Congress wrests Mangaluru, Bantwal Taluk Panchayats from BJP

Bengaluru, July 14: Girls outshone boys in the Second Pre-University Board examinations in Karnataka, results of which were announced on Tuesday.

As many as 6.75 lakh students had written the examination of which 4.17 lakh students passed.

Thus, the pass percentage is 61.80 per cent, Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar said while announcing the results.

He said 68.73 per cent girls cleared the exam against the boys whose pass percentage was 54.77 per cent.

In terms of urban versus rural, 62.60 per cent students passed in the urban area while 58.99 per cent were from rural areas.

The three districts where the students' performance was excellent were Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu whereas the districts where students fared badly were Chitradurga, Raichur and Vijayapura, the minister said.

Both Dakshina Kannada and Udupi have recorded 90.71 percent results. Kodagu has bagged second position with 81.53 pass percentage. Vijayapura district has recorded lowest pass percentage (54.22)

Combination wise, the pass percentage of students in science stream is 82.57 per cent, Commerce 72.60 per cent and Arts 47.90 per cent, said the Minister.

He also said of those who passed the examination, 72. 45 per cent were from English medium and 47.56 from Kannada medium.

There are 68,866 distinction scorers, 2,21,866 students who got first division and 77,455 students who passed the exam in second division, the minister added.

New Delhi, Mar 7: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the bail granted by Karnataka High Court to 21 Popular Front of India (PFI) members accused in connection with violence that erupted during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Karnataka's Mangaluru in December 2019.

On February 17, the High Court had granted bail to the accused on the bail petition filed by Mohammed Ashik.

A bench consisting Chief Justice S A Bobde issued notice to the accused on Friday after taking cognisance of the plea filed by Karnataka government against the bail granted by the High Court.

Appearing for the state government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta criticised the High Court's order stating that at least 56 policemen sustained injuries during the violent protests.

Two persons identified as Jaleel (43) of Kudroli and Nousheen (49) of Bengre had died at a private hospital following the bullet injuries they sustained in an alleged police firing during a protest against CAA 2019.

Bengaluru, July 13: As Bengaluru prepares for a seven-day lockdown from Tuesday following the spike in COVID- 19 cases, opposition parties in Karnataka have urged the government to enforce the measure in the entire state.

JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda and Congress working president Eshwar Khandre have demanded that the entire state be placed under lockdown.

Welcoming the government's decision to implement the lockdown in Bengaluru Urban and Rural, Gowda said, "I urge the government through the media to enforce lockdown in the entire state."

The former Prime Minister in a statement appealed to people of the state and the entire country to wear masks while venturing out, maintain social distancing, clean hands with sanitizer regularly, and to come out only if there is necessary work.

Stating that allegations of misappropriation have been made by several leaders against the government in implementing measures and packages to control spread of the virus and its impact, Gowda said, "whatever it is let's discuss about it in the next legislature session, at present health of the people is important and let's focus on it."

The government should work in this direction, we are all with the government, let's not play with the health of the people, he said, adding that "I appeal that at least from here on work actively."

With a spike in Covid-19 cases, the Karnataka government on Saturday announced complete lockdown in Bengaluru Urban and Rural from July 14 to 22.

The lockdown is from 8 pm on July 14 to 5 am on July 22.

Congress leader Khandre, meanwhile reminded Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa that COVID cases and related fatalities were not only increasing in Bengaluru but also in the border districts of the state.

The situation was getting out of hand in Bidar, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, Ballari districts, he alleged.

"So implement strict lockdown once again in the state at least for fifteen days."

"Bring the situation under control. I appeal to the government that in this lockdown period at least to correct its past shortcomings and take all measures to face the pandemic efficiently in the future," he tweeted.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa will be chairing video conference with Deputy Commissioners, Zilla Panchayat CEOs and Superintendents of Police of various districts regarding the COVID situation and the rains.

As of July 12 evening, cumulatively 38,843 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 684 deaths and 15,409 discharges.

Bengaluru Urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 18,387 infections. Of the 2,627 fresh cases reported in the state on Sunday, a whopping 1,525 cases were from Bengaluru Urban alone.