Cong made sacrifice by forming govt with JDS: Gundu Rao

Bengaluru, Jul 1: Karnataka government has announced a complete lockdown on Sundays till August 2. "There shall be complete lockdown on Sundays from July 5 and followed by next four Sundays till August 2," stated the government. 

"However, essential activities allowed during night curfew will be permitted during Sunday lockdown too. Marriages already fixed on Sundays will be permitted as per norms," also said.

The government further ordered, "All government offices, Boards and Corporations, except those operating and maintaining essential services, shall remain closed on all Saturdays till the second week of August."

Employers should ensure that the Aarogya Setu app is downloaded and used by the employees. The app enables the identification of potential risk of infection,

Regarding Sunday Lockdown, it said, there shall be complete lockdown on Sundays with effect from 5th July, 2020, and followed by next 4 Sundays till 2nd August, 2020.

However, the essential activities as above permitted during Night Curfew shall be permitted during the Sunday lockdown also.

Lockdown in Containment Zones in Karnataka

Lockdown will continue to remain in force in the Containment zones. In the Containment Zones, only essential activities shall be allowed. There shall be strict perimeter control to ensure that there is no movement of people in or out of these zones, except for medical emergencies and for facilitating supply of essential goods and services. In the Containment Zones, there shall be intensive contact tracing, house-to-house surveillance, and other clinical interventions, as required.

All vulnerable persons, individuals above 65, persons with comorbidities, pregnant women and children below the age of 10 years are advised to stay at home, except for health and essential purposes.

Karnataka saw 947 new coronavirus cases, including 503 cases from Bengaluru Urban, taking the total number of cases to 15,242. Death toll has jumped to 246 after 20 deaths were reported on Tuesday, according to the data released by Union Health Ministry. 

Tumkuru, Feb 26: A man was arrested from Azad Nagar area of Anantpur on Wednesday for making derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammed and posting it on social media earlier this month, police said.

He was identified as Atul Kumar alias Madhugiri Modi, a resident of Madhugiri’s Hobali Honnapur village.

According to Superintendent of Police Vamshikrishna teams had been formed to arrest the accused following protests against his video and remarks against Prophet Mohammed in Tumkuru and Madhugiri,

Bengaluru, Apr 11: Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda claimed the lockdown decision was taken in 'haste' without forethought because of which farmers and the working class were 'suffering' and suggested measures to mitigate the impact. The state government should have consulted experienced citizens, officials, progressive farmers, farmer organisations and wholesale traders about the pros and cons before lockdown, he said in a letter to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, while highlighting that 61 per cent of the state's population depended on agriculture.

Because of the "hasty decision taken without any preparations", farmers of the country and the state are facing financial distress," he said in the April 9 letter, a copy of which was released to media here on Friday. The JD(S) patriarch suggested taking up some measures, including ensuring no restrictions on agriculture activities, procurement of horticulture produce at a fair price, relaxing export curbs on it, to provide relief to farmers, agriculture labourers, and daily wage workers.

On Sunday, Gowda had said he has assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his support in the nation's battle against COVID-19 pandemic when the latter called him to discuss the situation. In his letter to the chief minister, Gowda said: "...the lockdown implemented to control the spread of coronavirus has led our farmers into despair and put their lives into a burning fire.

This lockdown looks like a decision taken at haste without proper thinking and forethought for our farmers, agriculture labourers, and daily wage workers." He said the lockdown decision was taken after remaining 'quite' for about two months since the first corona infection was reported in the country on January 30. Among the suggestions made by the former prime minister include, procurement of horticulture produce at a fair price like in the case of milk from villages by the government through related organisations like Karnataka Horticulture Federation, HOPCOMS among others.

As horticulture produce was perishable, there should be no restriction on its procurement, transportation and marketing; all processing related activities of horticulture produce should be given relaxation from the lockdown, he said. Gowda also called for relaxation on exports for horticulture produce and its processed items. There should be no restriction on agriculture activities; a national grid has to be set up for marketing of horticulture produce, he said.

If such measures were not taken up immediately, the government will have to pay compensation to farmers for losses. Lack of remedial measures would lead to a shortage of supply, leading to rebellion from the people and may result in farmers' suicides and bringing about a situation that might be more grave than coroanvirus, he said.