Voting underway in 102 ULB polls across Karnataka; bigwigs cast their vote

Mangaluru, June 29: An elderly man, who was under quarantine at a lodge was inhumanly dragged on the floor and abandoned on the roadside by his own son. 

The shocking incident occurred in broad daylight at Deralakatte on the outskirts of the city today. 

The father and son are said to be natives of Uppala in Kasaragod district. The duo stayed in a hotel room at Deralakatte after returning from Mumbai a few days ago. 

Today the son dragged his father mercilessly on the floor and escaped after abandoning him on the road side. A CCTV camera has captured the incident. 

The jurisdictional Konaje police are trying trace the miscreant.

Mysuru, Apr 9: The Administrative Training Institute (ATI) here was all set to impart training through online to Taluk Panchayat and the Gram Panchayat officials on tackling the deadly virus COVID-19, which was spreading like wildfire.

The Disaster Management Centre of ATI would conduct the training through Zoom application. Taluk Panchayat Executive officers and officials of the Gram Panchayats were invited to undergo training sessions.

District Vector-borne Diseases Control officer S Chidambar and World Health Organization representative Dr Sudhir Nayak would conduct sessions on handling the situation in rural region. The officials from 102 TP/GP Panchayats from 16 districts will attend the programme, on Thursday.

Apr 9: A panel of experts in the Karnataka state has suggested that the ongoing lockdown should be continued in districts identified as Covid-19 hotspots, including Bengaluru, to limit the spread of the pandemic.

IT companies and government offices providing essential services should be allowed to function with 50% staff, according to the committee headed by Narayana Health chairman Dr Devi Shetty, which submitted its report to chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Wednesday.

It has also asked the government to ease restrictions gradually and take adequate care over the next six months to contain the outbreak. The committee urged the government not to permit AC buses and metro services till April 30 and allow private vehicles only on alternate days (even-odd number-wise) for two weeks after April 15.

The government must close schools and colleges till May 31 and allow only inter-state movement of goods transport. The government could allow non-AC shops to open. It has suggested that the ban on inter-state train and flight services should continue.

Education minister S Suresh Kumar, who is the state Covid-19 spokesperson, said the Cabinet, which is meeting on Thursday, may discuss the recommendations and take a view on de-escalation of the lockdown.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with chief ministers through videoconference on April 11, after which the government will get an idea about the Centre’s thinking, he said.

While some states including Kerala, Maharashtra and Telangana have favoured continuation of the lockdown, Yediyurappa has not taken any stand publicly and has instead been implementing the Centre’s decision.

Six new cases

Karnataka on Wednesday reported six new Covid-19 positive cases, including that of a 65-year-old person in Kalaburagi, who died due to severe acute respiratory infection.

The health authorities have issued a notice to the private hospital -- where the deceased was initially admitted before being taken to a government hospital -- for not reporting the case to the government. The government has locked down the hospital, kept its entire medical team under quarantine, and police have registered a case of criminal negligence against the hospital authorities.

Of the other five positive cases, two had a travel history to Delhi, one had contact with a Dubai returnee and two others had close contacts with infected people.

This takes the total number of positive cases in the state to 181. Five people have died, while 28 have been discharged so far.