Mangaluru: Murder attempt on RSS activist near Kuthar sparks tension

Bengaluru, Mar 29: There was no shortage of masks and testing kits for detecting coronavirus cases in Karnataka and the government would import them if a need arose, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Sunday said.

Apprising leaders of political parties on measures taken by his government to combat spread of coronavirus, he also told an all-party meeting that the government has decided to provide life insurance cover to police and civil workers and has taken extra precautions to maintain supply of food grains.

"There is no shortage of testing kits, medicines and masks. If there is need, we will import more... We will distribute testing kits to all the district and Taluk hospitals," he was quoted as saying in a government release.

The state has so far reported 76 COVID-19 cases including three deaths and five discharges.

At the meeting held in the Vidhana Soudha here, former chief minister and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah said there were shortcomings in the screening of passengers coming from abroad and stressed on the need to maintain supply of essentials.

Yediyurappa said supply of foodgrains would be made through Public Distribution System and the government had taken extra precautions to avoiod any difficulties.

He told the leaders that there was no restriction on agriculture activities in the state.

"I have been regularly holding meetings since March 13 regarding the measures taken to contain the transmission of COVID-19," the chief minister said.

Health Minister B Sriramulu, Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar, IT-BT Minister C N Aswath Narayan, Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, Siddaramaiah, JD(S) MLAs H D Revanna, D K Shivakumar and former speaker K R Ramesh Kumar attended the meeting.

Yediyurappa said a task force comprising of ministers and officials has been formed to oversee the implementation of the government orders in view of the 21-day lockdown.

He highlighted the prevailing situation across the globe saying normal life has been paralysed everywhere.

The chief minister also brifed the leaders about the number of clinics all over the state, availability of medicines and protection gear for the doctors and in quarantine rooms in the state.

Flagging concerns over screening process, Siddaramaiah said around 4,500 people were yet to be tracked, which need to be taken up on a warfooting.

"The government is saying that we have not reached the third stage but in Nanjangud, a person contracted the disease though he does not have any travel history. This must be probed," he said.

The former former chief minister asked the government to make sure that the free distribution of food grains to weaker sections take place without any difficulty from April 1, as announced by the Central government.

He objected to police 'excesses' while enforcing lockdown.

Siddaramaiah also asked government to bring the police personnel under special insurance cover.

Bengaluru, Jan 14: Assuring depositors that their money was "100 per cent safe" with the bank, Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank Chairman K Ramakrishna in Bengaluru on Monday said 62 loans had locked up Rs 300 crore of deposit.

"Your money is 100 per cent safe with Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank. It's my responsibility," Ramakrishna said at Sri Guru Narasimha Kalyanamandira auditorium, to assure depositors.

He was addressing angry customers of the bank at a public hearing. Due to the 62 dud loans, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had restricted the lender from executing business, Ramakrishna said amid shouting by depositors. The RBI has limited withdrawals by depositors to Rs 35,000.

"The bank is saying I can't withdraw more than Rs 35,000. In case of our fixed deposit maturing, we will have to renew it as we can't encash it, " said Nagaraj M, 49, who has been dealing with the bank for the past six years.

To assuage customers, the call to an assistant commissioner of police by Bengaluru South MP Tejaswi Surya -- not present -- was relayed on loudspeaker live and the MP claimed that he had spoken to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to help the customers.

Ramakrishna said he would meet customers again on January 19 with all the details and numbers. Dramatic scenes and pandemonium ruled the auditorium before his arrival. Thousands of bank customers threatened to go en masse to the police station and file a case against Ramakrishna.

As he addressed the gathering in Kannada, hundreds of depositors shouted back at him seeking clarifications. At the auditorium, thousands of depositors earlier demanded the bank chairman's presence to clarify the matter.

The lender had invited depositors to the auditorium at 6 p.m. to update them on the bank's status, following a RBI directive restricting the bank from doing business with immediate effect.

"We want the bank's directors here," shouted a depositor from the stage. A handful of policemen were trying to control the crowd and bring order to the assembly. Many elderly and retired persons had arrived to know the fate of their savings. Several women were also present at the meeting.

"It was a good bank with only 0.5 per cent NPAs. Now we can't trust any bank. See what happened with the PMC Bank," said another customer.

Shankar Sharma, 38, an employee of a private company, said majority of depositors were senior citizens and retirees. "I don't have an account with the bank, but my mother, uncle, aunt have deposited money in it. I came for them, " said Sharma. He said many of the bank's 35,000 clientele deposited more than Rs 5 lakh, which had total deposits of Rs 1,600 crore. The bank started operations in 1999.

Ramakrishna was escorted away to safety by the police after his speech even as the depositors were screaming and agitating for justice.

New Delhi, Jun 4: The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought response from Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, on a plea challenging his election in 2019 from Hassan Lok Sabha constituency as a joint candidate of the Janata Dal Secular and the Congress.

A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and Hrishiksh Roy issued notice to the returned candidate from the high-profile constituency on an appeal challenging the Karnataka High Court's order by which an election petition against his win was dismissed.

In the proceedings held through video-conferencing, the top court issued notice and tagged the appeal filed by G Devarajegowda for hearing with other similar pending plea filed by the BJP candidate on the issue.

Mr Devarajegowda in the plea said that his election petition was dismissed by the High Court on "procedural irregularities". The plea said that Mr Prajwal had resorted to unfair and corrupt practices and his election should be set aside.

It said the High Court did not consider the fact that by dismissing the election petition, it was running a risk of having a representative in parliament who has not got the maximum number of valid votes.

The petitioner, an advocate by profession, sought a declaration of rival BJP candidate, A Manju, as the winner for having secured the maximum number of valid votes.

A separate appeal was earlier filed by Mr Manju against the High Court order and the top court had already issued notice to the retuned candidate on that.

Mr Manju had challenged the 2019 election of Mr Prajwal on the ground that there was allegedly non-disclosure of assets held by him in his election affidavit.

Mr Prajwal was declared winner with 6,76,606 votes. Mr Manju came first runner-up with 5,35,282 votes.