Archives for 2022

Bengaluru: Karnataka on Tuesday reported 4,452 new cases and 51 fatalities, taking the tally to 39,06,761 and toll to 39,447.

There were 19,067 discharges today, pushing the total number of recoveries to 37,94,866, a health bulletin said.

Of the new cases, 2,139 were from Bengaluru Urban that saw 8,604 people being discharged and 17 virus-related deaths.

The total number of active cases across the state is now 72,414.

While the positivity rate for the day stood at 5.01 per cent, the case fatality rate (CFR) was 1.14 per cent.

Of the 51 deaths, 17 are from Bengaluru Urban, Dakshina Kannada (7), Kolar and Tumakuru (4), Ballari and Mysuru (3), Chitradurga, Dharwad and Udupi (2), followed by others.

After Bengaluru Urban, Belagavi recorded the second highest number of cases with 352, Mysuru 222, Tumakuru 221, Dakshina Kannada 146, Shivamogga 122, Hassan 103 and Dharwad 102.

Bengaluru Urban district now has a total of 17,62,315 cases, Mysuru 2,27,458 and Tumakuru 1,58,223.

According to the bulletin, Bengaluru Urban tops the list among discharges with 17,16,457, followed by Mysuru 2,21,860 and Tumakuru 1,53,477.

Cumulatively, a total of 6,28,91,697 samples have been tested, of which 88,797 were on Tuesday alone.

Srinagar: Facebook and Instagram have blocked the handles of Chinar Corps, the Indian Army’s strategically located formation in the Kashmir valley, for over a week now and have not responded to the official communication in this regard, officials said on Tuesday.

The pages on Facebook and Instagram were created to negate the lies and propaganda flowing from across the border and also to apprise people of the real situation in the Kashmir valley, an official said.

A senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the matter had been taken up with the authorities concerned in Facebook, but so far there has been no response from their side.

“A link you followed may be broken, or the page may have been removed,” read the messages on both Facebook as well as Instagram pages of the Chinar Corps, a popular name of XV Corps of the Army in Kashmir.

There was no immediate response from Facebook and Instagram, which are a part of the same company.

The two social media websites remove a page if it does not follow the rules and regulations laid by the company or if people report about it.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah

Srinagar: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said hatred for Muslims has been normalised in the country and India no longer celebrates its diversity.

Abdullah was commenting on a video on social media which showed some men heckling a woman wearing a Hijab at a college in Karnataka.

“How brave these men are and how macho they must feel while targeting a lone young lady! Hatred for Muslims has been completely mainstreamed and normalised in India today. We are no longer a nation that celebrates our diversity, we want to punish and exclude people for it,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said incidents like these should not be seen in isolation.

“Harassing a Muslim girl in broad daylight without fear of any repercussion shows such goons enjoy patronage from those in power. Such incidents shouldn’t be seen in isolation as the BJP hopes that it helps to polarise in UP elections,” she tweeted.

Mangaluru: Police here on Tuesday arrested six persons while they were trying to sell 3.480 kg of ambergris (sperm whale vomit) worth Rs 3.48 crore from Bantwal in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka.

The arrested have been identified as Prashanth (24) from Kundapur, Sathyaraj (32) of Bengaluru, Rohit (27) of Thenkapadav, Rajesh (37) of Addur, Virupaksha (37) of Thenkayedapadav and Nagaraj (31), a resident of Kaup.

Police sources said they were found selling the ambergris, a high-valued, banned substance under the forest and environmental laws, near the Navodaya school at Balepuni in Bantwal taluk.

On being questioned, they told the police that the ambergris was given by Sedhu Manikya, a fisherman hailing from Tamil Nadu, the sources said. One Kg of ambergris costs Rs 1 crore in the international market and smugglers target whales for the substance.

The operation was carried out under the guidance of ACP Dinaker Shetty and a police team led by Konaje inspector Prakash Devadiga, the sources said.

Kushalnagar: A 20-year-old college student was on Tuesday stabbed by a fellow student allegedly over the differences that cropped up over wearing saffron shawls for protesting against students wearing Hijab to college. The incident was reported from Kushalnagar’s Sundarnagar College here.

According to the reports, 20-year-old Sandeep a final year student of Arts stream was stabbed by a first-year student after he refused to wear a saffron shawl protesting the students wearing Hijab to college.

Several students on Tuesday turned up to the college wearing saffron shawls amidst the Hijab row. A first-year student identified as Vikram allegedly asked Sandeep to wear a saffron shawl, things went out of control when Sandeep refused and got into a physical fight with Vikram after a brief altercation.

The fight later turned violent between the two groups supporting Vikram and Sandeep. Vikram allegedly stabbed Sandeep after dragging him outside the college campus, injuring him on the shoulder and back before fleeing the spot. Sandeep was rushed to a local hospital for treatment after the incident.

According to the eye-witnesses, Vikram was later detained by cops near Gopal Circle in the city.

Police sources have said both the group of students have been summoned to the police station and further investigations are underway.

New Delhi: Over 17,000 farmers in different parts of the country committed suicide between 2018 and 2020, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra said the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compiles statistics on accidental deaths and suicides from states and Union Territories and publishes the same annually as ‘Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India’ (ADSI) report.

According to the ADSI report, 5,763 farmers or cultivators committed suicide in 2018, while another 5,957 killed themselves in 2019. The report said 5,579 farmers or cultivators committed suicide in 2020.

Parmesh S Jain

The Narcotics Control Bureau officials on Monday busted an international drug syndicate seized 11 kgs of amphetamine worth Rs 1.5 crore concealed in the tarpaulin of the truck heading to Chennai from Manipur and arrested six persons including three Sri Lankan nationals running the racket .

Based on specific intelligence developed by NCB Chennai unit,on early Monday morning intercepted a truck at Chennai-Gumudipundi (National Highway) and caught the driver.

The search of the vehicle resulted in the recovery of 11 packets of white crystalline substance to be Amphetamine of one kgs in each packet .

These packets were concealed in tarpaulin which is difficult to detect.It was found along with a big machine in the truck.

Immediate follow up action was taken and multiple teams were deployed simultaneously which resulted in the apprehension of five persons from various locations of Chennai city and Tamilnadu,Amit Ghawate,Zonal Director , NCB, said .

Three out of the six accused are Sri Lankan nationals and three are from different parts of Indian.

The apprehended persons included financer, carrier,middleman,negotiator,vehicle owner, peddler and purchaser of contraband.

All the apprehended were part of same drug trafficking network and were working in multiple states and countries,Mr.Ghawate, said.

Probe revealed that the seized consignment was meant for trafficking to Sri Lanka through Sea route and part of it in other States of India.

The source of contraband is from Moreh in Manipur (located at Indo-Myanmar border).This is a seasoned drug trafficking network and operating for more than seven years.

They have solid foothold in Srilanka and states of Manipur, Tamil Nadu,the investigations found.
There has been a growing trend of involvement of Sri Lankan drug traffickers in the trafficking of Amphetamine Type Stimulants,who are predominantly into Heroin trafficking.

The seizure of 7.93 kg of Methamphetamine in August 2021 by NCB Chennai and the current seizure of Amphetamine involving Sri Lankan and Indian nationals clearly makes it evident that such networks are wide spread and has international ramifications,Mr.Ghawate,added.