Umrah-bound young NRI techie from Mangaluru killed in Saudi road crash

Bengaluru, May 18: Karnataka education minister S Suresh Kumar on Monday announced the SSLC examination dates. Earlier, Karnataka SSLC examinations were to be held between March 27 and April 9, 2020, but had to be postponed due to the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown.

The minister announced that Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) will conduct SSLC examination between June 25 to July 4 and the PUC exam for English paper will be held on June, 18, 2020.

"Examinations for Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) will be conducted between June 25 and July 4 in Karnataka. Exams for English paper of Pre-University Course (PUC) will he held on June 18: Karnataka Education Minister S Suresh Kumar," ANI tweeted.

The minister for primary and secondary education had held a meeting with the department officials to discuss the feasibility of conducting the exam.

Modalities of conducting the examination in the current situation of the COVID 19 pandemic while taking care of interests of students is of paramount importance, S Suresh Kumar said adding these issues have been kept in mind while finalising the schedule.

With inter-state and inter-district mobility a major issue with public transport not available and also due to 14-day institutional quarantine norms, the minister had told TOI that an idea has been introduced to allow students appear for the examination in the district where they presently are than at their designated examination centre.

Bengaluru, Mar 19: As a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the Karnataka State Board of Auqaf has issued an advisory to mosques, dargahs and other religious institutions, requesting them to conclude the Friday congregation in 15 minutes for the next three weeks.

"Respected head of masjids and imams (prayer leader) are requested to conclude the entire Juma congregation (including Juma khutbah, salah and dua) in 15 minutes for the next three weeks and avoid using the public mic for the khutbah and salah," read a statement from the Karnataka State Board of Auqaf.

It has advised to ensure cleanliness and good hygiene inside mosques and keep the carpets, prayer mats, floor mats etc clean.

Further, it stated that those coming for daily prayers should be instructed to perform wudhu (ablution) at their homes and avoid using prayer caps placed in masjids.

"Please remove the public towels and prayer caps from the masjids. Sunnah and nafil prayers should observed at home," the advisory read.

The advisory came as the number of coronavirus patients spiralled across the country. The governments are taking all precautionary measures to contain the spread of the virus that has claimed more than 7,500 lives across the globe since its outbreak in China in December last year.

Mangaluru, Mar 24: Seven people were arrested on Tuesday for violating prohibitory orders imposed under Section 144 of CrPC in Mangaluru during the lockdown in Karnataka, Commissioner of Police PS Harsha said.
Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Monday had announced a complete lockdown in the state till April 1.
"In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the entire state will be locked down from 12 am of March 23 to April 1. People are requested to strictly follow it to contain the coronavirus spread," he said.
Earlier, the state government had ordered the suspending of all public and private transport services.
According to the data compiled by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the total number of the infection-related death toll in the country rose to nine on Tuesday, while the total number of active cases reached 482.