Chop off minister AK Hegde’s tongue by Jan 26 and get Rs 1 crore: Dalit leader

Bengaluru, July 13: The Karnataka government today announced the cancellation of I PUC supplementary examinations across the state. 

Primary and Secondary Education minister S Suresh Kumar announced that the government took the decision in the wake of rising cases of Covid-19 and re-introduction of the lockdown. According to sources in the education department, as many as 60,000 students were supposed to appear for the examination.

Previously, the state government had decided to hold these exams at the college level in every district and publish the results by 30 July. However, the government has withdrawn even that arrangement and completely cancelled the exams. 

According to the minister, all the students who failed in the I PUC examination, shall also be promoted to II PUC. "The students who have attended all the subjects but unable to pass the exams will also be promoted to the next class," Suresh Kumar said.

However, those who missed out on the exams due to health reasons or failed in the examinations will be given a small test at the time of commencing classes for II PUC to assess their learning ability at the college level, according to the minister. "Only those students who missed out on the examination due to shortage of attendance will not be promoted to the next class," Suresh Kumar clarified.

Tumakuru, Jan 3: Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, who has drawn flak for the Centre releasing “inadequate” flood relief to the State, on Thursday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for additional relief during his speech at a farmers’ convention in Tumakuru.

The Chief Minister even said, “I have brought this to the notice of the Prime Minister three or four times, but till now no additional relief has been sanctioned. I request him with folded hands to release it soon,” in Kannada. The Prime Minister, who spoke later at the event, however, did not respond to the Chief Minister’s request in his speech.

Mr. Yediyurappa said the State had witnessed losses to the tune of over ₹30,000 crore because of floods.

‘Stress on irrigation’

Addressing farmers at one of his main support bases of Tumakuru, the Lingayat strongman advised the Prime Minister that his dream of doubling farmers’ income by 2023 could become a reality only if he focused on “providing scientific price to farm produce, bringing water to farms through irrigation, and by interlinking rivers”.

Mr. Yediyurappa’s remarks made at a programme to release the fourth instalment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Yojana, a farm subsidy cash transfer scheme of the Union government, have raised eyebrows.

Stressing on the key role of irrigation schemes in farmers’ welfare, he sought a special package of ₹50,000 crore for completion of long-pending projects in Karnataka.

The five-minute-long speech is being seen as an attempt by the Chief Minister to assert himself within the party by publicly putting even the Prime Minister on the mat. This comes in the wake of the BJP suffering defeats in multiple States and the party’s victory in the recent bypolls in the State under Mr. Yediyurappa’s leadership, both of which have only strengthened the Chief Minister, sources in the party said. “We are curious as to how the party high command will now deal with this public assertion in front of the Prime Minister,” a senior party leader said.

The Chief Minister has been reportedly “deeply unhappy” over the delay in the flood relief by the Union government and also the “inadequate” amount released. The Opposition has attacked him over lack of adequate Central relief, which was interpreted as the BJP central leadership’s reported unhappiness with him. The Chief Minister had then said he was doing a “tightrope walk”.

After a delay of over two months, the Centre released ₹1,200 crore as flood relief in October 2019.

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 10: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday said that it has been 100 days since the first COVID-19 case was reported and shared the updated figures of positive cases, along with the efforts made by the state government to contain the virus.

"100 Days of #COVID19 | Kerala Story It's been 100 days since the first case was reported. 258 active cases, 97 recovered, Total confirmed: 357 Deaths: 2. 12,710 samples tested Special COVID-19 Hospital, 1,251 Community Kitchens, 28,08,650 Individuals Served, 3,676 Destitutes Rehabilitated," Vijayan tweeted.

India's first case was reported in Kerala in January. The patient was a student, who was studying at Wuhan University in China.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday informed that India's total number of COVID-19 positive cases now stands at 6,412. Out of these, 5,709 are active patients and 504 of them have been cured/discharged and migrated.

With 30 new deaths reported in the last 12 hours, the death toll has reached 199.