IFF deploys 1,200 volunteers in holy sites to serve Hajj pilgrims from India

Benglauru, June 14: Even as schools are divided over providing online education, the state Higher Education Department is stressing on continuing online education.

Deputy Chief Minister and Higher Education Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan has stressed the need for digital learning to eliminate educational inequalities.

Taking part in a Webinar on ‘Digitising Higher Education - Challenges and Opportunities,’ organised by the Padmashree Institute of Management, he asked educational institutions to give emphasis to digital learning.

“Digital learning is a means to ensure quality education to all sections of the society without discrimination on the basis of caste, region and religion. This is a solution to eliminate discrimination. Through digital learning, a student in a remote village will also get an opportunity to learn from an experienced and highly qualified teacher.”

In addition to this, students are getting study material in digital form. Keeping these important aspects in mind, all educational institutions should give stress to digital learning without wasting any time,’’ he said.

He, however, admitted that digital learning has its own challenges like - quality internet connectivity, laptops and mobile gadgets.

“We are trying to find a solution to it by raising funds through Corporate Social Responsibility or through government funds,” he said. “We are making efforts to provide 4G network across the State,” he said.

Bengaluru, Mar 13: Amid coronavirus outbreak, all universities, malls, and clubs will remain closed for a week in Karnataka. Karnataka CM Yediyurappa has said no one should travel unless it's an emergency. "All malls, cinema halls, pubs, wedding ceremonies and other large gatherings in the Karnataka have been banned for another one week," Chief Minister Yediyurappa said. This comes hours after the Uttar Pradesh government had decided that all schools, colleges situated in the state will be closed till 31st March 2020.

Following the decision, the Karnataka government on Friday asked doctors and other health staff to work on public holidays also till the spread of coronavirus is contained. Leaves and all week off of state health ministry workers have also been canceled. The government issued a circular stating that certain emergency measures are being taken to control the spread of coronavirus is some parts of the State.

"To manage things in a result-oriented manner, doctors, office personnel, paramedical staff and other permanent and contract employees in hospitals coming under the Health Department have been instructed to work on all public holidays." the government order read.

The decision comes after 76-year-old man in Karnataka's Kalaburagi died of coronavirus and became India's first COVID-19 victim. 46 people in Kalaburagui have been kept under coronavirus quarantine since then. Out of 46, 31 have been put under the "high risk" category. The high-risk persons were shifted to ESIC hospital. Officials said four family members of the man have displayed flu symptoms and their swab samples have been sent for testing in Bengaluru.

Earlier on Friday, an employee of Google's Bengaluru office tested positive for n-coronavirus, taking the total COVID-19 positive cases in Bengaluru to 5. India's total coronavirus positive count rose to 75. Several other states including capital Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh invoked various sections of the epidemic disease act. Meanwhile, the Indian Army has also called off all recruitment drive in wake of coronavirus outbreak.

Even as the Muslims of undivided Dakshina Kannada district broke out of the “spiral of silence” and made history by leading an unprecedented protest against CAA, NPR and NRC as well as the categorial mistreatment of non-saffronites at the hands of the police across the country, mainstream media turned a blind eye to the spectacle at the Shah Garden Maidan in Mangaluru’s Adyar where about two lakh patriots with tricolor in their hands converged to assert themselves on January 15th, 2020, a date which will be remembered by the people of coastal Karnataka forever.

The largest gathering in the history of Mangaluru was absolutely peaceful, law-abiding and respectful. While the slogans of ‘Azaadi’ were reverberating in the atmosphere, the protesters were seen making way for vehicles and passersby, taking care of women and helping elderly citizens on the highway adjacent to the ground. Though the organisers and most of the participants were Muslims, they collectively identified themselves as “We, the people of India”.

The district administration and the police department hadn’t imagined or even dreamt of such a mammoth gathering after blocking the highway and banning public transport from 9 am to 9 pm. Many opine that this action was taken only to discourage the concerned from participating in the protest and to create fear in the hearts of the people who are yet to process the unjustifiable deaths of two innocent citizens in an unwarranted police firing a few weeks ago.

What has since surprised the protesters most is the mainstream media’s blatant attempt to downplay the significance of this largest ever gathering. Shockingly, it could not make it to the front pages of any of the state-level Kannada daily newspapers except city-based Vaartha Bharathi. In the absence of The Hindu, which had announced a holiday on account of Makar Sankranti, most of the English newspapers too pitilessly buried the historic event in their inner pagers. National TV channels too were evidently reluctant to cover the event until NDTV started telecasting the news of the protest.

This uneasy relationship between the media and minorities in coastal Karnataka has long existed, but the non-coverage of the huge protest of Jan 15 marks a quantum leap beyond the media’s traditional pro-Sangh Parivar stance and biases –– which in the past had often demonised non-saffronites –– to now completely ignore and suppress the people’s voice. This media bias has naturally evoked a sharp response from netizens, who took to social media to issue clarion calls to boycott the mainstream media forever.

Cleanliness Drive

Most major protest meets and rallies –– both religious and political –– leave behind tonnes of garbage, especially water bottles, placards and buntings. However, the organisers of the Jan 15 protest meet led by example by launching a cleanliness drive in the area soon after the protesters left the venue peacefully. The drive continued on Jan 16 too. (Ironically, amidst this ongoing cleanliness drive, a local news portal captured photos of a few plastic bottles scattered along the road at Adyar and published a report accusing the event organisers and participants of polluting the area!)