Karnataka bans mobile phones inside polling booths

Agencies
April 14, 2019

Bengaluru, Apr 14: Electorate in Karnataka will not be allowed to carry smart-phones or mobile phones inside the polling booth while going to vote to prevent them from taking selfies or recording videos, an official said on Sunday.

"The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) prevents voters from carrying mobile phones or smart-phones and cameras inside the polling booth. In fact, no voter will be allowed to take his/her cellphone within 100 metres radius of the booth.

"They will have to leave it at home or deposit it with the police personnel before entering the booth," Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar told media.

Another poll official admitted that though the MCC has had the ban provision since 2008, it was not enforced strictly during the previous elections for reasons such as manpower shortage and absence of internet-connected smart-phones with a camera.

"The provision to not allow mobile phones or smart-phones inside the booth was observed more in breach in the past, as not many voters had them a decade or five years ago or carried them while going to vote," recalled senior poll official Surya Sen.

With most urban voters now using camera-wielding smart-phones, during the May 2018 Assembly elections many were caught taking selfies while casting their vote or making videos inside the booth as a proof of exercising their franchise.

"This year, the security personnel have been instructed to prevent voters from carrying a mobile or a smartphone inside the booth," said Kumar.

"If the security personnel are busy, the voters can leave their devices with party agents who sit outside the booths with the voter lists," Kumar added.

Polling officials, security personnel and others manning booths, including presiding officers, their assistants and agents of candidates, however, will be allowed to carry and use smart-phones.

Karnataka has 5.11 crore electorate, including 2.6 crore male and 2.5-crore female voters and 4,661 others.

The number of polling booths in 28 seats across the state has increased 7 per cent from 54,265 in the 2014 elections to 58,186 this year.

The state's 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in the central and southern regions go to polls on April 18, while the remaining 14 parliamentary seats cast their vote on April 23.

The 14 constituencies polling in the first phase are Udupi-Chikmagalur, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga (SC), Tumkur, Mandya, Mysore, Chamarajnagar (SC), Bangalore Rural, Bangalore North, Bangalore Central, Bangalore South, Chikkaballapur and Kolar (SC).

Those in the second phase are Chikkodi, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur (SC), Gulbarga (SC), Raichur (ST), Bidar, Koppal, Bellary (ST), Haveri, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Davanagere and Shimoga. The votes will be counted on May 23.

Comments

MR
 - 
Monday, 15 Apr 2019

Mobile phones should be jammed on the day of election so people can vote in peace.

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News Network
July 22,2020

Mangaluru, Jul 22: As many as 184 people from Karnataka stranded in UAE arrived at Mangalore International Airport.

According to sources, the chartered flight, which landed on Tuesday night, was arranged by the UAE Karnataka Cultural Foundation and Beary Cultural Foundation for Kannadigas who had been stranded following the lockdown and also those who had lost their employment.

A team of officials with Puttur Assistant Commissioner Yathish Ullal and Horticulture Department Assistant Director Praveen who were in charge of quarantine facilities for international passengers verified the documents and sent them for institutional quarantine.

Of the 184 passengers, 141 had remained quarantined in Mangaluru while 42 left for Udupi and one to Honnavara in Uttara Kannada, said sources.

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News Network
February 11,2020

Thrissur, Feb 11: The latest test result of the woman medical student, who arrived here from China's Wuhan region and was the first positive case from India for the novel Coronavirus (nCoV), has come out negative, health officials said on Monday.

Her condition was "stable", they said.

According to the state health department as of now, 31 people are in isolation wards across various hospitals in the state.

"The blood test result of the first patient from Thrissur, from the National Institute of Virology (NIV) testing centre at Alappuzha, shows a negative result.

But we need confirmation from the NIV at Pune," a senior medical officer told news agency.

After the first positive case was reported from Thrissur, two other Keralite students from Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, had tested positive in Alappuzha and Kasaragod districts.

The health department had earlier said those in isolation wards of various hospitals in the state have come down to 34.

"A total of 3,367 are under observation across the state, of which 3,336 are under home quarantine," a release issued by the health department said.

The department has already sent at least 364 samples for testing at the NIV at Pune and so far 337 results have returned negative.

The ''state calamity'' alert, which was declared on February 3, was withdrawn on Friday after no new positive cases of infection were detected.

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News Network
March 15,2020

Hubli, Mar 15: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday said that his government has asked Centre to help in setting up of labs in view of the coronavirus cases.

Speaking to reporters after reviewing the situation in the state on coronavirus, Yediyurappa said, "No new cases were reported on Saturday and Sunday. The cases reported are of people who came from abroad. Government has made all preparation to fight against this. We have asked the central government to help in setting up labs wherever required, shortly we will do it."

"We have taken a lot of precautions to prevent the spread of coronavirus. For the first time shutdown has been declared for a week. People are also cooperating with us, we will take a further decision after one week," he added.

Karnataka government has said that as of now six cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the state, including one person who died.

"Till date six COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state including one death. The 5 Coronavirus positive cases are in isolation at the designated hospital in Bengaluru," the Karnataka government said on Sunday.

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