Bangalore news live: Karnataka to ban hookah bars to contain coronavirus

In the wake of Covid-19 pandemic, the Karnataka govt mulls banning hookah bars in the state.

Following requests before the government to start Covid vaccination in apartment complexes, old age homes and long-term care homes for the elderly, the CM requested the Centre to allow vaccination in such places. Karnataka also urged the PM to allow vaccination across age groups.

The campus of Manipal Institute of Technology was on Wednesday declared a containment zone after 27 engineering students tested positive for Covid-19, according to Udupi DC G Jagadeesha. Udupi district reported 41 cases during the day. Sources said most of the infected students were asymptomatic. “The college has now decided to conduct all theory classes online and defer contact classes (like practical and lab sessions) to a later date,” they added. Remaining BTech examinations have been postponed.

The state government is considering restricting the use of loudspeakers during azaan at mosques, contending that it contributes to noise pollution. Haj and wakf minister Anand Singh told reporters on Wednesday that the government would soon call a meeting of Muslim leaders and maulvis and request them to stop using loudspeakers five times a day. READ FULL STORY

Owing to Covid-related restrictions on visitors to Central Prison (Parappana Agrahara), inmates who would have received money from family members and friends during visiting hours are now allegedly extorting it online. They identify their targets, threaten them over phone or by sending men and share a mobile number or bank account number, where the cash has to be transferred either online or via UPI. Police have cracked two such cases in three months and arrested three men - two undertrials and a convict - in one. They suspect more such online extortion rackets are being run from the jail. READ FULL STORY

Notwithstanding the ready availability of information on our fingertips, it would still be a daunting task for most to recite names of all countries in under half-an-hour. Such being the case, the stunning feat of a three-yearold boy from Hiriyur in Chitradurga is worth marvelling over. He has written himself into World Book of Records (United Kingdom), Asia Book of Records and India Book of Records-2021 by reciting the names of capital cities of all 195 sovereign nations in the world in just 27 minutes and 21 seconds. READ FULL STORY

With 154 fresh Covid-19 cases in the past 10 days, Bellandur leads wards in Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits with over 50 cases, followed by BTM Layout (96) and Hagadur (82). BBMP health officials say a majority have travel history and are from economically weaker sections of society. “Many people, mostly from poor sections, are returning to resume jobs,” said a BBMP official. “These people do not follow health protocols of getting a Covid test done and this is aggravating things.” READ FULL STORY

Barely a week after the Karnataka high court barred any coercive action by the government or schools over payment of less school fees in the wake of the pandemic, a private school in Mandya allegedly disrupted ongoing mid-term exams and made around 25 students stand outside for paying only 50% of the fees. READ FULL STORY

In a setback for Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa and his former cabinet colleague Katta Subramanya Naidu, the high court on Wednesday set aside an order passed by a special court for Lokayukta cases that had dismissed a private complaint filed against them in a land denotification case. On July 25, 2016, the special court had dismissed the complaint filed by Alam Pasha, an industrialist. He challenged the order. Allowing his petition, Justice John Michael Cunha quashed the order passed by the special court and directed it to proceed with trial in terms of chargesheet filed by Lokayukta police in May 2012. READ FULL STORY

Cops on the lookout for the 25-year-old woman suspected to have appeared in the CD related to the sex-for-job complaint against former state minister Ramesh Jarkiholi said her mobile phone was last traced to New Delhi. The woman’s father has filed a complaint in Belagavi, saying she has been kidnapped. Read the full story here

The sluggish pace of vaccination in Karnataka came to the fore on Wednesday as PM Narendra Modi asked the state government why nearly 70% of the vaccination centres listed on Co-Win portal are not yet operational. At a video-conference, he also discussed measures taken in Bengaluru Urban, Bidar and Kalaburagi districts where cases are steadily rising and asked the Yediyurappa government to undertake strict measures to prevent further infections. He also said the vaccination drive should be intensified in districts where there is a surge in cases.

For the second straight day since December, Karnataka breached the 1,000-mark logging 1,275 new Covid cases on Wednesday. Bengaluru accounted for 786 new cases. A surge has been noticed in Dakshina Kannada district too, which reported 72 new cases, followed by 61 in Kalaburagi, 41 in Udupi and 35 in Mysuru. The total active Covid cases in the state crossed 10,000 on Wednesday. Of 10,220 patients under treatment across the state, 7,344 are in Bengaluru alone. There are 134 Covid patients in ICUs across the state, including 52 from Bengaluru.