BJP will secure majority in Karnataka: Tejasvi Surya

Bengaluru, Jul 5: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has asked officials to ensure that all necessary arrangements for COVID-19 patients must be carried out efficiently and transparently, Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said.

"Karnataka is in a better position due to the efforts and hard work of ministers, doctors, officials and all staff. The cases have increased in Bengaluru and some other districts in last few days due to various reasons. We all have to work hard and contain the spread of virus," Dr Sudhakar told media on Saturday.

"Responsibilities related to policy formulation, preparation of guidelines, communication to media and management of war room have been assigned to me. Deputy Chief Minister Ashwath Narayan has been given the responsibility of managing COVID-19 care centres and Revenue Minister R Ashoka and Chief Minister's political secretary Vishvanath have been given the responsibility of managing private hospitals. The Chief Minister has instructed all of us to work in synergy," he said.

Dr Sudhakar said the matter of imposing lockdown in the state again was discussed in the task force meeting. "I and Deputy Chief Minister suggested that lockdown is not necessary at this stage. The Chief Minister will take a decision on this matter," he added.

Home Minister Basavar Bommai, Health Minister B Sriramulu, Revenue Minister R Ashoka and senior officials were present in the task force meeting.

Bengaluru, May 12: Last week, a 28-year-old, eight-months pregnant woman, was found murdered at her house, in Diburahalli. The woman was hacked to death with a machete during the day and was discovered only after her family members returned home, later in the day. After the alleged murder, the accused tried to destroy the evidence, by cleaning the crime scene, and wiping the bloodstains off the walls and floors.

The victim was a homemaker and her husband is employed in the railway department. The police suspected that the murder was a result of someone known to the woman and family, and were soon proved right. The woman was murdered by her own brother-in-law, frustrated with her for allegedly not taking care of his mother and other family members properly.

The victim has been identified as Jyothi, and the accused is her husband’s brother Hareesh Babu, 38. “Jyothi and the accused are alleged to have had differences for the past few years. Their fights kept escalating over the years. She had also informed her family and her husband about the regular fights with the brother-in-law. The accused had been advised by the family, to back off from Jyothi. Owing to his violent streak, Babu’s wife had deserted him and their son. Since his wife’s departure, he had started troubling his brother’s wife and was regularly picked a fight with her.

He complained that Jyothi neglected to take care of his mother and other family members. Investigations reveal these as false allegations, and in fact, Babu’s son was being raised by Jyothi,” said an officer on part of investigations.

Last week, when the victim was resting at home, the accused returned home at around 10.30 am and picked up a fight with her. The fight escalated and Babu ended up hacking her to death with a machete. The victim’s father Nagaraj, at the time of filing a complaint, mentioned Babu’s regular fights with Jyothi and suspected his role in the murder of his pregnant daughter.

The accused, after killing her, had gone to the farm and pretended to not knowing about the the happenings back home. Based on the complainant’s suspicion, the police picked up Babu. After a thorough interrogation, Babu reportedly confessed to the murder of his sister-in-law. The machete, which was used for Jyothi’s murder, was also recovered by the police team.

A case of murder under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered and further investigations are underway.

Bengaluru, Jun 18: Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah has accused the BJP-led government of not passing the benefit of the low price of crude to the common man and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to bring down prices of petroleum products.

Hitting out at the BJP-led government, he termed it as "opportunistic" and said the price of petroleum products were being increased when people were facing difficulties due to COVID-19.

"It is very disheartening to witness and unprecedented opportunistic government which is trying to extract every pound and flesh from the common man, that too when the whole country is suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is in the backdrop of the continuous price hike in the last 10 days," said the letter was written on Wednesday.

The Congress leader said that the policy decisions taken by the government "with respect to managing fuel sources are inconsistent with the prudent measures generally adopted".

"When the price of crude oil was remarkably low in March, April and May 2020, your government was very reluctant to pass on the benefits to the people by reducing the fuel prices proportionately, but, instead, your government continued to capitalise by increasing the excise duty," he said.

He said the government had also "failed" in the last six years to increase the oil storage capacity which could have been used for the country's advantage when the international crude oil price fell really low.

He said the government should roll back the excise duty and help in the reduction of fuel prices.

"The reduced burden will help the common man to have additional money in hand that will be spent on essential goods and services which will ultimately help them tide over these difficult times," he said.