Medical colleges seek 15% hike in fees

Bengaluru, Jun 22: Senior Congress leader BK Hariprasad and BJP’s MTB Nagaraj, one of the defectors who helped the saffron party come to power in Karnataka, were unanimously elected to the Legislative Council along with five others on Monday. 

All seven were declared as “duly elected” by Legislative Assembly Secretary MK Vishalakshi, the returning officer for the biennial election to the Legislative Council. 

Hariprasad and Naseer Ahmed of the Congress, Nagaraj, R Shankar, Prathap Simha Nayak and Sunil Vallyapur of the BJP and Govinda Raju of the JD(S) are now MLCs. 

While Ahmed was an incumbent who will get another term, the six others will replace Jayamma, MC Venugopal, NS Bore Raju, HM Revanna and TA Sharavana and DU Mallikarjuna whose term ends June 30. 

While an election was scheduled June 29, it was not necessary as only seven candidates were in the fray for the seven seats on Monday, which was the last date for withdrawal of nominations. The nominations of A Yadavanahalli PC Krishnegowda and Mandikkal Nagaraja were rejected. 

With their rejection as MLCs, Nagaraj and Shankar - who jumped ship to the BJP last year - will now look to become ministers in Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa’s Cabinet. Both Nagaraj and Shankar were ministers when they resigned and defected from the Congress-JD(S) coalition. While Nagaraj lost the December 2019 bypolls, Shankar did not contest. 

Nagaraj, Shankar and Vallyapure were Yediyurappa’s picks for the Council, whereas Nayak is said to have been backed by BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel. 

There were many aspirants in the Congress for the Council berths, but Hariprasad and Ahmed were picked, given their experience. Hariprasad is widely believed to counter Siddaramaiah, who leads the party in the Assembly. 

Raju of the JD(S) runs a poultry business in Kolar and the choice of a fresh face is seen as the party leadership steering clear of any trouble as there were many asking for the ticket. 

Mandya, Apr 7: A man who was suspected of having the COVID-19 infection, escaped from the isolation ward of the Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS), on Monday, creating panic among the people and hospital staff.

The man had earlier been in quarantine in Malavalli. On Sunday night He was shifted to MIMS Hospital, after he complained of throat infection and breathing problems and was kept in an isolation ward.

On Monday morning, however, the hospital staff found missing from the ward. They immediately reported the matter and launched a search for him. Superintendent of Police K Parashuram and Additional SP V J Shobharani and others rushed to the spot and began an inquiry. They also viewed the CCTV footage.

Bengaluru, Jan 23: An alleged low-intensity blast on Wednesday late evening in Shanthinagar left three-time Congress MLA NA Harris and six others with burn injuries. The blast reported at around 8:30 pm during a cultural programme gripped the central parts of Bengaluru in a panic especially after the incident of police recovering a live bomb in Mangaluru airport. 

According to sources in Shanthinagar, MLA Harris was attending the birthday celebrations of MGR organized by the locals close to his residence in Shanthinagar. Following the blast, Harris and a few others who standing close to the MLA sustained burn injuries and rushed to the nearby Philomena Hospital immediately and police officials from both the Ashok Nagar and Vivek Nagar visited the spot. The police officials are yet to confirm whether it was a bomb blast or due to the bursting of loud and powerful crackers. 

Chethan Singh Rathore, DCP (Central) visited the hospital and the blast site. A team of forensic science lab experts have also been summoned to the spot to collect samples for ascertaining the nature of the blast. MLA Harris’s son Mohammed Nalapad who rushed to the hospital along with supporters told media persons that they are completely shocked by the incident. 

“He was sitting on a chair and suddenly something that was hurled at him exploded beneath the chair. He sustained injuries to his leg and brought to the hospital. He is being treated by a team of doctors and other injured supporters are also being attended to by the doctors,” Nalapad said. 

Expressing shock over the incident, he said, “My father has been an MLA for 12-years and nothing of this sort had happened before in the constituency. We have no rivals and my father never had any gunmen. We are all shocked and have complained to the jurisdictional police.” 

Meantime, Dr Shankar Prasad, Medical Director, St Philomena’s Hospital explained that Harris and others are currently being treated for minor injuries. “None of them have any open cut injuries and they are being examined further,” Dr Prasad told DH. 

According to Dr Prasad, Harris had a minor blood clot in his left leg which was possibly due to a hard object hitting him during the blast. “We have taken X-Ray and examining further. At the look of it, it seems like a very minor injury,” he added.