As the milestone approached, President Donald Trump played down the virus while his health experts urged Americans to keep up their guard.
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Tuesday, September 22, 2020
18-month-old girl sexually assaulted in Bengaluru, minor boy arrested
The boy is currently at the Madiwala Juvenile Justice Home.
Representation photo
A horrifying case of child sexual abuse has come to light in Bengaluru where a one-and-a-half-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by a 15-year-old boy. The incident occurred within the Harohalli Police Station limits and the boy was arrested on Monday. The girl's parents noticed a bleeding wound on her left eyebrow and took her to the Kaggalipura Government Hospital on the night of September 17. The girl allegedly told her mother that she was attacked while she was playing outside a temple, where her family resides. The girl's family work in the temple and live there, according to the Harohalli police. On the evening of September 17, the 15-year-old boy allegedly lured the girl to an empty plot near the temple and allegedly sexually assaulted her. "The boy used to go to the temple regularly and when he went there on September 17, he lured the girl away on pretext of playing a game," the police said. When the boy saw a neighbour passing by, the neighbour allegedly stopped him and questioned him about the incident. The boy allegedly told the neighbour that he was helping the child, who had fallen down while playing. She was taken home and her mother immediately rushed her to the hospital. The child was first referred to Indira Gandhi hospital on the night of September 17. When she was taken there, the doctors at Indira Gandhi Hospital referred her to Vani Vilas Hospital, where she was taken at 1.40 am on September 18, doctors at Vani Vilas said. The gynecologist and pediatrician took the case history and upon examination, suspected sexual assault. "It was after this that we did a medical exam and concluded sexual assault. The family was also informed. We informed the police that it was a medico-legal case," a doctor at Vani Vilas Hospital said. The Harohalli Police took the mother's statement and also questioned the eyewitness. "The eyewitness said that he saw the boy assaulting the girl. But when he questioned the boy, he allegedly denied it. We took the boy into custody and the juvenile task force questioned him. He admitted to sexually assaulting her after we told him about the medical report," the Harohalli Police said. An FIR has been registered under the POCSO Act at the Harohalli Police Station. The 15-year-old boy is currently at the Juvenile Justice Home in Madiwala. "There were evidentiary marks of sexual assault on the child. She was discharged from the hospital after treatment on Monday," the doctor treating the child said.
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Schools in Karnataka including Bengaluru to remain shut till September end
This despite the union government as per Unlock 4.0 guidelines had allowed partial reopening of schools.
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The Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Department has directed all schools across the state to remain shut till September 30 as the daily increase of COVID-19 cases continues unabated. "Though the Centre on August 31 advised the state governments to reopen schools from September 21 under Unlock 4.0 for allowing students of class 9-10 to consult their teachers on lessons, we have directed them to defer it till September 30 in view of the spurt in Covid cases," State Secondary Education Director Krishnaji Karichannavara told IANS on Tuesday. In a circular on September 19 to all schools, including state-run and private, the department's principal secretary said he would seek the state Health and Family Welfare Department's assessment of the situation across the state for reopening schools and allowing class 9-10 students to meet their teachers from October first week. This despite state Education Minister S Suresh Kumar had told reporters at Mysuru on September 18 that schools and pre-university colleges would reopen from September 21 not to resume classes but to consult teachers to clear their doubts in studies, the department postponed it to September 30, as parents and guardians were wary of sending their wards to schools. While recoveries (9,925) exceeded new cases (7,339) on Monday, the state's Covid tally rose to 5,26,876, including 95,335 active cases, while 8,145 patients succumbed to the infection till date, with 122 in the last 24 hours. In Bengaluru Urban, 2,886 new cases were reported on Monday, taking its Covid tally to 1,97,646, including 41,072 active cases. With 32 succumbing to the infection in the city, the death toll rose to 2,689 till date. The state's recoveries rose to 4,23,377 till date since March 8 when the pandemic broke and spread. In Bengaluru, 3,536 were discharged on Monday, taking its number of recoveries to 1,53,884 so far.
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Karnataka drugs case: Lookout notice issued against Minister's son Aditya Alva
The lookout notice has also been issued against Shivaprakash Chippi, who is accused number one in the case.
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The Central Crime Branch probing the high-profile drugs bust case In Bengaluru and the Kannad film circle has issued a lookout notice against former Minister and late Jeevaraj Alva's son Aditya. Aditya, a high profile real estate businessman who used to host celebrities at his parties is learnt to be hiding somewhere inside the country. His residence-cum resort in north Bengaluru was recently raided by the investigators. The lookout notice has also been issued against another suspect, Shivaprakash Chippi, who is accused number one in the Sandalwood drug case, while Alva is accused number six in this case. Both are absconding since the CCB unearthed alleged Sandalwood links with high profile parties in the city where allegedly drugs or banned substances were used. A prominent businessman and a film producer, Chippi is a close friend of Kannada actress Ragini Dwivedi, who is accused number two in this case. She has been remanded to judicial custody by the city court and sent to the Parappana Agrahara Central Jail on the outskirts of the city. According to Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Sandeep Patil, the CCB had verified with agencies concerned and found that both (absconding) accused haven't fled from the country. "We have issued LOC against them," he said. Aditya, who owns a four acre resort named -- House of Life -- near Hebbal, was allegedly hosting late-night parties where drugs were consumed. The CCB raided the resort on September 14 and also searched Aditya's house in Sadashivanagar. Aditya's father late minister, Jeevaraj Alva was one of the powerful leaders of his time and he was a close follower of late Chief Minister, Ramkrishna Hegde. Aditya's mother is a noted classical dancer, Nandini Alva, who too is a very well known name in the cultural circuit of the state. She is the founding member of the Bengaluru Habba.
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Siddaramaiah, DKS accuse state govt of misappropriating Rs 2,200 cr COVID-19 fund
Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar demanded that the government give a detailed account of how much money was spent to tackle COVID-19 in the state.
Representation photo
Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President DK Shivakumar on Tuesday demanded a judicial probe against alleged misappropriation of funds by the state government. Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar questioned the ruling BJP government as to why it had paid excess amounts of money to procure medical equipment. Leader of Opposition, Siddaramaiah said that based on information provided from the Health Secretary, the government had spent Rs 4,147 crore to procure Personal Protection Kits (PPE), masks, surgical gloves, oxygen cylinders, ventilators, hand sanitisers and other essentials. He said that the government could have procured the same equipment for Rs 2,100 crore. "The government overpaid for ventilators. The cost was Rs 4 lakh per ventilator but the government paid Rs 12 lakh. As on March 9 this year, Pastisurge, a Maharashtra-based company had bid to sell PPE kits for Rs 330 per kit. But the government imported it from China. As many as 3 lakh PPE kits were imported and the government paid Rs 2,117 for each of these kits. That is almost seven times more. When there are companies selling it in India for cheaper rates, why did the government not buy? This is public money we are talking about, of course we have to ask," an enraged Siddaramaiah lashed out against the BJP government during the Assembly session. In July this year, the Congress had held a press conference and made similar allegations that funds for COVID-19 were being misappropriated by the government. Siddaramaiah demanded that the government give out a detailed account of how much money was spent for COVID-19 and why. He further stated that the government lacked transparency and that he, being the Leader of Opposition, was unable to procure information from the government. "You say that I am lying, I say that you are lying. Then show us the accounts. Any citizen has the right to demand and ask questions of the government. You claim that your government is transparent, then show us the accounts. I am entitled to know under the constitution. Why are you silent about this?" Siddaramaiah questioned. The ruling party, however, did not answer his questions. KPCC President and Kanakapura MLA DK Shivakumar also demanded a judicial probe into the alleged misappropriation of funds. He said that the state government had failed to help the farmers, who are suffering huge losses due to the fallout of the pandemic. "Farmers, flower sellers, were not able to sell their produce as the markets were shut and rates fell drastically. Carrots were selling at Rs 2 at one point. Grapes were selling at Rs 10. The Agriculture Department said they would intervene. Who intervened? How did you help them? Where are the accounts? Look at the impact of the government’s inaction. When we pointed out, no action was taken," Dk Shivakumar said. When interrupted by Speaker Vishweshwar Hedge Kageri, who reminded him that it was time for recess, DK Shivakumar lashed out."If we have done anything wrong, we are ready to face any type of inquiry. Why is the government not launching a judicial probe into the misappropriation of funds? From distributing food kits to compensation to families of the dead, there are scams everywhere. In Ballari, they went and threw dead bodies on the road and the government just watched. They had to use a JCB to take out the body of the dead," an angry Shivakumar said. He said that the state government must answer the opposition's questions with detailed accounts of where public funds were spent. "Let there be an inquiry. We are ready to face it. If the government had nothing to hide, they should have agreed to a probe," he added.
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Bengaluru Metro increases validity of smart cards to 10 years
Earlier, the validity of the smart card which was initially for one year from the date of the last top-up.
The Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited has decided to extend the validity of smart cards from one year to 10 years, up to 2030, in order to avoid reactivation related issues. This came into effect from September 19. The validity of the smart card was initially for one year from the date of the last top-up. BMRCL resumed its operations from September 07 and has only permitted the use of Contactless Smart Cards (CSC) and has prohibited token sales at counters in order to ensure contactless travel for as long as possible. According to the BMRCL, since the metro services had been suspended for five and half months due to COVID-19 pandemic, many commuters had been facing issues regarding their card’s validity. The BMRCL has urged the cardholders to top-up their cards using netbanking or the Namma Metro App. BL Yashvanth Chavan, Chief Public Relations Officer, BMRCL, told The New Indian Express, “In line with the SOP in place for Metro travel, anyone who has topped up their card recently, has to either travel by Metro or get their card validated at any station within seven days. This ten-year period will come into effect from the date of validation of the travel card.” Earlier, not using the card for one year required a reactivation at a cost of Rs 20. Since resuming the operations as a part of Unlock guidelines, the corporation has been receiving complaints from commuters who could not recharge the card until reactivating it at the counter. Bengaluru Metro restarted operations from September 11 on both Green and Purple lines, and are operating between 7 am and 9 pm. A maximum of 400 passengers are permitted to travel in each train at any given point in time. If a train already has 400 passengers, it will skip stopping at the next station. All passengers have been directed to wear face masks. Commuters have been told to use hand sanitizers provided at every metro station and are also advised to carry their own sanitizers. Passengers have been asked to keep every alternate seat in the metro vacant and standing is allowed only at the marked areas.
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NIA takes up probe into two cases in connection to Bengaluru DJ Halli riots
The NIA said a team headed by an Inspector-General of Police (IGP) rank will probe the cases.
File image/PTI
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday said that they will probe two criminal cases in connection with the riots that broke out on August 11 in east Bengaluru. In a statement, the NIA said that those two particular cases registered, one each by the DJ Halli and KG Halli police under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UAPA], have been re-registered by the agency on the basis of an MHA order under sections of the NIA Act 2008. The NIA said a team, headed by an Inspector-General of Police (IGP) rank, is camping at their Bengaluru office for the probe. This development comes after litigation filed by a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) functionary in Bengaluru approaching the Karnataka High Court, seeking the transfer of the riots case to the NIA. As earlier reported on September 11 during the hearing of the case, Karnataka Advocate-General Prabhuling K Navadgi had told the court that the state Additional Chief Secretary (Home Department) wrote to the Secretary of Union Ministry of Home Affairs on September 3 regarding invoking UAPA in the two cases. The mob violence on August 11 had started outside DJ Halli police station and later spread to areas within the neighbouring KG Halli Police Station limits. Three persons were killed as police resorted to firing to contain the escalating violence. Another person, who was taken in custody, also died in the hospital due to a pre-existing health condition. The mob had gathered over a provocative and communally-charged social media post by Naveen, the nephew of local MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy. The MLA’s house was set on fire and the DJ Halli police station was partially gutted. Many vehicles were burnt, among other damage to property. The police have since arrested over 300 persons, including political functionaries of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and aides of Congress corporators. The accused also includes persons who were previously accused of terror cases. While the Central Crime Branch is leading the probe and has made the arrests, a magisterial probe by Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner G N Shivamurthy has been ordered by the government. Justice (retired) HS Kempanna, a retired judge of the Karnataka High Court, has been appointed as the Claims Commissioner to assess damage to public and private properties as a result of the arson.
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