Denying opposition allegations that funds were not being released for relief centres, Ashoka said there was no shortage of funds.

BENGALURU, SHIVAMOGGA, BELAGAVI: Incessant rains and flooding along the banks of rivers Bhima and Krishna over the last one week have left 10 persons dead, said Revenue Minister R Ashoka. Speaking to media persons in Belagavi on Monday after visiting Kalaburagi and , Ashoka said the damage in the flood-affected regions so far has been estimated at Rs 3,000 crore.  More than 8,000 people have been evacuated to care/relief centres, he said. Ashoka added that some 100 heads of cattle have been reported dead. “It is a challenging job for the government to tackle Covid and the floods simultaneously. The government is trying its best to address every issue effectively,” he said.

Denying opposition allegations that funds were not being released for relief centres, Ashoka said there was no shortage of funds. “At least Rs 88 crore is available in the account of Belagavi Deputy Commissioner. Every taluk in the district which is affected can avail it. Besides, there is a Rs 20 crore fund set aside for Kalaburagi, Rs 16 crore for Yadagiri, Rs 33 crore fund to Bagalkot, Rs 68 crore to Kodagu. Totally, Rs 666 crore are available in the accounts of all deputy commissioners in the affected districts,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa who was in Shivamogga on Monday said that he would speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over compensation after his aerial survey on October 21. “After completing the aerial survey, I will inform the PM about the losses and seek more funds for relief measures. The disbursement of compensation to those who lost home and land is already in progress,” he said.

Leader of opposition Siddaramaiah reminded the government that no aid has been given by the Centre for the damage caused due to rains in August. The damage caused due to heavy rains, flooding and landslides in August was estimated at Rs 8,060 crore and the State government had sought an assistance of Rs 4,000 crore from the Union government. Even after a central team reviewed the flood damage in September, no aid has been announced by the Union government so far, he said.

Even as rescue operations are under way, the IMD on Monday predicted ‘moderate’ to ‘isolated heavy rains’ in the upper and lower basins of Bhima and upper and middle basins of Krishna rivers during the next three days till October 22.

Shivamogga: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Sunday exuded confidence about the BJP’s victory in Sira and Rajarajeshwari Nagar assembly bypolls to be held on November 3.

“We are 100 percent sure about the victory of the BJP candidates. Our only concern is how to widen the victory margin,” Yediyurappa told reporters here.

Noting that his son and BJP state vice president B Y Vijayendra has been camping in Sira for the past three days, leading the election campaign there, he said he was confident that the party’s prospects were bright in the assembly segment.

During the 2018 assembly elections, the BJP had lost in both the constituencies.

On the rains in the state, the Chief Minister said the people of Malnad region were expecting a good harvest this time due to adequate rains while in North Karnataka, the downpour and floods have caused damage to the standing crop.

Yediyurappa said the distribution of compensation to the people in rain-affected areas has begun.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi too has assured adequate relief to the flood-hit people of the state, he added.

They have so far visited Kalaburagi, Dharwad; expected to meet officials of health dept

BENGALURU, NEW DELHI: Taking note of the spiralling number of Covid-19 cases in Karnataka, the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has sent a team of experts to review the state government’s management of the pandemic. A team comprising a Joint Secretary, a public health expert and one clinician was rushed to Karnataka by the Centre.The team has so far visited Kalaburgi and Dharwad for field review and is expected to meet officials of the State Health Department on Saturday. In a statement released on Friday morning, the Union Health Ministry said that high-level teams have been deputed to Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, which are reporting a surge in new Covid-19 cases of late.

“Teams will support the state efforts towards strengthening containment, surveillance, testing, infection prevention and control measures, and efficient clinical management of the positive cases. The central teams shall also guide in effectively managing the challenges related to timely diagnosis and follow-up,” the statement said. 

Officials of the State Health Department said the team is expected to review Karnataka’s model of Covid-19 management and give suggestions, but there is unlikely to be any interference or supervision. Given Wednesday’s number of total cases — 7,43,848 — in Karnataka, the Union Health Ministry said the state accounted for 10.1% of the national figure. “It has 11,010 cases per million population. So far, 6,20,008 patients have recovered in the state, resulting in recovery rate of 83.35%. The active cases are 1,13,557 (14.1% of national figure). The state has reported a total of 10,283 fatalities, CFR of 1.38% and 152 deaths per million population. The TPM is 95,674 and positivity rate is at 11.5%,” the ministry said. 

Incidentally, Karnataka has the highest rate of tests per million at 95,674 among the five states. It has 1,13,557 active cases, accounting for 14.1% of the national figure. The tests per million population is 53,518 in Kerala, 38,605 in Rajasthan, 37,872  in West Bengal and 50,191 in Chhattisgarh, lending credence to the State Government’s stance that a major contributor to the spike in the number of cases is extensive testing. 

As of now, the total cases in Kerala are 3,17,929, which account for 4.3% of the total cases while the active cases are 94,609, comprising 11.8% of the total national figure. The state, however, has a low case fatality rate of 0.34% and deaths per million states is 31. The test positivity rate in the state is 16.6%. 
In Rajasthan, there are 21, 587 active cases, which is 2.7 % of the national figure, and the test positivity rate is 5.3%. With 31,984 active cases, West Bengal accounts for 4% of the total active cases in the country, but its test positivity rate is 8.2 %.  Chhattisgarh, meanwhile, has 28,187 active cases, accounting for 3.5% of the national figure.  

Revised test prices RT-PCR
Sample collection and transportation of government and private samples to labs: Rs 400 
For govt-referred samples to private labs: Rs 800
For samples given to private labs: Rs 1,200 
 Samples collected by labs at home: Rs 1,600
TRU-NAT 
 For samples given to private labs: Rs 2,200 
 When samples collected by labs at home: Rs 2600
CB-NAAT 
 For samples given to private labs: Rs 3800
 When samples collected by labs at home: Rs 4200
RAT 
 For samples given to private labs: Rs 500
 When samples collected by pvt labs at home: Rs 700

Around 12,000 school teachers on Covid duty want mid-term holidays like peers

BENGALURU: A day after the government announced midterm holidays for state board schools and suspension of the Vidyagama project due to the spread of Covid-19, other teachers and lecturers have also begun demanding relief from their duties. About 12,000 primary and high school teachers are still undertaking Covid-19 duties, as per department sources. These teachers are now seeking holidays, just as their peers who were given a three-week break from work since Monday.

“Teachers in Bengaluru North and South have been deployed for Covid-19 duties since the past four months. Yet, they have not received any clarity on these holidays,” said Chandrashekar Nugli, secretary, Karnataka State Primary School Teachers’ Association. He has written to Minister of Primary and Secondary Education S Suresh Kumar urging him to extend the midterm holidays to these teachers as well.
Teachers have been allocated duties such as contact tracing and uploading information, surveying houses and hospitals on necessary infrastructure for the care of positive patients, and are also part of the ward and booth level committees.

H K Manjunath, president, Karnataka High School Teachers Association, said, “In case the government finds it difficult to give these teachers too holidays due to their Covid-19 duties, it should at least provide a proportionate number of earned leave to them,” he said.A P Ranganatha, president of School Teachers and Administration Forum, sought holidays for pre-university teachers too until October 30. He also sought a holiday for teachers on October 28, to ensure their participation in the Teachers constituency elections.

Lecturers from government colleges have put forth demand for work-from-home during the Dasara vacation. More than 250 lecturers and administrators in the state have tested positive and 10 have died, said T M Manjunath, president of Karnataka Government College Teachers Association.He said since the evaluation of final semester exam papers is in its final stages and with Covid-19 cases expected to increase, the government should give short-term vacation for pre-degree, BEd, Law and university lecturers and thereafter, provision to work from home.

Holidays for teachers on offline training
The Department of State Educational Research and Training (DSERT) on Monday announced mid-term holidays from October 12 to 30 for teachers who are undergoing offline training. Online training, however, will continue, the DSERT director said.