Man poses as actor on Facebook, dupes aspiring actress of Rs 25,000

Mar 11: The Karnataka government on Wednesday started a campaign called 'Namaste over Handshake' that encourages people to greet in the traditional Indian style, to tackle the spread of coronavirus.

The campaign also includes health advice on how people can protect themselves from the infection by adopting hygiene practices such as regularly washing hands to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

As part of the campaign, the state health and family welfare department has uploaded a poster on the social media, featuring a 'Bharatnatyam' dancer draped in a red saree saying 'Namaste'.

"Use Namasthe to greet others, fight against corona" read a message on the poster online.

The poster has health helpline numbers (104 and 011- 23978046) for public queries on the viral disease, which has claimed 4,251 lives worldwide.

A health department official told PTI that as part of the campaign, posters have been uploaded on social media and it would be printed and despatched to different districts to be put up at important junctions.

"We had been working on this idea. Kerala has already done it. They are using Kathakali dancers whereas we are using a Bharatanatyam dancer as our model," the official said.

Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar too had insisted that people should adopt 'Namasthe' or 'Namaskara' to greet people instead of handshakes or hugs.

Bengaluru, Feb 18:  A fan of Kannada film star Darshan smashed the face of a police constable with a boulder when the latter asked him to come in the queue to a party to celebrate the star’s birthday.

The incident happened past midnight on February 15 near the residence of the film star where his birthday was being celebrated.

The injured police constable has been identified as Devaraj, attached to the Jnana Bharathi police station.

The film star’s managers had not made arrangements to handle a huge crowd that gathered near his residence and police had a tough time controlling the crowd.

Constable Devaraj was deputed to duty at the party and tried to get the crowd to fall in line.

As the police carried out a mild lathi-charge to control the crowd, a fan of Darshan came up with a boulder in his hand and smashed the face of the constable Devaraj from very close distance. The constable collapsed on the spot and the attacker ran away.

The impact was such that Devaraj’s nose was fractured and he sustained an eye injury. He was admitted to a private hospital and his condition is said to be serious.

The R R Nagar police have registered a case under IPC sections 353 and 352. The cops have launched a hunt for the accused and they are obtaining CCTV footage from the spot.

A complaint is being registered against the organisers of the event and an investigation is on. Several neighbours of Darshan have also complained to the police about the chaos on February 15.

Bengaluru, May 26: The Karnataka government today resolved to continue with the online method of education as a new normal in the field of higher education. 

Holding the review of the Higher Education department, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa expressed interest in providing online education to students in higher educational institutes.

Yediyurappa directed the officials to look into the possibilities of extending online education from as early as Pre-University level so that the new method can easily be followed as they scale up the academic career. 

Keeping in mind the less expenditure and online teaching being cost-effective, Yediyurappa said, “If you compare online teaching with the regular classroom teaching, it is not only cost-effective but also helps in savings in terms of resources. Officials must look into the new method and start introducing it as early as PU classes.”