Kannur: 9 CPI(M) workers injured in bomb attack; RSS role suspected

Bengaluru, Jun 26: Karnataka recorded 445 new Covid cases, majority of whom were contacts of earlier positive cases, breaching the 11,000 mark to settle at 11,005, an official said on Friday.

"New cases reported from Thursday 5 p.m. to Friday 5 p.m., 445," said a health official on Friday.

In the past 24 hours, 10 patients succumbed to the virus in Karnataka, three in Bengaluru Urban and one each in Kolar, Dharwad, Shivamogga, Bagalkote, Bidar, Kalaburagi and Ballari.

Like everyday, contacts of earlier cases outnumbered domestic returnees in the number of infections, constituting 39 per cent.

Positive cases with domestic travel history numbered 65, a mere 15 per cent and majority to Maharashtra.

There were also 21 cases with international travel history to countries like Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Dubai.

On Friday, cases spiked in Bengaluru Urban, Ballari, Kalaburagi, Koppal, Dakshina Kannada, Dharwad, Raichur, Gadag, Chamarajanagar, Udupi, Yadgir, Mandya, Uttara Kannada, Bagalkote, Shivamogga, Kolar and Mysuru.

Among the new cases, Bengaluru Urban accounted for 144, followed by Ballari (47), Kalaburagi (42), Koppal (36), Dakshina Kannada (33), Dharwad (30), Raichur (14), Gadag (12), Chamarajanagar (11), Udupi (9), Yadgir (7), Mandya, Uttara Kannada, Bagalkote, Shivamogga and Kolar (6 each).

Mysuru (5), Chikkamagaluru and Kodagu (4 each), Hassan and Bengaluru Rural (3 each), Vijayapura, Tumkur and Haveri (2 each) and Bidar, Belagavi, Davangere, Ramanagara and Chitradurga (1 each).

As many 144 patients are suffering from Influenza-like Illness (ILI) and 19 from Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI).

In all, 5.68 lakh samples have been tested so far, of which 5.41 lakh tested negative.

Meanwhile, 178 patients are admitted in the ICU.

Of the total 180 deaths, Bengaluru Urban has accounted for 81, followed by Bidar (16), Kalaburagi (15), Ballari (9) and Dakshina Kannada (8), among others.

Bengaluru, Mar 3: Bengaluru mayor Gautam Kumar on Tuesday said that the decision to ban protests in front of Town Hall was made by the council and not only by him.

"The decision to ban the protest in front of the Town Hall was made by the entire council and not only my decision. Also, the things which are approved by the councillor are also read by the ruling party leaders," Bengaluru mayor told media.

"Still it is the discretion of the Commissioner to take a call after the council also. As of now, we have banned any protests in front of Town Hall," he added.

Meanwhile, Congress leaders staged a protest against Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Mayor Gautam Kumar and BJP at Council BBMP building against the decision.

"If people will start protesting, it will badly affect the traffic of the city," said Kumar, while commenting on the protest. If they want to talk about the matter, let us have a healthy discussion. I don't have a problem with and I don't think the ruling party has a problem too," he added.

On Sunday, pro-Kannada activist and former MLA Vatal Nagraj staged a protest in front of Sir KP Puttanna Chetty Town Hall (Bangalore Town Hall) against the decision taken by Bengaluru mayor.

Talking to reporters, Nagraj had said: "He does not know the history of the Town Hall. It is a historic building and protests can be staged there."

"Mayor's decision is against Bengaluru's tradition and culture, that's why we are condemning it and are protesting against this decision. We will not allow Mayor's programs in Bengaluru and he will be shown black flags", he added.

Bengaluru, Jul 16: People volunteering as civil police wardens with the city police department will not receive any remuneration, an official said on Wednesday.

“We wish to clarify the rumours floating on social media and confirm that the volunteers helping local police as civil police wardens in enforcement of anti-Covid measures will not be paid any remuneration,” said an official.

On Tuesday, Bengaluru city police commissioner Bhaskar Rao had urged interested people to volunteer for the department, indicating how strained the department has been amid Covid.

“Inviting physically fit and service minded residents of Bengaluru, both men and women, between the age of 18-45 to volunteer as civil police wardens,” said Rao.

The department is offering a choice of the police division, jurisdiction and the shifts one wants to choose to be a civil police warden.

Additional Commissioner of Police Hemant Nimbalkar said volunteers are a welcome support to the police in their field duty but should not be left alone.

“Volunteers are a support to the police in the field and shall not work standalone. They shall be attached with duty police as assistance. A jacket and a cap should be provided to them,” said Nimbalkar.

He reminded that the safety of the volunteers is the responsibility of the policemen.

Many city policemen have been infected with the virus and quarantined while more than six have succumbed.

“It is a tough time for all policemen irrespective of the rank. Four hundred and fifty active cases across the state and the loss of six lives speak volumes about their involvement in the war against Covid,” said Director General of Police Praveen Sood recently.

He expressed hope that the difficult times will pass, saying all the members of the police department are a family.