MBBS student hangs himself in hostel room; parents blame ragging

Bengaluru, Jan 17: Karnataka Health Minister and BJP leader B Sriramulu on Friday claimed that Congress supports Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and Popular Front of India (PFI) to disturb peace in the state.

His statement came after the arrest of 6 SDPI supporters in connection with an attack on a BJP-RSS follower during a pro-CAA rally held in December last year.

"The Congress party 100 per cent supports SDPI and PFI. Whenever they do not get the power, they try to disturb the peace with the support of SDPI and PFI. I will propose in Karnataka Assembly session to ban these organisations in Karnataka. We will discuss this matter," Sriramulu told ANI.

"We had already demanded for the ban on these organisations in Karnataka when I was an MP. Shobha Karandlaje, Yediyurappa and I had met Rajnath Singh, the then Home Minister in Delhi and we had given a memorandum to ban SDPI and PFI," he added.

A case has been registered against arrested SDPI supporters under relevant Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Bengaluru Police is constituting a new Special Investigation Team (SIT) to handle this case.

"There were 6 people belonging to SDPI, who were here to carry out attacks on leaders supporting CAA. These people were being paid Rs 10,000 from their handlers to create ruckus here. Now this will be handled by the Anti-Terror unit," said Bhaskar Rao, Bengaluru Commissioner of Police.

Earlier today, Karnataka Minister Jagadish Shettar called for a ban on SDPI.

"SDPI always denies their involvement but it has been proved now. I welcome the police's action. Their organisation should be banned as they have always been involved in anti-social activities and government of India should take very serious note of this," Shettar told ANI here.

New Delhi, Apr 4: The Supreme Court on Friday urged Karnataka and Kerala to amicably resolve their issues concerning a border blockade that has choked the free flow of vehicles carrying essential items and patients in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Karnataka, which imposed the blockade, justified that its border was sealed to “combat the spread of the pandemic by preventing the movement of people from the bordering districts of Kerala to Karnataka”.

The State had moved the Supreme Court, challenging a Kerala High Court order on April 1 to open the border. Kerala has countered that patients from the State cannot be denied access to health care. Besides, the blockade has severely affected the supply of essential items, from medicines to food, to Kerala.

On Friday, a Supreme Court Bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Deepak Gupta urged the States to not confront each other in the midst of an unprecedented public health crisis. Instead, it asked the Chief Secretaries of both States to sit with the Union Health Secretary and iron out a solution. Meanwhile, the apex court urged Kerala not to take any precipitative action based on the High Court order.

The court issued notice to Kerala on the appeal filed by Karnataka, represented by advocate Shubhranshu Padhi. It listed the case for further hearing on April 7.

Karnataka, in its appeal against the High Court order, said the blockade was put in place in the interest of public health. The situation regarding Coronavirus was “really dire”, it said. It warned that opening the blockade would cause a law and order issue as its local population wanted the border to remain sealed.

Karnataka argued that Kerala was the “worst-affected” State in the country with nearly 194 coronavirus cases. In this, Kasaragod, adjoining Karnataka, was the “worst affected” district of Kerala with over a 100 positive cases.

MP’s plea

The court also separately considered a writ petition by Kasaragod MP Rajmohan Unnithan for an order to forthwith open the State border.

The parliamentarian, represented by advocates Haris Beeran and Pallavi Pratap, urged the court to issue an ex-parte stay on the operation of the blockade imposed by Karnataka with its border States.

Mr. Unnithan said Karnataka’s blockade was “ill-planned and dangerous” and had led to loss of lives. Two patients from Kerala, in need of urgent medical care, died after their ambulances were denied entry at the border by the Karnataka authorities. 

Udupi, Feb 8: A rare sixth century granite idol of ‘Lajja Gauri’ has been discovered fixed on the road in Barkur village of Udupi district, according to information furnished by Dr. Shivakant Bajpai, Superintending Archaeologist of ASI Bangalore Circle. Lajja Gauri is depicted in nude form and is said to be a fertility symbol. The idol is rare, though very popular among certain cults.

Dr Shivakant Bajpai, who is on a tour of the coastal districts, said that he first came across the image when it went viral on social media. He subsequently traced it to a public road in Barkur, which is an ancient historical town of coastal Karnataka. It was the ancient capital of the Alupa kingdom and a seat of power for several centuries.

“This is a very important idol and hundreds of vehicles pass over it every day. We are rescuing it and I have issued an order to my local in-charge to keep it in safe custody. I have also sent a mail in this regard to the DC and SP of the district,” he said.

The idol is likely to be of 6th or 7th century, though further study is required to confirm a date, Dr. Bajpai said.

Lajja Gauri is a lotus-headed Hindu deity associated with abundance, fertility and sexuality, sometimes euphemistically described as Lajja ("modesty").