Sharjah ruler promises to release 149 Indian prisoners

New Delhi, Apr 25: Karnataka Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Saturday said that a journalist from Bangalore Urban, who has tested positive for COVID-19, is one out of 15 new cases reported in the state.

He further said that out of the 15 new coronavirus cases, six each are from Bangalore Urban and Belagavi and one each from Mandya, Chikkaballapura and Dakshin Kannada. The state's tally is now 489.

"#COVID19 Update: From 5 pm, 24th April till 12 noon today. A total of 489 cases, 15 positives, 18 deaths & 183 discharges," Sudhakar tweeted.

India's total number of coronavirus positive cases has climbed to 24,506 including 18,668 active cases, 5,063 cured/discharged/migrated and 775 deaths, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said today.

Jaipur, Jan 26: Rajasthan on Saturday on Saturday became the third state in the country to pass a resolution urging the Centre to repeal the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

he resolution was passed in the state Assembly amid opposition by the BJP which accused the ruling Congress of pursuing appeasement politics.

It is the second Congress-ruled state to pass such a resolution after Punjab. The Kerala Assembly too had passed such a resolution against the CAA moved jointly by the ruling Left Front alliance and the opposition Congress-led UDF.

The Rajasthan Assembly resolution, passed by voice vote, also asked the Centre to withdraw the new fields of information that have been sought for updation of the National Population Register (NPR) 2020.

"It is evident that the CAA violates the provisions of the Constitution. Therefore, the House resolves to urge upon the government of India to repeal the CAA to avoid any discrimination on the basis of religion in granting citizenship and to ensure equality before law for all religious groups of India," the state's parliamentary affairs minister Shanti Dhariwal said, moving the resolution.

Leader of the opposition Gulab Chand Kataria of the BJP questioned the state's right to challenge the Act.

"Granting citizenship is a matter for the Centre. In such a situation do we have the right to challenge the CAA? The Congress should stop doing appeasement and vote bank politics," he said.

Dammam, Feb 3: Harish Bangera, 32, who was arrested in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia more than a month ago after offensive Facebook post went viral, has remained incommunicado.

Bangera, who hails from Goyadibettu in Bijadi village of Kundapur taluk, Udupi district, was an air-conditioning technician for a company in Dammam, capital of Saudi's eastern province.

He was arrested on December 20, 2019 after he posted derogatory messages on Facebook against crown prince Mohammad bin Salman and went on to claim that a Ram temple will be built in the holy city of Makkah too just like in Ayodhya where the Babri mosque was demolished.

Fearing legal action, he later posted a video pleading for forgiveness. “I have committed a mistake. Please forgive me. I will never upload any such posts again," he is seen saying in the video.

After his arrest, his roommate, who happens to be a Pakistani, has reportedly made several attempt to contact him, but in vain. He also has approached many Indian and Saudi authorities in his bid to get Bangera out of prison, sources said.

The Saudi authorities have not even responded to the messages of Indian Ministry of External Affairs. "We've made many efforts to contact the Saudi authorities but they haven't responded,” MEA sources said.