Rai to lead ‘harmony walk’ sans BJP, SDPI on Dec 12 in ‘communal hub’

Bengaluru, Jun 17: Amid rising COVID cases in the past two weeks, the Karnataka government is planning to increase testing capacity to 25,000 samples a day, said a minister.

"Due to increase in cases in the last two weeks, the government is trying to scale up testing to 15,000 to 25,000 samples per day," said Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar.

He said people living in crowded places, sanitation workers, street vendors, healthcare workers, police and other frontline staff would be extensively tested.

"It has also been decided to mandatorily test all those who have symptoms of Influenza Like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI)," he said.

Similarly, all people over 50 with ILI symptoms will be tested.

The health department will also randomly test samples in old containment zones to make sure that the infection is not recurring.

Currently, there are 72 Covid testing labs in the southern state, 41 government operated and 31 private labs.

However, for a few days, the number of Covid tests in the state have plummeted.

On Monday, the health department has tested only 5,362 samples across the state.

Likewise, on Tuesday, only 7,936 samples were tested, diverging from earlier weeks when around 10,000 cases were tested on an average.

In all, 4.57 lakh samples have been tested so far, of which 4.39 lakh have tested negative.

Bengaluru, April 2: At least three people have been arrested by police in connection with the attack on ASHA worker Krishnaveni in Bengaluru's Byatarayanapura area.

Earlier in the day, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao said that an investigation was initiated into the incident in which ASHA workers were attacked.

"I have appointed Pulikeshi Nagar ACP, Tabarak Fathima, to investigate the matter. A case will be registered and action will be taken. ASHA workers will be protected by the police to carry out their functions," Rao told ANI here.

Earlier, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan visited one of the ASHA workers who was allegedly attacked by unidentified miscreants and termed the incident as "completely demoralising" for the workers.

ASHA workers, who were deployed to spread awareness about coronavirus and identify suspected cases, were allegedly attacked by a group of locals in Byatarayanapura here on Wednesday.

The workers said that the locals did not allow them to work and around 100 people gathered at the spot and harassed them.

This comes as the country is under a 21-day lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Bengaluru, Jan 15: Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology in Bengaluru has decided to remain shut for two days after a group of BJP workers wiped out graffiti on its outer walls claiming it as anti-Modi and allegedly warned them against any anti CAA agitation there.

According to sources, the group led by Yelahanka MLA S R Vishwanath allegedly even towed away some vehicles of students and faculty parked in front of the institute alleging that they were blocking the road and causing inconvenience to the local people.

Some students have alleged that they were threatened by BJP workers and also the institute's authorities regarding the graffiti and the blocking of the road using traffic police.

They even claimed that BJP workers warned them against organising any anti-NRC or CAA protests.

A few local residents are also said to have joined the BJP workers and raised complaints about the conduct of the institute's students.

According to local BJP workers, the MLA and a few party men had gone near the institute on receiving complaints from locals about vehicles parked there blocking the road, and when they came across the graffiti they painted it with saffron paint to avoid any controversy, and there was no altercation as being alleged.

However, there is no clarity on who drew the graffiti regarding Modi, which according to BJP workers allegedly depicted the PM in poor light.

The institute has declared holiday on Thursday and Friday to avoid any further escalation, keeping the interest and safety of students in mind, sources said.

Interestingly, on Tuesday graffiti had appeared overnight on the shutters of some shops and walls on the Church Street against Modi, CAA and NRC, following which the city police have launched an investigation.