MLA Sunil Kumar booked for declaring ‘electoral battle between Allah and Rama’

Tumakuru, Feb 5: Former Lokayukta Justice N Santhosh Hegde has questioned the integrity of the B S Yediyurappa led BJP government as it has not taken an action to abolish the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) to re-establish the Lokayukta in Karnataka.

Speaking after felicitating the retired scientist of NASA Gopal Iyengar at the Karnataka Public School at Kadaba in Gubbi taluk he reminded that the BJP had promised to establish the Lokayukta.

"No party will like to strengthen the Lokayukta and now BSY is also tightlipped and even put an end by appreciating that ACB has been doing a good job", he regretted.

In fact, the Lokayakuta had the power to prosecute even the top brass of officials and now the ACB cannot without the government's permission, he clarified.

He denied any remarks on the CAA and NRC but observed that the youths of the country have been misguided by the politicians as they lost their focus on education by involving in protest rallies.

"I suggest they to straight away take a political plunge instead of getting misused at the hands of the politicians with selfish motives", he said.

Bengaluru, Jan 7: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Monday said the much-awaited cabinet expansion will take place in about a week to 10 days and that he wants to complete the exercise before his proposed visit to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum meet later this month.

"Cabinet expansion has to be done in a week or 8-10 days. There is also information that Amit Shah will be coming to Bengaluru on January 16 or 18. Before that I will go to Delhi and get things cleared and will expand the cabinet at the earliest," Mr Yediyurappa said.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said he wanted to complete the exercise before his Davos visit.

"I will make all efforts to expand the cabinet before that," he said.

With Mr Yediyurappa making it clear that 11 of the disqualified JDS-Congress MLAs who got re-elected in the December 5 bypolls on BJP tickets will be made ministers, lobbying has been on within the party for the remaining ministerial berths.

Currently, there are 18 ministers, including the Chief Minister, in the cabinet that has a sanctioned strength of 34.

Cabinet expansion will not be an easy task for the Chief Minister as he will have to strike a balance by accommodating the victorious disqualified legislators as promised and also make space for the old guards, upset at being "neglected" in the first round of the induction exercise.

He also has to give adequate representation to various castes and regions in his cabinet and also deal with the allocation of key portfolios.

The Chief Minister, who has indicated that the ministry expansion may take place any time after Sankranti, is likely to travel to Davos on January 20, according to sources.

BS Yediyurappa, along with Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Mansukh Mandaviya, as well as Chief Ministers Amarinder Singh, Kamal Nath, are expected to join over 100 Indian CEOs at Davos in Switzerland later this month for the WEF's 50th annual meeting, which will be attended by thousands from across the globe.

Bengaluru, Jul 2: Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu on Thursday launched the ICU Telecard, developed by CISCO to address the concerns of doctors treating coronavirus patients.

Wi-Fi networks and Cisco Health platform help to protect the entire medical team dealing with the infected person by ensuring that doctors do not have to be inside isolation wards and COVID ICUs.

The ICU Telecard has been installed at Victoria and KC General hospital.

"This technology is a necessity to safeguard health of our doctors and it should be implemented in all hospitals. We will discuss about this in the task force meeting and decide regarding the use of this technology in all COVID hospitals in the state. For now, we have installed one at Victoria and KC General hospital" said the minister.

Addressing the complaints of non-release of dead bodies without coronavirus testing, Sriramulu said: "Experts have discussed the same in a meeting with the Chief Minister yesterday, who has ordered for an increase in the number of testing labs. This should resolve the issue. We are also contemplating the conduct of plasma therapy in all districts."

The minister said that the government has also decided to reserve two ambulances for every ward to address the issue of non-availability and will procure more ambulances on rent if the existing ones are insufficient.

He further informed that those who were seen dumping the bodies in a pit in Ballari have been suspended and notice has also been served to officials in Yadagiri.

"We will ensure such instances do not repeat in the state," he said.