Karnataka projected to see around 2,400 COVID-19 cases daily over the next month

COVID-19

Project Jeevan Raksha estimated that Karnataka would report a total of 9,25,000 COVID-19 cases by December 12.

TNM Staff

Project Jeevan Raksha, an initiative of management consulting firm Proxima Consulting and non-profit organisation Public Health Foundation of India has projected that Karnataka will have 9,25,000 COVID-19 cases cumulatively by December 12. This would mean the state will add 2,392 cases daily on average for the next 26 days. As of Monday evening, Karnataka recorded  8,62,804  cases including 11,541 deaths, according to the state COVID-19 bulletin.  The release on Tuesday states that since August, positivity and mortality per million population has increased by 10 times and 5 times respectively. “This continues to increase every day. This indicates continued prevalence of viruses in the state.  The current Gross TPR (GTPR) of Karnataka is 9.2% and effective TPR (ETPR) is 11%. The average daily testing has been ramped from 40,000 to 1,07,000. In September, the test yield was 14% which resulted in average daily cases around 8000–9000. Whereas in November, the test yield has dropped to 2%, which means every 100 tests is yielding only two COVID cases,” the study said. Effective TPR is calculated estimating that the state carries out 20% of the tests as retests. “There is an increase in government sponsored testing as well as people-led precautionary testing. Therefore, the number of testing has increased considerably and yield has also dropped to 2% in the week ending 14th November,” the study concluded. Incidentally, the latest projection is lower than the 10-lakh mark which they had predicted that the state would breach by November 12, in their earlier release made in mid-October. The actual number of cases was 86% of the projected infections for November 12. For the previous two occasions, Proxima’s estimate was much closer. For September 12, they had predicted the caseload to be 4,50,000 when the actual number of cases were 4,40,411 (98%). For October 12, they had predicted 7,00,000 cases while the actual number was 7,17,915 (103%).

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2IP4idu
via IFTTT

After Maratha Development Board, Lingayats to get their development corp in Karnataka

Politics

CM Yediyurappa on Saturday had announced that a Maratha Development Authority will be set up in the state with Rs 50 crore corpus.

TNM Staff

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Tuesday announced that a Veerashaiva-Lingayat Development Corporation (VLDC) will be set up in the state in line with the recently proposed Maratha Development Authority (MDA). The CM had announced setting up of the MDA on November 13. According to political observers, the decision to set up the MDA was designed to woo the sizeable Maratha populace in Basava Kalyan Assembly constituency in Bidar district bordering Maharashtra. The assembly bypoll is due in Basava Kalyan after the sitting Congress MLA B Narayan Rao died of COVID-19 in Bengaluru recently. However, this announcement had not gone down with a section which questioned why the Karnataka government should set aside money for Maratha development. The latest announcement comes after a group of ministers and Lingayat MLAs led by Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi pushed for the establishment of a VLDC on Monday. Later speaking to reporters, Savadi said there has been a long pending demand for a VLDC by various people including many seers. Fellow ministers V Somanna and BC Patil and a few other BJP MLAs from the politically-influential Veerashaiva Lingayat community called on Yediyurappa, who himself is regarded as the tallest political leader of the community. "Today we put forth this demand before the Chief Minister to set up VLDC. He sought time to mull over the demand," BC Patil told had reporters on Monday. Patil said the community with a 17% population in Karnataka had made a significant contribution in the state. Patil said that the community has a substantial number of poor people, who eke out a living by working as labourers. For their benefit the VLDC should be set up, he added. The Veerashaiva Youth Wing too wrote to the Chief Minister demanding setting up of VLDC. The Congress, however, disagreed with the demand for a VLDC, saying that it will not serve any purpose. Instead, there should be reservation for the Veerashaiva- Lingayats in education and government jobs. It may be recalled Siddaramaiah-led government had moved for a separate religion tag for the community.

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2IOoTyA
via IFTTT

Tallest Hanuman statue to be installed near Hampi in Karnataka

Statue

Hanumad Janmabhoomi Teerth Kheshtra Trust will be installing the 215-meter statue.

PTI

Representational image/ Palagiri, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

A 215-metre idol of Lord Hanuman will be installed at Karnataka's Pampapur Kishkindha, a Hampi-based trust's president said on Monday. Kishkindha is located on the outskirts of Hampi in northern district of Ballari, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The president of the Hanumad Janmabhoomi Teerth Kheshtra Trust, Swami Govind Anand Saraswati, made the announcement after meeting Acharya Satyendra Das, the chief priest of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Saraswati told PTI that they will be taking out a rath yatra throughout the country and will collect donations from the general public for the statue to be constructed at Rs 1,200 crore. He said Lord Hanuman's statue will be of 215 metres. His statue cannot be higher than the 221-metre Lord Ram's statue being built in Ayodhya as he was his eternal devotee, said Saraswati. Saraswati said his organisation will also donate a grand 80-foot rath to the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kheshtra Trust tasked with building the Ayodhya temple. It will be built in two years with an investment of Rs 2 crore, Saraswati said. It may be recalled that in July 2019, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said the tallest statue of Lord Shri Ram would be installed in Ayodhya on the 100-acre site. Other than the statue, the state government will also be making arrangements for tourist facilities like digital museum, interpretation centre, library, and food plaza among others,  At that time PTI had reported that the 251-metre Lord Ram statue will be the world's tallest. The Statue of Liberty in New York is 93 metres, Dr BR Ambedkar's statue in Mumbai is 137.2 metres, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's tribute in Gujarat is 183 meters, Gautam Buddha's statue in China is 208 meters and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue in Mumbai is 212 meters.

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/36MJ20o
via IFTTT

Illegal mining case: CBI opposes Janardhana Reddy visiting Ballari

Courts

Reddy a former minister is accused in a multi-crore illegal mining case and is out on a conditional bail.

PTI

File image

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday opposed former minister and tainted mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy from visiting his home district of Ballari. This development came as the Supreme Court sought  CBI's response on a plea by former Reddy seeking modification of the bail conditions directing him not to visit home town Ballari. Reddy, accused in a multi-crore illegal mining case and is out on bail, has sought modifications of the conditions prohibiting him from visiting Ballari in Karnataka and Ananthapur and Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh. Madhavi Divan, Additional Solicitor General appearing for the CBI prays for and is allowed two weeks' further time to file additional affidavit. Rejoinder, if any, be filed within a week thereafter. List thereafter, said a bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and R Subhash Reddy. During the brief hearing, Divan opposed Reddy's plea saying that he should not be allowed to visit district Bellary in Karnataka as he holds considerable influence and might interfere with the investigation "He has led multiple petitions, witnesses under police protection have been threatened and vehicles have been set on fire. Over 40 witnesses are there. We do not know what will happen if this gentleman is allowed to enter the area," the law officer said. Reddy was granted conditional bail by the apex court in January 2015 after spending more than three years in jail. Reddy and his brother-in-law B V Srinivas Reddy, managing director of the Obalapuram Mining Company (OMC), were arrested by CBI on September 5, 2011 from Ballari and brought to Hyderabad. The company is accused of changing mining lease boundary markings and indulging in illegal mining in the Ballari Reserve Forest area, spread over Ballari in Karnataka and Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. He shall surrender his passport, if not already surrendered, to the learned Principal Special Judge for CBI Cases, Hyderabad. If he has already surrendered his passport before the learned Principal Special Judge, that fact should also be supported by an affidavit, the top court had said while granting bail.

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2KgOf9i
via IFTTT

Bengaluru reports 597 COVID-19 cases, less than 1000 for second consecutive day

Coronavirus

With this, the number of cases in Bengaluru dropped to its lowest tally in months.

TNM Staff

Image for representation: PTI

Bengaluru, which accounts for about 50% of COVID-19 cases in Karnataka, reported 597 new cases on a single day. The city also reported that 833 patients were discharged taking the total recoveries to 3.35 lakh so far. The number of cases in Bengaluru dropped to its lowest tally in months. "With 1,157 new cases across the state on Sunday, its COVID-19 tally increased to 8,62,804, including 26,103 active cases, while 8,25,141 recovered, with 2,188 discharged in a day," said the state health bulletin on Monday. The infection claimed 19 lives in the state on Monday taking the death toll to 11,541 till date. With 597 fresh cases in a day, Bengaluru's COVID-19 tally rose to 3.57 lakh, including 17,929 active cases till date, while six succumbed to the virus, taking its death toll to 4,009 since the pandemic broke on March 8. Only Bengaluru showed the infections in three digits whereas there were 12 districts where the cases were in single digit and zero fatalities in 24 districts including Kalaburagi for the second day in a row. Kalaburagi was the district where the first death due to coronavirus took place in the country. According to the health bulletin, 64 fresh infections were reported in Mysuru, 64 in Mandya, 52 in Hassan, 50 in Dakshina Kannada and 46 in Bengaluru Rural district. Ballari, Belagavi, Chikkaballapura, Chikkamagaluru, Chitradurga, Davangere, Raichur, Tumakuru, Udupi, Uttara Kannada and Vijayapura were also among the districts where the infections were reported. There were only two fresh cases in Kodagu and Koppal and four in Haveri and Shivamogga. According to the health bulletin, there were two deaths in Ballari and one each in Dakshina Kannada, Dharwad, Mysuru and Uttara Kannada. There were as many as 76,545 tests done on Monday including 66,857 using the RT-PCR and other methods taking the total tests done so far to 95.68 lakh, the department added. Of 730 patients in the intensive care units (ICUs) across the state, 368 are in Bengaluru hospitals, 40 in Kalaburagi, 37 in Mysuru and 30 in Tumakuru. Out of 76,545 tests conducted on Sunday, 9,688 were through rapid-antigen detection and 66,857 were through RT-PCR method. "Positivity rate was 1.51% and case fatality rate 1.04% for the day," added the bulletin. With IANS inputs

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/32SGgWh
via IFTTT

Bengaluru violence: Former Mayor Sampath Raj arrested days after he went absconding

Crime

Sampath Raj had escaped from a private hospital where he got admitted for COVID-19 treatment.

TNM Staff

Former Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) mayor R Sampath Raj, who was wanted in the August 11 Bengaluru violence case, has been arrested, police said on Tuesday. Sampath Raj, the Congress corporator from Devara Jeevanahalli municipal ward, has been absconding and was arrested from Bengaluru. He had escaped from a private hospital where he got admitted for COVID-19. The police recently arrested one of his aides Riyazuddin who had helped him and another Congress corporator Abdul Rakeeb Zakir to escape. He had given them shelter at Nagarhole in Mysuru. Zakir is also wanted in the Bengaluru violence case. A violent mob launched attacks on police stations and the residence of MLA R Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy on the night of August 11 over an alleged inflammatory social media post by the MLA's nephew. The post was deemed to be derogatory by Muslims residing in DJ Halli and KG Halli areas of eastern Bengaluru. The violence began after the police did not immediately register an FIR when a complaint was filed over the social media post. The violence that began on the night of August 11 was quelled in the early hours of August 12 after police opened fire against the mob killing 3 people. One more person later succumbed to injuries sustained on the day. Over 160 people accused in the riots are currently facing sections of the anti-terrorism law, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). However, the chargesheet by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) in the investigation into the riots has highlighted that a political rivalry between a former Bengaluru mayor, a former councillor and MLA R Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy led to the violence. The charge sheet prepared by the CCB accused Sampath Raj, a former Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) mayor from the Congress, his personal assistant Arun, car driver Santhosh, Mujaheed Khan, and former Pulakeshinagar councillor Abdul Rakhib Zakir. It stated that a closed group of people which included the accused members planned an attack on the residence of MLA Akhand Srinivasa Murthy by asking Mujahid Khan to instigate members of the Muslim community to turn against the MLA.    Sampath Raj was earlier arrested before he was admitted in a hospital for COVID-19 treatment. He later absconded from the hospital on October 30 without informing the police. 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2IGUdiU
via IFTTT

BJP's CT Ravi wants JNU renamed after Swami Vivekananda, stirs row

Controversy

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had unveiled a statue of Swami Vivekananda in the JNU campus.

TNM Staff

BJP national general secretary and former Karnataka minister CT Ravi courted controversy on Monday when he called for the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi to be renamed as Swami Vivekananda University. In a social media post, he argued that Swami Vivekananda stood for the "idea of Bharat". "It is Swami Vivekananda who stood for the "Idea of Bharat". His philosophy & values signify the "Strength of Bharat". It is only right that Jawaharlal Nehru University be renamed as Swami Vivekananda University. Life of Bharat's patriotic Saint will inspire generations to come," he tweeted. It is Swami Vivekananda who stood for the "Idea of Bharat". His philosophy & values signify the "Strength of Bharat". It is only right that Jawaharlal Nehru University be renamed as Swami Vivekananda University. Life of Bharat's patriotic Saint will inspire generations to come. — C T Ravi ಸಿ ಟಿ ರವಿ (@CTRavi_BJP) November 16, 2020 Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a statue of Swami Vivekananda in the JNU campus and asserted that people's ideologies should be seen standing with and not against the country in matters of national interest. Students flashed posters of "Modi go back" and "we want answers" ahead of the unveiling of the statue by him. He has chosen this university for installing the statue but whenever students raise their voice on any issue, everybody comes "hounding" and demands that the university should be shut, said JNU Students Union president Aishe Ghosh, who was leading the protest at the varsity's north gate. The Prime Minister had said that the statue will inspire everyone and instil courage and compassion that Swami Vivekananda wanted to see in people. Ravi is known for making controversial remarks from his early days in politics. He rose to prominence by organising the 'Datta Mala Abhiyana', which was launched in early 90s in Chikkamagaluru claiming that Bababudangiri, a syncretic shrine visited by Muslims and Hindus, was actually the abode of Guru Dattatreya. He had recently suggested that 'love jihad' should be criminalised in Karnataka. Later, the matter was discussed in the BJP's executive committee meeting in Mangaluru and Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had even announced that his government would bring in such a legislation soon.

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/3nupiW1
via IFTTT