Planning to elope and marry in a temple? Now it's impossible in Mangaluru!

Benglauru, May 25: Nearly one thousand people in the capital city of Karnataka have lost several crores of rupees to online fraudsters during the two months of covid-19 lockdown.

According to official sources, 962 cases of online frauds have been registered in various police stations across Bengaluru March 23 to May 19. 

On an average, 18 cases were reported every day. However, this number isn’t unusually high compared to normal times, according to police. The highest number of cases was registered in west division (227). 

What baffles the cops is the brazenness with which fraudsters attacked. Many fraudsters duped people in the name of providing jobs, insurance money, Employees’ Provident Fund, renewal of credit/debit cards. 
Many people lost money while procuring groceries, alcohol, masks and hand sanitisers delivered at the doorstep. Olx and Facebook scams thrived during the prolonged lockdown. 

Police said malicious links were shared on mobile phones asking recipients to download the Aarogya Setu app and seeking banking information, all targeted at stealing phone data. 

An officer said many were glued to their phones, and cybercriminals took advantage of this, sometimes pretending to be bank representatives wanting to issue/ renew credit/debit cards.

Bengaluru, Feb 17: Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah on Monday demanded that forest minister Anand Singh should either be expelled from the Cabinet or assigned a different portfolio.

This comes amid a number of cases, pending against Singh, including those under the Karnataka Forest Act.

"How can we expect justice from Anand Singh who has been made forest minister and is accused of (illegal mining)? We demand that he should either be dropped out of the state Cabinet or at least his portfolio be changed," Siddaramaiah told media.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa allocated portfolios to the 10 newly inducted ministers in his Cabinet.

As part of state Cabinet's expansion, 10 MLAs including Ramesh Jarkiholi, Anand Singh, K Sudhakar, and BA Basavaraja took oath as ministers at Raj Bhawan in Bengaluru on February 6.

Bengaluru, May 7: Karnataka has revised its standard operating procedure (SOP) for international passengers. The first group of passengers will arrive in the state on May 8.

The number of categories has been reduced to two from three. Category A includes passengers symptomatic on arrival while Category B passengers are those asymptomatic on arrival. These are passengers who are either healthy or those having co-morbidities.

As per the revised SOP, the passenger will be released on the seventh day, if tested negative, to strict home quarantine for another seven days with stamping.

This norm is in contradiction to the Ministry of Home Affairs’ SOP for international passengers. As per the MHA’s SOP, the passengers (asymptomatic) will be under institutional quarantine for 14 days. Testing negative after 14 days, they will be allowed to go home and will undertake self-monitoring of their health for 14 more days.

On the contradiction, Pandey said, "We don't take chances as we rely on tests instead of just quarantining. Other states may be depending on just 14-day institutional quarantine."

"GOI SOP doesn't talk about Covid tests on international passengers. We have put an additional safety layer of three Covid tests on returnees -- one on arrival, second from 5-7 days and last on 12th day. This will ensure definite identification of positive cases even if they are asymptomatic and their subsequent treatment. We should look at the spirit behind the order," he added.

On the 14-day additional reporting period for category B, he said, "It is implied as category B patients should report to us for 14 days after their first 14-day quarantine period is over."

Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said that the State would follow the Centre’s norms.

Till Tuesday, Karnataka’s SOP had three categories. Under Category A (symptomatic), 14-day institutional quarantine at COVID-19 Health Care Centre was mandatory followed by 14-day reporting period. Under Category B (asymptomatic above 60 years with co-morbidities), seven-day institutional quarantine at hotel/hostel followed by seven-day home quarantine and 14-day reporting period had been recommended. The 14-day home quarantine and 14-day reporting period was mandatory for Category C (asymptomatic).