Thackeray raising border issue to divert attention from internal disputes: C T Ravi

Bengaluru, Apr 4: Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday asked Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar to be the government's spokesperson on the Novel Coronavirus crisis management effort, a move that is being seen as keeping too many cooks from spoiling the broth.

At a high-level meeting to review measures on COVID-19 containment, Mr Yediyurappa is said to have taken exception to his Cabinet colleagues making multiple, and often contradictory statements, leading to confusion.

''The CM has directed Mr Kumar to be the only one to brief the media on COVID-19,'' a source from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) confirmed.

Bengaluru, Jul 3: Karnataka on Friday reported its biggest single day spike of 1,694 new COVID-19 cases, taking the taking the total number of infections in the state to 19,710, the Health department said.
The state also recorded 21 fatalities pushing the number of deaths to 293.

The day also saw 471 patients getting discharged after recovery; even as 201 patients in the state were undergoing treatment in ICU. Of the 1,694 fresh cases reported on Friday, a whopping 994 cases were from Bengaluru Urban alone.

As of July 3 evening, cumulatively 1,9710 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 293 deaths and 8,805 discharges, the Health department said in its bulletin.

It said, out of 10,608 active cases, 10,407 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 201 are in ICU.

The 21 dead include five from Bengaluru Urban, three each from Chikkaballapura and Kalaburagi, two each from Vijayapura and Shivamogga and one each from Ballari, Hassan, Davangere, Bidar, Raichur and Bengaluru Rural.

Out of 21, fourteen are men between the age 48-87 years, and seven women between 25-75 years.

Those dead include those with the history of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI), Influenza-like illness (ILI), inter-state and inter-district travel and cardiac patients.

The contact history of at least four dead people is under tracing.

Out of 1,694 positive cases on Friday, contacts of the majority of the cases are still under tracing.

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru Urban accounted for 994, followed by 97 from Ballari

and Dakshina Kannada, Kalaburagi 72, Tumakuru 57, Bengaluru Rural 44, Dharwad 38, Mysuru 35, Mandya 33, Bidar 28, Chamarajanagara 24, Shivamogga 23, Gadag 19, sixteen each from Udupi and Kodagu, Yadgir 14, thirteen each from Hassan and Belagavi, Kolar 11.

Bengaluru Urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 7,173 infections, followed by Kalaburagi (1,560) and Udupi (1,258). Among discharges, Kalaburagi tops the list with 1,143 followed by Udupi (1,093) and Yadgir (855).

A total of 6,71,934 samples have been tested so far, out of which 18,307 were tested on Friday alone.

So far 6,35,582 samples have been reported as negative, and out of them 16,290 were reported negative on Friday.

Gadag, Feb 20: A 33-year-old Muslim man is all set to become a seer at Muruga Rajendra Mutt in Gadag.

Ordained by Sri Murugarajendra Koraneswara Swami of the mutt, Dewan Sharief Mullah claims he was taking the step not under any duress but after being "guided by the almighty".

"Nobody asked me to do it. The almighty came in my mind and guided me.... They have put the sacred thread and given me the responsibility. They have given me the 'Ishta-linga' and this honour. I have done the 'Ishta-linga dharan'. I will walk on the path of dharma. Love and sacrifice is the message given to me. That is what I want to propagate," he said.

Sri Murugarajendra Koraneswara Swami said, "It does not matter what caste you belong to. If God appears to you for a path of goodwill and sacrifice, you will do it regardless of the manmade restrictions of birth and caste."