Rajput outfit announces Rs 1 cr for ‘burning Deepika Padukone alive’

Bengaluru, Jul 16: Aiming to forge a citizen-government partnership in combating the Covid pandemic, the Karnataka government is seeking plasma donations from survivors for a token appreciation of Rs 5,000, a minister said on Wednesday.

"I request all those who have recovered from Covid-19 to donate plasma and save lives. As a token of our appreciation, we will give Rs 5,000 to patients who come forward and donate their plasma," said Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar.

He said the battle against the pandemic can only be won through citizen-government partnership.

On Wednesday, Covid cases swelled by 1,975 infections in Bengaluru, ground zero for the pandemic in the southern state, raising its total number of cases to 22,944, out of which 17,051 are active.

In the past 24 hours, the state as a whole registered a record 3,176 cases, raising Karnataka's tally to 47,253, even as 87 people succumbed to the virus.

Meanwhile, Sudhakar said 8,134 booth level workforce will conduct a house to house survey along with other Covid control measures in Bengaluru.

He said many locals and block level officers will be the members of the workforce.

Bengaluru, Apr 28: A CRPF jawan has been arrested in Karnataka for allegedly defying the COVID-19 lockdown norms with the paramilitary force taking strong exception to his 'ill treatment', following which an inquiry has been ordered by the state police.

State DGP Praveen Sood has ordered inquiry into the incident, which has triggered a row after a video of it went viral.

In the clip, some police constables are purportedly seen hitting CRPF soldier Sachin Sawant with sticks in Belagavi.

According to the information shared on social media, Sawant was washing his bike when a police team reached the spot and started beating him up for not wearing a mask during the lockdown.

Taking a serious view of the 'ill-treatment' meted out to its Cobra Commando, the CRPF has written a letter to the Karnataka police demanding an investigation into the matter.

In a letter to the DGP of Karnataka, the additional Director general of police of CRPF Sanjay Arora said Sawant was cleaning his bike when a skirmish happened between him and the police over not wearing the mask.

Arora wrote, "Sawant was manhandled and ill-treated, before his family members and paraded to the police station barefoot, where he was kept in chains and handcuff.

From the scrutiny of a viral video on social media, it is apparent that the conduct of police personnel was not citizen centric."

The CRPF ADGP also said the 'unpleasant' situation could have been avoided if the Karnataka police had taken CRPF hierarchy into confidence before making the arrest.

In response, Sood ordered an inquiry into the matter.

He tweeted that IGP Belagavi has been asked to conduct a probe into the incident involving CRPF constable. Action will be taken against guilty after receipt of report, he said.

According to sources, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai has directed the state police chief to conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident.

Denouncing the arrest, Karnataka Irrigation Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi has sought the release of the CRPF jawan.

"It was wrong on the part of the constables to ill treat CRPF jawan and an inquiry be conducted against the erring policemen," said jarkiholi in a press release.

However, Superintendent of Police of Belagavi district, Laxman Nimbargi defended the arrest of Sawant.

Bengaluru, Feb 14: After the swearing-in of ten former JDS and Congress MLAs, political boundaries seem to have become more fluid, with little clarity on who is on whose side. When Honnali BJP MLA Renukacharya visited senior Congressman DK Shivakumar at the latter’s residence, many eyebrows were raised over the reason behind the meeting. There was speculation over why Renukacharya would be meeting a man who is, in all likelihood, slated to be the next KPCC president.

Renukacharya reacted to the rumours by making the meet sound purely professional. He said, “We have a three-day Krushi Sammlan in Honnali, and I went to invite him (DKS) for it.’’   Shivakumar also remained tight-lipped over the real reason behind the meeting, and corroborated Renukacharya’s story. However, insiders claim that the two discussed other issues too. It may be recalled that Renukacharya had openly rebelled against Yediyurappa in 2009.