Goa governor demands action against online promotion of sex trade

Bengaluru, Jul 8: Karnataka has drafted 1,246 government employees into the crucial task of contact tracing to fight the coronavirus pandemic, and they have been warned of action if they refuse to work.

These are Group A, B and C employees from various departments who have been asked to report to senior IAS officer V Manjula, who heads a task force on Covid-19 contact tracing.

In an order, Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar on Tuesday said additional human resources were required to strengthen contact tracing, which is “a very important part” of controlling the spread of Covid-19.

Bengaluru, Mar 6: All the arrested in a case of sedition filed over a school play in Karnataka's Bidar have been granted anticipatory bail by a court that said the case lacked enough basis.

The play, themed on protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), "has not caused any disharmony in the society", said the district and sessions court in Bidar.

The play, performed in January by the children of prestigious Shaheen School, landed in trouble when a sedition complaint was filed over an 11-year-old girl's lines - enacting an elderly woman, she said if anyone asked for documents she would hit them with slippers.

That led to a sedition case and the police questioning children, teachers and the school management over many rounds.

"The drama has not caused any disharmony in the society. Considering all the circumstances, I am of the opinion that the ingredients of Section 124A of IPC (Sedition) are prima facie lacking," said the court.

Five members of the school management team have been granted protection from arrest. Earlier, the head teacher and the mother of the student who spoke the dialogue were sent to custody, but on other charges including the abetment of an offence. They were not accused of sedition. They were later granted bail.

The repeated questioning of young students and the arrest of the widowed mother of a student caused a huge uproar in the town.

An order is expected soon on the bail application in another sedition case in Karnataka, against three Kashmiri students. The students, who were studying in Hubbali in north Karnataka, are facing charges for reportedly using pro-Pakistani slogans in an online post. The Hubbali Bar Association had asked its members not to represent the students. Lawyers from Bengaluru who went to Hubbali represent the students were heckled.

On Thursday, a team of lawyers from different districts again went to Hubballi and were provided police protection. BT Venkatesh, one of the lawyers, said he had a meeting with bar association members and that the matter was sorted out. The students have applied for bail and an order is expected next week.

Mangaluru, Apr 26: City Police Commissioner P S Harsha on Sunday said that the news about the implementation of seal down in some wards of Mangaluru city is fake and urged the public not to pay any heed to it.

Taking to twitter, Mr Harsha wrote, ''Some miscreants are floating some old speculative…TV news reports of seal down in some wards of Mangaluru city. It’s fake news.....Don’t Heed to fake news.''