K'taka CM directs shifting of some govt offices to Belagavi's Suvarna Vidhana Soudha

Administrative

With an aim to address regional imbalance, the CM also "warned" that he would personally review functioning of offices from there before the next meeting.

PTI

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday directed authorities to identify state level government offices to be shifted from the city to Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi within a month and execute it, with an aim to address regional imbalance. He also "warned" that he would personally review functioning of offices from there before the next meeting, CMO said in a statement. Yediyurappa held a meeting to review the functioning of Public Works, Ports and Inland Water Transport departments. Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, modelled on Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat in Bengaluru, where legislature session is held once a year, was built as an assertion that Belagavi is an integral part of Karnataka. Maharashtra claims Belagavi should belong to it. Other than the session held once a year for about two weeks, the building remains mostly unutilised. It has been long standing demand of the people of north Karnataka to shift some government offices to Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi, aimed at addressing regional imbalance, and for the benefit of citizens of the regions, who otherwise have to travel to Bengaluru. In 2018, then Congress-JDS coalition government in the state had given in principle approval to shift some government departments, boards and commissions to the north Karnataka region to address the alleged discrimination. At the meeting, the Chief Minister also directed officials to complete the work on roads and bridges that was damaged during the floods last year. Officials apprised the Chief Minister of flood related repair and restoration work taken up at a cost of Rs 500 crore and completion of about 1700 km out of 1800 km of road work. They said construction and repair work of bridges was under progress. With appointment of engineers getting delayed, the CM issued directions to appoint unemployed engineers as trainees. He also gave instructions to complete the Shivamogga airport work near Sogane in the district in a year, without compromising on the quality. Noting that land has been identified for the construction of airport at Vijayapura, he asked officials to take necessary action after conducting a review. During the meeting, a decision was taken to upgrade 1,650 km of rural roads into district main roads and 10,110 km of district main roads into state highways.

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COVID-19 patient in Karnataka recovers after plasma therapy: Health Minister Sriramulu

Coronavirus

A 64-year-old patient, who was admitted to KIMS on May 27 with SARI and moderate COVID-19 symptoms, was given the convalescent plasma therapy.

TNM Staff

Doctors in Karnataka's Hubballi have treated a COVID-19 patient with convalescent plasma therapy, Health Minister B Sriramulu tweeted on Tuesday.  "Doctors at the Karnataka Institute of Medical Science (KIMS), Hubballi, have successfully treated a 64-year-old coronavirus patient with plasma therapy. Congratulations," tweeted the Health Minister. The same was later confirmed by Medical Education Minister Dr Sudhakar K.  This treatment, which is still at an experimental stage, involves administering the blood of patients who have recovered from COVID-19 to those who are still infected or under treatment. Patients who have recovered have antibodies (proteins used to fight infections) to COVID-19 in their blood, which is called convalescent plasma. The treatment was earlier used to treat patients suffering from Ebola and the Spanish flu. RC Antartani, Director of KIMS, said that the patient was admitted on May 27 with Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) and moderate COVID-19 symptoms. "He did not improve with the initial treatment. Later, an expert committee took a decision to carry out the convalescent plasma therapy," Antarani said. A recovered COVID-19 patient came forward to donate his blood plasma after counselling. The donated plasma was then administered via injections to the 64-year-old patient on May 29 and 30. "The patient improved both symptomatically and radiologically. He is maintaining an oxygen saturation of 88% to 90%, without oxygen support. He is not experiencing tachypnea (fast breathing)," said Antarani. The claims come after the first patient to be administered the convalescent plasma (CP) therapy in the state succumbed to his comorbidities on May 14. The 60-year-old man, who was admitted to the Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru, suffered a cardiac arrest, and had medical conditions such as pneumonia, hypertension and diabetes. Karnataka was one of the first states in India to gain approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to use plasma therapy on April 22. Doctors in the state said that they had not tried plasma therapy after the death reported in May due to a lack of an eligible patient.  Other states, such as Kerala, West Bengal and Gujarat, too, have started the trials for convalescent plasma therapy, although some are facing a shortage of donors. The treatment is given as a last resort for patients with severe conditions. (With inputs from IANS)

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Karnataka permits fresh brewing of beer and its sale at microbreweries as takeaway

Liquor

The opening and closing hours of the microbreweries shall be from 9am to 9pm, it said, adding that all other conditions as laid down will remain unaltered.

TNM Staff

The Karnataka Excise Department has given permission for fresh brewing or production of beer and to sell it in microbreweries as takeaways. The decision comes after the lockdown restrictions were eased in the state. "Permission is hereby accorded to microbreweries for fresh brewing/production and sale of beer as takeaway in glass, ceramic or stainless steel container (up to 2 litre) till 30-06-2020, or until further orders, whichever is earlier," the Excise Commissioner, in a letter dated June 1 to Deputy Excise Commissioners of all districts, said. The opening and closing hours of the microbreweries shall be from 9 am to 9 pm, it said, adding that all other conditions as laid down will remain unaltered. Earlier, in a letter dated May 12, the Excise Commissioner had "conditionally" granted permission for microbreweries to sell their beer stock as takeaway on an experimental basis for the period from May 14 to June 30 or until exhaustion of existing beer stock, whichever is earlier. It had called for measures like physical distancing, cleanliness, usage of masks and sanitisers, among others, and had said that microbreweries situated in containment zones are not allowed to function. Earlier on May 4, Karnataka allowed liquor stores to be opened for the first time since the start of the lockdown period, prompting long queues for alcohol in Bengaluru and other parts of the state.  The Excise Department reported that during the month of May, it had collected revenue of Rs 1387.20 crore, a drop in figures for the state compared to the last financial year. (With PTI inputs)

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In photos: How Bengaluru airport is facilitating ‘contactless’ boarding

Airports

The Aarogya Setu app will be mandatory for all passengers.

Soumya Chatterjee

Since domestic flight operations began on May 25, the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru has adopted a contactless boarding process to curb the spread of coronavirus. Airport management also announced that the Aarogya Setu app will be mandatory for all flyers and that they won’t be allowed to step into the terminal if they aren’t cleared on the app. Once a flyer steps into the airport entrance, the passenger will be required to get a boarding pass printed from the kiosks installed just outside the departure gates of the terminal. Boarding pass and thermal screening   Passengers will no longer need to use the touchscreen kiosks to print boarding passes. Instead, they can use their phone QR code scanners or Google Lens to print the boarding pass from the kiosks. Once they have got their boarding pass, passengers will be subjected to their first thermal screening by the airport staff. Passengers having more than 37.8 degrees Celsius temperature won’t be allowed to proceed further. Departure gate screening Unlike the pre-pandemic days, there will be no physical contact with the CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) staff. The officials will be wearing personal protective gear and will be behind a glass shield. CISF personnel will verify the boarding pass and government-issued photo ID through a magnified glass screen, without touching the documents. The passenger will be asked to momentarily lift the mask for photo verification. Check-in luggage Once flyers enter the terminal, they will have to follow the safe distance markers placed on the floor. Customers with select airlines will have the option of putting their luggage at a self-service kiosk where they can affix the tag on the bag before proceeding to the airline counter to drop it off. This baggage tag can be printed from a kiosk, which will issue the required identification tag once the boarding pass is scanned on the kiosk. Those flying on airlines which do not have this facility will have to use the standard counters, which will now have glass panels separating the staff member and the passenger. Security check process Once flyers reach the pre-embarkation security checkpoint, passengers will need to scan the boarding pass once again at a kiosk manned by a CISF personnel to verify the passenger’s identity. This process is being followed to remove the previous format of stamping boarding passes as directed by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). After this, hand luggage needs to be kept in a tray as per the pre-existing norm before going through the body scanner. BIAL (Bangalore International Airport Limited) said the trays will be sanitised after every use. Hand sanitisers will be available both before and after security check. Boarding After the security check, flyers will reach the boarding gate where airline staff will hand over a kit containing a face mask, face shield, and a sanitiser to the passenger, who must put on the new mask and sanitise their hands before boarding. The passenger will scan the boarding pass on the sensor. Airline staff will do a second temperature screening and then permit boarding.

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Karnataka proposes staggered school re-opening from July, seeks parents’ feedback

Education

The government notification has said that this is a proposal, and that the opinions of the parents will be sought.

Alithea Stephanie Mounika

Image for representation

The Karnataka government has put out a proposed schedule to reopen schools in the state.  In a notification dated June 1, the Chairman of the Department of Public instruction has addressed all the school principals and government officials of the DPI from all districts, informing them about the government's proposal.  The proposed dates for resumption of classes is as follows: Classes 4-7: from July 1, Classes 8-10: July 15 onwards, Classes 1-3: from July 15. Nursery and pre-primary classes are proposed to resume from July 20. The higher classes will be delayed due to SSLC exams and its evaluation, the letter noted. The SSLC exams have been scheduled from June 25 to July 4. However, this is only a proposal and all schools and officials have been asked to seek feedback from parents on whether they agree with the schedule. If the majority are not okay with the classes, the parents would be asked about what alternative suggestions they have. Feedback would also be taken about maintaining physical distancing. The letter states that principals and all staff must report to work from June 5 onwards. Thereafter, admission process can begin for the new academic year from June 8 onwards. Following the admission process, the letter states that schools must conduct parent-teacher meetings and take feedback from parents between June 10 and June 12. This feedback must be submitted to the government through the SATS online portal (Student Achievement Tracking System) by June 15. The government has suggested that physical distancing can be maintained with the present strength and classes run regularly, by splitting classes between 8am-12pm and 1-5pm, or by asking children to come on alternate days. For example, classes 1 to 5 would come on one day, and classes 6-10 would come on the next day. If the parents do not agree to this, they would be allowed to give alterative suggestions. Suggestions would also be taken on how to maintain hygiene and safety measures at schools. TNM had previously reported that Karnataka Education Minister S Suresh Kumar had written to the Centre regarding the allotment of three exclusive TV channels to the Karnataka Education Ministry for the benefit of government school students. This was because the government had found in a survey that over 90% of households had a TV, which would aid in the maximum dissemination of information to students. Read: Karnataka seeks exclusive channels for televised education, writes to Centre In a separate instance, a girl from Kerala died by suicide allegedly because she was not able to access the virtual classes being conducted by the government.  Read: Kerala student kills self, parents say it was because she couldn’t attend online classes

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Vague testing guidance hinders business reopenings

Companies can require diagnostic coronavirus tests and temperature checks but the Trump administration hasn't said when or how often to test.

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Karnataka records 388 new coronavirus cases, highest per-day increase so far

Coronavirus

This brings the total number of active cases in the state to 2,339.

TNM Staff

PTI Bengaluru, Representative image

A total of 388 new cases were reported in Karnataka on Tuesday, the highest per-day increase in the state so far. The bulletin released by the state government notes that 367 of the 388 cases originated from interstate passengers. There are now 2,339 active cases in the state. Udupi district reported an increase of 150 new cases. The district has 346 active cases. Udupi district officials told TNM that out of tests for 3,000 samples, results for around 1,000 samples were still pending; all samples of travellers who returned to the district. Most returnees tested are those who returned from Mumbai and Thane. The district administration is also considering admitting patients in Karkala and Kundapura general hospitals to accommodate the surge in patients. Kalaburagi has reported 100 new cases of coronavirus, which brings the total number of positives in the district to 270 active cases. As Kalaburagi is a northern district, most of the returnees are from Maharashtra, which follows the trend as reported by the Karnataka government that most of the cases being brought into Karnataka have originated from Maharashtra after the travel ban was partially lifted. Belagavi has reported 51 new cases of coronavirus. Most of the cases are those who have returned from Maharashtra, two patient’s contacts are still being traced.  Bengaluru Urban has reported 12 new cases of coronavirus, while Bengaluru Rural has reported three cases. Raichuru district has reported 16 new cases, and Bidar has reported 10. Some other districts have reported single-digit cases. There are a total of 32,239 people who are under active observation by the Karnataka government. Out of this, 17,503 people are primary contacts, and 14,736 people are the secondary contacts. The total number of discharges for the day is 75, bringing the total discharged patients in the state to 1403. No new COVID-related deaths have been reported in Karnataka. The total deaths in the state remains at 52.

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