The CDC is guarding against a mutated strain.
from Health Care https://ift.tt/3mLCnK4
via IFTTT
Friday, December 25, 2020
Not just Bengaluru, six other cities in Karnataka too have no elected council
Elections for these urban local bodies are mandated to be held once in every five years but have been put on hold due to legal disputes or delimitation exercises.
Representational image
While the delay in elections for Bengaluru city council had recently grabbed headlines, with the matter reaching even the Supreme Court, it has come to light that six other cities in Karnataka do not have an elected council. An analysis by Bengaluru-based non-profit Janaagraha has revealed that out of 10 city corporations in the state, six district headquarters do not have a Mayor and only in one city the ward committees are in the process of being formed. HL Manjunath, Senior Associate at Janaagraha, said only Davanagere, Mangaluru, Mysuru and Tumakuru have an elected council of corporators in their respective city councils. However the remaining cities—Vijayapura, Shivamogga, Kalaburagi, Hubli-Dharwad, Belagavi and Ballari are all awaiting elections. Like all local body polls, elections for these urban local bodies are mandated to be held once in every five years but have been put on hold due to legal disputes or delimitation exercises. Speaking on the same, Sandeep Anirudhan, Founder, Citizens Agenda for Bengaluru, said, "There is a reluctance in our political class to implement the 74th Amendment in spirit, as it would lead to grass root democracy - Swaraj. That is something that our politicians, who have got used to the colonial culture of our badly designed centralised democratic structure, are unwilling to deal with. They keep misusing state power to suppress the city level third tier of governance." The 74th Amendment of the Constitution, focusses on decentralization and citizen participation in local self-governance. Other than electing local self sustaining local bodies, it gave provision for citizens to take part in local governance issues. The BBMP council was set to go for elections with the five year term for the previous council coming to an end on September 10. However, the state government had deferred the elections on account of delimitation with an amendment to the Karnataka Municipal Act and in effect increasing the number of wards to 243 from 198. While the Karnataka High Court had ordered the State Election Commission to hold elections for the BBMP polls after hearing a public interest litigation, the state government had subsequently approached the apex court successfully to postpone the elections. Narendra Pani, political scientist and professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, said this is not the first time that this is occurring in the state. He said, “This is a clear trend. The decentralization of the third tier governance has not happened in urban areas as effectively as it has happened in rural areas. There panchayat institutions have deep roots and it gets really difficult to postpone polls there. But in urban Karnataka the same is not true. In urban areas, it is largely controlled by the bureaucracy who function under the state government so there is a tendency to bypass elections.” “In rural areas too, the MLA will try to get his own candidate win but in urban areas there is no such consolidation as the dynamics of urban politics are not the same,” he added.
from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2KxPy40
via IFTTT
Sandalwood drug case: Jailed actor Ragini shifted to hospital
"Ragini complained of severe stomach pain," an official told reporters.
PTI
Kannada film actor Ragini Dwivedi, accused in a drug peddling case and lodged in Bengaluru Central Prison after her arrest, was shifted to a hospital after she complained of severe stomach pain. She was admitted to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital on Thursday. According to jail authorities, Ragini was shifted to the hospital on the advice of jail hospital doctors. "Ragini complained of severe stomach pain, as a result of this, she had to be shifted since the jail hospital has limited resources," an official told reporters. The officer said that after treating Ragini, the doctors will decide whether she should be admitted for further treatment or if she should be sent back to jail with some prescriptions. If she wishes to get admitted to a private hospital, she needs permission from the concerned court, added the official. Actors Sanjjanaa Galrani and Ragini, both arrested in the drug case, had sought bail earlier on health grounds. While Sanjjanaa managed to secure bail for herself, Ragini’s plea was rejected by various courts. She has now moved the Supreme Court. The Bengaluru police began a crackdown on the use of drugs in August last week after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested a peddler in Bengaluru and revealed that he was a supplier to rave parties organised by influential persons in the state capital. Ragini was arrested on September 4, after her house was raided by police over her alleged connection to a gang. The officials found contrabands at her place during the raid. She is one of the 20 accused whom the police have arrested so far in connection with this case. Subsequently, noted Kannada film director and BJP leader Indrajit Lankesh also alleged that about a dozen actors were into drugs and there was a nexus between them and the drug mafia. His allegations gained traction as the NCB had been investigating the drug angle in the case of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death.
from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2JjUMQv
via IFTTT
Karnataka CID raids companies behind digital lending apps, two held
Officials have seized laptops, mobile phones and other documents from these companies
Image for Representation
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Karnataka police on Thursday arrested two prominent officials, including the Chief Financial Officer, of an instant mobile loan app company for reportedly harassing customers over non-payment of loans. The customers were given a hand loan for a period of a week or two weeks. If the defaulter was a woman, the recovery agent asked for sexual favours and threatened them with physical and sexual assault, investigating officials said. The CID raided four companies — Mad Elephant Technologies Pvt Ltd, Borayanxy Technologies Pvt Ltd, Profitise Pvt Ltd and Wizzpro Solutions Pvt Ltd, after receiving complaints of harassment from customers who were being charged a whopping 36% interest on the hand loans of Rs 9,000 and Rs 15,000. They have also seized laptops, mobile phones and other documents from these companies. Additionally, they found that the companies obtained sensitive data like contacts and photographs from the customers’ phones and used it to mount pressure on them to ensure repayment of loans. The companies allegedly hacked phones of the defaulters and shamed them in a WhatsApp group consisting of their friends and family with tags like ‘thief’, ‘fraud’ and ‘defaulter’. The companies would force them into a debt trap by compelling them to take a similar loan from another firm. According to the CID, all the apps were built on one software development kit, which is suspected to be sourced from China. A CID officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told IANS that most of these apps have allegedly been developed with the help of Chinese funding and each of these companies developed multiple apps to disburse loans. The officer added that loan recovery agents used fake SIM cards to harass defaulter customers. "Most of these apps are cloud-based systems which are accessed and monitored by neighbouring countries (China)," the officer said. The CID appealed that people should come forward to lodge complaints against such instant loans through mobile phone apps. The raids come at a time when several deaths by suicide have been reported due to harassment from such apps. Read: Harassment by digital lending apps driving defaulters to suicide, but no action from RBI RBI cautions individuals, small businesses against unauthorised digital lending apps
from Karnataka https://ift.tt/34KUv0e
via IFTTT
Coronavirus dampens Christmas joy in Bethlehem and elsewhere
The holiday takes on a surreal feel in some places.
from Health Care https://ift.tt/3hksTo2
via IFTTT
from Health Care https://ift.tt/3hksTo2
via IFTTT
Thursday, December 24, 2020
In a U-turn, Karnataka govt withdraws night curfew order
Though night curfew has been withdrawn, restrictions on Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations will continue to be in place.
In a big u-turn, the Karnataka government on Thursday announced that it is withdrawing an order issued on Wednesday that imposed a night curfew in the state from December 24 to January 2. In a fresh statement issued on Thursday, the government said, “After receiving feedback from the public that a night curfew is not needed and after discussing the decision with senior officials, it was decided to withdraw the night curfew.” “The public should prevent the spread of the virus by self-imposing regulations, wearing masks, maintaining distance, avoiding unnecessary travel and maintaining strict adherence to government-imposed COVID-19 control rules,” the government statement issued on Thursday added. Though night curfew has been withdrawn, restrictions on Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations will continue to be in place. Read: Don't allow crowds in Bengaluru's MG Road, Brigade on NYE: BBMP to Karnataka govt Earlier, as per the order that was issued by the Chief Secretary on Wednesday evening, the night curfew was scheduled to be implemented starting from Thursday night. Till January 2 between 11.00 pm and 5.00 am, the restrictions were supposed to be in place. As per the order, movement of individuals was to be strictly prohibited during these hours and only movement of goods through trucks, goods vehicles or any goods carriers, including empty vehicles were allowed. Further, all industries/companies/organizations which require operations at night were to be permitted to operate with 50% staff. Movement of employees of such organisations was to be allowed on producing valid ID cards, issued by their respective organization or Institution. The same order said that industries or factories which require 24x7 operations will also be allowed to operate without any restrictions. According to earlier issued orders, pubs and bars can remain open on Christmas and New Year's Eve, but DJ parties in nightclubs are barred. The government has said that COVID-19 safety measures will be strictly enforced during Christmas and New Year’s Eve in the city. These restrictions, however, will continue to remain in place.
from Karnataka https://ift.tt/3rqPV12
via IFTTT
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)