No plans to join Nowhera Shaik’s MEP, clarifies Lalitha Naik

May 10: Azaan is an integral part of the faith, not the gadget, says veteran writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar, asking that the Islamic call to prayer on loudspeakers should be stopped as it causes "discomfort" to others.

In a tweet on Saturday, Akhtar wondered why the practice was 'halaal' (allowed) when it was, for nearly half a century in the country, considered 'haraam' or forbidden.

"In India for almost 50 years Azaan on the loud speak was Haraam. Then it became Halaal and so halaal that there is no end to it, but there should be an end to it. Azaan is fine but loud speaker does cause of discomfort for others. I hope that atleast this time they will do it themselves (sic)," Akhtar tweeted.

When a user asked his opinion on loudspeakers being used in temples, the 75-year-old writer said everyday use of speakers is a cause of concern.

"Whether it's a temple or a mosque, if you're using loudspeakers during a festival, it's fine. But it shouldn't be used everyday in either temples or mosques.

"For more than thousand years Azaan was given without the loud speaker. Azaan is the integral part of your faith, not this gadget," he replied.

Earlier in March, Akhtar had supported the demand to shut mosques amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country, saying even Kaaba and Medina have been closed due to the pandemic.

He had also appealed to the Muslim community to offer prayers from home in the holy month of Ramzan, which began on April 24.

"I request all the Muslim brothers that now that Ramzan is coming, please say your prayers but make sure that this doesn't cause problems to anyone else. The prayers that you do in the mosque, you can do that at home. According to you, the house, the ground, this all has been made by Him. Then you can do your prayers anywhere," he had said.

Bengaluru, Jan 23: Expressing shock over the blast which left him and his supporters injured yesterday, Shantinagar MLA NA Haris today said that the incident cannot be brushed aside as a firecracker blast and appealed to the state government to inquire into the incident.

Recovering from the injuries sustained on his leg, Haris was discharged from St Philomena's Hospital on Thursday afternoon. 

Interacting with mediapersons outside his residence in Shantinagar, Haris said, “It wasn’t a cracker but a ball-like object that was hurled at me. Since my childhood, I have been seeing crackers and the object that was thrown at me was certainly not a cracker. It had splinters and hard objects.”

He said, “I have been representing the constituency for over 12-years and had no rivalry with anyone. Barring political ideology during elections, all the leaders in our constituency have been cooperative with each other. Yet, we do not know what the intention was or who was behind the incident.”

Revealing that home minister Basavaraj Bommai had called him to enquire about his condition at the hospital Haris said, “I have also briefed the home minister and explained to him what exactly happened. I have full faith in the police and will cooperate with the police during the investigation.” Haris said that doctors have advised him three to four-days of rest.

Bengaluru, Jun 5: Karnataka registered its highest single-day spike of more than 500 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of infections in the state to 4,835, the health department said on Friday.

The previous biggest single-day spurt was recorded on June 2 with 388 cases.

Of the 515 fresh cases reported, 482 are returnees from other states, mostly (about 471) from neighboring Maharashtra. Udupi district saw a major spike with over 200 cases today and the total tally of the district breaching seven hundred cases mark, to stand at 768.

As of June 5 evening, cumulatively 4,835 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 57 deaths and 1,688 discharges, the department said in its bulletin.

It said, out of 3,088 active cases, 3,075 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 13 are in ICU.

On Friday, 83 patients have been discharged.

According to state COVID-19 war room data, out of the total 4,835 cases, 93 per cent (4,488 cases) are asymptomatic and 7 per cent (347) are symptomatic.

The new cases include 471 from Maharashtra, three from Delhi, two each from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Haryana, and one from Tamil Nadu.

While one is with international travel history from Indonesia. Remaining cases include- contacts of patients earlier tested positive, those from containment zones, those who travelled from other districts, and the ones whose contact history is still being traced.

Among the districts where new cases were reported, Udupi accounts for 204 cases, followed by 74 from Yadgir, Vijayapura 53, Kalaburagi 42, Bidar 39, Belagavi 36, Mandya 13, Bengaluru Rural 12, Bengaluru Urban 10, Dakshina Kannada 8, Uttara Kannada 7, three each from Hassan, Dharwad and Chikkaballapura, two each from Ramanagara and Haveri, and one each from Davangere, Bagalkote, Ballari and Kolar.

Udupi district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 768 infections, followed by Kalaburagi 552 and Bengaluru urban 434.

Among discharges, Bengaluru urban still tops the list with total 271 discharges, followed by Davangere 147 and Mandya 146.

A total of 3,60,720 samples were tested so far, out of which 13,627 were tested on Friday alone.

So far 3,49,951 samples have reported as negative, and out of them 12,797 were reported negative on Friday.