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Bengaluru, May 12: Nurses are the frontline warriors in the fight against COVID-19 and their commitment towards duty is commendable, said Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on World Nurses Day on Tuesday.

The Chief Minister was speaking at the inauguration of Miss Florence Nightingale's bicentennial anniversary organized by Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences at his home office 'Krishna'.

The Chief Minister said that the care and service provided by the nurses enhance the chances of recovery for any patient.

"In spite of the stress and pressure they go through everyday, nurses render quality service in the providing healthcare. There is an enormous demand for nurses around the world. I appeal to nurses to continue to render their quality service in this fight against COVID," he said.

Speaking at the event, Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said that the nurses are the backbone of the healthcare services and their role in the fight against corona is so large that the whole system would have gone for a toss without their services.

The Minister said that the Nurses have been renamed as Nursing Officers in recognition of their service.

Bengaluru, Feb 14: In a major embarrassment to the police, the Karnataka High Court has termed as illegal the prohibitory orders imposed under Section 144 of CrPC by the City Police Commissioner in December 2019 in the light of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests in Bengaluru.

The orders were passed “without application of mind” and without following due procedures, the court noted. Giving reasons for upholding the arguments of the petitioners that there was no application of mind by the Police Commissioner (Bhaskar Rao) before imposing restrictions, a division bench of the High Court said he had not recorded the reasons, except reproducing the contents of letters addressed to him by the Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs). 

The state government had contended that prohibitory orders were passed based on reports submitted by the DCPs who expressed apprehension about anti-social elements creating law and order problems and damaging public property by taking advantage of the anti-CAA protests.  

The High Court bench said the Police Commissioner should have conducted inquiry as stated by the Supreme Court to check the reasons cited by the DCPs who submitted identical reports. Except for this, there were no facts laid out by the Police Commissioner, the court said.

“There is complete absence of reasons. If the order indicated that the Police Commissioner was satisfied by the apprehension of DCPs, it would have been another matter,” it said.  

“The apex court has held that it must record the reasons for imposition of restrictions and there has to be a formation of opinion by the district magistrate. Only then can  the extraordinary powers conferred on the district magistrate can be exercised. This procedure was not followed. Hence, exercise of power under Section 144 by the commissioner, as district magistrate, was not at all legal”, the bench said. 

“We hold that the order dated December 18, 2019 is illegal and cannot stand judicial scrutiny in terms of the apex court’s orders in the Ramlila Maidan case and Anuradha Bhasin case,” the HC bench said while upholding the arguments of Prof Ravivarma Kumar, who appeared for some of the petitioners.   

Partly allowing a batch of public interest petitions questioning the imposition of prohibitory orders and cancelling the permission granted for protesters in the city, the bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Hemant Chandangoudar observed that, unfortunately, in the present case, there was no indication of application of mind in passing prohibitory orders.

The bench said the observation was confined to this order only and it cannot be applicable in general. If there is a similar situation (necessitating imposition of restrictions), the state is not helpless, the court said.

Bengaluru: The Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examinations in Karnataka concluded on Friday with an overall average of about 98 per cent attendance amid the coronavirus scare. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa congratulated the lakhs of students who appeared for the crucial exercise braving the coronavirus pandemic situation.

An average of about 98 per cent of 8.5 lakh odd enrolled students took the exams which began on June 25, after the government stuck to its decision to go ahead with them despite rising coronavirus cases but laid down a string of safety measures, including face masks and maintaining distancing by seating only one student a bench.

Examinations for all main subjects had been completed and alternative subjects such as music would take place on Saturday, Education department officials said.

"I heartily congratulate students who faced the examination even during the coronavirus pandemic," Mr Yediyurappa tweeted.

Expressing happiness over the successful completion of the examination, he greeted state Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar, officers and employees of education department, health department, police and transport personnel.

"The exam is a proof that anything can be made possible if all the government departments work in tandem," Mr Kumar tweeted.

Later addressing a press conference, he said on Friday 98.10 per cent attendance was recorded compared to 98.76 for the same paper last year.

"Credit goes to children. First day, parents were scared and students were sceptical and there was a big challenge before us. But the children appearing for the exam instilled confidence. They came with masks, sanitisers and were careful about maintaining social distancing. Our children have set an example for others to follow," Mr Kumar said.

Lauding the students, parents and the government staff who made the exam possible ignoring the virus scare, Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said Karnataka has set an example by successfully conducting the examination.

The Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board, which conducted the examination, faced various challenges. While protecting students from coronavirus infection was the top priority, transportation, security and convincing the parents to allow their children to take up the exam were the other factors it encountered.

According to sources in the department, the education officers had directed authorities of all the schools to call the parents and students to make sure that they appear for the examinations.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and boards of various neighbouring states either gave general promotion or decided to give marks to the students based on their performance in the earlier tests conducted by the schools.

The exams were conducted at a time when there was a sudden spurt in coronavirus cases in Karnataka, especially Bengaluru. Expressing apprehension, former chief minister and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy had appealed to the government to postpone the examination but the government went ahead with its decision.