SDPI holds ‘Raj Bhavan Chalo’ demanding repeal of NRC in Assam

Bengaluru, May 15: The novel coronavirus infection tally in Karnataka state on Friday crossed the 1,000-mark with 45 new positive cases.

The tally has risen to 1032 with 35 deaths.

At present, there are 520 active cases, while 476 have been discharged following recovery

A maximum of 16 new cases are from Dakshina Kannada, followed by 13 in Bengaluru Urban.

Five cases are from Udupi, three each from Hassan and Bidar, two from Chitradurga and one each from Bagalakote, Shivamoga and Kolara, respectively.

A three-year-old is among the six minor infected by the virus.

Among the new cases, nearly 20 have a travel history to Dubai, four to Mumbai, and three to Chennai.

The rest of the patients are contacts in the Containment zone and those who tested positive earlier.

Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said that there is no community transmission as yet.

New cases reported: 45

Total active cases: 520

Total discharges: 476

Total covid deaths: 35

Death of covid +ve patient due to Non-Covid cause: 1

Total positive cases: 1032

Bengaluru, May 13: Gym and hotels, which had remained closed due to lockdown to combat spread of Coronavirus, would be allowed to function from May 17, Karnataka Minister for Tourism C T Ravi said on Wednesday.

Speaking to the media, after a meeting with Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa here he said that the Chief Minister has agreed to give permission to gym, hotels and golf clubs to function and as they have assured to maintain social distance and follow other guidelines of the lockdown.

Mr Ravi, who is also Minister for Youth Empowerment and Sports, further said that reopening of hotel industry would help in attracting tourists. Opening of gym and fitness centre was important for sports persons and regular exercisers.

Bengaluru, Feb 18: Deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi was elected to the legislative council on Monday and although it was a done deal that he would win, a vote from across the aisle spiced up the election.

Counting was conducted soon after ballots were cast and Savadi polled 113 of the 120 votes cast, including the vote of disgruntled JD(S) legislator GT Devegowda. Seven votes were declared invalid. Members of the two opposition parties — Congress and JD(S) — abstained from voting.

The election was necessitated following the resignation of Rizwan Arshad of the Congress. Rizwan resigned after he was elected to the legislative assembly from the Shivajinagar constituency in the assembly bypolls held for 15 seats in December last year.

BR Anil Kumar, who was initially promised the support of both Congress and JD(S) was supposed to contest as an independent candidate. However, as both parties refused to support him at the last minute, he withdrew, paving the way for Savadi’s victory.

The BJP has 117 members in the 225-member assembly, but N Mahesh of the BSP and two independents, H Nagesh and Sharath Bachchegowda, besides GT Devegowda also voted, taking the total electorate to 120 (including the speaker). BJP’s SA Ramadas did not turn up because of health reasons.

“I would like to thank all those who were responsible for my victory. Special thanks to leaders of my party and chief minister BS Yediyurappa, who gave me the opportunity to be the BJP candidate,” said Savadi.

Winning this council election was crucial for Savadi to retain his ministry as he was not an elected member of either of the houses. Rules mandate that a non-member must get elected either to the assembly or council within six months after taking over as minister. February 20 was the deadline for Savadi, who had lost 2018 assembly polls from Athani, to get elected.

Officials in the assembly secretariat said seven votes were invalid because voters had wrongly marked their choices on ballot paper. According to norms, a voter has to mark numerical one, two and three against the names of the candidates in order of preference. Marking only numerical one is allowed. However, six ballots had a tick mark, while a voter had registered a cross mark. Since it was a secret ballot, it was not known who the MLAs were whose votes were invalid.

“The ballot papers bear serial numbers and they are randomly distributed. It is virtually impossible to say who a voter cast his or her vote for,” said assembly secretary MK Vishalakashi, the retuning officer for the bypoll.