Udupi limps back to normalcy; eight cases registered; Annamalai returns to Chikkamagaluru

Bengaluru, Apr 25: Bajrang Dal's former Karantaka satate convenor Mahendra Kumar, who dedicated last decade of his life to expose the misdeeds and lies of Sangh Parivar, passed away today due to cardiac arrest here. He was 47 years old.

Kumar was undergoing treatment at Ramaiah hospital Bengaluru where he breathed his last today (April 25) morning. His final rites will be held in his hometown, sources said.

Kumar, who hailed from Koppa in Chikkamagaluru was a resident of Bengaluru.

He had reportedly involved in the 2008 attacks on Christians' places of worship in Mangaluru and Chikkamagaluru and had faced arrest for that. 

However, he quit Bajrang Dal same year and the apologized to Christians. He joined Janata Dal (Secular) in 2011.

After quitting Bajrang Dal and adopting left ideology, he openly attacked the ideology of right-wing outfits. 

He founded Jana Dhwani movement as a voice for the oppressed classes of the state. He used social media to attack the "manuvaad" for past one decade.

New Delhi, Feb 1: An extremist today fired shots at anti-CAA protesters at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, just three days after another extremist fired at protesters at nearby Jamia Millia University. This is the second daylight shooting in which the police caught the man only after the shots were fired.

The man, apparently a fan of BJP leaders including Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, shouted "Jai Sri Ram" as he fired shots standing near police barricades put up at the south Delhi locality where hundreds of women and children have sat on the road in protest for more than a month. He was caught by the police. No one was injured. 

The shooter was also heard saying: "Humare desh mein sirf Hinduon ki chalegi aur kisi ki nahi (in our country only Hindus will prevail)." He had allegedly come to the area in an auto.

A witness said the man fired two-three times, standing right next to the police, not at the spot of the protest but close enough to a large crowd of unarmed men, women and children. 

"We suddenly heard gunshots. This person was shouting Jai Shri Ram. He had a semi-automatic pistol and he fired two rounds. The police were standing just behind him," said the witness, a volunteer at the protest.

"When his gun jammed, he ran. He tried to fire again, then tossed the gun into the bushes and tried to escape. Some of us and the police caught him, the police dragged him away," he added. Protesters questioned whether the police were more focused on keeping an eye on them rather than tackling crimes like this.

Police officer Chinmay Biswal said the man had fired shots in the air. "The man had resorted to aerial firing. Police immediately overpowered and caught him," he said.

This incident - the second shooting in Delhi at an anti-CAA protest -- has chilling similarities to the one that took place just two km away at Jamia university on Thursday, when a 17-year-old Class 12 boy from Uttar Pradesh fired a crude pistol at unarmed protesters with dozens of policemen behind him, watching. The teen, who left home claiming he was going to school, took a bus to Delhi intending to target Shaheen Bagh but landed at Jamia next-door after an auto-driver dropped him off there to avoid the traffic chaos.

The shootings have taken place in quick succession after controversial slogans of "Goli Maaro Sa***n Ko (shoot the traitors)" were chanted on Monday at a Delhi campaign rally of Anurag Thakur, the Union Minister of State for Finance, who was part of the team involved in Budget 2020 announced today.

Mr Thakur was banned from campaigning in Delhi for three days for egging on BJP workers to shout the "Goli Maaro" slogan.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal slammed Home Minister Amit Shah, to whose ministry the Delhi Police reports to, over the two shooting incidents. "What have you done to our Delhi, Amit Shah ji? Bullets are being fired in broad daylight... Law and order is being criticised constantly. Elections will come and go, politics will keep happening, but for the sake of the people of Delhi, please focus on fixing law and order," he tweeted.

The Shaheen Bagh protest has attracted attention from across the country in the protests against the CAA or the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which makes religion a criterion for citizenship. Critics say the law discriminates against Muslims as only non-Muslims from neighbouring Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh can become Indian citizens if they fled religious persecution and entered India before 2015.

Of late, critics of the Shaheen Bagh protests, mainly pro-CAA activists, have attacked the month-long sit-in on a key road in Delhi connecting to Noida. They say the protest has become a traffic nightmare for commuters.

Bengaluru, May 12: Nurses are the frontline warriors in the fight against COVID-19 and their commitment towards duty is commendable, said Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on World Nurses Day on Tuesday.

The Chief Minister was speaking at the inauguration of Miss Florence Nightingale's bicentennial anniversary organized by Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences at his home office 'Krishna'.

The Chief Minister said that the care and service provided by the nurses enhance the chances of recovery for any patient.

"In spite of the stress and pressure they go through everyday, nurses render quality service in the providing healthcare. There is an enormous demand for nurses around the world. I appeal to nurses to continue to render their quality service in this fight against COVID," he said.

Speaking at the event, Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said that the nurses are the backbone of the healthcare services and their role in the fight against corona is so large that the whole system would have gone for a toss without their services.

The Minister said that the Nurses have been renamed as Nursing Officers in recognition of their service.