Mangalore chapter of Youth Against Corruption inaugurated

Bengaluru, Jan 12: Janata Dal (Secular) chief and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda on Sunday refuted reports of him contesting in the Rajya Sabha elections and added that he is more concerned about strengthening his party in Karnataka.

"I am not interested in going to Rajya Sabha. My concern is to build and strengthen the party in the region to the best of my ability. I had declared earlier that I will not contest elections anymore," Deve Gowda told ANI here.

"My party MP D Kupendra Reddy is there in the Rajya Sabha as of now and further decisions will be taken by the party. In March 2019, towards the end of the 16th Lok Sabha I had declared that I will not contest any more elections," Deve Gowda added.

Four Rajya Sabha seats in Karnataka are about to fall vacant in June this year as two of Congress, one of BJP and JD(S) MPs retire.

Bengaluru, May 29: Karnataka reported 248 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, and with that, the state tally surged to 2,781. 

A 50-year-old woman, resident of Chikkaballapura district, succumbed to the infection on Friday. She was admitted to a private hospital on May 24 following acute kidney injury and pneumonia. As her condition deterorted, she was shifted to a designated hospital in Bengaluru Urban on May 28, where she tested COVID-19 positive.

Out of the 248 cases, only 16 persons have contracted the virus inside the state. The remaining are the people who have returned from Maharashtra, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Ireland.

The maximum number of people, who tested positive for COVID-19, have returned from Maharashtra. Most of these people are residents of Udupi, Kalaburagi, Yadagiri and Raichuru.

Besides, five people have a travel history to Delhi, while one person each has tested positive on returning from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Ireland.

Fifteen people have tested positive within the state and have been infected by persons who had previously tested positive or have a history of Influenza-like Illness and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness.

Out of all the cases, 10 have been reported in Bengaluru Urban while one has come up in Bengaluru Rural.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Karnataka government asked the Civil Aviation Ministry to reduce the number of flights coming in the state from the five worst-hit states -- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

"Karnataka has appealed to the Civil Aviation Ministry to take steps to lessen the air traffic to the state, with the sacred intention that there may not be adequate quarantine facilities if there is a huge turnout in a short span of time," state Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J.C. Madhuswamy explained.

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 7: Making a scathing attack on the Central government, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Issac on Friday said the BJP-led NDA government was "strangulating" the southern state by denying funds.

Presenting the 2020-21 budget of the Pinarayi Vijayan led-LDF government, he alleged the centre has been "helping" corporates rather that the common man.

"The Centre has been strangulating Kerala by denying funds for the state and has been moving on a self-destructive path by corporate-friendly policies and privatisation. The GST implementation has not been beneficial for the state," he said.

"The government proposes 2.5 lakh water connections in the upcoming financial year. We will also construct one lakh houses under Life Mission," the finance minister said.

The budget has allocated Rs 90 crore for Pravasi Welfare Fund and the government proposes power projects with a capacity of 500 MW.

"The government proposes Kochi development plan with a fund of Rs 6,000 crore. The city will get an unified travel card and Metro project will be extended," Issac said.

The state government has increased all welfare pension funds by Rs 100, allotted Rs 40 crore to paddy farmers and Rs 10 crore for startups in the state.

The local self-governments have been allotted Rs five crore for waste management, Rs 20 crore has been set apart for 1,000 food stalls under hunger-free Kerala, where meals will be made available at Rs 25.