Jarkiholi will quit Congress, he has sympathy towards Opposition: Poojary

Mandya, Jun 13: Degree colleges will begin classes after the lockdown is lifted and dates for examinations will be announced later, said deputy chief minister CR Ashwath Narayan on Friday.

Speaking at College of Agriculture, Mandya (VC Farm) on Friday, Ashwath Narayan said the lockdown will be completely phased out on June 30 and degree colleges will begin classes after that. “We will speak with all stakeholders to chalk out measures as to how to reopen degree colleges amidst coronavirus scare. All students must continue their studies and be prepared for exams,” he said.

Narayan said the cabinet has approved to upgrade VC Farm as a university and an ordinance will soon be promulgated in this regard. “There is a need to change the present curriculum to meet present day requirements. VC Farm will be made into a world class agriculture university and a vice chancellor will be appointed,” he said.

“Apart from traditional education, we must concentrate on skill-based education as it should create more job opportunities. We are committed to establish more skill-based educational institutes in Mandya district,” Narayan said.

Later Narayan visited Shivaragudda near Maddur and inspected 48 acres of government land which could be used for establishing skill-based education institutions. “This land was earlier used for imparting skill-based education in a collaboration with Denmark. Sir M Visvesvaraya had established skill-based institutions here in 1923 and now they have become defunct. The then prime minister of Denmark had inaugurated this century old institution. We will revive it and this will help local youths,” he said.

‘Ticket promised only to R Shankar’

When asked, Narayan said R Shankar, who quit the Congress-JD(S) coalition and joined BJP will be given a party ticket to contest the legislative council election. “Except Shankar, the high command did not promise council tickets to those who quit congress and JD(S) and joined our party. It is true that there is hectic lobbying in BJP to get tickets,” he said.

Bengaluru, Feb 10: Two Iranian nationals have been arrested by the Karnataka police for allegedly stealing money from car showrooms by diverting cashiers’ attention in Mangaluru, Udupi and Bengaluru.

The arrested are Saeed Rostami, 26 and his friend Saber Hossein Eghbalzadeh, 35, are both residents of Tehran and in India on tourist visa. They were caught by the sleuths of Bengaluru’s RMC Yard police station.

The accused would approach the cashiers, asking for change for Rs 2000 notes to divert their attention and flee with cash from the showroom. 

The duo landed in New Delhi on January 16. Later, they arrived in coastal Karnataka before reaching Bengaluru on February 1. 

The same day around 4pm, the two visited Trident Automobile Pvt Ltd’s service centre in RMC Yard. They went to cashier Kiran and sought change for Rs 2000. One of them dropped the note and Kiran picked it up for him. Meanwhile, Kiran also noticed there was no change in his cash box and informed the duo accordingly. 

“Kiran later realised Rs 44,000 was missing from the cash box. He verified CCTV footage and found the two visitors stole the money when he bent down to pick up the Rs 2000 note,” a police officer said.

Kiran filed a theft and cheating case against the men. RMC Yard police suggested Kiran circulate the footage at other car showrooms and service centres as they had heard about similar incidents being reported from Udupi, Mangaluru and other places in Bengaluru.

“Sharing of CCTV footage helped us nab the suspects. They visited a showroom near Cauvery junction on Ballari Road on February 6. The staff noticed the duo and realised they were the same guys, who had stolen the money at RMC Yard and informed us,” said police.

Bengaluru, May 30: The Karnataka government will soon launch a project to maintain the health database of all its citizens, said Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Friday.

A first of its kind initiative, the "State Health Register" will be a robust and standardised health repository of all the citizens, as per an official release.

Sudhakar said that the project will be implemented first in Chikkaballapur district on an experimental basis. "Enhanced focus on healthcare has become imperative and our government is committed to providing world-class healthcare to all citizens," he added.

While speaking to media, the minister said that COVID-19 experience has demonstrated the necessity of having robust, real-time public health data and, therefore, there is a need to maintain a repository of health data of each and every citizen.

He said that the government will be undertaking a survey of all 6.5 crore people in the state, by using a team of Primary Health Centre officials, revenue officials, education department staff and ASHA karyakartas.

"They will visit each household and collect health data of all the members of the family. This will not only help the government to provide better healthcare but will also help efficient resource allocation, management and better implementation of various citizen-centric schemes in the state," Sudhakar stated.

"Public-Private Partnership -- It's our vision to provide world-class healthcare to all citizens in the state and we need accurate data to make our vision a reality. The health register is a futuristic project which is taken up in the interest of the people. The project will include 50 per cent partnership of private hospitals. The data collected will help us to prioritise healthcare based on geography, demography and other targetted measures," read the release.

Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has assured all support for the project and a detailed discussion will be undertaken in the upcoming cabinet meeting, said Dr Sudhakar.

The minister also assured that he is committed to ensuring that all citizens of the state have access to world-class healthcare.