Mangaluru, Feb 28: Two labourers lost their lives as they were buried alive in a landslip at Karangalpady Junction near Bunts Hostel in the city today.
The landslip occurred when a compound wall collapsed burying at least five persons under the debris. It is feared that three people are still under the debris.
The deceased have been identified as Mohammad Masood (20) from West Bengal and Bhimappa (25) from Bagalkote.
Local police and fire fighters are carrying out rescue operation.
Mumbai, Apr 15: A 35-year-old man, who worked as a priest in suburban Kandivali, allegedly committed suicide on Tuesday afternoon, hours after learning that lockdown to contain coronavirus has been extended.
The deceased was identified as Krishna Pujari, native of Udupi in Karnataka, who was attached to Durga Mata temple in Iraniwadi area of Sanjay Nagar.
Pujari, who lived with three other priests, was waiting for the lockdown to end as he wanted to go back to his hometown, a police official said.
When he learnt that the lockdown has been extended till May 3, he was terribly depressed and allegedly hanged himself in kitchen, the official added.
No suicide note has been found, he said.
Bengaluru, Feb 5: Despite installing a BJP government in Karnataka through disguised operation Kamala, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led union government has continued its step motherly attitude towards this south Indian state.
Under the new formula adopted to share central taxes among states Karnataka will be the worst-affected. Though the 15th Finance Commission has recommended a special grant of Rs 5,495 crore for the state for 2020-21, the Centre appears reluctant to pay up and instead has asked for the proposal to be reviewed.
During the Union budget, the report of the 14th Finance Commission headed by NK Singh for 2020-21 was tabled in Lok Sabha. It shows besides Karnataka, Telangana, Mizoram and Kerala saw their central tax share decrease, while Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra were top gainers.
Karnataka's share has decreased from 4.7% provided by the previous finance commission, to 3.6%. Acknowledging there is a steep decline in Karnataka's share from 2019-20, the finance commission has recommended a special grant of Rs 5,495 crore for the state.
Its share in 2019-20 was Rs 36,675 crore, but under the new formula, Karnataka will get only Rs 31,180 crore in 2020-21 from the divisible pool of Rs 8.5 lakh crore - a decline of 22.5%.
Also, the decrease for Karnataka comes on the back of a shortfall in 2019-20. While the state was entitled to Rs 39,806 crore from the divisible pool, it got only Rs 36,675 crore as the Centre suffered a tax revenue shortfall of Rs 1.5 lakh crore.
What is more disheartening though is the Centre's refusal to pay the special grant. Instead, the Union finance ministry has asked the finance commission to reconsider the recommendation. This has prompted the state to take up the issue with the Centre.
"The decline in central taxes devolution comes at a time when the state is going through a tough financial situation. Steps are being taken to ensure Karnataka gets justice," said chief secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar.
Officials said besides corrective measures for 2020-21, the focus will be on ensuring a fair share in subsequent years. However, Karnataka has little chance of getting its dues as the Centre is known to be prudent when distributing tax proceeds among states.
"The Centre has certain views on devolution. We have done our duty by submitting the interim report. It's up to the states to convince the Centre," said Ravi Kota, joint secretary of 15th Finance Commission.
Under the new formula, the commission changed the weightage for some of the six criteria it considers - population, area, forest cover, income distance, demographic performance and tax effort.
Mangaluru, May 17: Former health minister U T Khader demanded that the authorities carry out a scientific analysis of the five deaths that occurred due to Covid-19 in Dakshina Kannada. 
“The number of fatalities vis-à-vis the number of positive cases in the district is worrying, and the district administration and health department should not take the matter lightly. Lapses, if any, in dealing with the co-morbidity factors should be addressed, lest it become a major health challenge,” he warned.
Addressing reporters on Saturday, Khader, said only carrying out such types of analysis will help the health department combat the spread of the novel coronavirus in the future. “At present, the only data available with the health authorities here and in the state war room, is the number of people tested and number of positive cases,” Khader said.
“Any strategy to combat Covid-19 must be built around scientific analysis of causes of how the disease is spreading and to do so, concrete efforts must be made to find the source of the cluster at the First Neuro Hospital in Padil. A analysis of reasons that caused the deaths, will also come in handy for the authorities to prepare suitable advisories for the people, who in turn could take informed decisions,” Khader noted.
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