Schoolboy drowns during immersion of Ganesha idol

Mangaluru, Jul 1: Sudarshan Moodbidri, president of Dakshina Kannada district unit of Bharatiya Janata Party escaped unhurt after the car in which he was travelling met with an accident today on the outskirts of the city. 

The car’s front portion was completely damaged in the accident. It is not yet known who was driving the car. Sources said that Sudarshan did not suffer any injury. 

The mishap occurred when the driver lost control while trying to avoid hitting a pedestrian at Mijar near Moodbidri. The car collided with an oncoming vehicle before it veered off the road and entered the roadside sludge.

Sleuths from Moodbidri station police visited the spot as part of investigation.

Bengaluru, Feb 8: The BJP on Saturday drew flak on Twitter for taking a swipe at Muslim women who appear to be standing in a line to vote in Delhi's assembly polls. ""Kaagaz Nahi Dikayenge Hum" ! ! ! Keep the documents safe, you will need to show them again during NPR exercise (sic)," the party's Karnataka Twitter handle posted using the hashtag #DelhiPolls2020. 

"Kaagaz Nahi Dikayenge Hum" ! ! !

Keep the documents safe, you will need to show them again during #NPR exercise.#DelhiPolls2020 pic.twitter.com/bEojjeKlwI

— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) February 8, 2020

The video, which appears to have been taken from one of the polling booths in Delhi on Saturday, shows burqa-clad women flashing their voter ID cards. While the threatening tone of the tweet is unmissable, the tweet contradicts the government's statement that no person needs to submit any documents during the house-to-house survey for updating the National Population Register (NPR) and that information provided by individuals would be accepted and recorded. 

The tweet has added to the prevailing confusion regarding the NPR exercise in the country. 

The NPR is a list of "usual residents" of the country. In 2010, the data for NPR was collected along with the house-listing phase of the Census of India 2011. The data was updated in 2015 by conducting a door-to-door survey.

Currently, it has been decided to update the NPR along with the house-listing phase of Census 2021 during April to September 2020 in all the states/union territories except Assam.

Most of the opposition parties see NPR as a prelude to the contentious National Register of Citizens (NRC), which has been opposed by even NDA allies like the JD(U). The NPR questionnaire asked details like the birthplace of parents. In combination with the recently amended citizenship law, protesters fear that the registry might be eventually used for NRC. 

As a result, people, predominantly Muslims, have hit the streets as India witnesses one of the most widespread civilian unrest of recent times.

Mangaluru, Ma 9: Three more persons from Bantwal taluk in Dakshina Kannada district tested positive for Covid-19 today. All three are members of a family.

The infection is reportedly linked to First Neuro Hospital of Mangaluru, which has emerged as a coronavirus hub in coastal Karnataka.

With this, the total number of coronavirus cases in the district mounted to 31 including six outsiders. Three of them have lost their lives. Currently there are 15 active cases in the district.

The newly identified coronavirus patients are a 30-year-old man and two elderly women aged 60 and 70 years.

They have contracted the infection from a 69-year-old man from Bantwal who was confirmed with COVID-19 infection on May 1. All the three members now infected belong to his family.

The man had got the infection from a woman identified as P-390. He happens to be a relative and neighbour of the deceased woman who belonged to Bantwal Kasaba village. Eight  members of his family were quarantined, of whom three tested positive today.