U Kanachur Monu is chairman of Dakshina Kannada Wakf Advisory Committee

Bengaluru, Jan 21: Controversial Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan will remain in state-syllabus textbooks in the next academic year (2020-21) too. But the government will form another committee to look at the subject afresh.

"Efforts are on to give textbooks and uniforms the day schools open next academic year. After a discussion with the CM, we decided to not make any changes in the textbooks for the upcoming academic year,"said primary and secondary education minister S Suresh Kumar.

No political angle, says minister

However, we will form a committee to look into it again,” said the minister.

Three months ago, Madikeri MLA Appachu Ranjan had written to the minister seeking removal of contents on Tipu Sultan from Karnataka state syllabus books of classes 6,7 and 10. The minister said: “Appachu Ranjan is a five-time MLA. When he sent a letter, it’s my duty to seek an opinion on it. There’s no political angle here.”

Udupi, June 30: A girl who appeared for SSLC exams in three subjects tested positive for COVID-19 in Kundapur taluk of Udupi district today.

Sheshashayana Karinja, Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) said that the 15-year-old girl had a headache and her parents took her for testing and she had tested positive for COVID-19.

She will appear for the remaining three subjects during the supplementary exams in August.

The room where the girl appeared for the exam had been sanitised. But exams would not be held in that room. All precautions have been taken in that exam centre in Kundapur taluk, Mr. Karinja said.

The other 19 students will be allowed to write their exams as there was a distance of one metre between them and there was no contact between the students during the exams, Mr. Karinja added.

It is learned that a couple of months ago, a Mumbai returnee who recovered from COVID-19 had visited the girl’s house. However, it is not clear that she got an infection from the Mumbai returnee.

It could be recalled here that a student from Hejamadi in Udupi district who was preparing for the Science exam had tested positive two days back and she is currently being treated at a hospital.

Bengaluru, June 23: Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar has urged his party colleagues to be active on social media to counter the propaganda of Bharatiya Janata Party.

Speaking to media persons, the KPCC president said that no more than 20 out of the 68 Congress MLAs are active on social media.

“All those MLAs who are doing well need to be projected. We want leaders, not mere followers. They all should be the face of Congress in Karnataka. Party should not depend on just my face or Siddaramaiah’s,” he said.

Shivakumar’s diktat has resulted in the party’s social media unit scrambling to get leaders to create their accounts.

“We’re pressuring all the party MLAs and leaders. We’re asking their personal assistants or gunmen to operate their accounts if they are not savvy with social media,” KPCC social media chief A N Nataraj Gowda said.

He pointed out that the 20 MLAs who are active on social media include U T Khader, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Priyank Kharge, Krishna Byre Gowda among others.

“We’re also trying to get the accounts verified of those who are beginning to get active. For example, it was only recently that we got the accounts of S R Patil and Vijay Singh verified,” Gowda said.

Tapping the full potential of social media is crucial for the Congress because the BJP has found much success in reaching out to voters through various online platforms.

In fact, ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections, the Congress found that there were 10 ministers and some 40 MLAs who had turned a blind eye towards social media.

Shivakumar said he was also working on putting in place a system in the party under which all developments related to the state and country will be communicated to all party leaders at 10 am every day.