Reconsider removing Tipu Sultan from textbooks: BJP MP to Karnataka govt

Mangaluru/Udupi, May 22: Two prominent Qadhis of coastal Karnataka today declared that Eid al-Fitr will be observed in the region on Sunday, May 24.

Twaqa Ahmed Musliyar, the Qadhi of Mangaluru and Ibrahim Musliyar Bekal, Qadhi of Udupi Samyukta Jamaat in their separate statements made this announcement. 

The decision was taken as there was no news of new moon sighting in the coastal region today.

Ullal Qadhi Qurrathussadath Seyyid Fazal Koyamma Thangal Al Bukhari also announced that 24th May is first of Shawwal and Eid al Fithr will be celebrated on that day.

Bengaluru, Apr 28: A CRPF jawan has been arrested in Karnataka for allegedly defying the COVID-19 lockdown norms with the paramilitary force taking strong exception to his 'ill treatment', following which an inquiry has been ordered by the state police.

State DGP Praveen Sood has ordered inquiry into the incident, which has triggered a row after a video of it went viral.

In the clip, some police constables are purportedly seen hitting CRPF soldier Sachin Sawant with sticks in Belagavi.

According to the information shared on social media, Sawant was washing his bike when a police team reached the spot and started beating him up for not wearing a mask during the lockdown.

Taking a serious view of the 'ill-treatment' meted out to its Cobra Commando, the CRPF has written a letter to the Karnataka police demanding an investigation into the matter.

In a letter to the DGP of Karnataka, the additional Director general of police of CRPF Sanjay Arora said Sawant was cleaning his bike when a skirmish happened between him and the police over not wearing the mask.

Arora wrote, "Sawant was manhandled and ill-treated, before his family members and paraded to the police station barefoot, where he was kept in chains and handcuff.

From the scrutiny of a viral video on social media, it is apparent that the conduct of police personnel was not citizen centric."

The CRPF ADGP also said the 'unpleasant' situation could have been avoided if the Karnataka police had taken CRPF hierarchy into confidence before making the arrest.

In response, Sood ordered an inquiry into the matter.

He tweeted that IGP Belagavi has been asked to conduct a probe into the incident involving CRPF constable. Action will be taken against guilty after receipt of report, he said.

According to sources, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai has directed the state police chief to conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident.

Denouncing the arrest, Karnataka Irrigation Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi has sought the release of the CRPF jawan.

"It was wrong on the part of the constables to ill treat CRPF jawan and an inquiry be conducted against the erring policemen," said jarkiholi in a press release.

However, Superintendent of Police of Belagavi district, Laxman Nimbargi defended the arrest of Sawant.

Bengaluru, Jul 16: Karnataka Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar on Thursday paid a surprise visit to the C V Raman Hospital in Bengaluru and urged the administration to follow COVID-19 guidelines properly. He also took stock of the hospital's preparedness to fight the deadly virus.

The minister noticed a number of flaws and warned the hospital to go strictly by the guidelines. He saw that despite 15 high-flow oxygen beds lay vacant, only two patients were admitted. He then asked the hospital to send asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients to COVID-19 care centres so that beds were available to those who need these.

"Doctors' profession is a noble one and in a situation like this everyone should perform their duty with utmost humanity and compassion. During this crisis, we should all be kind and empathetic," the minister said. He also ordered the suspension of two officials for not following the guidelines and not giving the right treatment to patients.

He noticed that the hospital lab collected less number of swabs and instructed them to collect a minimum of 500 swabs per day. Pointing out the under-utilised beds and ICUs, he observed that because of such negligence by officials, the government is being blamed despite working day and night for the past four-five months.
During this visit, the minister also interacted with the patients through video call and enquired about the services provided to them by the hospital.

"Surprise visits will continue. I will be in touch with every lab and get the right number of tests done on a daily basis," the minister said while speaking to the media.

He also urged the people who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate their plasma to save other lives, adding that donors will receive a reward of Rs 5000 as a token of appreciation.