SP Annamalai warns saffron groups, media against trying to twist Dhanyashree suicide case

Bengaluru, May 29: Karnataka reported 248 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, and with that, the state tally surged to 2,781. 

A 50-year-old woman, resident of Chikkaballapura district, succumbed to the infection on Friday. She was admitted to a private hospital on May 24 following acute kidney injury and pneumonia. As her condition deterorted, she was shifted to a designated hospital in Bengaluru Urban on May 28, where she tested COVID-19 positive.

Out of the 248 cases, only 16 persons have contracted the virus inside the state. The remaining are the people who have returned from Maharashtra, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Ireland.

The maximum number of people, who tested positive for COVID-19, have returned from Maharashtra. Most of these people are residents of Udupi, Kalaburagi, Yadagiri and Raichuru.

Besides, five people have a travel history to Delhi, while one person each has tested positive on returning from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Ireland.

Fifteen people have tested positive within the state and have been infected by persons who had previously tested positive or have a history of Influenza-like Illness and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness.

Out of all the cases, 10 have been reported in Bengaluru Urban while one has come up in Bengaluru Rural.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Karnataka government asked the Civil Aviation Ministry to reduce the number of flights coming in the state from the five worst-hit states -- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

"Karnataka has appealed to the Civil Aviation Ministry to take steps to lessen the air traffic to the state, with the sacred intention that there may not be adequate quarantine facilities if there is a huge turnout in a short span of time," state Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J.C. Madhuswamy explained.

New Delhi, Jan 17: The Supreme Court on Friday closed the monitoring of the killing of rationalist M M Kalburgi in 2015 in Dharwad.

A bench of Justices R F Nariman and S Ravindra Bhat noted that the charge sheet has already been filed and the matter was assigned to the sessions court. The court, however, noted two accused had absconded and could not be arrested till date, according to reports.

Senior advocate Devadatt Kamat, appearing for the Karnataka government, submitted that the High Court had also stopped monitoring of the matter.

The top court had in early last year directed that the Karnataka High Court's Dharwad bench to monitor the probe. The Karnataka police SIT, which investigated Gauri Lankesh case and filed the charge sheet, was allowed to take over the Kalburgi case.

Umadevi, in her 2017 plea, drew a parallel between Kalburgi's murder and killings of Narendra Dabholkar and Comrade Govind Pansare in Maharashtra and sought an SIT probe by a retired Supreme Court or a High Court judge. She urged the top court to monitor the probe till it reached its logical conclusion as there was no progress in the investigation conducted so far by the Karnataka police.

The court had earlier sought to know if there was a "common thread" in murder cases of Communist leader Pansare and rationalist Dabholkar in Maharashtra, and Kannada writer Kalburgi and journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh in Karnataka.

Bengaluru, Jan 19: The Karnataka government has given its nod to teach 'Vivekadeepini' slokhas, authored by Adi Shankaracharya, in schools across the state, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said on Saturday.

At an event called 'Vivekadeepini Mahasamarpane,' organised by Vedanta Bharati, Yediyurappa said, "It has been noticed that Vivekadeepini, which evolves the mind and illumines a person, has a great effect on students.

Parents and teachers have found a positive change among children who were inspired by Vivekadeepini." "Hence, the government has given its nod to allow teaching Vivekadeepini in the schools in Karnataka," he added.

According to the organisers of the event, around two lakh children from 50 schools participated in the event where they were taught to chant Vivekadeepini, comprising verses for the seekers in the spiritual journey.

Yediyurappa reminded the audience that the Indian culture and civilisation is the oldest and the best, which they should feel proud of. Likening Amit Shah to the first union home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, he said, "After Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel if we have seen a union home minister, it is Amit Shah, who has successfully resolved many burning issues of the countries within a few months.

"Shah succeeded in finding a permanent solution to Kashmir issue," Yediyurappa said.