Former CM Siddaramaiah unhurt, 5 SUVs damaged in serial crash

Mangaluru, Jul 9: The National Highway 73 between Mangaluru and Chikmagalur was blocked after a huge tree was uprooted and fell on the road near Somanthadka near Belthangady on Thursday due to heavy rain which has been lashing the region since last three days.

The monsoon rain has shifted from the coastal belt to the hilly region of the Western Ghats leading to closure of major roads after a tree was uprooted.

Karkala BJP MLA Sunil Kumar, who was traveling to Bengaluru had to wait for a long time for the traffic to clear.

Meanwhile Chikkamagaluru Deputy Commissioner Dr Bagadi Gautam imposed ban on movement of vehicles on Charmadi ghat from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

New Delhi, Mar 12: A PIL was moved in the Delhi High Court on Thursday seeking directions to the Centre to take appropriate steps for stopping religious conversion of socially and economically downtrodden people, particularly of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe community.

The plea claims that the government has done nothing to stop religious conversions.

The plea is listed before a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar on Friday.

The petition, by BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, alleges that many individuals, NGOs and institutions are converting downtrodden persons by "intimidating, threatening, luring by monetary benefits and by other acts, including miracle healing, black magic and more".

"Many individuals/organizations have started conversions of SC/STs in rural areas and the situation is very alarming. The mass religious conversion of the socially economically downtrodden men, women and children, and, in particular of the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe community, is on the rise in the last 20 years," the petition claims.

It further claims as per the 2011 census, Hindus constitute 79 per cent of the population down from 86 per cent in 2001 and if no action is taken "Hindus will become minority in India".

Upadhyay suggested enacting of a law to prevent conversions by force or deceit and to award jail term for any violation.

"Additionally, the State may empower the National Human Rights Commission to deal with the affairs of religious groups and analyse religious discrimination among them," he suggests.

Apart from seeking steps to prevent religious conversions by force, threats or deceit, the petition also wants directions prohibiting religious gatherings "intended to mislead people by making false and untenable claims" to lure ignorant masses to join a particular faith or religious group.

Bengaluru, Jul 12: Karnataka on Sunday registered 71 COVID-19 deaths, its highest single day count, and 2,627 fresh cases, pushing the tally of infections in the state to 38,843, the health department said.

The total positive cases include 22,746 active cases and 15,409 discharges, the department said in its daily bulletin.

The total active cases include 532 people admitted in the ICUs across the state.

Of the 71 fatalities, a record 45 were reported in Bengaluru alone including the death of 16 day-old baby girl and 17-year-old girl with chronic kidney disease, taking the total mortalities in the city to 274.

Among the districts, where new cases were reported, Bengaluru urban accounted for 1,525 cases, followed by Dakshina Kannada with 196, Dharwad 129, Yadagiri 120, and 19 in Bengaluru Rural.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, 8.39 lakh samples have been tested including 20,050 on Sunday alone, of which 7.80 lakh tested negative.

Other than Bengaluru, five fatalities were reported in Dakshina Kannada, three each in Mysuru, Hassan, Davangere and Belagavi, two each in Haveri and Bagalkote and one each in Dharwad, Koppal, Tumakuru, Vijayapura and Chamarajanagar.

While majority of those who died of coronavirus suffered from Severe Acute Respiratory Illness and Influenza Like Illness, significantly 21 victims did not have any pre-medical conditions while eight were the asymptomatic patients with pre-medical conditions.