3 youths held for kidnapping, trafficking 2-month-old baby

New Delhi, Mar 12: A PIL was moved in the Delhi High Court on Thursday seeking directions to the Centre to take appropriate steps for stopping religious conversion of socially and economically downtrodden people, particularly of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe community.

The plea claims that the government has done nothing to stop religious conversions.

The plea is listed before a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar on Friday.

The petition, by BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, alleges that many individuals, NGOs and institutions are converting downtrodden persons by "intimidating, threatening, luring by monetary benefits and by other acts, including miracle healing, black magic and more".

"Many individuals/organizations have started conversions of SC/STs in rural areas and the situation is very alarming. The mass religious conversion of the socially economically downtrodden men, women and children, and, in particular of the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe community, is on the rise in the last 20 years," the petition claims.

It further claims as per the 2011 census, Hindus constitute 79 per cent of the population down from 86 per cent in 2001 and if no action is taken "Hindus will become minority in India".

Upadhyay suggested enacting of a law to prevent conversions by force or deceit and to award jail term for any violation.

"Additionally, the State may empower the National Human Rights Commission to deal with the affairs of religious groups and analyse religious discrimination among them," he suggests.

Apart from seeking steps to prevent religious conversions by force, threats or deceit, the petition also wants directions prohibiting religious gatherings "intended to mislead people by making false and untenable claims" to lure ignorant masses to join a particular faith or religious group.

Mangaluru/Udupi, Jul 25: Karnataka’s twin coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi recorded 400 new covid-19 cases and nine fatalities in past 24 hours. While DK’s death toll mounted to 115, Udupi’s toll mounted to 15.

Dakshina Kannada

Dakshina Kannada alone recorded 218 new covid cases and eight deaths. The total number of positive cases mounted to 4,612. Out of these, 2,370 cases are currently active. As many as 2,127 persons have recovered and been discharged.

Of the 218 who tested positive on Saturday, 46 are primary contacts, 87 have ILI symptoms, 15 have SARI symptoms, and contacts of 70 are being traced.

Among the eight deaths that occurred on Saturday, the first is of a 44-year-old man from Mangaluru. He was admitted to private hospital on July 23, and breathed his last on same day. He was suffering from sepsis with septic shock and viral infection. 

The second is 78-year-old man from Bhatkal. He was admitted to a private hospital on July 18, and passed away July 23. He suffered from refractory hypoxemia, refractory ARDS and secondary bacterial infection. 

The third is an 88-year-old man from Mangaluru. He was admitted to a private hospital on July 10, and passed away on July 23. He suffered from hypoxemia, refractory ARDS and renal failure. 

The fourth is a 68-year-old man from Bantwal. He was admitted to a private hospital on June 7, and passed away on July 23. He suffered from septic shock. 

The fifth is a 68-year-old man from Mangaluru. He was admitted to a private hospital on July 17, and passed away on July 23. He was suffering from ARDS and Acute coronary event. 

The sixth is a 75-year-old man from Mangaluru. She was admitted to private hospital on July 14 and passed away on July 24. He was suffering from refractory hypoxemia, refractory ARDS and respiratory distress. 

The seventh is a 76-year-old female from Mangaluru. She was admitted to private hospital on July 21 and passed away on July 24. She was suffering from refractory hypoxemia, refractory ARDS, viral pneumonia, T2 DM and hypertension. 

The eighth is a 53-year-old female. She was admitted to private hospital on July 24 and passed away on July 24. She was suffering from sepsis with multi-organ dysfunction, cardiogenic shock, hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, peripheral vascular disease and diabetic foot on right side LRTI.

Udupi

Udupi recorded 182 new covid cases in past 24 hours and the total reached 3,218. As many as 2,008 patients have been discharged so far including 79 on Saturday, and 1,199 cases are currently active. 

Among the new cases, 96 are in Udupi, 37 in Kundapur, and 49 in Karkala. They include 109 men and 68 women, and two boys and three girls. As many as 539 are under home isolation.

As many as 15 covid related deaths have occurred in the district so far including the one on Saturday. 

45-year-old man from Kollur was admitted to KMC Hospital, Manipal, as he was suffering from lung cancer. He was tested positive for coronavirus and then shifted to covid-19 hospital, where he breathed his last.

Benagluru, Feb 27: The sudden hike in bus fares by the state-run transport corporation has triggered a public outrage and protests by the opposition Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) in Karnataka.

Terming the hike as anti-people and inflationary, the Congress urged the ruling BJP to withdraw it forthwith and spare the commuters from the additional burden.

"KSRTC and its affiliates should not further burden the people when the cost of living has gone up and its bus service is used by the majority in the absence of trains in many regions of the state," said Ravi Gowda of the Congress.

In a surprise announcement on Tuesday night, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and its two affiliates -- North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKSRTC )and North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKSRTC) -- increased bus fares by 12% with effect from Wednesday, drawing the ire of commuters and opposition parties alike.

Condemning the fare hike, JD(S) leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy urged the KSRTC to roll back the revised fares and give relief to the common man reeling under price rise due to CGST, SGST and food inflation.

"The BJP government has deliberately increased the bus fare ahead of the state budget for 2020-21 fiscal on March 2, catching people unawares. Though student passes have been spared from the hike, regular passengers are forced to pay Rs 5-32 more instead of getting better efficiency, management and productivity," Kumaraswamy said in a statement in Bengaluru.

It's an additional burden on us, said Bengaluru resident K. Venkatesh, while adding,

"The 12 percent hike in bus fares by the KSRTC and its north-east and north-west affiliates from Wednesday will hit passengers hard and make commuting costly.”

"The fare hike will negate the state government's efforts to encourage public transport service and force passengers to travel on the train, which is cheaper, faster and safer," asserted Venugopal Gupta, a cloth merchant in the city.

Justifying the hike, KSRTC Managing Director Shivayogi Kalasad told media that the hike was inevitable due to the steady increase in diesel price, dearness allowance in staff salary and overall cost of operations.

"Since the last fare revision came in May 2014, the operational cost has gone up substantially due to Rs 11.27 per litre hike in diesel price, increase in DA to employees and repairing, maintenance and fleet management costs," Kalasad said.

The financial burden due to fuel price hike is Rs 261 crore, DA Rs 341 crore and operational cost Rs 601 crore per annum for KSRTC alone, he said.

"For the benefit of rural passengers, fares have been reduced to Rs 5 from Rs 7 for the first 3 km. There is no increase in fares for the first 12 km and up to first 6 km in express service," Kalasad added.