Those protesting Gauri murder are political opportunists, says Ram Madhav

Mangaluru, Jun 13: Around people from Bhatkal, who were stranded in United Arab Emirates due to months of covid lockdown, finally reached their hometown today. A charter flight carrying these passengers took from the Ras Al Khaimah International Airport at 11:20 PM (UAE time) yesterday and landed at Mangaluru International Airport at 4.20 am today.

After completing all the formalities, they were taken to Bhatkal in five buses arranged by Bhatkali Jamaatul Muslimeen, Mangaluru. Two hotels and a college hostel have been booked for the institutional quarantine of the returnees. 

The passengers were received at the airport by Majlis E Islah wa Tanzeem executive members, Bhatkali Jamaat Ul Muslimeen executive members, and Bhatkal Muslim Youth Federation executive members. 

Ateequr Rahman Muniri, vice president of Majlis-e-Islah wa Tanzeem and owner of UAE based Nuha General Trading LLC, had taken the initiative of sending stranded citizens of Bhatkal and surrounding regions to back home from UAE.

“After we came to know about the problems of the NRIs stranded in UAE plans were made to charter flights to send them home. I received huge support from the Bhatkal community leaders and youth here in Dubai, who gave their complete cooperation and helped with their efforts in successfully chartering the first flight," Muniri said.

New Delhi, Jun 9: Elections to seven seats of the Karnataka Legislative Council will be held on June 29, the poll panel announced on Tuesday.

The seven seats are falling vacant on June 30, according to an Election Commission statement.

Members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly will vote on June 29 to elect the seven new MLCs.

The Commission has directed the Karnataka chief secretary to depute a senior officer to ensure that the  instructions regarding COVID-19 containment measures are complied with during the elections.

The counting of votes will be held on the evening of June 29 after completion of polls, as per practice.

The notification for the elections will be issued on June 11, the statement said.

MLCs are usually elected by four types of electors -- MLAs, Graduates, Teachers and members of local authorities.

On Monday, the Commission had deferred elections to four seats of the Karnataka Legislative Council -- two each from Teachers and Graduate constituencies -- falling vacant on June 30 due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

"If MLAs are electors, the size of the electorate is small and the assembly building is the only polling station. When the electorate is teachers or graduates, the number of those who can vote is higher.

Due to the virus, Commission only allowed polls to seats where MLAs are the electors to prevent large gatherings," explained a senior EC functionary.

Bengaluru, Jul 17: Lashing out at Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa-led government over the handling of coronavirus crisis, Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar on Thursday demanded Governor's rule in the state. He also took a dig at Health Minister B Sriramulu's "Only God can save us" remark.

"I heard the statement of Sriramulu and Sudhakar. They have said that they cannot manage this (coronavirus crisis) and they leave it to God who can save Karnataka. If such is the case, they could not solve the problems of the people of Karnataka. It is time now they must resign and let the Governor's rule come into force. The time has come for all of them to step down," Shivakumar said.

Taking to Twitter, Sriramulu said that the KPCC president misinterpreted his statement.

He said that Opposition allegations of negligence and incapability of the government and irresponsibility of ministers are "far from the truth".

The minister said that people should be made aware of the prevention of coronavirus as it plays a very important role in the prevention of infection.

"Here are the cautioning words, 'If you stumble, only God has to save us.' The government, our Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and ministers are working day and night. We are working for the people, to effectively face this century's challenge," he tweeted.

As many as 4,169 new COVID-19 cases and 104 deaths were reported in Karnataka on Thursday, taking the total number of cases to 51,422 cases including 19,729 recoveries and 1,032 deaths.

Bengaluru reported 2,344 new cases and 70 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department.