State govt employees demand hike in salaries

Bengaluru, Jun 4: Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Siddaramaiah on Thursday said it was not appropriate to reopen schools for two more months, given the current rate at which coronavirus infection is spreading.

He also advised Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar not to take any hasty decisions in this regard.

"As corona infection is spreading in the state beyond limits, it is not appropriate to open schools for at least two more months. Chief Minister and Suresh Kumar should not make any hasty decisions," Siddaramaiah tweeted.

Stating that Suresh Kumar has placed a proposal to reopen schools in July, he said the chief minister has to take note of worried parents opposing this proposal.

"There are reports about students getting infected by coronavirus after reopening of schools in countries like Britain, France and Italy. It is appropriate to think about reopening schools on analysing the situation after two months," he said in another tweet.

The state government has sought an opinion from parents and stakeholders regarding reopening of schools in the state, with the easing of the COVID-19 lockdown norms.

Amidst worries and concerns expressed by parents across the state, the Education Minister on Wednesday had assured that the government would not take any hasty decisions regarding reopening of schools.

The Union government, in its recent guidelines, had asked state governments to hold consultation at school, college, training and coaching institutions-level with parents and other stakeholders, and based on the feedback, a decision on reopening them would be taken.

Bengaluru, May 25: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Monday greeted the Muslim brethren on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr, which is being celebrated in a subdued manner due to coronavirus related restrictions.

"Warm greetings of Eid-ul-Fitr. May this festival of peace and harmony bring happiness in life," Yediyurappa said in his message.

He congratulated the Muslim fraternity for cooperating with the authorities by offering prayers at home during the holy month of Ramadan and supporting the government to contain COVID-19.

"I hope the same trend will continue during the festivities of Eid-ul-Fitr too. I thank you all for your support in the fight against COVID-19," he said.

The Eid festivities were a low-key affair as Muslim brethren celebrated the festival indoors in view of lockdown to contain coronavirus on Monday.

People offered the special prayers inside their houses instead of performing it in mosques and Eidgah, the open field to perform prayers, and refrained from going out to greet each other.

As the Karnataka government has ordered Sunday Curfew throughout the lockdown-4 till May 31, the otherwise bustling markets in the urban areas of Karnataka remained shut.

People could not venture out to make necessary purchases on Sunday.

The Jama Masjid of Bengaluru at the City Market had asked the Muslims to offer prayers inside their houses and not go to the burial grounds to express their sentiments for the departed souls.

"Mass prayers are not allowed anywhere in Karnataka. Just five important persons managing the mosques offered the prayers. Similarly, people go to the graveyard to pray for the dead ones but this time we asked people to express their sentiments from inside their homes instead of going to the burial grounds," Maulana Maqsood Imran, the Khateeb-O-Imam, Jama Masjid, Bengaluru, told news agency.

He said, "coronavirus is spreading very rapidly in our country. If we don't follow the guidelines, it will not only cause trouble to us but also to the doctors and the government. It will be the biggest celebration if we abide by the norms."

Shivamogga, May 21: An FIR has been registered against Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi in Sagar taluk of Shivamogga district of Karnataka over tweets on May 11 by the party's official handle about PM-CARES fund.

The FIR, registered under Sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), identifies Gandhi as the handler of the social media account.

The complaint by advocate Praveen KV alleged that the Congress party, through the tweets, has made rumourous statements against the Government of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was trying to provoke the people against the government.

According to the FIR, the Congress party had on May 11, 2020, made false and baseless allegations, claimed misappropriation of PM-CARES Fund and cast aspersions on the Government of India through the tweets.

"A Twitter account handled by All India Congress Committee headed by Sonia Gandhi had on May 11, 2020, published tweets terming PM CARES Fund as PM CARES Fraud. They had claimed that the PM CARES fund is not being used for the public," Praveen KV told ANI on Thursday.

He said that he has collected all the details related to the tweets and account from the handle and filed a complaint in the matter, following which a preliminary enquiry was conducted and an FIR was registered in the matter.

"They had also said that the Prime Minister was enjoying and going to foreign trips with this fund. This is clearly rumourous news against the Government of India in this COVID-19 pandemic situation. In this regard, I had filed a complaint. After a primary enquiry, the Sagar Police has filed an FIR against Sonia Gandhi, who heads the INC Twitter account," Praveen KV said.