Bengaluru has 15806 active containment zones, 15122 have returned to normal

Coronavirus

Only Dasarahalli and Yelahanka reported less than 1,000 active containment zones, at 952 and 532 respectively.

TNM Staff

Image for representation: PTI

Bengaluru has 15,806 active containment zones as on Monday, of which RR Nagara has the most at 3,761, a bulletin by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) stated. The BBMP said that out of the total 30,928 containment zones reported in the city so far, 15,122 had returned to normal, while the remaining were active.  Bengaluru South reported 3,761 active containment zones as per the bulletin, followed by Bengaluru West at 2,313 and Bengaluru East at 2,109. While Bommanahalli reported 2,081 active containment zones, Mahadevapura reported 1,301. Only Dasarahalli and Yelahanka reported less than 1,000 active containment zones at 952 and 532 respectively. Officials said that 51% of all containment zones remain active while 49% have returned to normal. Meanwhile, with 8,865 persons getting discharged on Monday, recoveries outnumbered 8,244 new COVID-19 cases across Karnataka, while 119 succumbed to the virus in a 24-hour period.  "With 8,244 new cases, the state's COVID-19 tally rose to 4,67,689, including 98,463 active cases, while 3,61,823 persons have been discharged till date, including 8,865 during the day," the state health department bulletin on Monday said. With 119 deaths in 24 hours, the state's toll has risen to 7,384 since March 9, when the pandemic broke out. Bengaluru Urban, which is the epicentre of coronavirus in the southern state, reported 2,966 fresh cases, taking its tally to 1,73,628, including 40,527 active cases and 1,30,627 discharges. With 37 fatalities during the day in the city, its death toll rose to 2,473. Among other districts, Mysuru reported 677 new cases, followed by Dakshina Kannada (413), Davangere (325), Hassan (295), Bengaluru Rural (275) and Ballari (264). Belagavi recorded 533 discharges, the highest among the districts, followed by Hassan (332), Dakshina Kannada (297), Shivamogga (282), Ballari (274) and Dharwad (248). "About 800 COVID-19 patients are in the ICU across the state, including 263 in Bengaluru Urban district, 106 in Hassan, 67 in Dharwad, 44 in Ballari and 40 in Kalaburagi," said the bulletin.   With IANS inputs

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Bengaluru top cops Hilori and Nimbalkar to be prosecuted by CBI in IMA scam

Crime

Three other police officers will also be prosecuted as part of the investigation into the IMA ponzi scam.

PTI

Mansoor Khan- the prime accused in IMA case

The Karnataka government has given its nod to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for the prosecution of two senior IPS officers and three other police personnel in the IMA ponzi scheme in which over a lakh people were allegedly duped of more than Rs 4,000 crore.  These five had allegedly delayed and suppressed information after an inquiry, giving undue advantage to the I-Monetary Advisory (IMA) ponzi scheme operator Mohammmed Mansoor Khan and others associated with the scam that came to light in June last year, orders issued by the government said. The government in its September 9 order accorded sanction to the Central Bureau of Investigation to prosecute Bengaluru Additional Commissioner Hemant Nimbalkar and Superintendent of Police rank officer Ajay Hilori. Deputy superintendent of police EB Sridhar, inspector M Ramesh and sub-inspector P Gowri Shankar are the others whose prosecution was cleared in a separate order on September 11. According to the CBI, which took over the probe into the scam in August last year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had flagged its concern and conveyed to the state Director General of Police about the wrongdoings of the ponzi scheme operators. Accordingly, the investigation was initially handed over to the Economic Offence Wing of the state CID and as the then head of it, Nimbalkar had supervised the probe conducted by Sridhar. Nimbalkar endorsed the findings of the inquiry conducted by Sridhar and forwarded the report to the DG and IGP "in which he asserted that the IMA and its group entities are not financial establishments under the definition of Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors (KPID) Act" and recommended closure of the probe, the government order said. The CBI has also charged him with allegedly resisting conducting a further inquiry into the matter as directed by the DGP. "Hemant Nimbalkar, IPS, thus showed undue interest in order to favour Mohammed Mansoor Khan and IMA that he wanted to protect the activities of Mohammed N{ansoor Khan and save him from any action by Government under the KPID Act," the order stated further. Regarding Hilori, the order said as the then DCP of Bengaluru East division he had "demanded and accepted illegal gratification on various occasions from Mohammed Mansoor Khan through Nizamuddin, Director and Operational Manager, IMA for favouring IMA by delaying the report to RBI and for not taking action in connivance with other public servants on various complaints against the company. Hilori had allegedly accepted furniture and other interior items for his house from IMA when the matter was pending with him by misusing his official position. The others too had allegedly connived with these officers, the order said. According to the CBI sources, the agency has registered four separate FIRs related to the scam and arrested around 25 people, including Khan, the directors and others who benefited from the scheme. The CBI in its charge sheet has alleged that when the state government received complaints about the shady activities of the IMA, it directed the district authorities to probe it. The then deputy commissioner of Bengaluru Urban district B M Vijay Shankar, assistant commissioner L C Nagaraj and village accountant N Manjunath have already been booked for allegedly favouring the IMA operators. While Shankar has reportedly died by suicide recently, charge sheet has been filed against Nagaraj and Manjunath. The case came to light when Khan fled to Dubai, leaving behind a video message, saying that he was committing suicide because of "corruption in the state and central governments".

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VK Sasikala likely to be released in January 2021

Politics

VK Sasikala has been lodged in Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru since February 2017.

TNM Staff

File image/PTI

VK Sasikala, the aide of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and a convict in the Tamil Nadu disproportionate assets case, is likely to be released from the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bengaluru on January 27, 2021. This information has come to light through a Right To Information (RTI) reply given by the central prison authority based on a query by a Bengaluru lawyer and activist, Narasimha Murthy. This date, however, may be deferred by a year, to February 2022, if Sasikala chooses to not pay the in-default fine as ordered by the court. Further, the date may also vary if Sasikala chooses to apply for further parole. It may be recalled that the Supreme Court of India overruled the Karnataka High Court in February 2017 and convicted Sasikala, and other co-accused were awarded four years' imprisonment and Rs 10 crore fine. Earlier in September, speaking with TNM, Sasikala’s lawyer Raja Senthura Pandian had said that they were hoping for an early release by end of September or early October 2020 on account of her good behaviour, despite her involvement in the special treatment controversy. IPS officer D Roopa, who was then posted as the Director-General of Prisons, had unearthed massive irregularities where high-profile prisoners like Sasikala enjoyed special privileges at the behest of jail officials. As reported by TNM in January 2019, the Vinay Kumar Commission appointed by then Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had validated Roopa’s findings of multiple irregularities. The findings included an entire corridor with five rooms being left empty for Sasikala’s use under the guise of providing security to her, extended visiting hours and falsification of records to cover this up, and free movement within jail premises with the help of jail officials. At that time, it was also reported that the sources in the AIADMK, the ruling party in Tamil Nadu of which she was the general secretary, was not expecting any early release. Prior to her stint in 2017,  Sasikala has been imprisoned at different periods in 1997 and 2014 for the same case, which would be counted as part of her jail stint.

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Several parts of Karnataka to see heavy rains for next five days: IMD

Weather

According to IMD, heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places across the coastal districts, Bidar, Kalaburgi and districts of north interior Karnataka from Tuesday to Saturday.

TNM Staff

Representational image/PTI

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a five-day weather warning for Karnataka on Monday. According to IMD, heavy rain is likely to occur in isolated places across the coastal districts, Bidar, Kalaburgi as well as districts of north interior Karnataka from September 15 to 19 (Tuesday to Saturday).  Fishermen were warned from venturing into the sea for the next 24 hours until Tuesday, as strong winds with speed reaching 45-55 kilometre per hour (kmph) are likely to prevail along and off the Karnataka coast, IMD predicted. The IMD, in its forecast for Monday, said that the southwest monsoon was active over coastal Karnataka, resulting in rainfall at most places and south interior Karnataka and north interior Karnataka. A ‘yellow’ code warning for ‘heavy’ to ‘very heavy’ rains has been forecast in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, north interior Karnataka, Bidar and Kalaburi from Monday to Friday. The Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) also said that the state will experience ‘widespread light’ to ‘moderate’ rains with isolated ‘heavy’ to ‘very heavy’ rains in north interior Karnataka on Monday and Tuesday. They forecast that ‘scattered’ to ‘widespread light’ or ‘moderate’ rains are likely to occur over coastal and Malnad regions, while south interior Karnataka region will experience ‘isolated’ to ‘scattered light’ or ‘moderate’ rains. According to the IMD forecast for Saturday, ‘heavy’ to ‘very heavy rain’ is likely to occur in isolated places over all the coastal districts of Karnataka (Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada and Udupi), Belagavi, Bidar, Kalaburgi, Raichur, Vijayapura, Yadgir, Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapura, Chikkamagalur, Hassan, Kodagu, Kolar, Shivamogga and Tumkur districts. Meanwhile, on Sunday, Mangaluru (Dakshina Kannada) recorded the highest rainfall at 7 centimetres, followed by Shirali at 6 cm; Bhatkal and Panambur 5 cm each.

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Navarro blocked from testifying to House panel about ventilator deal

Michael Purpura, deputy counsel to President Donald Trump, wrote to Krishnamoorthi on Sept. 9 that the White House would not make Navarro available.

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CDC: Testing for STDs plummeted during pandemic

Many sexual health clinics closed their doors or cut back services when the coronavirus began spreading widely in February.

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Dem probe: Trump administration ignored NIH evidence on fetal tissue

The lawmakers are still investigating whether potential coronavirus treatments have been hampered by the administration's posture.

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