Bengaluru has over 14000 active containment zones, 1362 added in a day

Coronavirus

Bengaluru’s east zone has the highest number of containment zones that have returned to normal.

TNM Staff

Image for representation/PTI

Bengaluru now has 14,143 active containment zones, as the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) identified 1,362 new zones in the last 24 hours. The city reported 2,270 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, and has 36,224 patients under treatment for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. According to the BBMP COVID-19 war room report, Bengaluru has reported a total of 19,001 containment zones till date. However, there appears to be a discrepancy in the data, because, on Wednesday, the city had a total of 21,873 containment zones. While the number of active containment zones increased on Thursday, the report seems to have erroneously said that the total number has reduced. The west zone has reported the highest number of COVID-19 patients (24%) in the last 24 hours with close to 600 cases. This is a departure from the previous trend where the south zone had been reporting the most number of COVID-19 cases. South (23%) and east (21%) zones reported the second and third highest number of cases in Bengaluru in the past day. An almost equal number of people reported recovery from COVID-19 in south and west zones, followed by the east zone. In the last 10 days, Bengaluru South has reported the most coronavirus cases (23%), followed by the east zone (23%) and west zone (21%). A total of 191 (out of 198 wards) in Bengaluru have reported over 50 active cases since the outbreak started in the city. These include wards like Jayamahal, Shanthala Nagar, Domlur, Koramangala, Chamarajapet, Varthur, Bellandur, BTM Layout, Jakkur, HBR Layout and Ramamurthy Nagar, among others. When it comes to containment zones, Bengaluru East has the highest number of containment zones that have returned to normal status – nearly 1,500. Bengaluru South has the highest number of containment zones, and proportionally, the fewest that have returned to normal in the city. Dasarahalli has the least containment zones in Bengaluru. As on July 25, 13,276 streets in the city have been demarcated as containment zones, and the number for apartments with floors that have the same status is 1,276. Twenty-three slums areas and one hotel in Bengaluru are also containment zones. There are 40 clusters of epidemiologically linked COVID-19 cases in the city. Karnataka has reported the fourth-highest number of coronavirus cases (1,12,504) till date in the country, following Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and New Delhi in that order. Bengaluru, meanwhile, is the fourth highest in COVID-19 cases among Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai among major metros. Kolkata follows Bengaluru with 19,531 total positive cases till date.

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Drugs valued at Rs 1.25 crore seized in Bengaluru, 4 youth held

Crime

Police said that the four were all highly qualified and were supplying drugs procured through international couriers.

IANS

Pexels

Four men in Bengaluru have been arrested for peddling drugs to youngsters in the city. Contraband valued at Rs 1.25 crore has been seized from them, a police officer said on Wednesday. "All four accused are from Kerala and were into supplying drugs procured through international couriers from Germany and Netherlands," Central Crime Branch Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Kuldeep Jain told IANS. The accused Nitin Mohan, 29, K. Ajmal, 22, Shahad Mohammed, 24, and Ajin K G Varghese, 21, hold high educational qualifications in professional courses like engineering and MBA. They allegedly procured drugs from overseas locations through the dark net using bitcoins. Police seized 2,000 LSD strips, 20 ecstasy tablets, 5 kg marijuana (ganja) and 105 gm MDMA from the four. According to Sandeep Patil, Joint Commissioner of Police, the seized drugs are valued at Rs 1.25 crore. Underscoring the seriousness of Karnataka government's fight against drugs, Home Minister Basvaraj Bommai and Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao attended a press conference to announce the peddlers' arrest from Sola Devanahalli area, and the seizure of narcotics. Explaining the modus operandi of the gang, the DCP said that they visited raves and pubs to establish contacts with young people interested in buying and consuming drugs. "They generally targeted pub-hopping young people and lured them into buying LSD strips for around Rs 5,000 each and employed similar other tactics," explained Jain. Jain said that though international courier packages are scanned, there is always some loophole which the peddlers take advantage of. Once procured from the international locations, the drugs were further divided into smaller quantities for local peddling. The police are also focusing on any nexus between disc jockeys (DJ) and peddlers as one of the arrested persons, Ajmal, was also a DJ. The DCP said police are on the job to hunt for bigger fish involved in drug supply. He said the international drug suppliers transact in bitcoins and only deal with very exclusive contacts. All the four accused have been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and will be produced in court on Wednesday.

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Bengaluru reports 2,270 new cases of COVID-19, Karnataka's tally rises to 1.12 lakh

Coronavirus

At present, 36,224 patients are under treatment for the coronavirus in Bengaluru.

Alithea Stephanie Mounika

PTI

For yet another day, Karnataka reported more than 5,000 cases of COVID-19, taking the state’s total tally of active cases to a new high of 67,448 cases. There have been 1,12,504 cases reported in the state so far. Out of the 5,503 new cases reported in the state on Wednesday, Bengaluru reported 2,270. With this, the total reported cases of coronavirus in the city rose to 51,091. At present, 36,224 patients are under treatment for the coronavirus in Bengaluru. Other districts have also reported a spike in the number of new cases. Ballari reported 338 new cases while Balagavi reported 279. Davangere reported 225 cases, followed by Dakshina Kannada at 208 and Mysuru at 200. Among the districts that reported more than 100 cases, Dharwad reported 175, followed by Udupi at 173. Kalaburagi reported a dip in new cases with 168 people testing positive for the coronavirus on Thursday, while Shivamogga reported 131 cases. Tumakuru reported 128 cases and Yadgiri reported a total of 114 new cases. There were 92 deaths reported in the state on Thursday, taking the total death toll of coronavirus in Karnataka to 2,147. Out of the 92 latest deaths, 30 took place in Bengaluru. Kalaburagi reported 10 deaths, while Dakshina Kannada and Dharwad reported seven deaths each. Meanwhile, Mysuru reported five deaths in the district. There are currently 639 patients who are battling COVID-19 in intensive care units (ICUs) in various parts of the state. The most patients on ventilators were reported in Bengaluru, at 352. Dharwad reported that the district has 40 patients on the ventilator. Meanwhile, the state reported that 2,397 people recovered from the coronavirus on Thursday, and have been discharged. This takes the total number of recoveries in the state to 42,901. The most discharges have taken place in Bengaluru at 1,118. Dharwad reported 180 discharges and Mysuru reported 134 discharges. When it comes to the number of tests which are undertaken by the state, the Karnataka government reported that 32,990 tests were conducted in a 24-hour period, of which 16,995 were rapid antigen detection tests and 15,995 were reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests. So far, the government has undertaken 12,75,761 COVID-19 tests, according to the latest figures.

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Cong alleges Dakshina Kannada DC transferred for standing up to cow vigilantism

Politics

Just hours before Sindhu Rupesh IAS was transferred, some right wing activists had taken strong objection to her warning to cow vigilante groups ahead of Bakrid.

Pooja Prasanna

File photo

The transfer of Sindhu Rupesh IAS, the Deputy Commissioner of Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district, has taken a political turn as Congress leader and former minister UT Khader  alleged that the state government chose to ‘punish’ the bureaucrat. Just hours before her transfer order was issued, some right wing activists had taken strong objection to her warning to cow vigilante groups ahead of Bakrid festival. Sindhu had served as the DC of the communally-sensitive Dakshina Kannada district for less than a year when she was replaced on Tuesday by Rajendra KV, who was serving as Chief Executive Officer, Zilla Panchayat, Belagavi district. Sindhu was transferred as the Director of Electronic Delivery of Citizen Services (EDCS), Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (E-governance), Bengaluru. On Monday, in response to a news link with a headline stating that the DC will deal with cow vigilante groups ‘with an iron fist’, a WhatsApp user, allegedly on a group called ‘Rama Sena’ had written, “First, she should be chopped”. In the chat discussion, members of the group are reportedly seen complaining against the DC’s actions, viewing it as ‘favourable’ to Muslims. After the screenshot went viral, the Moodabidri police suo motu registered a case and started an investigation. On Wednesday, a youth named Ranjith was arrested from Malpe after he was identified as the person who had issued the death threat. Sindhu has issued orders that enabled government veterinary doctors, officials of the Animal Husbandry Department, to issue permission for the legal transport of cattle. She had also warned vigilante groups that the district administration will take action against anyone who intercepts or attacks those transporting cattle ahead of Bakrid which falls on Thursday. Congress leader Khader took to Twitter on Wednesday, alleging, “Dakshina Kannada DC Sindhu Rupesh was given death threat for saying action will be taken against those who take law into their hands and do moral policing. Instead of punishing those who threatened murder, the government has punished the official.” ಕಾನೂನು ಕೈಗೆತ್ತಿಕೊಂಡರೆ,ನೈತಿಕ‌ ಪೋಲಿಸ್ ಗಿರಿ ಮಾಡಿದ್ರೆ ಕ್ರಮ ಕೈಗೊಳ್ಳತ್ತೇನೆ ಎಂದಿದ್ದಕ್ಕೆ ದುಷ್ಕರ್ಮಿಗಳು ದಕ್ಷಿಣ ಕನ್ನಡ ಜಿಲ್ಲಾಧಿಕಾರಿ ಸಿಂಧೂ ರೂಪೇಶ್ ರವರಿಗೆ ಕೊಲೆ ಬೆದರಿಕೆ ಹಾಕಿದರು.ಸರ್ಕಾರ ಕೊಲೆ ಬೆದರಿಕೆ‌ ಹಾಕಿದವರಿಗೆ ಶಿಕ್ಷೆ ನೀಡುವ ಬದಲು ಜಿಲ್ಲಾಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಶಿಕ್ಷೆ ನೀಡಿದೆ.(1) @CMofKarnataka @BSYBJP @BSBommai — UT Khadér (@utkhader) July 28, 2020 Meanwhile, the BJP dismissed allegations that the threat or the warning issued to vigilante groups had anything to do with her transfer and dubbed the transfer ‘routine’ and part of a list of other IAS officers who were transferred on Monday.

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Karnataka High Court refuses to stay K-CET exams

Education

The examinations are scheduled for July 30 and 31.

TNM Staff

PTI : Image for representation

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday rejected the interim prayer to postpone Karnataka Common Entrance Test (K-CET) examination and it will now happen as per schedule on July 30 and 31. "Authorities shall make sure that conditions in the standard operating procedure issued by the Union Ministry of Health and the guidelines of the state are scrupulously followed by all," the High Court stated in its order. It also asked the Karnataka government to provide transport to students on a case by case basis. It also directed the state government to upload the SOP for the exam before 8 pm on Wednesday. Hearing based on a petition filed by students on Wednesday, the High Court bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice M I Arun heard arguments in the absence of Chief Justice Abhay Oka. The Karnataka government presented a written submission to the High Court confirming its plans to go ahead and conduct the K-CET exam on July 30 and 31. The counsel representing the state government said 1.84 lakh students had downloaded the hall tickets for the examination stating it is "neither feasible nor proper in the larger interests of students" to stop the examination. The High Court on Tuesday had asked the state government to reconsider its decision to conduct the K-CET examinations at a time a high number of COVID-19 cases are being reported in the state. Advocate Ponanna appearing for National Students Union of India (NSUI) said that the conditions were not ideal for conducting examinations in the state. There are 497 exam centres in 54 places in the state. There are also 1881 students coming from outside Karnataka of which 1300 are coming to Bengaluru, the advocate told the High Court. Even COVID-19 patients are being allowed to write the K-CET in separate rooms, a move that was questioned by advocates appearing for NSUI. The counsel appearing for the government said that 40 students were identified beforehand and that they will be dropped to the exam centres in ambulances. The High Court bench also questioned the counsel appearing for the government about a second chance for candidates who could not write the exam on July 30 and 31. The bench further stated that the standard operating procedure (SOP) for the exam was announced too late. But ultimately, the High Court bench decided to allow the examination to be held in the state. "We respect the verdict of the High Court. The responsibility of the examinations lies on the state government. The state government had a chance to rethink its decision but this is a risky move to hold the examinations when COVID-19 cases are increasing," Eric Stephen, one of the petitioners and secretary in-charge of NSUI in Karnataka told TNM.  

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Uproar over deletion of lessons on Tipu and Constitution, Karnataka puts move on hold

Education

As opposition parties up the ante against the Karnataka government, Suresh Kumar has instructed for the move to be put on hold.

Pooja Prasanna

After furore over ‘selected deletion’ of lessons relating to Tipu Sultan, Prophet Mohammad, Jesus Christ and the Constitution, among others, TNM has learnt that the Minister of Primary & Secondary Education, Suresh Kumar has instructed Karnataka Textbook Society (KTBS) to put the syllabi trimming plan to be kept on hold. Opposition parties and several intellectuals had accused the BJP government in Karnataka of using the opportunity of a shortened academic year to further their political agenda.    On Tuesday, Karnataka Congress Chief and former minister DK Shivakumar had accused the BJP of pushing their ‘right-wing’ agenda and hate for historical figures like Tipu Sultan and Hyder Ali. DK Shivakumar had also said that he will constitute a committee to look into these ‘mischievous deletions’ and will take up the issue with the state government strongly.    This, after the Department of State Education Research and Training (DSERT) recommended that some chapters in Social Studies textbooks relating to history of Mysuru during the time of Tipu Sultan and Hyder Ali, as well as the Constitution, Prophet Mohammed, Jesus Christ, amongst others be deleted and substituted through online assignments to compensate for the loss of school days.    The 30% cut in the syllabus was recommended as schools are expected to reopen only on September 1 across Karnataka due to the pandemic. The school academic year for 2020-2021 has been shortened to 120 days now.    There were several attempts made by leaders of BJP, after the party returned to power in 2019, to have references to Tipu Sultan omitted from school lessons. At that time, drafting committee for text books in Karnataka had resisted the move an d the issue had been put on the back burner.    While BJP, yesterday, had defended the move claiming that there was no malintention in deleting the chapters and lessons on Tipu will continue to feature for other classes under the state board syllabus, today’s move by the minister seems to be taken under pressure, to avoid a controversy.

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Bengaluru hospital faces action for giving COVID-19 patient Rs 4.10 lakh bill

Coronavirus

In a tweet, the minister K Sudhakar said that he was ‘disappointed’ that the hospital was continuing to charge huge sums of money despite warnings.

Alithea Stephanie Mounika

PTI/Mumbai

The Karnataka Medical Education Minister, Dr K Sudhakar pulled up a private hospital in Bengaluru for violation of state government guidelines by charging in excess while treating a COVID-19 patient. Sudhakar also tweeted that strict action will be taken against the erring Apollo hospital in Bengaluru’s Seshadripuram for breaching the price cap prescribed by the Karnataka government. Read: COVID-19 price cap for private hospitals: Docs, public health experts, patients slam K'taka govt According to the government guidelines which were issued last month, there is a set price cap which private hospitals must follow while treating patients during the coronavirus pandemic. The cost per day for the general ward in a private hospital was capped at Rs 10,000, as per the guidelines. However, according to a copy of the bill tweeted by the minister, the hospital has given an outstanding bill amount to the tune of Rs 4,10,319, with Rs 5000 already deducted as an advance deposit. In a tweet, the minister says, “I have received information that Apollo hospital in Bengaluru’s Seshadripuram is exorbitantly charging the public. This particular hospital has been warned for the same offense several times. I was shocked to learn that despite that they have charged a corona patient a Rs 5 lakh bill.” https://twitter.com/mla_sudhakar/status/1288340843967860737?s=20 The hospital will face action for charging patients a high amount, the minister added. In a second tweet, the minister said, “The hospital’s management has gone against the government’s order, and charged much more than the prescribed rate. This information has come to my notice today and I will take strict action against the private hospital.” https://twitter.com/mla_sudhakar/status/1288340543420788737 In its defense, the hospital claimed that the bill tweeted by Sudhakar shows the insurance company’s tariff. A statement released by Apollo Hospital said the insurance company's tariff was taken into account and not the government's price cap. "In the said case, the patient has been in the hospital for the last 21 days, which includes 9 days in the ICU, and the billing is as per the tariff agreed with the insurance company. At Apollo Hospitals, we maintain strict transparency and the treatment and cost of care is clearly discussed upfront with the patient and/or family. (sic)" This is not the first time that this particular hospital has been pulled up by the government for overcharging coronavirus patients. On July 6, the hospital had charged a patient Rs 6,000 when the government had capped the price for coronavirus tests conducted in private hospitals to Rs 4,500. Meanwhile, IPS officer D Roopa offered her services to the Karnataka government to deal with private hospitals who were overcharging coronavirus patients. Quoting the minister’s tweet, she said, “Sir, if I am given the responsibility of (overseeing) all the hospitals, along with Harsha Gupta IAS (who is currently in charge of COVID-19 administration in Mysuru district), we will immediately handle the problem and fix the systems in place of several hospitals. We will see that the violation of the government order is investigated as a criminal offense under the disaster management act, with the permission of the court,” the tweet read. https://twitter.com/D_Roopa_IPS/status/1288403462523195392

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