Vested interests preventing tabling of report on Wakf property: MLC

Bengaluru, Apr 15: As many as 17 new positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Karnataka, taking the total number of cases in the state to 277, including 75 discharged and 11 deaths, the state government said on Wednesday.

Of the 17 new cases, nine are workers of a pharmaceutical company in Mysuru, the government stated.

Meanwhile, a 65-year-old from Chikkaballapur, who had tested positive for COVID-19, lost his life on Wednesday.

"He was referred to a Bengaluru hospital with complaints of H1N1 positive, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease with obstructive sleep apnea and a past history of diabetes and hypertension," the government stated.

Mangaluru: The police team investigating the case of bomb planting at the international airport here on January 20, took suspect Aditya Rao to several places in the city where he had frequented in the past few months, police said on Wednesday.

Police had earlier recovered a box from his bank locker at Udupi that contained a white powder which he claimed was cyanide. The substance has been sent to the Forensic Science laboratory for confirmation.

On further interrogation, Rao told police that he had a locker in a bank in Mangaluru also, where he was taken. Only some papers were seen in the locker, police said. He was also taken to the room where he stayed while he was working at a hotel in Balmatta here and to a hardware workshop from where he had purchased some spare parts, they said.

A 'live' explosive device was found in an unattended bag near a ticket counter of the departure gate of the airport here on January 20, triggering a scare before it was defused at a nearby open ground.

Police had released a picture of a man captured on CCTV camera as the suspect who placed the bomb and Rao later surrendered. Meanwhile, sources said the airport authorities got an anonymous call on Monday evening that a bomb had been planted in the airport. After thorough search, it was found to be a hoax. City police commissioner P S Harsha has warned of stringent action against those who make such calls.

Bengaluru, Feb 14: In order to bring down the accident rates, Karnataka government is planning to increase the penalty for road offences, state Transport Minister Laxman Savadi announced here on Thursday.

Addressing media persons here, he said, ''The Centre had brought an amendment to increase the penalty amount. We too have a similar proposal, which we will discuss, post the budget session.

''Before bringing in the amendment, we will create awareness among the road users. By increasing the penalty amount, the number of offences and accidents will come down,'' Mr Savadi added.