8 dead, a dozen injured as Dharmastala bound bus falls off bridge in Hassan

Bengaluru, Feb 14: Raja and Rani got married on Valentine's Day at Cubbon Park here.

The bride and the groom were decked up in bridal finery were heralded with traditional wedding music with nadaswaram and thavil (percussion) . The catch was that the married couple were horses.

Pro-Kannada activist and Kannada Vatal Party chairman Vatal Nagaraj performed the marriage ceremony of the two horses.

Nagaraj gave a dhoti and shirt to Raja (male horse) and a saree along with a taali (mangal sutra) to Rani (female horse).

Nagaraj has been conducting such ceremonies in the past too. Last year he had married off two sheep- Jacob and Carolyn in a similar ceremony.

The activist says he is all for love and urged anti-Valentine's Day supporters not to oppose lovers and their Valentine's Day celebration.

He also urged the Central government and the Karnataka state governments to give Rs 1 lakh and RS 50,000 respectively to the "lovers to support their love" by helping them get married.

Meanwhile, sweets were distributed to all the guests who had participated in the Valentine's Day marriage ceremony today.

Bengaluru, June 21: An assistant sub-inspector of police who was undergoing treatment for COVID-19 infection in city-based Victoria hospital passed away on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday as he did not respond to the treatment for coronavirus.

The 59-year-old ASI was attached to the Wilson Garden traffic police station in Bengaluru. He tested positive for coronavirus on June 18 and was rushed to the COVID ward in Victoria hospital on June 19. He had fever for the last four days. His wife and two children have been quarantined. According to the police, the station has not yet been sealed down and no policemen have been quarantined.

The Wilson Garden ASI is the third Bengaluru police personnel to die of COVID-19 in the last one week. Earlier, an ASI from the VV Puram traffic police station had died undergoing treatment. On Saturday morning, a head constable from the Kalasipalya police station who was admitted at Victoria hospital passed away. The series of deaths in the police department has created fear among other policemen across the city.

One the other hand, dozens of policemen were tested positive in different parts of Karnataka today including 21 from two police stations of Bengaluru. 

Around 15 policemen from the Kalasipalya police station and five policemen from the Ashok Nagar traffic police station tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday.

In Kalasipalya, three ASIs, head constables and police constables have tested positive. In Ashok Nagar traffic police station, a probationary sub-inspector, an ASI, two police constables and a lady constable tested positive for the virus.

One more police constable working in Bandepalya police station also tested positive. Seven policemen who were in his primary contacts have been quarantined. BBMP officials have begun the process of fumigating the station premises and its surroundings.

Bengaluru, Jan 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday slammed states, which have not enrolled with the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Yojana (PMKSY), saying that such petty politics has done great damage to the farming community.

"I expect that in the new year, those states which are not associated with the Kisan Samman Yojana will at least become a part of it this year," the Prime Minister said at a function in Tumakuru where he disbursed Rs 12,000 crore to six crore beneficiaries under the government scheme in one-go.

Also, he gave away the Krishi Karman Award to the selected farmers and distributed fishing equipment to the chosen ones on the occasion. Modi said political considerations by the state governments in implementing the PMKSY has caused severe loss to the poor farmers.

"Such politics has never strengthened the farmers. Our government understood your (farmers') needs, requirements and your aspirations and accordingly tried to implement the schemes," said Modi.

He further said his government never saw agriculture in fragments but in its totality. Claiming his government has ensured that the entire money reached the poor beneficiaries, Prime Minister hit out at the previous governments, when middlemen ruled the roost.

"There was a time when a rupee was rolled out (by the government) for the poor person, only 15 paise would reach him. The middlemen would pocket the remaining 85 paise. "Today, whatever money is dispatched from Delhi, the entire amount directly reaches the bank account of the beneficiary," he said.

He told the gathering about the various initiatives taken by his government to improve the agriculture sector such as completing the pending irrigation schemes, soil health card and 100 per cent neem-coating in urea.

Due to the initiatives of the government, agriculture production has gone up, he said. Speaking about measures in the fisheries sector, the Prime Minister said the sector has been promoted in the villages, financial help given to fishermen, modernisation of boats and building fisheries-related infrastructure have been done.