Petrol, diesel may be brought under GST in future: Goyal

Udupi, Jul 15: Two doctors and four staff members of the Udupi District Hospital have been tested positive for coronavirus.

While one doctor is undergoing treatment at the designated covid hospital, the other one, who is said to be asymptomatic, is being treated at his residence.

After four staff members of the hospital tested covid positive, the throat swabs of their contacts including other staff of the hospital and family members were also sent for testing. 

Meanwhile, a person who was undergoing treatment in the district hospital for some other ailment also tested covid positive triggering panic among other non-covid patients.

Bengaluru, Apr 28: A local court in Karnataka on Tuesday granted bail to a CRPF commando who was arrested by state police officials for alleged assault on them during COVID-19 lockdown duty, a charge contested strongly by the paramilitary.

The jawan has been taken to the jungle warfare training school of the paramilitary force in Belagavi district, a senior official said.

Constable Sachin Savant of the 207th CoBRA battalion was granted regular bail by a court located in Chikodi taluka of the district, he said.

A team of CRPF and CoBRA officials were present in the court during the proceeding during which the state police did not oppose the bail, the official said.

The commando was arrested by police on April 23 from Examba village (Belagavi district) when he was washing his bike outside his house without wearing a mask, as required under the coronavirus prevention protocol.

An altercation and physical fight took place between the two sides, following which the trooper was taken to the local police station and arrested.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had on Monday taken up the case with the Karnataka director general of police (DGP), calling the incident "unpleasant".

The CRPF letter said commando Savant was "manhandled, ill-treated, paraded to the police station barefooted, kept in chains and handcuffs" by police personnel and sought the intervention of state Director General of Police Praveen Sood.

The paramilitary had said that from the scrutiny of a viral video on social media of the incident "it is apparent that the conduct of the police personnel was not citizen-centric".

A police report had said the CoBRA commando "started the altercation" with the beat constable and another policeman accompanying him, and "assaulted" them.

As per the official Twitter handle of the Karnataka DGP's on Monday evening, "IGP (inspector-general of police) Belagavi has been asked to enquire into the incident involving the CRPF constable and action will be taken against guilty after receipt of the report".

The Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) unit of the CRPF specialises in guerrilla tactics and jungle warfare.

Mangaluru, Feb 14: In a unique initiative, students of a government school in Dakshina Kannada have made a food stop in the campus to provide water and food to birds and squirrels.

The students have hung coconut shells on trees in the school premises with food and water in it for birds and squirrels.

Speaking about the same, the Principal of the school said: "Students are taking a lot of interest in the activity. Various types of birds visit the school campus, making the ambience very nice."

He added that he wants children to become socially and environmentally conscious. "The one area where children need to be given exposure is the protection of the environment, the upkeep of the campus and the greenery in and around their homes as well as in their schools."

Commenting on the recent initiative of the school's eco-club, he said, "Using this small idea, we can have a great beginning towards taking up bigger initiatives to take care of the environment."