Fast2paper

The centenary of the first ever draft design of the Indian national flag is on March 31. It was on this day in 1921 that a young freedom fighter Pingali Venkayya presented the draft design of the flag to Mahatma Gandhi at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) session held at Bezwada (Vijayawada).

A woman who was said to have appeared in an alleged video related to the sex-for-jobs complaint against former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi appeared in a magistrate’s court here on Tuesday and gave her statement.

The sex CD case won’t be a factor in the April 17 bypolls, chief minister BS Yediyurappa said on Tuesday in his first comments on the controversy. He added that he would ask MLA and former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi to join BJP’s campaign.

From 0.6% of the total caseload in February-end, active Covid-19 cases in Karnataka stood at 2.4% on March 29, triggering concerns about the health infrastructure coming under strain should the rise continue or worsen. On Tuesday, this figure neared 2.6%, as the state reported 2,975 fresh infections, 1,984 of these in Bengaluru.

The Bengaluru airport management will either not allow boarding of flights by passengers who refuse to wear masks despite being requested to do so, or evict them from the terminal building. Violators outside the terminal building will be fined Rs 250 each.

Even though the MCG is yet to issue an official order to close meat shops on Tuesdays, a team of civic officials and cops did rounds of the city for the second week in a row to warn and close any such establishment that was open.

With the amended GNCT of Delhi Act giving more powers to the lieutenant governor, all administrative decisions of the elected government may face delays. This is because all policy decisions would need the LG’s nod, which would take extra time and ultimately impact the people of Delhi.

States seem to have taken the surge in coronavirus infections seriously with tests for Covid-19 going up by more than 38% over the last two weeks compared to the first half of March. Countrywide, the total samples tested have gone up from 97.89 lakh between March 1-14 to 1.35 crore during March 14-27.

There were 992 new Covid-19 cases recorded on Tuesday. The low numbers were on account of fewer tests conducted on Holi, officials said, adding that the situation was still serious.

With those above 45 years set to take the Covid-19 vaccines from Thursday, district authorities are scaling up the vaccination sites. They are also coming up with new plans to create awareness among the beneficiaries.

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The Centre on Tuesday said door-to-door vaccination against Covid-19 may not be feasible, even as it asked states to ensure 100% saturation of vaccination of the priority age group of those above 45 years in the next fortnight, particularly in high burden districts seeing a surge of fresh cases.

States seem to have taken the surge in coronavirus infections seriously with tests for Covid-19 going up by more than 38% over the last two weeks compared to the first half of March. Countrywide, the total samples tested have gone up from 97.89 lakh between March 1-14 to 1.35 crore during March 14-27.

A battle of roadshows brought the curtain down on the high-octane campaign in Nandigram on Tuesday, with Union home minister Amit Shah targeting Mamata Banerjee for her “silence” on the fatal assault on a BJP worker's octogenarian mother. The Bengal CM hit back by mocking him for "trying to break Trinamool", only to end up stoking dissension in BJP over poll tickets.

The US has recorded more than 10,000 infection cases of coronavirus variants as experts warn of another Covid-19 surge.

Vehicles and number plates appear to be inextricably intertwined with the case of explosives found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence and the subsequent murder of businessman Mansukh Hiran, report Mohammed Akhef & Mateen Hafeez.

In what could bring cheer for farmers, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said the government would procure paddy this summer through 6,408 centres in villages across the state.

Researchers from the city-based Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) found that the ozone (O3) concentration increased from 26 ppb (parts per billion) during pre-lockdown period to 56.4 ppb during the lockdown, resulting in a 115% increase in the ozone gas over Hyderabad.

In a significant ruling, Justice R Raghunandan Rao of the AP high court has held that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) cannot call assets acquired by an accused as proceeds of crime if they were bought before the commission of such an offence.

Putting an end to several days of suspense, the TRS announced that Nomula Bhagat Kumar, son of sitting MLA Nomula Narsimhaiah, will contest from Nagarjuna Sagar, the bypoll of which will be held on April 17. The byelection was necessitated following the death of Narsimhaiah three months ago.

With chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao zeroing in on Nomula Bhagat, the son of late Nomula Narasimhaiah, the hide-and-seek game between the TRS and the BJP came to an end.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has directed the administration to draw up a roadmap for a second lockdown, a move that drew opposition from his own alliance partner, NCP, not to mention angry voices in BJP who warned of public protests. A decision may be likely on April 2 after a review. The instructions coincided with the state reporting an all-time high of over 40,000 cases.

Demand for single beds and preference for private facilities are the cause for “shortage” in hospitals during the second Covid-19 wave in cities such as Mumbai.

With the second Covid wave gathering momentum, the BMC chief on Monday empowered ward-level officers to take control of beds in private hospitals in their respective areas for managing Covid caseloads in the city. He said they could take help of police personnel, if necessary, to facilitate this process and prevent private facilities from skirting the centralised bed allocation system.

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With Covid-19 cases steadily rising day after day, the Karnataka government on Monday banned all kinds of protests in the state for the next 15 days, with effect from Tuesday.

Sleuths from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged sex-for-job scandal on Monday questioned former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi for nearly four hours.

Shut in late February after two explosions in Shivamogga and Chikkaballapur districts claimed 12 lives, about 2,500 stone quarries and crushing units in the state are set to resume operations with the government ready to give them conditional permission.

Family members of the woman at the centre of the sex CD case, which allegedly involves ex-minister Ramesh Jarkiholi of BJP, claimed on Monday that she was acting under pressure from state Congress president DK Shivakumar.

With Karnataka reporting a near-five-month high of 3,082 infections in the past 24 hours, CM BS Yediyurappa has called a crucial meeting on Monday with ministers from Bengaluru and zonal in-charge ministers to discuss measures, including whether to conduct examinations for Class 1 to 9, to stem a second tide of infections.

With 15,365 cases in the seven days between March 22 and 28, weekly Covid-19 cases in Karnataka crossed the 12,000-mark for the first time since mid-November, the surge coming amidst a clamour for caution by experts and the Centre.

Schools and colleges across the state are fuelling the surge in Covid-19 cases with clusters breaking out on campuses, leading to many of them being declared containment zones. As a result, many parents wantt the government to scrap on-campus classes and resume online and Vidyagama lessons.

After a massive dip in 2020 due to Covid-19, the first two months of 2021 have seen nearly 72,000 Indians go abroad to study. Immigration experts anticipate a spike when visa appointments open up for the main admission season post July.

With Covid-19 cases increasing by the day, a meeting chaired by chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Monday with ministers and officials will discuss all possible measures, including whether to hold final exams for classes 1 to 9.

For the second consecutive day, Tamil Nadu reported over 2,000 new Covid-19 cases. On Sunday, 2,194 people tested positive for coronavirus pushing the tally to 8,79,473.

A day after the alleged derogatory remarks by Lok Sabha MP A Raja against chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami’s mother sparked a political furore, the CM on Sunday was moved to tears over the incident and the central crime branch police slapped a case against the DMK deputy general secretary.

In their first joint campaign, M K Stalin and Rahul Gandhi tried to build a poll narrative that went beyond the confines of TN, with the DMK chief urging the Congress scion to stitch an alliance against the BJP at the national level akin to the one led by him in the state, and Rahul Gandhi predicting a DMK victory that would send a message across the country.