Karnataka news live: Taxi driver attempts self-immolation at Bengaluru airport, dies

The Karnataka taxi driver, who attempted suicide by setting himself ablaze inside his cab at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on Tuesday, has succumbed to his injuries. According to deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Bengaluru-Northeast Division CK Baba, the taxi driver, Pratap Gowda, died at the Victoria Hospital last night. The reason for committing suicide is yet to be ascertained, the police official added. The taxi service at BLR Airport had been impacted after the incident. The KIA on March 30 had issued an advisory and asked passengers to use the BMTC bus service for travel to and from BLR Airport or make their own travel arrangements. (ANI)

Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa, BJP's Tamil Nadu in-charge C T Ravi and state ministers on Thursday joined millions others in greeting Tamil superstar Rajinikanth on being chosen for the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award for the year 2019 RPT 2019. "Heartfelt congratulations to the globally acclaimed film actor, fondly addressed as Thalaiva by his followers and superstar Rajinikanth, on being honoured with the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award. On behalf of all the Kannadigas, I wish him all the best," the chief minister tweeted.

As the state geared up to vaccinate everyone above 45 years of age from Thursday, Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa and Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar appealed to the eligible people to make use of this protective cover against coronavirus. Cautioning people not to underestimate the danger posed by Covid, Yediyurappa tweeted, "Our protective cover is the vaccine against corona. Everyone over the age of 45 can get the vaccine today. Go to your nearest vaccination centre and get the vaccine. Together we can defeat coronavirus." Health minister Sudhakar too tweeted, "As we begin vaccinating all citizens aged above 45 years from today, 5,500 vaccination sites will be operational across the state including 650 private and 4,850 government facilities."

The steady surge in fresh infections in North Karnataka has prompted many district administrations and health department officials to revive teams that were formed to tackle the pandemic in 2020. These teams were disbanded after cases subsided. Now, Nitesh Patil, district deputy commissioner (DC), Dharwad, has taken the lead to curb infections and other DCs are following suit. On Tuesday, Patil formed teams to arrange for ambulances to ferry Covid patients to hospitals for treatment, to track people who test positive, their primary and secondary contacts and a team to manage the Covid control room.

Over 1,034 trees may be removed for track doubling work between Byappanahalli and Hosur. The forest department issued a public notice stating that the Railway Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) Limited (K-RIDE) has submitted an application for removal of trees in Heelalige station near Electronics City. Suggestions and objections have been invited from citizens, according to the Karnataka Preservation of Tree Act. The deadline for filing objections is 10 days. According to K-RIDE, tree removal is needed to set station yards and platform work at Heelalige station. The description of trees, species, location and area map are uploaded on the forest department website (aranya.gov.in) Doubling of the 48-km Byappanahalli-Hosur railway line is expected to connect the city with IT hubs like Bellandur, Marathahalli and Electronics City

The SIT is probing all aspects of the sex CD case, which allegedly involves former cabinet member Ramesh Jarkiholi, and it will uncover the truth without buckling under any political pressure, home minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Wednesday. “The team will conduct an all-round inquiry systematically. There is a set criminal procedure code for it and officers are following it. No one can intervene in it, so I will also not comment on the investigation part,” Bommai said. READ MORE

With several educational institutions turning hotspots for Covid-19 infections, authorities in many colleges in the city are increasing vigilance and introducing stringent safety measures to avoid infections on campus. For instance, RV College of Engineering (RVCE) in Bengaluru, where two faculty members had recently contracted the infection, has told fourth and sixth semester students to continue with online classes for the next three weeks. “Even though we had started off with one student per hostel room, many were sharing rooms. Now, we have gone back to one student per room,” said principal KN Subramanya. RVCE has around 1,200 students on campus now.

The suicide of the 34-year-old Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) taxi driver has once again highlighted the woes of airport cabbies. With daily passengers at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) having reduced from 90,000-1 lakh to 40,000-45,000 after Covid-19, the number of trips made by cab drivers has also dipped. The rate of diesel has gone up from Rs 64.41 per litre in March 2020 to Rs 85.75 now, and travel has reduced due to the virus scare, work-from-home arrangement and webinars. Many passengers are opting for private vehicles for airport commute. Drivers are not operating taxis from the airport since Tuesday night. Airport Taxi Owners’ Association president Hamid Akbar Ali said: “We are demanding ‘One Airport, One Fare’. KSTDC’s fares are high, so passengers prefer cheaper options like Ola and Uber. KSTDC drivers are not getting any business.”

The Karnataka government on Wednesday effected transfer of 16 IAS officers, including BBMP commissioner Manjunath Prasad. Prasad has been replaced by BBMP administrator Gaurav Gupta. Prasad, who was posted as the BBMP chief seven months ago when the pandemic was at peak, has been moved to the revenue department as the principal secretary.

For the first time in four months, Karnataka crossed the 4,000-mark in daily Covid-19 infections on Wednesday and reported 4,225 cases, while Bengaluru accounted for 2,928 of them. In all, 26 Covid fatalities were reported in the state, and 18 of them were from Bengaluru.

Alleging CM BS Yediyurappa’s “authoritarian interference” in his ministry, Karnataka rural development and panchayat raj minister K S Eshwarappa on Wednesday sought the intervention of the governor and party leadership for revocation of orders and restoration of “peace” in the administration. READ FULL STORY HERE

It’s estimated that nearly 1.7 crore people in the state above 45 years of age will be eligible to get vaccinated from Thursday. The health and family welfare department said 5,500 vaccination session centres across the state will be operational from Wednesday. This includes all sub-centres, health and wellness centres, primary health centres, community health centres, taluk hospitals, district hospitals, medical colleges, and private hospitals registered for the vaccination drive. READ FULL STORY HERE

In the next one week, all hospitals must have 10% of beds for Covid patients. As the situation demands, the percentage of beds will be increased,” said a BBMP officer. At Trauma and Emergency Care Centre on Victoria Hospital campus attached to Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, 150 of the 162 Covid beds are occupied, said Dr Smitha Segu, nodal officer. The medical college is working on setting up a 130-bed Covid facility at ‘C’ block of Victoria Hospital.

Passengers traveling to and from Kempegowda International Airport faced hardship, after cab drivers at the airport began a flash strike late Tuesday night and continued late into Wednesday night. Cab drivers decided to go on a strike after their colleague, Pratap, 34, set himself ablaze inside his cab. He was rushed to Victoria Hospital, but succumbed to injuries at 2 am Wednesday. He was attached to the airport taxi service of Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation. READ FULL STORY HERE

With Covid-19 cases steadily increasing in Bengaluru, a majority of the hospitals treating the infections said most of their beds are occupied and doctors fear demand for ICU beds could throw up infrastructure and human resources challenges in the coming days. Covid wards in major hospitals in the city are nearly full, despite 80% of the cases in the second wave are asymptomatic and require only home isolation. In a 1,000-bed hospital, 10% of the beds are for intensive care. In Covid care for severe patients, at least 40-50% beds should be in ICUs, doctors said. READ FULL STORY