After studying speeches of Dr Zakir Naik, Intelligence Dept gives him clean chit

Bengaluru, Jul 28: Several state Congress leaders, including its President D K Shivakumar, among others, were detained by police as they tried to march towards Raj Bhavan here against the alleged attempts by BJP to topple the party's government in Rajasthan.

Shivakumar, along with Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, state Congress Working President Eshwar Khandre, Salim Ahmed among others were stopped by the police midway as they marched from KPCC office towards Raj Bhavan.

Congress leaders then staged a dharna at the place where they were stopped. Addressing the gathering, Shivakumar accused the BJP of trying to "murder" democracy by destabilizing and removing elected governments.

"We wanted to protest against it and submit a memorandum to the President through the Governor," but the Karnataka government by using police was not letting them proceed towards Raj Bhavan, he said. "Despite our being a peaceful protest, the police stopped us," he said.

Siddaramaiah, echoing similar views, said peaceful protests against injustice was the right of every citizen. Alleging that the BJP was attempting to destabilise and remove the elected government in Rajasthan as it did in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, he said the Governor's office there (Rajasthan) was being 'misused'.

The Governor was working like an agent of the central government, he charged. He said, despite repeated appeals by the Rajasthan cabinet, the Governor there had not convened the assembly session, for the floor test to take place and for Congress to prove its majority. Police subsequently detained Shivakumar and some other Congress leaders and took them to a nearby police station.

They were later released. Meanwhile, as the Congress' protest amid Covid19 pandemic did not follow social distancing norms, Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar hit out at that party's leaders. In a tweet Sudhakar said, for Congress leaders getting publicity was more important than social concerns.

Mangaluru, Aug 7: Coronavirus surge in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi today at 411  with with Udupi tallying 245 fresh cases and DK 166. 

A dozen deaths also reported from the twin districts. While DK reported seven fatalities, Udupi recorded five deaths. 

With this, Dakshina Kannada district's Covid-19 tally increased to 6,881 and the total number of deaths increased to 208. 

While the district has 3,369 active cases as on date, the day also saw 188 people getting discharged from hospitals. As many as 3,304 persons were discharged in the district so far. 

Out of seven deaths reported in Dakshina Kannada on Friday, five were from Mangaluru taluk and one each from Puttur and Belthangady taluks.

Meanwhile, out of 245 new coronavirus cases reported in Udupi on Friday, 175 are asymptomatic and 86 have no specific contact history. With this, the total number of cases in Udupi increased to 5,605, which includes 2,292 active cases. 

Udupi also reported five fatalities including a female victim, taking the district’s death toll to 55. Udupi deputy commissioner G Jagadeesha said all the five victims were also suffering from various comorbidities. Udupi district has collected Rs 1,43,300 as penalty from people for violating rules related to social distancing and mask till August 6.