Archives for January 2022

New Delhi: The Centre has allowed 50 per cent of its employees below the level of Under Secretary to work from home amid rising coronavirus cases, according to a Personnel Ministry order issued on Monday.

Persons with disabilities and pregnant women employees have been exempted from attending the offices, it said.

Central government officers/staff will have to follow staggered timing to avoid overcrowding in the offices, the order said.

All the officers/staff residing in Covid containment zones have also been exempted from coming to office till containment zones are de-notified, it said in the order issued to all central government departments.

“Physical attendance of government servants below the level of Under Secretary shall be restricted to 50 per cent of the actual strength and the remaining 50 per cent shall work from home, the order said.

Bengaluru: Witnessing a further surge in daily COVID-19 cases, Karnataka on Monday reported 1,290 fresh infections and 5 deaths, taking the count to 30,10,847 and the death toll to 38,351.

Of the new cases, 1,041 were from Bengaluru Urban, as the city saw 134 discharges and 3 deaths.

The total number of active cases is now at 11,345.

The state has registered a steady surge in fresh infections for the sixth consecutive day, since last Wednesday, when the daily caseload was 566.

There were 232 discharges today, taking the total number of recoveries to 29,61,122, a health department bulletin said.

While the positivity rate for the day stood at 1.60 per cent, the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) was 0.38 per cent.

Of the deaths, three are from Bengaluru Urban, and one each from Chitradurga, and Hassan.

Apart from Bengaluru Urban, Dakshina Kannada recorded the second highest of 52 new cases, Udupi 43, and Dharwad 19.

Bengaluru Urban district now has a total of 12,66,392 positive cases, followed by Mysuru 1,80,338 and Tumakuru 1,21,367.

According to the bulletin, Bengaluru Urban tops the list among discharges with 12,40,408, followed by Mysuru 1,77,779 and Tumakuru 1,20,158.

Cumulatively a total of 5,67,76,742 samples have been tested in the state, of which 80,409 were tested on Monday alone.

Ramanagara: Karnataka Higher Education Minister C N Ashwath Narayan and state’s lone Congress Lok Sabha member representing Bangalore Rural D K Suresh, almost came to blows in full public view at an event in the presence of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai here on Monday.

The government event was to unveil the statues of B R Ambedkar and Bengaluru founder Kempegowda, here.

This was also Bommai’s first visit to the district as the Chief Minister.

In what seemed like a veiled attack on Congress leaders, Narayan made an aggressive speech targeting opponents.

He claimed that the present BJP government was here to win the trust of the people and not to betray them, and challenged others to prove their work, as he attacked those who allegedly tried to disturb the event by raising certain slogans.

This apparently enraged Suresh, and the MP, who was visibly angry making certain gestures, barged towards Narayan.

Security personnel and some dignitaries on the stage including Health Minister K Sudhakar intervened and separated the two.

Suresh, the younger brother of state Congress chief D K Shivakumar, was joined by Congress MLC S Ravi, who tried to snatch the mike that was used by Narayan, resulting in a melee, as the Minister forcefully grabbed the mike back from him.

Suresh and other Congress leaders subsequently sat down on the stage in protest.

Amid the protest, Bommai, addressing the gathering, said individual egos should not come in the way of respecting icons like Ambedkar and Kempegowda.

Pointing out that he has come to Ramanagara for the first time as CM, he said, “I have come here to contribute to development. The development will happen with everybody’s cooperation and not by one individual….let’s all work together for development….”

Suresh, who spoke later, said he would only apologize to the Chief Minister for what happened and not to anyone else, and attacked Narayan in his speech.

“Are you challenging us on the stage? fix the time….what culture is this? Did RSS teach this?…..Don’t talk about our culture, we have culture. Mr Ashwath Narayan, we need not learn from you,” he said.

As Suresh referred to RSS, BJP supporters among the audience objected to it.

Later, after the event, Congress workers tore up Narayan’s posters as the mark of protest.

Bommai, later speaking to reporters, termed the incident as unfortunate and said it will in no way affect his government’s commitment for the development of Ramanagara district.

“We should all work together for development….there is no need to create an atmosphere of election, much before the election,” he said.

Stating that the incident is the best example to prove that Congress culture is “goonda culture”, state BJP in a tweet, condemning it, said “it is ironic that an MP doesn’t have the basic sense as to how to behave on the stage, where the Chief Minister is present.”

Several BJP leaders including its state President Nalin Kumar Kateel and Narayan’s cabinet colleagues condemned Suresh’s conduct.

Meanwhile, jumping to his brother Suresh’s defence, Congress President D K Shivakumar questioned Ashwath Narayan’s relationship with Ramanagara. “What has he or BJP done for the district? It is sheer arrogance on part of the Minister.”

Congress and JD(S) are major players in Vokkaliga dominated Ramanagara district, where BJP is attempting to make inroads.

Narayan, a Vokkaliga himself, who was earlier the in-charge Minister of Ramanagara, is at the forefront of BJP’s attempts to make inroads into the district by taking on the ‘DK brothers’ (Shivakumar and Suresh), and today’s incident is seen as a sequel to those efforts.

JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy and his wife Anita Kumaraswamy are also MLAs from the district.

Kottayam: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday expressed his strong disapproval of attempts to ridicule other religions and create dissensions in the society, saying every person has the right to practice and preach his or her faith in the country.

“Practice your religion but don’t abuse and indulge in hate speech and writings,” the Vice President said at an event organised to mark the 150th death anniversary of Saint Kuriakose Elias Chavara, a spiritual leader and social reformer from the Kerala Catholic community, at Mannanam near here.

Observing that hate speeches and writings are against culture, heritage, traditions, constitutional rights and ethos, Naidu said secularism is in the blood of every Indian and the country is respected world-over for its culture and heritage.

In this context, the Vice President called for strengthening the Indian value system, an official statement said.

The Vice President said community service must be made compulsory for students studying in government as well as private schools as it would help them to develop an attitude of sharing and caring in their interaction with others.

“Today, there is a dire need to inculcate the spirit of service from a young age in the youth of this country. Once this pandemic is behind us and normalcy returns, I would suggest that government schools as well as those in the private sector must make community service of at least two to three weeks compulsory for students,” he said.

Urging youngsters to imbibe, protect and promote Indian cultural values, Naidu highlighted the importance of India’s philosophy of sharing and caring for others.

He said that living for others will not only give a person a lot of satisfaction but will also make the people remember that person for a long time for his or her good deeds.

The Vice President said inculcating the spirit of service in youngsters at school level would help them to develop an attitude of sharing and caring in their interaction with others.

“As a matter of fact, the philosophy of share-and-care is at the core of India’s age-old culture and must be widely propagated. For us, the whole world is one family as encapsulated in our timeless ideal, ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’. It is with this spirit that we should move forward together,” Naidu said.

Naidu also advised youngsters to remain physically fit by doing yoga or any other form of physical exercise and “to love and live with nature.”

He asked them to protect nature and preserve culture for a better future.

Highlighting the contributions of visionary spiritual leaders like legendary social reformer Sree Narayana Guru and St Chavara in various fields, the Vice President also urged other states to take a cue from Kerala in the fields of education, social justice and women’s empowerment.

“I would like to take this opportunity to urge other states to take a cue from Kerala in the fields of education, social justice and women’s empowerment as outlined in the pioneering initiatives of Saint Chavara and Narayana Guru. Their pathbreaking work proves that every state can be transformed into an engine of growth and progress and that this can be achieved through the social and educational empowerment of women and youth belonging to poorer sections of society,” Naidu said.

He said the benefits of development must percolate down to the last man in the most backward and impoverished segments of our socio-economic order as spelt out in the philosophy of Antyodaya articulated by the visionary thinker, activist and reformer, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya.

Naidu said though the identity and vision of Saint Chavara were shaped and formed on the ideals of his Catholic faith, his deeds of social and educational services were not restricted to the progress and development of that community alone.

“Saint Chavara combined the spirit of the renaissance with the mission of charity and noble Christian concept of universal brotherhood,” the Vice President said and expressed happiness over the involvement of these congregations founded by him in the educational and health fields in the country.

Paying tributes to Saint Chavara, he said “this iconic spiritual and social leader of Kerala, whom people considered as a saint during his lifetime, was a true visionary in every sense of the term.”

He said that Saint Chavara engaged himself as a spiritual, educational, social, and cultural reformer of Kerala society in the 19th century and contributed richly to the social reawakening of the people.

Stating that Saint Chavara contributed immensely to achieving communal harmony and tolerance in society, Naidu said that he always showed a deep concern for the wellbeing of all and taught us that peaceful human relationships are sacred and more important than anything else.

“Today, we need a Chavara in every community a towering individual with a vision to unite all sections of society socially and culturally, and take the country forward,” he stressed.

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, Minister for Cooperation and Registration, Government of Kerala, V N Vasavan, former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Lok Sabha M P Thomas Chazhikadan and senior priests and nuns of Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI) were present on the occasion.

The Vice President also visited the tomb of Saint Chavara at Mannanam.

Bengaluru: Ten more cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus have been detected in Karnataka, the State’s Health Minister K Sudhakar said on Monday.

This takes the state’s Omicron tally to 76.

“Ten new cases of Omicron have been confirmed in Karnataka on Jan 2nd taking the tally to 76. Bengaluru: 8 cases (of which 5 are international travellers). Dharwad: 2 cases,” Sudhakar said in a tweet.

The country’s first two Omicron cases were detected in the state on December 2.

According to the state health department, among the ten new cases, two are children and the rest are all adults who are fully vaccinated with COVID vaccine.

The cases include international travellers like- a 19-year-old male from the USA, a 40-year old female from Belgium, a 46-year old male from Dubai, two 49-year old females from Dubai.

Rest are- a 13-year old female primary contact of omicron positive international traveller, 42 and 65-year ld females travelled from Mumbai, 14 and 53-year old females who are contacts of COVID positive cases.

Most of the cases are currently asymptomatic and are under hospital isolation.

While for two cases- 14 and 53-year old females who are contacts of COVID positive cases- the department said, “they are currently healthy, asymptomatic discharged hence inactive and in home quarantine, as part of recovery.”

The primary and secondary contacts of all these cases have been traced and tested.

New Delhi(PTI): The Delhi Police has sought details from the GitHub platform about the developer of the controversial ‘Bulli Bai’ mobile application and has written to Twitter for information about the account handler who first posted about the app, officials said on Monday.

The city police also asked Twitter to block and remove on the microblogging platform any “offensive content” shared from the ‘Bulli Bai’ app’, which had put up pictures of hundreds of Muslim women including prominent personalities for “auction”, they said.

After widespread outrage and demands for action against those behind the app, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said on Sunday that the government is working with police in Delhi and Mumbai, where cases have been registered in the matter.

He also said that GitHub has blocked the user who had uploaded the app and that the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), the country’s nodal agency on cyber security, and police are coordinating further action in the matter.

The National Commission for Women had also written to the Delhi Police to expedite its action in the case related to the app to ensure that such crimes do not recur.

A senior police Delhi Police officer said on Monday, “As part of the ongoing probe into the matter, we have written to Twitter seeking information about the account handle who had first tweeted about the ‘Bulli Bai’ app.

“This is to know how the person concerned came across the alleged application which had offensive contents being written about women of a particular community.”

The police said they have also approached GitHub platform to share details about the developer of the ‘Bulli Bai’ application which is available on its platform to know the intention and purpose behind the creation of such an application and its whereabouts.

“We have also asked Twitter to remove and block any such offensive contents from its platform immediately which are shared through the alleged app and are related to the entire controversy,” he said.

The development comes after the Delhi Police on Saturday night registered an FIR against unknown persons for allegedly uploading a doctored picture of a woman journalist on a website.

The journalist had lodged an online complaint and shared a copy on Twitter.

The case was registered at the Cyber Police station of the southeast district on Saturday night, the police had said.

A senior police officer had said the case has been registered under sections 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 354 A (sexual harassment and punishment for harassment) of the Indian Penal Code on the complaint of the journalist alleging that she is being targeted by an unidentified group of people on “Bulli Bai” app.

The police said no arrests have been made in the case so far and a probe is underway.

Earlier in July, a case was registered by the Cyber Cell of the Delhi Police after it received a similar complaint about an unidentified group uploading photos of Muslim women on ‘Sulli Deals’ mobile application.

Police officials said an investigation is on in that matter too, but refused to elaborate.

Mangaluru: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday detained one woman from Mastikatte, in Ullal over her suspected connections with terrorist organization ISIS.

The detained woman has been identified as Deepti Maarla alias Mariyam.

NIA reportedly detained her from her house in Mastikatte, Ullal on Monday morning and took her on a tempo traveler van. She was later taken to Wenlock District Hospital for a medical check-up and was produced before the court.

The NIA is reportedly trying to take her to New Delhi for further probe.

In August last year, a team of NIA officials had raided a house in Ullal and had arrested one person named Abdul Rahman after two days of scrutiny. During the course of the investigation, Deepati Maarla alias Maryam came under the scanner. She was initially let go after enquiry in August, following which she has now been detained by the agency.

NIA DSP Krishna Kumar led the team that included Police Inspector Ajay Kumar and Monica Dikwar were part of the operation.

Taipei (AP): A powerful earthquake struck Taiwan on Monday evening, shaking buildings in the capital and across much of the northern part of the island. There were no immediate reports of serious damage or injuries.

The US Geological Survey said the quake measured magnitude 6.2 and was centered at a depth of 28.7 kilometers (18 miles) below the ocean east of Hualien city on the island’s east coast.

Walls creaked as office buildings shook in Taipei, the capital. Lights swayed and mirrors and pictures fell to the floor. The USGS said economic losses were expected to be low despite the strong shaking. (AP)

Lakhimpur Kheri: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, which claimed eight lives, has filed a chargesheet against 14 accused, including Union minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra.

The chargesheet was filed in the court of chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Chinta Ram on Monday.

In FIR number 219/2021 lodged with Tikunia Police Station, the SIT had identified and arrested 13 accused, including Ashish Mishra ‘Monu’, Ankit Das, Nandan Singh Bisht, Satyam Tripathi alias Satyam, Latif alias Kale, Shekhar Bharti, Sumit Jaiswal, Ashish Pandey, Lavkush Rana, Shishu Pal, Ullas Kumar alias Mohit Trivedi, Rinku Rana and Dharmendra Banjara.

On Monday, senior prosecution officer (SPO) S P Yadav told reporters that another accused Virendra Shukla’s name has been added in the chargesheet under section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the Indian Penal Code.

However, Shukla is yet to be arrested. Yadav said the chargesheet against all 14 accused was filed in the court and the proceedings are on.

Violence had erupted in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3 last year when farmers were protesting the visit of Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to Mishra’s native place.

Four agitating farmers were run over by a vehicle while four others, including a journalist, two BJP workers were also killed in the violence that ensued.

Ajay Mishra is currently the MP from Kheri Lok Sabha seat.