Technical snag forces Doha-bound AIE flight to return to Mangaluru 

Bengaluru, Jan 29: The high court has granted bail to a 37-year-old Bangladeshi woman from the Christian community on the strength of Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019.

The court cited Section 2 of the amended Citizenship Act 1955, according to which minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who entered India on or before December 31, 2014 should not be treated as illegal immigrants, while granting her bail.

Allowing the petition filed by Archana Purnima Pramanik, an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh, who claims to be staying in India since 2003, justice John Michael Cunha on Monday directed her to furnish a bail bond for Rs 2 lakh to the satisfaction of the investigating officer and cooperate with the probe.

The judge observed the allegations made against her must be proved in a full-dressed trial. Archana was booked for obtaining documents such as PAN and Aadhaar cards and also fraudulently obtaining an Indian passport on March 28 last year. Based on a complaint filed by the assistant passport officer, Archana was arrested on November 7, 2019 and her bail petition was dismissed by a sessions court on December 4, 2019.

Born on March 23, 1983 at Tanore, Rajshahi district of Bangladesh, Archana came to India in 2003 to pursue a career in nursing. After obtaining a diploma in general nursing and midwifery at Ranchi in 2006, she worked in many reputed hospitals.

In 2010, she got married to Rajashekaran Krishnamurthy and the marriage was registered at Ranchi. After the wedding, she moved to Bengaluru and obtained PAN, Aadhaar and voter ID cards.

On April 1, 2019, Archana applied for a visa to Bangladesh for herself and her son. During her journey on May 20, 2019, they were detained at Kolkata airport and released later. However, the regional passport office issued a notice revoking Archana’s passport and she was arrested by RT Nagar police on November 7, 2019.

New Delhi, Jul 9: The Central Board of Secondary Education has strongly defended its decision to drop topics like democratic rights, citizenship, federalism, secularism etc in the name of reducing the syllabus for Classes 9 to 12 due to COVID-19 pandemic. 

The board has claimed that the dropped lessons "are either being covered by the rationalised syllabus or in the Alternative Academic Calendar of NCERT".

The CBSE said it had to come up with the clarification after realizing its decision was "interpreted differently".

"The rationalisation of syllabus up to 30 per cent has been undertaken by the Board for nearly 190 subjects of class 9 to 12 for the academic session 2020-21 as a one-time measure only. The objective is to reduce the exam stress of students due to the prevailing health emergency situation and prevent learning gaps," it said.

While it has said that no questions can be asked from the reduced syllabus in the next board exams, the CBSE has also directed schools to follow alternative calendars prepared by the NCERT.

"Therefore each of the topics that have been wrongly mentioned in media as deleted have been covered under Alternative Academic Calendar of NCERT which is already in force for all the affiliated schools of the Board," it clarified.

On Wednesday, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee tweeted: "Shocked to know that the central Government has dropped topics like citizenship, federalism, secularism and partisan in the name of reducing CBSE course during the COVID crisis."

"We strongly object to this and appeal the HRD Ministry to ensure these vital lessons aren't curtailed at any cost," Banerjee added.

Mangaluru/Udupi, Mar 23: The coastal district of Dakshina Kannada including the city of Mangaluru today refused to return to normalcy from yesterday’s Janata Curfew, as the government imposed lockdown in the district till the month end to contain the Covid-19 caused by the deadly novel coronavirus.

The lockdown coupled with the prohibitory orders under Section 144 has forced all the commercial establishments barring few to remain closed in the district.

The police started issuing stern warning to the people through loudspeakers against venturing out of their homes unnecessarily. People are allowed to move only in case of any emergency or basic needs.

The police warning came after a few people started ignoring the lockdown and ban orders. A few private buses also were seen plying on the roads in the morning.

Under the proibitory orders, the district administration banned from venturing out of their homes except in case of emergency or extreme necessity. All public programmes including religious ceremonies, cultural programmes also are banned. All shops, commercial establishments, workshops and godowns with other unessential goods are supposed to remain closed. Bus service, both government and private, are to suspended. Mass prayers and religious ceremonies are not allowed in temples, mosques and churches. Beaches and other tourist spots are closed.

Udupi

The lockdown in 9 districts of Karnataka has forced many private buses in Udupi to stay off the roads for second day on Monday. Some buses plying between Udupi to Kundapur have resumed service a day after Janata Curfew, with very minimum occupancy.

Due to lockdown in Dakshina Kannada, all services operating from Mangaluru to Udupi, Manipal, and Kundapur have been suspended till the month end. Buses on Karkala-Udupi route have also stopped their operations.