Belagavi, Dec 12: Senior Legislator K Pratapchandra Shetty of Congress was unanimously elected as Karnataka Legislative Council Chairman here on Wednesday during the ongoing Winter Session at Suvarna Vikas Soudha.
Mr Shetty was the lone candidate who had filed his nomination papers yesterday. The senior leader from Udupi has been a four-time MLA and three time MLC.
Senior member of the house and former Minister S R Patil and Allam Veerbhadrappa, both from Congress proposed Mr Shetty's name.
Bengaluru, Aug 5: Touted as a first of its kind in the nation, a mobile Covid-19 lab was inaugurated on Wednesday by the Karnataka Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar.
The lab, approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) can do 9,000 RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) tests per month, an official press release said here. "This is a unique lab having all safety features and capable of producing 100% accurate results within four hours," Dr Sudhakar was quoted as saying in the press release.
The Indian Institute of Science (IISC) had developed the lab and handed it over to the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS).
The mobile lab can also be used for molecular diagnostic-testing and can be deployed in coronavirus hot spots quickly, the release said adding, apart from Covid-19, the lab can be utilised for testing H1N1, HCV, TB, HPV and HIV among others.
Bengaluru, May 3: Erection of barricades and drawing up of boxes or circles aimed at maintaining social distancing were seen in front of liquor shops in different parts of Karnataka on Sunday, a day ahead of their reopening after a gap of over 40-days, due to the lockdown.
Karnataka Excise Commissioner on Saturday had ordered that only CL-2 (retail shops) and CL-11C (state-run retail shops like Mysore Sales International Limited) would open from May 4.
It had permitted liquor sale liquor between 9 am and 7 pm only in areas that are outside COVID-19 containment zones.
Reports of barricades being erected to ensure that people stand in line and drawing of boxes or circles in front of shops to maintain social distancing in front of retail and MSIL shops have emerged from across the state, including the state capital.
Also reports about shop keepers doing special poojas outside liquor shops in Kolar and some even illuminating their outlets with lights from outside have surfaced from other parts of the state.
Meanwhile, officials were engaged in checking stocks ahead of the shops opening on Monday morning.
"We are making all preparations to ensure that government rules are followed. We also seek the cooperation of the people and police," the manager of a shop said.
Another said there may be a rush initially, after which things may get back to normal.
"We expect things to go on smoothly," he added.
Calling for number of customers to be limited to five at a time while ensuring that they maintain social distancing of not less than six feet distance, the order states that customers and the staff will have to wear masks and sanitizers should be used at the shops.
Only stand alone CL-2 and CL-11C shops are allowed to commence liquor sale and not those at malls and super markets, it said.
Officials in Bengaluru said liquor sale is prohibited in 26 containment zones in the city, while in other places rules that have been prescribed need to be followed.
In case of any violation, strict action would be taken, including imposing of penalty, they said.
There was pressure on the government to kick start economic activities, including allowing sale of liquor, to boost the state's finances as excise is the key area which generates revenue.
State Excise Minister H Nagesh had recently pegged the losses at Rs 60 crore per day because of closure of liquor shops, due to the lockdown.
Mangaluru, May 9: Dakshina Kannada District Collector Sindhu B Roopesh on Friday held a meeting to discuss the precautionary measures to be taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and the current situation in the district.
The meeting was attended by Member of Parliament and Karnakata BJP unit chief Nalin Kumar Kateel, Minister-in-charge of Dakshina Kannada Kota Srinivasa Poojary, MLA Vedavas Kamath and District Medical Officer Dr Ramachandra Bauri among others were present there.
Top officials of the police department, labour department officials and other concerned persons were also present in the meeting.
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CONGRATULATIONS AND ALL THE BEST ON THE OCCASSION OF ELECTED KARNATAKA SPEAKER.
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