670 Muslims, 578 Hindus, 6 Christians arrested for communal violence in 2013-17

Mangaluru, June 12: Juma prayers were held in dozens of mosques across coastal district of Dakshina Kannada including the city of Mangaluru for the first time in nearly three months upholding all the safety norms including physical distancing. 

For the first time in the recent history of Mangaluru, juma prayers were stalled in all the mosques for 11 consecutive weeks as part of nationwide coronavirus lockdown. 

While many mosques were reopened for the congregational prayers in the region on June 8 (Monday) after receiving approval from the government, many others are yet to be opened as Muslim religious leaders are taking additional precautionary measures to prevent the spread of covid-19 apart from following all the guidelines issued by the government.

“Around 400 people participated in the Juma prayer at Zeenat Bakhsh Juma Masjid. All the safety guidelines were followed. Sadaqatul Nadwi delivered the sermon and led the prayers,” S M Rasheed Haji, executive member of the mosque committee told coastaldigest.com.

“As per the guidelines, devotees performed Wudu (ablution) at their homes and also carried their own musalla (prayer mat) to the mosque,” said a Jalaluddin, a cleric who offered Juma prayers in Ullal.  

The guidelines issued by the government to the mosques also include disinfecting the premises at regular intervals, maintaining physical distance, wearing masks and finishing prayers in “minimum permissible time”.

Bengaluru, May 30: A city corporator in Bengaluru was sent into quarantine on Saturday after he tested positive for the coronavirus infection, officials said.

"Yes, I have tested positive," Padarayanapura municipal ward corporator Imran Pasha told some news channels.

The JDS corporator said he would quarantine himself as per the regulations.

The entire area where Pasha lives was cordoned off.

Health workers reached there in an ambulance and gave him a personal protection gear to wear and he was taken to a designated hospital.

Reacting to the development, Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashoka claimed Pasha hardly paid heed to the COVID-19 regulations.

"He rushes to all those places wherever there are positive cases...," Ashoka told reporters.

Padarayanapura was declared as a containment zone earlier with a few cases coming to the fore.

It was in this area where some policemen and health workers were attacked when they went to quarantine a few primary and secondary contacts of a COVID-19 patient about a month ago.

Following the incident, about 125 people were arrested, and later quarantined after a few of them tested positive.

Davanagere, Apr 26: Amid the national lockdown imposed by the Centre to check the spread of coronavirus, social distancing norms were flouted as BJP MLA from Honnali -- MP Renukacharya -- held a meeting of ASHA workers on Thursday.

The workers were present in large numbers and no distance of at least one metre between the workers was maintained during the meeting.

However, the workers were seen wearing masks at the meeting but violating the norms of social distancing.

Social distancing is one of the measures that can help people avoid contracting the highly contagious coronavirus.

According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Karnataka has a total of 489 positive COVID-19 cases of which, 153 patients have recovered and 18 patients have died due to the deadly virus.