When top judges say democracy is at stake, media focus on Sunny Leone

Bengaluru, Jul 23: Karnataka on Thursday recorded a biggest single-day surge of over 5,000 cases and 97 related fatalities, taking the total number of people who tested positive for the virus to 80,863, the health department said. 

The day also saw a record 2,071 patients getting discharged after recovery.

Out of 5,030 fresh cases reported, a whopping 2,207 cases were from Bengaluru urban alone.

As of July 23 evening, cumulatively 80,863 Covid-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 1,616 deaths and 29,310 discharges, the health department said in its bulletin.

It said, out of 49,931 active cases, 49,291 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 640 are in ICU. Out of the 97 deaths reported on Thursday 48 are from Bengaluru urban, followed by Mysuru 8, Dakshina Kannada 7 and others.

Most of the dead are either with a history of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) or Influenza-like illness (ILI).

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru urban accounts for 2,207, followed by Raichur 258, Kalaburagi 229, Dakshina Kannada 218, and others.

Bengaluru urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 39,200 infections, followed by Dakshina Kannada 4,209 and Kalaburagi 3,370. 

Mangaluru, Apr 23: Muslims in coastal Karnataka will fast tomorrow (April 24) along with Middle Eastern Muslims as the Khazis in the region have confirmed the beginning of the blessed month of Ramadan tonight.

Religious authorities in Saudi Arabia and a few Middle Eastern countries have already declared that Friday will be the start of the month of fasting.

In Kerala and twin districts of coastal Karnataka - Dakshina Kannada and Udupi- the announcement was made following maghrib praers as the cresent moon was sighted in a few places in Kerala.

The Thakbeer was pronounced from the minarets of the mosques across Dakshina Kannada and Udupi after Maghrib Namaz as the religious heads confirmed the moon sighting. 

However, the religious heads including Mangaluru Khazi Twaqa Ahmed Musliar and Udupi Khazi Ibrahim Musliyar Bekal, have urged the Muslims to offer all the prayers including Taraveeh at homes along with family members due to the lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus. 

There will be no congregational taraveeh prayers in mosques and Muslims should follow the covid-19 guidelines of the government, they stated.

Ramadan begins around 11 days earlier each year. Its start is calculated based on the sighting of the new moon, which marks the beginning of the Muslim lunar month that varies between 29 or 30 days.

During the month, Muslims are expected to abstain during daylight hours from food, drink, smoking and sex to focus on spirituality.

Feb 4: Amid the agitations against Citizenship Amendment Act, National register of Citizens and National Population Registration across the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that there is a "political design" behind all these protests including in Delhi's Jamia and Shaheen Bagh to ruin the harmony of the nation.

"Be it Seelampur, Jamia or Shaheen Bagh, protests held over the past several days regarding the Citizenship Amendment Bill. Is this just a coincidence? No. This is an experiment," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first election rally for Delhi polls at Karkardooma.

"There is a political design behind all these protests including Jamia and Shaheen Bagh. These protests are a conspiracy to divide India. These protests are going to ruin the harmony of the nation," he asserted.

Lambasting the opposition parties including Congress and Aam Aadmi Party for supporting the ongoing protests, he said: "But AAP and Congress are provoking people. Constitution and tricolor are being kept in front and attention is being diverted from the real conspiracy."

"These people were doubting the ability of our forces during surgical strikes. Do citizens of Delhi want such people in power? These people are saving those who want to break India into pieces," he added.

People have been protesting at Jamia and Shaheen Bagh against CAA, NRC and NPR. Members of the Opposition have deemed CAA "discriminatory and anti-Constitution" while the Centre has maintained that the new law has no effect on Indian citizens.

Recently, two firing incidents took place near Jamia Millia Islamia University.On Sunday night, the firing incident was reported near gate number five at the university following which people including some students of the varsity gathered outside the Jamia Nagar police station. They returned from the Jamia Nagar police station after their complaint was registered.

Earlier, a student sustained injuries after a young man fired at the protestors near Jamia.