Rickshaw driver burnt alive in road collision

Bengaluru, Mar 20: The high court on Thursday directed the government to notify on its official website the penal provisions to be enforced against private schools violating norms relating to fees and safety of students, among other things. A division bench of chief justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka granted six weeks to the authorities to comply while disposing of a PIL filed by advocate NP Amrutesh.

Earlier, the state government submitted a memo stating that necessary amendments have been brought to Karnataka Education Act in 2017. It said any breach of students' safety entails a minimum jail term of six months and Rs 1 lakh fine for a convicted employee or member of the management. Any institution found guilty by the District Education Regulatory Authority will face disaffiliation and must pay a fine of Rs 10 lakh, the memo said.

Schools collecting donations and other fees beyond what is prescribed can be fined up to Rs 10 lakh and they must refund the excess fee.

In relation to schools charging for applications and brochures, the state capped their prices at Rs 5 and Rs 20 respectively, by issuing a gazzette notification last year.

Bengaluru, Mar 10: With concerns growing by the day, the Karnataka government is readying three more labs to test throat swab samples.

Currently, only two labs in Bengaluru — National Institute of Virology and Virus Research and Diagnostics Laboratory (VRDL) lab attached to Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute — are categorised biosafety level 2+, a requirement for coronavirus tests.

Now, the government is working on upgrading three more labs, one each in the government medical colleges at Hassan, Mysuru and Shivamogga. “The labs will be ready within one week,” the authorities said.

Currently, the labs are testing only throat swab samples of suspected patients and taking 24 hours to give the results. “A patient’s blood sample will be collected only if he or she tests positive for covid-19 infection in the first throat swab sample.

While earlier the state would send all samples of suspected coronavirus cases to NIV, Pune, the two labs were upgraded to biosafety level 2+ in mid-February.

Hubli, April 3: Twelve people including 5 women as well as 50 unidentified people have been booked for allegedly pelting stones at police personnel in Mantur area of Hubli on Friday.

The police were allegedly attacked for stopping people from offering Friday prayers at a mosque, during the ongoing lockdown put in place in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

"12 people including five women and 50 unidentified people have been booked for stone-pelting at police personnel in Mantur area of Hubli today. The women have been taken into custody while police are searching for the others," said Hubli-Dharwad Police Commissioner R Dilip.

The Police Commissioner further said, "Some prominent people of the community had also urged the devotees to go to their homes but they got agitated."

"Four policemen have sustained minor injuries in the incident," he said adding that "legal action will be taken against the culprits."