19-year-old boy killed as speeding SUV rams into his motorbike

Bengaluru, Jun 9: Two grassroots level workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday filed their nominations for the Rajya Sabha elections from Karnataka, Chief Minister and senior BJP leader BS Yediyurappa said.

"Eranna Kadadi and Ashok Gasti have filed nominations for the Rajya Sabha elections from Karnataka. It is only in BJP that grassroots level workers are given recognition," Yediyurappa told reporters here.

The elections to fill the vacant 18 Rajya Sabha seats from seven states are scheduled to be held on June 19. Elections to four Rajya Sabha seats will be held in Karnataka.

"The core committee of the party had recommended a few names. Afterwards, the party's all-India president consulted with me. Finally, these two names were finalised," Yediyurappa said.

The nominations will be scrutinised on Wednesday and the last date for withdrawal of nomination is June 12.

Notably, the Janata Dal (Secular) on Monday announced that party supremo and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda has decided to contest the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections.

Istanbul: Mosques in Turkey reopened on Friday for mass prayers after more than two months as the government further eased strict restrictions to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.

Turkey has been shifting since May to a "new normal" by easing lockdown measures and opening shopping malls, barbershops and hair salons.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said many other sites -- restaurants and cafes as well as libraries, parks and beaches -- will reopen from Monday.

Hundreds of worshippers wearing protective masks performed mass prayers outside Istanbul's historic Blue Mosque for the first time since mosques were shut down in March.

In the Ottoman-era Fatih mosque, worshippers prayed both inside and outside, with the municipality handing out disinfectants and disposable carpets.

"I have waited a lot for this, I have prayed a lot. I can say it's like a new birth, thanks to God, he has brought us back here," he said.

Another worshipper, Asum Tekif, 50, said: "It has a been a long time... we missed the mosques."

Turkey, a country of 83 million, has so far recorded 4,489 coronavirus-related deaths and 162,120 confirmed cases.

Prayers in Hagia Sophia

Muslim clerics on Friday recited prayers in the Hagia Sophia, the world famous Istanbul landmark which is now a museum after serving as a church and a mosque.

The prayers were held to celebrate the anniversary of the conquest of Constantinople, today's Istanbul, by the Ottomans in 1453.

"It is very important to commemorate the 567th anniversary of the conquest ... through prayers in the Hagia Sophia," said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who attended the ceremony via videoconference.

The stunning edifice was first built as a church in the sixth century under the Byzantine Empire as the centrepiece of its capital Constantinople.

After the Ottoman conquest, it was converted into a mosque before being turned into a museum during the rule of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, in the 1930s.

But there have been hints about reconverting the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Last year, Erdogan himself mooted the possibility of turning Hagia Sofia museum into a mosque.

Such calls have sparked anger among Christians and raised tensions with neighbouring Greece.

In 2015, a Muslim cleric recited the Koran in the Hagia Sophia for the first time in 85 years to mark the opening of an exhibition.

After Friday prayers at the Blue Mosque, a small group of Muslim worshippers shouted: "Let the chains break and let the Hagia Sophia open".

The group was later dispersed by the police who stopped them from protesting near Hagia Sophia that sits immediately opposite the Blue Mosque.

Bengaluru, Jul 9: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Thursday said the Covid-19 situation was “getting out of control a little” in some parts of the state, but assured citizens that authorities were taking necessary steps. 

“In some districts, it’s getting out of control a little. But the district administration and police are working day and night,” Yediyurappa said before the Cabinet meeting where the Covid-19 situation will be discussed. 

Speculation is rife that the government might consider stricter measures to curb the movement of people to try arresting the rising number of Covid-19 cases. 

Later in the day, Yediyurappa is slated to inspect the Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre, which has been converted into a Covid Care Centre with 10,000 beds. The chief minister said he had ordered “immediate” arrangement of more ambulances for Bengaluru, where cases are rapidly shooting up. 

“A team from the Centre had come. They’ve made some observations and they also appreciated us for some of the things we’ve done,” he added. 

On Friday, Yediyurappa has convened a meeting of all Bengaluru ministers, legislators, MPs and councillors to discuss the Covid-19 pandemic in the city.