Congress bites dust in Udupi dist; BJP sweeps all five constituencies

Bengaluru, Jun 23: Karnataka Congress leader and Kanakapura MLA DK Shivakumar said on Monday that in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, people of his assembly constituency have taken a unanimous decision of remaining under voluntary lockdown until July 1.

The decision was taken after he headed a meeting at Kanakapura on Sunday, at the office of Kanakapura Municipality.

"Let us consider the situation after July 1, hold a similar meeting, and take the next decision. It has nothing to do with the state government's mandate. It came to the conclusion that this was a decision that we all voluntarily took," said DK Shivakumar.

DK Shivakumar informed that the merchants have agreed to sell groceries, fruits, vegetables, fennel, meat and other food items from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. only. District authorities, DCs, SPs and hospital representatives have decided the timings of clinics and drug stores.

He further said, "In this self-motivated lockdown, unnecessary driving should be avoided. The social gap must be maintained. No one should be oppressed by anyone."

Member of Parliament DK Suresh, Ravi - Ramanagara District Collector Archana, SP Anoop Shetty, and Kanakapura Planning Authority Chairman Jagannath were also present in the meeting.

New Delhi, Jun 9: Elections to seven seats of the Karnataka Legislative Council will be held on June 29, the poll panel announced on Tuesday.

The seven seats are falling vacant on June 30, according to an Election Commission statement.

Members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly will vote on June 29 to elect the seven new MLCs.

The Commission has directed the Karnataka chief secretary to depute a senior officer to ensure that the  instructions regarding COVID-19 containment measures are complied with during the elections.

The counting of votes will be held on the evening of June 29 after completion of polls, as per practice.

The notification for the elections will be issued on June 11, the statement said.

MLCs are usually elected by four types of electors -- MLAs, Graduates, Teachers and members of local authorities.

On Monday, the Commission had deferred elections to four seats of the Karnataka Legislative Council -- two each from Teachers and Graduate constituencies -- falling vacant on June 30 due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

"If MLAs are electors, the size of the electorate is small and the assembly building is the only polling station. When the electorate is teachers or graduates, the number of those who can vote is higher.

Due to the virus, Commission only allowed polls to seats where MLAs are the electors to prevent large gatherings," explained a senior EC functionary.

Bengaluru, Mar 27: The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Wednesday said it has created nine quarantine facilities of 200-300 personnel capacity each at its nodal bases across the country to combat the outbreak of novel coronavirus.
"To monitor the prevailing situation and provide immediate response and assistance as required, a 24x7 crisis management cell has been set up at the IAF Headquarters and various Command Headquarters," stated an IAF press release.
IAF aircraft are continuing to fly in medical supplies and doctors to Leh and fly out blood samples for COVID-19 testing to Chandigarh and Delhi, the release noted.
"Command Hospital Air Force Bangalore (CHAFB) has been designated as the first laboratory in the IAF to undertake COVID-19 testing, which will greatly enhance the region's ability to carry out quick testing of suspected cases and allow prompt and timely intervention where required," it mentioned.
All measures and directives issued by the government towards containing the spread of COVID-19 have been strictly enforced across all IAF stations, the release stated.
"The Indian Air Force continues to take measures to provide all possible assistance to civil administration across the country in containing the spread of COVID-19. The IAF has created nine quarantine facilities of 200-300 personnel capacity each at nodal IAF bases across the country," the release noted.