Rebel Congress MLA, who was declared JD(S) candidate for assembly polls, joins BJP

Bewngaluru, Jun 23: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Tuesday said Covid-19 related fatalities in the state was far less compared to other major states, as he called on people and front line corona warriors infected by the virus not to lose courage.

The Chief Minister made the statement following the alleged suicide of a constable attached with the Karnataka State Reserve Police after he tested positive for Covid-19. "The total number of COVID related deaths in the state is very less compared to other major states.

There is no reason for any infected citizen or government employees to lose courage. The government is always with you," a tweet on the Chief Minister's official twitter handle said.

Of the total of 14,011 deaths reported so far, Maharashtra accounted for the highest with 6,283 fatalities, followed by Delhi with 2,233, Gujarat with 1,684 and Tamil Nadu with 794.

Acknowledging that police form the frontline of corona warriors and were working putting their lives at stake, he said a special Covid-19 testing center is being set up for them and all measures will be taken to provide the best treatment for those infected.

As of June 22 evening, cumulatively 9,399 Covid-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 142 deaths and 5,730 discharges.

The constable, aged about 50 years, was attached with the Karnataka State Reserve Police and was said to be depressed after getting tested positive for Covid-19, sources said.

Expressing condolence over his death, another tweet on the Chief Minister's handle said he has directed officials to to provide all necessary compensation and facilities to the family of the deceased at the earliest. Bengaluru has in the last few days has seen a spike in the number of police personnel getting infected by the virus. At least 74 of them have tested positive in the city and are undergoing treatment, while three have died so far, official sources said.

Bengaluru, Jul 10: Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Thursday condemned the decision of the HRD Ministry to drop chapters on citizenship, secularism and federalism from Class 11 political science syllabus, stating that this will "deprive a generation of students from understanding the important pillars of Indian democracy".

"I strongly condemn the decision of @HRDMinistry to drop chapters on citizenship, secularism and federalism. This will deprive a generation of students from understanding the important pillars of Indian democracy. #Stop Saffronisation Of Education," Siddaramaiah tweeted.

The Congress leader further alleged that BJP does not believe in the principles of citizenship, secularism and federalism.

"Chapters on citizenship, secularism and federalism are dropped from Class 11 Pol Science. syllabus. Does this explain something? Yes, it explains that @BJP4India doesn't believe in these principles and validates its past behaviour," he said in another tweet.

Earlier in the day, Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank rejected criticism over alleged conspiracy in CBSE's decision to reduce the syllabus of schools due to COVID-19 outbreak and urged the critics to "leave politics out of education".

"There has been a lot of uninformed commentary on the exclusion of some topics from #CBSESyllabus. The problem with these comments is that they resort to sensationalism by connecting topics selectively to portray a false narrative," the Union Minister tweeted.

"It is our humble request:#Education is our sacred duty towards our children. Let us leave politics out of education and make our politics more educated," he added.

The CBSE has revised the syllabus for the classes IX to XII during the academic session 2020-21 in the wake of the situation created by COVID-19.

In a circular issued to all the heads of the institutions affiliated to it, the CBSE had said that the revision of syllabi has been done due to the extraordinary situation prevailing in the country and different parts of the world.

Bengaluru, Jul 1: Karnataka registered a record 1,272 Covid positive cases to breach the 16,000- mark to take the states tally to 16,514, while seven people succumbed to the dreaded virus, an official said on Wednesday.

"New cases reported from Tuesday 5 p.m. to Wednesday 5 p.m. 1,272," said a health official.

In the past 24 hours, seven people have succumbed to the virus, two each in Bengaluru Urban and Bidar and one each in Dakshina Kannada, Belagavi and Hassan, taking the state''s death toll to 253.

Of the record number of cases in the last 24 hours, Bengaluru Urban bore the brunt with 735 infections, taking the city''s tally rise to 5,290, out of which 4,649 are active cases.

Among the new cases, excluding Bengaluru, Ballari accounted for 85, followed by Dakshina Kannada (84), Dharwad (35), Bengaluru Rural (29), Vijayapura and Hassan (28 each), Uttara Kannada (23) and Udupi (22).

Chamarajanagar witnessed 21 cases, followed by Bagalkote (20), Tumkur (19), Davangere (16), Chikkaballapura (15), Kalaburagi and Ramanagara (14 each), Koppal (13), Raichur and Chitradurga (12 each), Yadgir, Bidar and Belagavi (8 each), Kodagu (7), Mandya and Kolar (5 each), Shivamogga (3), Gadag (2) and Chikkamagaluru (1).

Of the 1,272 new cases, 1,068 or 84 per cent are contacts of earlier cases while domestic returnees accounted for 42 cases or 3 per cent.

On Wednesday, 145 people got discharged from different hospitals, elevating the total number discharges to 8,063.

Of the 16,514 cases in Karnataka, 8,194 are active cases.