Karnataka lockdown news live: Disbursement of coronavirus relief package underway, says CM

The state government has issued a circular, saying industry workers would be vaccinated on priority. The decision is aimed at ensuring that industrial output does not suffer more because of Covid-19. Workers aged above 45 can visit the nearest health centre or coordinate with the regional chief health officer and industries joint director (JD) for appointments. JDs have asked to prepare a list of workers aged between 18 and 44. The circular encourages vaccination camps at work sites.

The Karnataka high court has said the state government must make provision for people to file complaints through WhatsApp and Telegram on violations pertaining to Covid-appropriate behaviour. A division bench headed by chief justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka made this suggestion after the government said a grievance redressal mechanism has been set up and a notification issued on Wednesday. The bench said the government must give wide publicity to this grievance redressal cell so that the general public is aware of existence. The bench told applicants, who presented new complaints regarding recent instances of violation of Covid SOPs, to submit their grievances through the new mechanism to test its efficacy.

Union minister for chemicals and fertilisers DV Sadananda Gowda on Friday said an additional 9,750 vials of Amphotericin-B medicines have been allocated to Karnataka. The drug is vital for treating black fungus infection, which has emerged as a post-Covid-19 complication among those with high diabetes.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar has urged President Ram Nath Kovind to direct the central government to ensure administration of one crore Covid-19 vaccines doses per day and universal free vaccination. The KPCC president submitted a memorandum to Karnataka Goveror Vajubhai Vala at Raj Bhawan. The memoranadum was addressed to the President and accused the BJP-led government of "abdicating its duty" during the situation created by Covid-19.

The police seized 41,832 vehicles for curfew and lockdown violations in 54 days (April 10 to June 3), averaging 774 per day. Last year, 49,414 vehicles were impounded during the two phases of Covid-19 lockdown — March 24 to April 30 and July 14 to July 22 — at an average of nearly 1,075 a day.

A sub-inspector who celebrated his promotion as inspector and birthday at Hoskote police station in Bengaluru Rural has come under the scanner for throwing Covid-19 guidelines to the wind during the bash. Hoskote sub-inspector CM Raju was recently promoted as inspector and posted at Anti Corruption Bureau, Bengaluru.

With Covid deaths showing no signs of ebbing, the Centre’s decision to allow oxygen manufacturers to resume supply of the resource for industrial purposes has put the state government in a quandary. The ministry of home affairs, on May 31, issued a circular allowing use of liquid oxygen in steel and other metal-producing plants, infrastructure, MSMEs and other sectors. The Centre had earlier allowed manufacturers to only produce medical-grade liquid oxygen (LMO) to treat Covid patients.

It’s been 17 days since chief minister BS Yediyurappa announced the first relief package for those whose livelihood has been hit by the Covid-induced lockdown but disbursement of cash assistance is yet to start.

Ending the long wait and uncertainty over state board exams, the Karnataka government on Friday cancelled II PUC exams for this year while going ahead with SSLC exams in a truncated, multiple-choice question format. The Class 10 exams will be held over two days in the third week of July.

The Karnataka government on Friday approved an allocation of Rs 50,000 to every gram panchayat in the state from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) released for Covid management to address local issues. (ANI)