Nipah virus infection: Death toll mounts to 11 in Kerala

Mangaluru, Jan 17: A poultry truck transporting chickens overturned on Friday at Perne village near Uppinangady on Mangaluru-Bengaluru National Highway, killing 200 of them.

Police said that the truck was headed towards Mangaluru from Uppinangady when the truck driver lost control of the vehicle causing it to topple. As many as 200 chickens were killed in the mishap.

Another vehicle was later used to transport the remaining chickens.

Bengaluru, Jan 2: The Congress leadership in Delhi is expected to start the process of selecting a new party chief for Karnataka next week. There are strong indications the race has narrowed to DK Shivakumar and MB Patil.

Party insiders said the leadership almost finalised Shivakumar’s name as the president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), but the decision was put on hold after requests by some senior members.

“It’s not that we are against Shivakumar. We think the party should have a Lingayat at the helm since community strongman and chief minister BS Yediyurappa is at the fag end of his long political career. There’s an opportunity here for a Congressman to occupy that space,” said a senior Congress politician, who didn’t want to be named.

That’s where the candidacy of Patil, a Lingayat, scores high.

The party, however, doesn’t want to compromise on quality and wants an efficient KPCC president who can unite two rival factions within the party, one led by Siddaramaiah and another by former union minister KH Muniyappa.

The need to pick a new state president arose after Dinesh Gundurao resigned from the post last month, taking moral responsibility for Congress’s poor showing in the byelections. Siddaramaiah also stood down as Congress party legislature leader.

The insiders said the new KPCC chief could be announced after January 16. The party might also appoint two working presidents and a new legislature party leader, who will automatically become the opposition’s voice in the assembly.

For the latter position, the name of senior Dalit politician and former deputy chief minister G Parameshwara is doing the rounds. But the party, the sources said, could still ask Siddaramaiah to reconsider his decision and stay on.

Many Congress members had raised questions over his stewardship after the bypoll disappointment. They said on his watch, the party had also fared badly in the assembly and Lok Sabha elections, demanding that he be held accountable.

Siddaramaiah is expected to visit Delhi next week to discuss the leadership issue with party boss Sonia Gandhi. Some other senior Congress members, including BK Hariprasad, are also likely to meet her.

Bengaluru, July 13: The results of the recently concluded II PUC examinations in Karnataka will be announced tomorrow, Tuesday, July 14, at 11:30 am.

The results, according to Primary and Secondary Education minister S Suresh Kumar, will be sent in the form of SMS-es to the registered mobile numbers of the students by 11:30 am.

Over 6.5 lakh students had appeared for the II PUC exams. 

Even though examinations for most of the subjects was completed in March, students had to wait close to three months, due to nationwide lockdown, to appear for the last exam -- for English -- which was held on 18th June.