Murugesh Nirani gifts Yeddy Rs 1-crore SUV to tour drought-hit areas

The Ayodhya police booked a senior journalist on Wednesday for raising questions on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's visit to the Ram Janmabhoomi for a religious ceremony amid the lockdown over the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The FIR mentions a tweet by Siddharth Varadarajan, editor of news portal 'The Wire', where he said: "On the day the Tablighi Jamaat event was held, Adityanath insisted a large Ram Navami fair planned for Ayodhya from March 25 to April 2 would proceed as usual and that 'Lord Ram would protect devotees from the coronavirus."

Varadarajan had clarified in another tweet that it was "Acharya Paramhans, Hindutva stalwart and head of the official Ayodhya temple trust, who said Ram would protect devotees from coronavirus, and not Adityanath, though he allowed a public event on 25/3 in defiance of the lockdown and took part himself".

Taking the suo-motu cognizance, Faizabad Kotwali police station incharge Nitish Kumar Shrivastava registered an FIR under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 505(2) (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code for doing "disreputable" comment against the chief minister.

Statement by the Founding Editors of The Wire: pic.twitter.com/frw5oRxw18

— The Wire (@thewire_in) April 1, 2020
Reacting to it, Varadarajan termed the FIR "politically motivated, saying that the offences invoked were not even remotely made out.

Udupi, Mar 25: A 34-year-old man who returned from Dubai tested positive for novel coronavirus in Udupi district. This is the first case in the district. 

He returned from Dubai on March 18 and got admitted to a government hospital in Udupi on March 23 for fever. The swab samples were sent to Shivamogga laboratory for testing.

The report which arrived on Wednesday confirmed that he was positive for COVID-19, said DHO Dr Sudhir Chandra Sooda.

Bengaluru, Jul 24: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) commissioner on Thursday issued a public apology after "local staff" sealed the doors of two apartments with metal sheets in a building where a positive case of COVID-19 was reported in Dommalur.

Earlier on Thursday, BBMP sealed doors of two flats near Dommalur, in a building wherein a COVID-19 case was reported. A woman with two children, along with an elderly couple stayed in those flats. After the woman tweeted about the incident, BBMP officials removed steel sheets from doors.

Taking the matter into consideration, BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad, took to Twitter to express an apology for "over-enthusiasm" of his officials.

He tweeted, "We are committed to address any issues that result in stigma. Apologies for the over enthusiasm of the local staff."

He also said the BBMP is committed to treating all citizens with dignity. "I have ensured removing of these barricades immediately. We are committed to treat all persons with dignity.

The purpose of containment is to protect the infected and to ensure uninfected are safe," he tweeted.