Subramanian Swamy promises autonomy status for Kodagu

Bengaluru, Feb 4: Karnataka High Court on Monday reserved order on plea, seeking cancellation of bail granted to Nithyananda for skipping the trial and fleeing the country.

After hearing the arguments, the court has reserved the matter for further orders which will be pronounced on February 5.

The plea, which was filed in the high court on January 23, was heard by Justice John Michael Cunha.

The counsel for the complainant Lenin put forth arguments that the self-styled godman Swami Nithyananda had fled the country to escape the trial. "Nityananda has been claiming to be in India in his exemption petitions filed before the trial court but during that time he sought asylum in Ecuador and is having a second passport," said Lenin.

The prosecutor informed the court that they do not need his presence for the trial at this time.

Nithyananda, accused of rape and child abuse, has been absconding since November 2018.

In December 2019, the Ministry of External Affairs said that the passport of Nithyananda was cancelled and a fresh application of the same was denied as he did not get the requisite clearance from police and several criminal cases have been lodged against him.

Police in Ahmedabad had arrested two woman administrators of the ashram, allegedly owned by Nithyananda, and freed two boys who were held captive there.

Two of his disciples, Pranpriya and Priyatattva, were arrested on the basis of a complaint filed by one Janardhan Sharma who alleged that his daughter was held captive in Nithyananda's ashram.

The police took the two women to Nithyananda's ashram in Hathiajan for an investigation and seized laptops, mobile phones among other things.

Shivamogga, May 12: Roopa Praveen Rao, an expectant mother and a nurse at a hospital in Shivamogga's Karnataka, has chosen to continue to serve the patients amid the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

Rao who hails from Gajanuru village is nine months pregnant and works at Jayachamarajendra Government Hospital as a nurse.

She travels every day to Thirthahalli taluk to attend to the patients at the hospital.

"The taluk hospital is surrounded by many villages, people need our service. My seniors had asked me to take leave but I want to serve people. I work six hours a day," she told news agency.

She added that Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa too called her up and appreciated her dedication and suggested that she should take rest.

Rao is one of the many frontline COVID-19 warriors who have been risking their lives to ensure that everyone stays safe as the country fights the coronavirus.

Bengaluru, Jul 23: Karnataka on Thursday recorded a biggest single-day surge of over 5,000 cases and 97 related fatalities, taking the total number of people who tested positive for the virus to 80,863, the health department said. 

The day also saw a record 2,071 patients getting discharged after recovery.

Out of 5,030 fresh cases reported, a whopping 2,207 cases were from Bengaluru urban alone.

As of July 23 evening, cumulatively 80,863 Covid-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 1,616 deaths and 29,310 discharges, the health department said in its bulletin.

It said, out of 49,931 active cases, 49,291 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 640 are in ICU. Out of the 97 deaths reported on Thursday 48 are from Bengaluru urban, followed by Mysuru 8, Dakshina Kannada 7 and others.

Most of the dead are either with a history of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) or Influenza-like illness (ILI).

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru urban accounts for 2,207, followed by Raichur 258, Kalaburagi 229, Dakshina Kannada 218, and others.

Bengaluru urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 39,200 infections, followed by Dakshina Kannada 4,209 and Kalaburagi 3,370.