Yeddyurappa seeks reports from MLAs on drought condition in Karnataka

Bengaluru, Feb 2: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Sunday said that the cabinet expansion would take place on February 6, with 13 MLAs taking oath of office. “The cabinet expansion will take place on February 6 with the oath-taking ceremony at the Raj Bhavan at 10.30 AM,” he told reporters in Bengaluru.

Thirteen MLAs, including 10 who had joined BJP from parties, including Congress and the JD(S), will take oath, he said. The cabinet expansion is on the cards for nearly two months ever since the BJP won the maximum number of seats in the December 5 2019 bypolls and got a majority in the Karnataka assembly.

Bidar, Mar 4: The Principal District and Sessions Court in Bidar, on Tuesday, granted conditional bail to five functionaries of Shaheen School management — Abdul Qadeer, Allauddin Pasha, Mehtab Sait, Bilal Inamdar and Abdul Khaleq — who moved anticipatory bail in a sedition case slapped against their school recently.

Conditions

Senior advocate B.T. Venkatesh from Bengaluru argued for the petitioners. Managoli Premavati Mallikarjuna granted bail on certain conditions, including execution of personal bond of ₹2 lakh each.

The sedition case was filed against the Shaheen School management for its children staging a play as part of their annual day celebrations on January 21, in which a character had allegedly delivered a dialogue against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

While Nazbunnisa, the mother of the child who had allegedly delivered the dialogue in the play, and Fareeda Begum, the headmistress of the school, were arrested, they were subsequently released on bail last month.

New Delhi, April 5: Former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy on Sunday challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to offer a "credible scientific and rational" explanation for his candle-lighting call and said he is giving "meaningless tasks" to an already exhausted population.

The JD(S) leader questioned if the Prime Minister asked the nation to observe a candle-light vigil on the eve of foundation day of BJP.

"Has the PM slyly asked the nation to observe a candle light vigil on the eve of foundation day of BJP? April 6 being its foundation day, what else can explain the choice of date & time for this event? I challenge the PM to offer a credible scientific and rational explanation," Kumaraswamy tweeted.

"The government is yet to provide PPEs for doctors and make test kits affordable for the common man. Without telling the nation what concrete steps are being taken to combat COVID-19 menace, the prime minister is giving meaningless tasks to an already exhausted population," he tweeted.

"It is shameful to convert the national crisis into an event of self aggrandizement & it is beyond shameful to push the hidden agenda of his party in the face of global calamity. May sense prevail upon the PM," the JDS leader said in another tweet.

Amid a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, Prime Minister Modi on Friday appealed to countrymen to light diyas and candles on April 5 at 9 pm to fight the darkness spread by the pandemic. He asked the people to turn off all the lights in their homes and stand at doors or balconies and light candles or diyas, torches or mobile flashlights for 9 minutes on April 5.

Last month, PM Modi had asked the people to come out in their balconies and clap and beat utensils to show appreciation for doctors, nurses and others helping fight coronavirus on 'Janata Curfew'.