Police deployed at Mumbai office of Dr Zakir Naik as precautionary measure

Bengaluru, May 30: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has announced that on May 31 (Sunday) there will not be a total lockdown and all activities will be permitted and continue like the rest of the week.

The decision was taken in view of demands from citizens and “keeping their interests in mind,” said a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).

This means that public transport services - buses, autos and cabs - shops, commercial establishments and others will be open on May 31.

Under a Lockdown 4.0, Karnataka had decided to throw open public transport, except metro, shops and commercial establishments, except Metro, on all six days between 7 am and 7 pm. However, May 24 and May 31 - Sundays - were exempted from the relaxation and a curfew was to be imposed throughout the day.

The Lockdown 4.0 ends May 31 and the government's decision to keep Sunday free comes ahead of the Lockdown 5.0 that the Centre is expected to announce soon.

Bengaluru, Mar 24: The usually busy and bustling city of Bengaluru wore a deserted look on Tuesday as Karnataka went into total lockdown, with the exception being the emergency services, to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Monday had announced a complete lockdown in the state till April 1.
"In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the entire state will be locked down from 12 am of March 23 to April 1. People are requested to strictly follow it to contain the coronavirus spread," Yediyurappa said.
Earlier, the Karnataka government had ordered the suspending of all public and private transport services.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of positive cases of COVID-19 in India have risen to 491.

Bengaluru, Feb 21: Historian Ramachandra Guha on Thursday refuted Karnataka home minister Basavaraj Bommai's claim that the latter had apologised for police allegedly manhandling him during an anti-CAA protest in the city, saying he received no such call or apology.

The writer further said even if such an apology had been offered, he would have rejected it.

"The Home Minister of Karnataka has claimed on the floor of the State Assembly that he apologised to me by phone for the manhandling by the Bengaluru police on 19th December 2019. This is false.

I received no such call or apology," Guha tweeted.

"Even if such an apology had been offered, I would have rejected it.

The imposition of Section 144 was illegal (as the Karnataka High Court has since held) and I was proud to be one of thousands of peaceful protesters who defied the States arbitrary action on that day," he said in another tweet.

During his reply to the debate on law and order situation in the state, Bommai on Wednesday claimed that he had apologised to Guha.

The minister was apologising to senior Congress MLA and former Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar for police serving him notice and detaining him along with others at Mangaluru airport in December for trying to enter the city despite restrictions following violence there.

Stating that anti-CAA protests have taken place peacefully across the state, he had said, there might have been minor discrepancies, like that with historian Ramachandra Guha, being manhandled during a protest.

"I have called and apologised to him," he had said.

Guha was detained on December 19 for staging a demonstration against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens at the Town Hall here, in defiance of the prohibitory orders imposed in the city.

He was taken away by police personnel and led to a police vehicle parked nearby.

Leader of Opposition in the assembly and former chief minister Siddaramaiah said Bommai has committed a "perjury" in the House, and asked him to apologise to people and Guha in front of media.

"Bommai has committed a perjury on the floor of the House. It answers the question of where @BJP4India workers derive their motivation to spread fake news.

Bommai has insulted the people whom he represents," he tweeted and demanded that he apologize to people and Guha.