Karnataka news live: Decision to start grades 1 to 8 by month-end

Disgruntled Karnataka minister Anand Singh on Tuesday said he has assumed charge as minister for environment, ecology and tourism, following assurance from the chief minister and state BJP President to look into his "appeal".

Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said that he was discussing with experts whether on campus classes for students in grades 1 to 8 should be restarted and that a decision would be taken by the month-end. He said that a meeting with the Covid-19 technical advisory committee would be held soon.

With the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation granting approval for restricted use of the indigenous ZyCoV-D, a DNA Covid-19 vaccine, in emergency situations in India for children aged 12 years and above, a Belagavi hospital where the vaccine was tested has been flooded with calls from parents seeking inoculation for their children. Read more

Amid row over water sharing with neighbouring States, including a proposed dam on Cauvery water at Mekedatu, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said he is likely to meet the Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in New Delhi on August 26.

Toll in the boiler blast at a food factory here rose to four, with two more people succumbing to injuries on Tuesday, police said. According to police, the business partner of M M Food Products and a woman employee died in the hospital on Tuesday. The blast occurred on Monday afternoon in the snacks manufacturing company, killing two migrant workers from Bihar on the spot and leaving three others injured.

With breakthrough infections in Karnataka increasing, albeit slightly, over the past three weeks, experts suggest a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine for health workers and frontline warriors is in order. However, short supply of doses has prompted the government to stick to its priority — to vaccinate all those waiting for the second dose. Read more

Last week, the Karnataka government obtained clearance from Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to use drones for conducting a survey of properties in Bengaluru as part of its ambitious but much-delayed Urban Property Ownership Records (UPOR). Read more

A 30-year-old businessman has been arrested on charges of beating his wife to death after she refused to cook chicken fry for him. Read more

Twenty facilities were launched at the government-run Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology on Monday, including a new OPD block built by Infosys Foundation. The Rs 25.5-crore block is spread over 75,000sqft and can accommodate nearly 1,800 patients daily, the foundation said in a note. Chairperson Sudha Murty said the initiative is a small effort to ensure people have access to hygienic and timely medical intervention, especially during a pandemic.

Supreme Court on Monday rejected the petition filed by the sitting Karnataka MLA R Akhanda Srinivas Murthy and upheld the bail order pronounced by the Karnataka High Court in February this year to the former mayor of Bengaluru Sampath Raj for his alleged involvement in the East Bengaluru riots and violence case. A two-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and comprising Justice Hrishikesh Roy, passed the order and cancelled the petition.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Monday that the government is mulling to set up a society to provide medicines for cancer treatment at concessional rates. While speaking at the inaugural programme of the OPD block at the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, which is built by Infosys Foundation, he said the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the government funds would be used for developing medicine to treat cancer.

The Karnataka government plans to bring in digitalisation and new research and development policies soon, said chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday during an event organised by the higher education department to launch admissions to undergraduate courses under the New Education Policy (NEP). Read more

While schools in Uttara Kannada District reopened for students of class 9 and 10, schools in Dakshina Kannada are unlikely to open soon. However, PU colleges will open in a graded manner from next Monday. The Udupi district administration is ramping up tests to bring positivity rate below 2% by the month-end and then take a call on opening schools.

The number of active Covid-19 containment zones in Bengaluru city has dropped by 27% in 15 days. BBMP Covid-19 War Room data shows there were 159 active containment zones in the city on August 8. That fell to 116 by August 23. Read more

The Karnataka government plans to bring in digitalisation and new research and development policies soon, said chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday during an event organised by the higher education department to launch admissions to undergraduate courses under the New Education Policy (NEP). Read more

An armed robbery at a jewellery shop in a bustling Mysuru neighbourhood on Monday evening took a grisly turn as a gang of four shot a youth, killing him on the spot. Police said it is not clear why the gang, which was fleeing with their loot, fired at 23-year-old Chandru, a mason. Read more

Schools reopened for physical classes in 25 of the 30 districts in Karnataka for children of Grade 9 to 12 on Monday after over five months of closure due to Covid-19. While the attendance was not exactly overwhelming in many schools, the mood was buoyant as students and teachers who did return to the campus did so in a festive atmosphere. Read more

The Karnataka transport department seized seven luxury cars in a special raid near UB City on Sunday, including a Rolls-Royce Phantom it said registered in Amitabh Bachchan’s name. Read more