Will give Rs 10 lakh for eliminating "pro-Pakistan" sloganeers: Sri Ram Sena leader

Belgaum, Jan 1: Police detained a group of around eight people who were allegedly trying to hoist 'Uttara Karnataka flag' in Hire Bagewadi area here on Wednesday.

This comes amid tensions between Karnataka and neighbouring Maharashtra over the border issue with protests on both sides, which have also led to the cancellation of bus services between the two states.

Protesters in Belagavi burnt an effigy of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, following which Shiv Sena workers had launched a protest near the Kolhapur bus stand on Sunday, and burnt an effigy of Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.

The long-standing border dispute between the two states over is pending before the Supreme Court for several years.

On December 7, Thackeray had chaired a high-level meeting over the border dispute between two states. It was decided in the meeting that attempts will be made to get fast track hearing in Supreme Court on the issue.

Bengaluru, Jun 8: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday fielded Eranna Kadadi and Ashok Gasti as it's candidates for the June 19 Rajya Sabha elections from Karnataka, ignoring the recommendations of the state BJP unit.

The state unit had recommended the names of Prabhakar Kore, Ramesh Katti and Prakash Shetty.

The names of the two candidates were announced in a party statement in Delhi.

The election is scheduled on June 19 to fill four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka, represented by Rajeev Gowda and BK Hariprasad of Congress, Prabhakar Kore of BJP and D Kupendra Reddy of JD(S) that will fall vacant on June 25, with their retirement.

June 9 is the last date for filing nominations. Party sources said both Kadadi and Gasti come from an RSS background.

Kadadi hails from Belagavi, while Gasti is a resident of Raichur.

The 54-year-old Eranna Kadadi started his active political career in 1989 and unsuccessfully contested the assembly election from Arambhavi constituency in 1994 on a BJP ticket.

He had also served as the Belagavi district Panchayat president in 2010.

Ashok Gasti is a lawyer by profession and former general secretary of the BJP's OBC Cell.

He is the former chairperson of the Backward Class Development Corporation.

Bengaluru, Apr 17: The Karnataka government has announced the purchase of an additional two lakh rapid test kits for COVID-19 detection at a task force meeting on Thursday.

Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai and other senior officials were present at the task force meeting chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Dr CN Ashwathnarayan.

The Chinese government has agreed to supply rapid test kits to an officially listed company, which will increase the number of tests once it arrives, Ashwathnarayan said.

Moreover, 250 kiosks will be set up in the state to collect saliva samples of a person with COVID-19 symptoms. Such kiosks will be launched one-by-one in taluks of the state.

Ashwathnarayan explained that this would increase the sample collection process and prevent the spread of disease.

Ashwathnarayan said the purchase of the required 25,000 RT-PCR kits was also approved.
He stated that COVID-19 patients should be treated at government-appointed hospitals. A separate coronavirus helpline will be made operational to address the queries of people, Ashwathnarayan said.

During Ramadan, it has been decided not to allow mass prayers, he said. And added that tracing of cases related to the Tablighi Jamaat meeting in Delhi has been completed in the state.