RSS, other outfits misusing temples for illegal activities: Kerala Minister

Bengaluru, Jul 7: There seems no impact of Covid-19 on kharif crop sowing in Karnataka with the current year actually being ahead of previous years, according to an official here on Monday.

"In agriculture, as far as sowing is concerned, there is no impact of COVID-19," Agriculture Commissioner Brijesh Kumar Dikshit told IANS. One of the reasons, according to Dikshit, is that people in rural areas are aware, but not scared of the pandemic.

"In rural India, coronavirus is there. People are aware, not scared. They are taking precautions, but don't have any phobia," he said.

Another reason was that by June the number of infections in Karnataka was not as high as other states, when a lot of sowing was done, he said.

By the end of June, Karnataka saw 15,242 Covid-19 cases. Of that, 7,074 were active.

The sowing is ahead of previous year as it's mostly dependent on weather. "It's ahead of previous years. Agriculture is directed by weather and rains had been slightly earlier this year," he said.

According to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, at 185 mm the state received 14 mm less rain in June against the normal 199 mm. "It's like a normal year, or slightly a good year," he said.

Some crops will be sown in the last fortnight of July and few more will extend up to August 15. "The last two weeks will be critical and on July 31 we should be able to tell whether we are short or ahead," he said.

According to preliminary indications, the Commissioner said the area under agriculture is increasing this year, which could also be because that labourers might have come back.

Mangaluru, May 8: Twenty-two students of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV), Mudipu on the outskirts of Mangalur city, stranded in Uttara Pradesh due to lock-down reached the campus on Friday morning.

These Class 9 students (12 girls and 10 boys) had studied at JNV Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, as part of an exchange programme, 21 students of Amroha campus studied in Mudipu. 

While Amroha students could return after completing their studies, the Mudipu students were among many JNV students who were unable to return because of the lock-down.

JNV Mudipu Principal V Srinivasan said the 22 students, along with escorts, reached the campus at 7.15 a.m today.

Bengaluru, Jul 22: Congress MLA Priyank Kharge has questioned the Karnataka government on the alleged breakdown of oxygen in the intensive care unit (ICU) at ESIC hospital in Kalaburagi, saying he had got complaints that eight persons who were on ventilators had died.

He asked the government if it is "deliberately" hiding something about the patients that were admitted in ESIC.

"I have got complaints that eight people who were on ventilators are dead in ESIC Kalaburagi because there was oxygen breakdown in ICU. ESIC has not been admitting patients as the issue has not been resolved. Nobody is confirming or denying it. Is the Government deliberately hiding something?" he asked.
Kharge also accused the government of not having adequate facilities to combat COVID-19 in different parts of the state.

"I hope I am wrong, but if it is a fact, this ascertains that the administration has lost control over Corona pandemic in the district. No addition testing centre. No beds are available. PPE Kits and medical waste is thrown in Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS)," he added.

According to the Union Health Ministry, there are 67420 COVID-19 cases in the state.