HDK, BSY promise Development Authority for Brahmin community

Bengaluru, June 23: Karnataka Congress chief D K Shivakumar has urged his party colleagues to be active on social media to counter the propaganda of Bharatiya Janata Party.

Speaking to media persons, the KPCC president said that no more than 20 out of the 68 Congress MLAs are active on social media.

“All those MLAs who are doing well need to be projected. We want leaders, not mere followers. They all should be the face of Congress in Karnataka. Party should not depend on just my face or Siddaramaiah’s,” he said.

Shivakumar’s diktat has resulted in the party’s social media unit scrambling to get leaders to create their accounts.

“We’re pressuring all the party MLAs and leaders. We’re asking their personal assistants or gunmen to operate their accounts if they are not savvy with social media,” KPCC social media chief A N Nataraj Gowda said.

He pointed out that the 20 MLAs who are active on social media include U T Khader, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Priyank Kharge, Krishna Byre Gowda among others.

“We’re also trying to get the accounts verified of those who are beginning to get active. For example, it was only recently that we got the accounts of S R Patil and Vijay Singh verified,” Gowda said.

Tapping the full potential of social media is crucial for the Congress because the BJP has found much success in reaching out to voters through various online platforms.

In fact, ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections, the Congress found that there were 10 ministers and some 40 MLAs who had turned a blind eye towards social media.

Shivakumar said he was also working on putting in place a system in the party under which all developments related to the state and country will be communicated to all party leaders at 10 am every day.

Mysore,  Apr 1: A team of the state Health Ministry on Monday visited the pharmaceuticals company whose several employees were tested positive for COVID-19.

The team asked the remaining employees to stay under quarantine in separate rooms.

"The department is investigating whether this company has got any connection with China or received any object which might have brought coronavirus with it," said Jawaid Akhtar, principal secretary of the health department.

Karnataka Health Minister on Wednesday confirmed that the current COVID-19 positive cases in the state stood at 101.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases have reached 1,637 in India, including 1,466 active cases, 133 cured/discharged/migrated people and 38 deaths.

Bengaluru, Jan 6: Students and teachers from various colleges in Bengaluru gathered at the Town Hall in the city to protest against the violence which broke out at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in New Delhi on January 5.

The students raised slogans against Home Minister Amit Shah and Delhi Police.

Placards that read 'The more you attack, the stronger we become', 'Take off your masks terrorist', 'With JNU' were seen during the protest.

"We are here to protest against the incident that took place at JNU with our brothers and sisters. What Delhi Police did was shameful and they should have taken charge of the situation long before and not waited for three hours. We stand with JNU," Nisha, a protestor told ANI.

Professors present at the protest expressed regret over the incident and said attacks on the universities is a sick situation in the country.

"This is sick, where have we come to -- violence in the universities? I was so safe when I was studying in college; what we are giving to our students is horrible," said Sangeeta, a professor present at the protest.

Politicians, cutting across party lines, have condemned the attack on students in JNU and demanded strict action against those found guilty.

More than 18 students were taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre after a masked mob entered the JNU campus and attacked them and some professors with sticks and rods.