Dalit youths thrashed by Bajrang Dal workers while having food at a restaurant

Bengaluru, July 31: Denying irregularities in covid-19 equipment purchase by the Karnataka government, the state unit of the BJP has issued legal notices to Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar demanding that they apologize or face a defamation suit. 

The notices seek a public apology for the allegations levelled against the government on irregularities in the procurement of Covid-19 equipment and supplies. 

Both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, the Karnataka Congress president, have been doggedly pursuing allegations of corruption against the BJP government and have demanded a judicial inquiry. 

BJP general secretary N Ravi Kumar said that while the Congress leaders claimed that Rs 4,157 crore was spent during Covid-19, they also allege that the government has not responded to any of the 20 letters written by them. "If the government has not provided any answer to the Opposition, where did they get the figures from," he said.

None of the allegations of corruption is specific and the statements made are factually incorrect. "These statements, without any basis, have been issued calculatedly to lower the image and damage the reputation of the government, the Bharatiya Janata Party, representatives of the party and the ministers in the government," the notice issued on behalf of Ravi Kumar read.

Bengaluru, Aug 6: With rains in several parts of Karnataka amid Covid-19 pandemic, state Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar on Thursday asked the people to maintain caution and contact the Health department helpline in case of any symptoms.

"There is heavy rain in several districts of the state's coastal, Malnad and north interior regions. People have to observe utmost caution during these rains amid corona infections. In case of any symptoms like fever, cough and cold immediately call the health department helpline 104," Sudhakar tweeted.

As of August 5 evening, cumulatively 1,51,449 Covid-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 2,804 deaths and 74,679 discharges.

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru urban tops the list accounting for 64,881 cases.

Regarding Bengaluru, Sudhakar said, there are 4,276 beds across 11 Covid care centres in Bengaluru.

"As of today morning, 936 of them i.e., 27.79 percent are vacant. Out of the 3,346 patients, 306 patients are due for discharge today," he said in another tweet.

Aimed at availing beds at Covid-19 hospitals for symptomatic patients and those in need, the government had decided to shift all asymptomatic patients to Covid care centres.