SC upholds women’s right to worship Ayyappa, lifts ban on their entry into Sabarimala temple

Bengaluru, Jun 23: Karnataka Congress leader and Kanakapura MLA DK Shivakumar said on Monday that in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, people of his assembly constituency have taken a unanimous decision of remaining under voluntary lockdown until July 1.

The decision was taken after he headed a meeting at Kanakapura on Sunday, at the office of Kanakapura Municipality.

"Let us consider the situation after July 1, hold a similar meeting, and take the next decision. It has nothing to do with the state government's mandate. It came to the conclusion that this was a decision that we all voluntarily took," said DK Shivakumar.

DK Shivakumar informed that the merchants have agreed to sell groceries, fruits, vegetables, fennel, meat and other food items from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. only. District authorities, DCs, SPs and hospital representatives have decided the timings of clinics and drug stores.

He further said, "In this self-motivated lockdown, unnecessary driving should be avoided. The social gap must be maintained. No one should be oppressed by anyone."

Member of Parliament DK Suresh, Ravi - Ramanagara District Collector Archana, SP Anoop Shetty, and Kanakapura Planning Authority Chairman Jagannath were also present in the meeting.

New Delhi, Jul 11: India's COVID-19 case count crossed the eight lakh-mark on Saturday with yet another highest single-day spike of 27,114 new cases in the last 24 hours.

As many as 519 deaths were reported during this period.

The total number of positive cases in the country stands at 8,20,916, including 2,83,407 active cases, 5,15,386 cured/discharged/migrated and 22,123 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

With as many as 2,38,461 COVID-19 cases, Maharashtra continues to remain the worst-affected state, followed by Tamil Nadu (1,30,261) and Delhi (1,09,140).

Meanwhile, 1,13,07,002 samples have been tested for COVID-19 till July 10. Out of these 2,82,511 samples were tested yesterday, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

May 27: At a time when India is struggling with the deadly coronavirus, huge swarms of locusts in many states has bought nightmares to the farmers.

Experts warn of extensive crop losses if authorities fail to curb the fast-spreading swarms by June when monsoon rains spur rice, cane, corn, cotton, and soybean sowing.

Locusts entered India after traveling from Africa through Yemen, Iran and Pakistan.

After massive devastation in Pakistan, t swarms of locusts entered India through Rajasthan and Gujarat. The number is so large that the farmers and authorities are feeling helpless in tackling the threat.

The situation has become more alarming as the locusts is spreading across the country at an extremely fast rate. After badly affecting the crops in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh, the swarm of locust have now entered Uttar Pradesh.

In Rajasthan alone, the locust attack has damaged 5 lakh hectares of crop and nearly 17 districts of Madhya Pradesh have also seen their terror. Earlier from May 2019 to February 2020, too, the locust swarms entered India several times.

Speaking on the current situation, Dr Ram Pravesh, District Agricultural Officer, Agra, Uttar Pradesh said the Department of Agriculture is working with farmers in dealing with the situation. He urged the farmers to inform their Mandal Krishi Adhikari if they require any help.

India's largest-ever locust attack was in 1993 when more than three lakh hectares of cultivated land were completely destroyed.

Earlier in 2020, farmers salvaged their wheat and oilseed crops from a previous locust scourge.