Mangaluru: NRI's child dies after fall, kin stage protest at hospital

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.

Bidar, Apr 2: Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu on Thursday confirmed that 11 people out of 27 in Bidar, who had participated in Tablighi Jamaat at Delhi's Nizamuddin Markat have been tested positive for COVID-19.

Speaking to news agency, Karnataka Health Minister said, "We are monitoring 362 people who had attended Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi. Out of 27 people from Bidar who had attended, 11 have tested positive for COVID-19, while results of 16 others are awaited. Total positive cases in the state are 121."
Meanwhile, Tablighi Jamaat's Maulana Saad has stated that he will fully support the government in its fight against the coronavirus.

This comes soon after an FIR was registered against him in connection with the religious gathering organised in Markaz Nizamuddin area of the national capital.

A huge religious gathering was held at the Markaz building in Nizamuddin between March 13-15, the event came into the spotlight after multiple coronavirus cases were confirmed amongst those who attended the event held in mid-March.

An FIR has been registered against Tablighi Jamaat head Maulana Saad and others under the Epidemic Disease Act 1897 in Delhi.
A total of 2,361 people were brought out from the Markaz in a joint operation by authorities which lasted for over 36 hours, following which the South Delhi Municipal Corporation had carried out a sanitisation of the premises and nearby area.

Bengaluru, Feb 4: Karnataka High Court on Monday reserved order on plea, seeking cancellation of bail granted to Nithyananda for skipping the trial and fleeing the country.

After hearing the arguments, the court has reserved the matter for further orders which will be pronounced on February 5.

The plea, which was filed in the high court on January 23, was heard by Justice John Michael Cunha.

The counsel for the complainant Lenin put forth arguments that the self-styled godman Swami Nithyananda had fled the country to escape the trial. "Nityananda has been claiming to be in India in his exemption petitions filed before the trial court but during that time he sought asylum in Ecuador and is having a second passport," said Lenin.

The prosecutor informed the court that they do not need his presence for the trial at this time.

Nithyananda, accused of rape and child abuse, has been absconding since November 2018.

In December 2019, the Ministry of External Affairs said that the passport of Nithyananda was cancelled and a fresh application of the same was denied as he did not get the requisite clearance from police and several criminal cases have been lodged against him.

Police in Ahmedabad had arrested two woman administrators of the ashram, allegedly owned by Nithyananda, and freed two boys who were held captive there.

Two of his disciples, Pranpriya and Priyatattva, were arrested on the basis of a complaint filed by one Janardhan Sharma who alleged that his daughter was held captive in Nithyananda's ashram.

The police took the two women to Nithyananda's ashram in Hathiajan for an investigation and seized laptops, mobile phones among other things.