Prof. Sareen Sheikh awarded Ph.D. by Mangalore University

Bengaluru, Jan 31: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday got the green signal from the BJP central leadership for the much-awaited cabinet expansion in the state and he is mostly likely to induct 11 ministers. Yediyurappa said the date of swearing-in will be decided in a day or two, although he indicated that it would most likely be held on February 3.

Currently, there are 18 ministers, including the chief minister, in the cabinet that has a sanctioned strength of 34. Sixteen berths are vacant. "Many of our suggestions have been accepted by Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda. If there are differences, we will discuss in Bengaluru and finalise it," Yediyurappa told reporters after meeting Shah in the Parliament Complex here.

Except for one or two, most of the disqualified JDS-Congress MLAs who got re-elected in the bypolls on BJP tickets will be made ministers, he said, adding there won't be any additional deputy chief ministers. However, sources said, a total of 11 ministers would be inducted into the cabinet.

"We discussed yesterday and now also. Shah has agreed to almost everything," Yediyurappa said, adding he is returning back "happy" after getting the nod for the cabinet expansion. "I am going happy," he said.

Yediyurappa had been anxiously waiting for the party high command's approval to expand his ministry amid intense lobbying by the aspirants. Opposition parties have been critical of the BJP and Yediyurappa over the delay in the cabinet expansion, alleging he was weak and that his administration had collapsed.

Bengaluru, May 15: There is no trace of community spread of COVID-19 pandemic in Karnataka due to the strict measures taken by the State Government, Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said on Friday.

All those tested positive for the virus here have arrived from other states and are currently being treated in quarantine centres, he tweeted.

Over 25 per cent of the COVID-19 positive cases, which were detected in the state, were related to those who had either come from abroad or other states, and only about 7 per cent cases were associated with the influenza-like diseases, his tweet further read.

Belagavi, 13: In a shocking development, Karnataka has reported its first COVID-19 relapse with a 50-year-old Tablighi Jamaat convention attendee in Belagavi testing positive days after being discharged.

The State health officials confirmed that P-298 from Kudachi, who had recovered and was discharged, has suffered a relapse. He has been re-admitted to a designated hospital in Belagavi.

The patient was initially admitted on April 15 and recovered, testing negative twice on April 30 and May 1. The tests were done at the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Bengaluru, and the National Institute of Traditional Medicine (NITM), Belagavi.

Despite recovering, his treatment continued in the ICU for other comorbidities, especially cardiac issues. He was discharged on May 4 and quarantined at an institutional facility in Kudachi.

However, he developed symptoms again and was tested for COVID-19 again on May 5 at NITM, Belagavi. The result came back positive. He was re-admitted to a hospital, and on May 6 a second test was done at the Belagavi Institute of Medical Sciences. Again, he tested positive.