Amrut Pharma MD Shailesh Joshi shoots himself dead after separation from wife

Bengaluru, Jan 25: The local police will provide security for Sri Nijagunananda Swami and his Kittur Nishkal Mantapa Mutt following a letter containing a threat to his life that was received on Friday.

The letter, containing the names of 15 liberal thinkers and activists, was circulated widely on social media and shown on some Kannada TV channels. The letter is addressed to the seer, and it condemns his lectures where he speaks in favour of liberal values.

“The decision to eliminate you will be taken on January 21. You will be eliminated, along with 15 of your followers and people who think like you,” the letter said. 

Among those threatened are Nidumamidi Channammalla Swami, Jnyana Prakash Swami, the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, actors Prakash Raj and Chetan Kumar, writer Chandrashekar Patil, Brinda Karat of the CPI(M) and writer K.S. Bhagavan.

It is not the first time that the seer is getting such threats. Two years ago, Belagavi Police had provided security to the seer following threats to his life. Last year, he got a phone call from a person from Shivamogga district. But the seer did not bother to complain.

This time, the district police will seek a written complaint from the seer. “We will assess the threat perception and the security levels. Adequate security will be provided,” the police said.

The seer is now camping in Jewargi in Kalaburagi district. “We have intimated the Kalaburagi Superintendent of Police of the need for immediate security arrangements. We will take steps to provide adequate security to him once he arrives in Belagavi district,” Superintendent of Police Lakshman Nimbaragi said.

Bengaluru, Jul 8: The expert committee constituted by the Karnataka government to look into imparting online education in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown submitted its report on Tuesday to the Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, S Suresh Kumar.

Amid growing pressure by educational institutions to allow them to run online classes for the students, the government set up the committee headed by noted educationist M K Sridhar.

The Minister told reporters that some schools wanted to run online classes, including for LKG and UKG students. It had also come to the government's notice that schools were reportedly charging hefty fees in the name of online teaching, he added.

"To address the concerns of parents, schools, and the future of the children, the committee was formed,"Kumar said. He further said that the government would study the recommendations and hold discussions with officials and various stakeholders before arriving at a decision.

The Education Department said that the committee, in its report, titled "Continuation of Learning in School Education of Karnataka: Guidelines During COVID-19 Pandemic for Technology Enabled Education and Beyond", has recommended teaching online or by using printed material. The committee suggested that children in the age group of three to six be taught online by way of story-telling, rhymes and games strictly in the presence of parents thrice a week just for one session a day For students from class one to three, it advised two periods a day and three days a week for online teaching.

Students from class three to five would have classes five days a week and two classes for 30 minutes a day. For students from class six to eight, there could be three classes a day for a duration of 30 minutes to 45 minutes each, while for students of class nine and 10 there would be four sessions a day between 30 and 45 minutes each.

The committee also suggested usage of Doordarshan and Akashwani for the government school children. Suresh Kumar said there were a few petitions filed in the Karnataka High Court regarding online teaching to the children.

Hubballi, June 8: If everything goes as expected, the railway station in Hubballi, the commercial capital of the state and also the headquarters of South Western Railway (SWR), will have the world’s longest railway platform next year.

E Vijaya, chief public relation officer of SWR, said the work is being done as part of doubling between Hubballi and Bengaluru. 

“At present, Hubballi has five platforms, and the number will be increased to eight. Inspection carriage line is getting converted to full platform. 

Platform No. 1 will be extended from 550m to 1,400m with 10m width. At present, Gorakhpur’s 1,366m platform is the world’s longest facility,” the officer said.

She added that one more entry point is coming up at Gadag Road. “Rs 90 crore is being spent on the works related to full yard, signalling, electrical and building. 

The works, started in November 2019, will be completed in the next one year,” said Vijaya.