BENGALURU: The Bharat Bandh on Tuesday mostly saw mixed response in Karnataka. While the state capital saw thousands of farmers taking out a rally from Town Hall, rallies and protests were held in other districts. Several farmers’ organisations came out in support of the bandh called by the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene as part of the all-India bandh to protest againt the reforms to farm laws by the Centre. Pro-Kannada organisations too backed the shutdown. 

The bandh disrupted normal life as businesses downed their shutters in Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts although the response was mixed in Mandya district. Farmers, joined by Dalit and labour unions, stopped bus services, disrupting movement of long-distance buses from 7 am for an hour. Rallies, demonstrations and protests were also held in Mangaluru, Belagavi, Tumakuru, Vijayapura, hubballi-Dharwad, Davanagere, Chitradurga, Raichur, Bidar, hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Koppal, Kolar and Chikkaballapur.

Though there were demonstrations, the bandh call evoked poor response in hassan. State transport buses, private taxis and autorickshaws were on the roads as usual in the district. In Davanagere and Chitradurga, KSRTC and city bus services besides autorickshaws and cabs remained off the roads, but government offices and banks functioned normally. Crowds, were however, noticeably thinner. In Davanagere, protesters at Jayadeva Circle raised slogans against the Central government and burnt an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for introducing the farm bills. In Chitradurga town, protesters took out a march and submitted a memorandum at the deputy commissioner’s office.

BALLARI: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has placed wooden barricades around the famous stone chariot at Vijaya Vittala Temple Complex in Hampi for protection. There have been several instances where tourists got too close to these monuments, with some going as far as touching them. To avoid the monument from getting damaged, the ASI placed the barricades around the heritage structure that was built in the 16th century. 

Besides the Stone Chariot, several other monuments in Hampi, including Ugra Narasimha and Saasive Kalu Ganesha, will be cordoned off in the next phase. In the past two years, Hampi has witnessed several incidents of vandalism, according to officials here. Officials from the ASI, Hampi circle, said that there were several complaints regarding unruly tourists getting too close to protected monuments. 

“Many times, tourists quarrel with security personnel over taking photographs by sitting or leaning on heritage structures. The idea is to minimise human intervention and preserve these structures for the future,” the official said. 

The official added that those who cross the barricades will be fined as per the rules. “The Central ASI had cleared the project to barricade important monuments in Hampi about six months ago. But due to the lockdown the work began only recently,” the official added. 

Local guides and photographers have welcomed the move. “Though the barricades obstruct the view of monuments it’s a necessary step. Tourists do not listen to the guards and get close to the monuments. The barricades will keep the important monuments safe” said a local photographer. 

Bengaluru: The BJP’s Karnataka state executive on Saturday adopted resolutions for the passage and implementation of legislation against inter-faith marriages and cow slaughter in the state.

State BJP President Nalin Kumar Kateel said the government would take necessary decisions in this regard, a release said.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, BJP national general secretary in charge of Karnataka Arun Singh, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi were among those present at the meeting held on Saturday at Belagavi.

Karnataka Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chavan has already indicated that the anti-cow slaughter bill will be introduced during the state legislative session starting from December 7.

Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai has said the state will have a law against “love jihad”, and officials have been directed to gather information regarding an ordinance promulgated in Uttar Pradesh in this regard.

Uttar Pradesh had recently promulgated an ordinance against forcible or fraudulent religious conversions, which provides for imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 50,000 under different categories.

“Love jihad” is a coinage used by right-wing activists to refer to the alleged campaign of Muslims forcing Hindu girls to convert in the guise of love.

The state executive of the BJP has also strategized at ensuring that a large number of BJP supported candidates win the upcoming Gram Panchayat polls.

According to sources, the party’s election committee and the disciplinary committee were also constituted.

They said instructions have also been given to leaders and workers not to make statements on issues concerning the party or government in public or in front of the media, and to discuss them at the appropriate forums within the party.

This has come amid recent developments in the BJP, as the wait is on for expansion or reshuffle of the state cabinet, with some aspirants openly expressing their resentment about the possible induction of certain legislators.

According to reports, during the BJP’s meeting in Belagavi views have been expressed about the need to discuss at party forums before taking certain decisions at the government level.

It is said that this was following Yediyurappa’s move to recommend inclusion of the dominant Veerashaiva- Lingayat community under the central government’s OBC list, which has been put on hold, and also certain appointments made to boards and corporations.

Bengaluru: Karnataka on Saturday reported 1,325 new cases of COVID-19 and 12 related fatalities, taking the total number of infections to 8,91,685 and the death toll to 11,846, as it tested over a lakh sample.

A total of over 1,16,13,924 samples have been tested so far, out of which 1,04,032 were tested today alone, and 18,367 among them were rapid antigen tests.

The day also saw 1,400 patients getting discharged after recovery.

Out of 1,325 fresh cases reported on Saturday, 709 cases were from Bengaluru urban alone.

As of December 5 evening, cumulatively 8,91,685 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 11,846 deaths and 8,54,861 discharges, the health department said in its bulletin.

It said, out of 24,959 active cases, 24,681 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and stable, while 278 are in ICU.

According to the bulletin, 6 out of the total 12 deaths reported on Saturday are from Bengaluru urban, followed by Ballari, Chitradurga, Dakshina Kannada, Kolar, Mandya, and Uttara Kannada (1).

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 accounted for 709, Mysuru 55, Belagavi 45, Tumakauru 44, Chikkamagaluru 42, followed by others.

Bengaluru Urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 3,73,291 infections, followed by Mysuru 50,977 and Ballari 38,327.

Among discharges too Bengaluru urban tops the list with a total of 3,49,929 discharges, followed by Mysuru 49,621 and Ballari 37,555.

Bengaluru: A special CBI court here on Saturday granted bail to former Karnataka Minister Roshan Baig in the multi-crore I Monetary Advisory (IMA) investment scam.

CBI arrested Baig on November 22 and had conducted raids at his residence the very next day.

The disqualified Congress MLA from Shivajinagar in the city, after the arrest, was produced before the court, which remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days.

Baig has been asked by the court to cooperate with the investigation and report before CBI officials on the second and fourth Monday of every month, official sources said.

He also has been asked to surrender his passport, inform the court if he changes address, and not to threaten witnesses, they said.

Baig’s advocate, while citing his health condition, informed the court that his client has cooperated with the investigation and all the accused in the case have been granted bail, barring the MD and CEO of the IMA Group of companies.

The multi-crore ponzi scheme run by Karnataka-based IMA and its group entities allegedly duped over a lakh of people to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore promising higher returns.

The scam came to light in June last year when the IMA operator Mohammed Mansoor Khan fled the country accusing Baig and some government officers of cheating him.

Khan had alleged that Baig had taken about Rs 400 crore from him, which the latter had rejected outright.

Khan came to India after much persuasion by the police and surrendered.

The then Congress and JD(S) coalition government had formed a special investigation team to probe the matter.

However, the BJP government after coming to power handed over the case to the CBI.

The CBI had named an IAS officer, two IPS officers, a KAS officer, and a corporator among the accused in the case.

The state government gave permission to the Central agency to prosecute them.