanyana and the three minor boys. The four had allegedly accosted the victim, who is a PUC student and hails from Kudtamugeru village, at a school ground and threatened to kill him if he did not chant the slogan, police said. Daiji world reported that the boy was forced to sit on a motorcycle at  Kadumath High School where he was allegedly attacked and faced death threats. The boy was forced to chant "Jai Sri Ram" by the four accused who also took money from him, the police reportedly added. Bantwala has seen several communally-charged incidents in the past. Recently, a rescue mission took a communal turn when BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje tweeted that the Muslim people who were trying to rescue someone from a suicide attempt were actually trying to murder him. Read: Muslim men rescue man from Netravati river, their attempt portrayed as communal violence With PTI inputs.  

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Trouble brews in Karnataka BJP as MLAs push for cabinet expansion amid pandemic

Politics

Several closed-door meetings have been held under the leadership of Hukkeri MLA Umesh Katti.

Theja Ram

It seems that not even the coronavirus pandemic is stopping politicians in Karnataka from lobbying for ministerial berths. While the state government is busy with tackling the increasing COVID-19 cases in the state, seven BJP leaders have held multiple closed-door meetings to discuss strategies to procure ministerial berths.  Sources say Bijapur City MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal, Hukkeri MLA Umesh Katii, Bilagi MLA Murugesh Nirani and four others have met over the last few weeks to discuss strategies to procure ministerial berths.  On June 23, five Members of the Legislative Council in Karnataka are set to retire, leaving these five spots vacant. On Thursday, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister JC Madhuswamy announced that Yediyurappa would nominate five leaders to the council. There are four vacant cabinet berths in Karnataka and Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had on February 8 said that Umesh Katti would get a cabinet berth in the next round of expansion. With no move to expand the cabinet due to the coronavirus pandemic, senior leaders in the BJP say that these MLAs are getting restless. “Since MLC nominations are just around the corner, they want to put pressure on Yediyurappa to expand the cabinet. There are many other seniors who are in the race as well and by rebelling they hope to leverage this and get the minister posts,” a BJP leader said.  BJP MLAs Renukacharya, SA Ramdas from Mysuru, Arvind Limbavalli from Bengaluru and leaders from Dakshina Kannada are frontrunners for ministerial posts.  A few voices in the BJP are already making their discontent clear. On Friday, Bijapur MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal told media persons that Yediyurappa does not have decision-making powers anymore. “Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and party president JP Nadda are our leaders. Chief Minister Yediyurappa does not have decision-making powers,” he said.  In addition, Murugesh Nirani has been very vocal about his aspiration to become a minister. In January this year, Lingayat seer Vachanananda had openly told Yediyurappa to make Murugesh Nirani a minister or the community would withdraw its support. Yediyurappa had retorted and said that threatening him was unwarranted. Once a close associate of BS Yediyurappa, Nirani and the Chief Minister grew apart after the fiasco surrounding the Lingayat seer’s ultimatum. “They were very close at one point and when Yediyurappa split from the BJP in 2012, Nirani had stood by him. Since a lot of the dynamics have changed in the party since 2012, it is not so easy to get a ministerial post without the high command’s approval,” the BJP source said.  BJP sources with knowledge about the closed-door meeting held recently said that if the posts are not granted, they would gather more support to split from the party and defect.  “AH Vishwanath is also unhappy now as it is uncertain whether he will be nominated for the post of MLC. Without that, he cannot become a minister. And there are many other leaders from north Karnataka, who are aspirants. We have not been given enough representation. Since there are many aspirants, the leaders are pushing for a reshuffle as well,” the source added.   

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Stuck in Germany for over 3 months, Viswanathan Anand to return to India

Travel

The five-time world champion will undergo 14 days quarantine as per rules laid down by the Karnataka government.

Prajwal Bhat

Chess grandmaster and former world chess champion Viswanathan Anand will finally arrive in India on Saturday afternoon after being stuck in Germany for more than three months due to the travel restrictions imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. "He will be returning today and landing in Bengaluru in the afternoon. He will be following the quarantine policy issued by the Karnataka government," Aruna Anand, the chess maestro's wife, told TNM. Anand, who boarded an Air India flight (AI-120) from Frankfurt on Friday night will reach Bengaluru via Delhi. He is expected to reach Bengaluru at 1.15 pm. The five-time world champion will undergo 14 days quarantine at a Covid Care Centre (CCC) as per rules laid down by the Karnataka government. He will be tested upon arrival and at the end of the two-week quarantine period, and if he tests negative, he will be free to return home.  "He will be coming to Chennai only after completing the quarantine protocol in Bengaluru," Aruna Anand said. The flights from Germany are only scheduled to land only in Delhi and Bengaluru. The chess ace was in Germany to play in the Bundesliga chess league and was to return to India, but was forced to stay put after the COVID-19 outbreak restricted movement. It also disrupted sports schedules across the world. He was staying in Bad Soden, a town near Frankfurt and was doing online commentary for the Candidates tournament, which was called off mid-way due to the pandemic, and led the Indian team in the Online Nations Cup early this month. Anand had been in touch with his family in Chennai on a regular basis via video calls and kept himself busy with chess-related work. He also raised money for COVID-19 relief by competing in an online chess tournament with other leading Indian chess players on April 11. The event was streamed live online, where all donations made were sent to the PM CARES fund. (With inputs from PTI)

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73% of beds in Karnataka quarantine centres are occupied, state may face shortage

Coronavirus

As of Friday, there are 1,279 government quarantine centres, officials said.

Theja Ram

PTI Kolkata, Representative image

As travel is expected to increase in the next few weeks, Karnataka is likely staring at a shortage of beds at quarantine centres, health department officials say. Karnataka is currently housing 1.1 lakh people in quarantine centres across the state. With the government’s capacity of 1.5 lakh beds in these quarantine centres, 73% of the beds are currently occupied, according to the director of the Heath Department, Omprakash Patil. As of Friday, there are 1,279 government quarantine centres, according to Omprakash Patil, Director of Health and Family Welfare Department. He further states that various district administrators have identified additional quarantine facilities. However, this may not be adequate, he maintains. Considering that people keep coming in and out of quarantine centres, there will be an overlap at some point and there could be a situation where the state government may run out of quarantine centres, Director Omprakash added. Karnataka also reduced its mandatory institutional quarantine rule from 14 days to 7 days earlier in May.  “People keep moving out of quarantine centres every day and this number keeps changing on a daily basis. In Kalaburagi alone there are 38,000 people in quarantine centres. On an average around 2000 to 4000 people come  in via flights every day. In the next two days, the guidelines for quarantine are expected to change,” Omprakash Patil said.  On Friday night, the Karnataka government announced that only passengers coming in from six high-risk states including Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi, would have to undergo mandatory institutional quarantine. And the state government further made it mandatory for the people to pay for their COVID-19 tests upon arrival.  This decision comes just a day after Karnataka’s Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister JC Madhuswamy made a U-turn regarding banning flights from five states including Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Hours after he told the media that the cabinet had decided to ban flights from these states, he retracted his statement and said the movement would be restricted.  Madhuswamy had stated that since people were coming in large numbers from these states, there were concerns about quarantine facilities.  Sources in the Health Department said that the expert committee to tackle COVID-19 in Karnataka had recommended that the state government should do away with institutional quarantine, at least for people from low-risk states. “This is because of the fear that even those who do not have the infection may get it at the quarantine centres. However, institutional quarantine has helped stop the spread of infection as many people are travelling from other states. The problem is how to monitor people if we do away with institutional quarantine and mandate home quarantine. This is also because 95% of those who tested positive are asymptomatic,” a senior health department official said. Health Department officials say that if the government decides to do away with institutional quarantine for everyone, then people would be asked to download the Arogya Setu app, so the surveillance offices can track their movements. “But there is a problem with this too. It's about monitoring more people. As travel restrictions are expected to be eased further, we are mulling over whether this is a good decision,” the official added.  

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Bengaluru civic body slaps fine on Swiggy for faulty waste disposal

Civic

The penalty was imposed on Swiggy Kitchen at Katriguppe in the city.

IANS

File photo of Swiggy violating norms

Bengaluru City civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on the food delivery startup Swiggy for irresponsible disposal of waste, an official said on Friday. "Thinking of food is great - Swiggy. Hope you also think of segregating waste and disposing of it responsibly," tweeted BBMP Solid Waste Management Special Commissioner D. Randeep. Randeep said a penalty of Rs 50,000 was imposed on Swiggy Kitchen at Katriguppe in the city for the violation. "The incident with respect to waste segregation has been brought to our notice and happened at one of our kitchens in Bengaluru," confirmed a Swiggy spokesperson to IANS without revealing the exact details. He said the startup is aware of its civic responsibility and has stringent processes to ensure high standards of compliance. "While we investigate and rectify the root cause of the matter, we are reinforcing necessary awareness on the best practices to be followed amongst our teams and partner network to ensure complete compliance with waste management," the spokesperson added. Swiggy has been penalised earlier as well for its irresponsible disposal of waste. Recently, the BBMP’s solid waste management department has also fined an apartment complex Rs 15,000 for not segregating waste into dry, wet and reject categories. Waste disposal norms for apartments "Segregation of waste is mandatory in apartments. Onus of enforcing segregation rules lies on the (apartment) association and waste should be segregated as dry, wet and reject," said Randeep. InClover Grand Apartments at Baiyappanhalli was penalised for the offence of improper waste disposal. Similarly, BBMP marshals also caught and fined some people openly discarding waste in public spaces. "Dear citizens, please change your old habits. Our marshals are watching and will fine those who throw garbage in public spaces," BBMP Special Commissioner Randeep said. He shared the photographs of two scooter-borne individuals being caught in the act and penalised at Kuvempunagar in Bengaluru.

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Trump says U.S. withdrawing from World Health Organization

The president made the announcement Friday afternoon.

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