With rising Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra and Kerala, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said check-posts will be set up in places where there are village-to-village contacts between Karnataka and neighbouring states.
Indulging in religious conversion with inducement or under pressure is an "unpardonable offence", the state home minister Araga Jnanendra said adding, it may also lead to disturbance of peace in the society.
While Karnataka reported five new cases, Delhi and Telangana reported four each, and Gujarat reported one fresh case of the Omicron variant.
The Congress said it will continue their march once the COVID third wave declines and the curbs are relaxed.
Bommai on Saturday made it clear that he is not travelling to any foreign country and that there is no question of any new chief minister in Karnataka.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Pandavapura, participating in a public event of the party after a long gap.
With the Congress' 'Bellary Chalo' march in protest against the BJP government's "failure" to check illegal mining entering the fifth day, three Karnataka ministers today launched a counter rally challenging the Opposition to prove its charge.
The Centre has warned it is likely that the spread of the new variant will outpace the Delta variant where there is community transmission.
Plagued by desertions, internal rifts, and with the image of being a "family party", it remains to be seen how Gowda's son and former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy would steer the party in the May 10 assembly polls.
Heart-breaking stories of sorrow and shock began emerging from various parts of Kerala as people learned about the death of their loved ones.
As many as 21 cases of COVID-19 sub-variant JN.1 have been detected across the country till now, NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul said on Wednesday but asserted that there was no need to panic.
From dubbing voices to putting faces with the help of AI, political campaigns are undergoing a Bollywood makeover. Among the favourites is a scene from the Anil Kapoor-starrer Nayak, posted by the BJP, where Kapoor asks about the Chunaavi Vaade (poll promise), with Arvind Kejriwal at the receiving end instead of Amrish Puri.
Worried over those under home quarantine going out and mingling with others, the Karnataka government wants them to confirm their location through selfies.
Sixty-eight Rajya Sabha members, including nine Union ministers, are completing their tenure this year, triggering a race of sorts among leaders across political parties to eye a six-year term in the Upper House of Parliament.
Of the two rate structures on the table, one suggests tax slabs of 8 per cent, 16 per cent, and 24 per cent. The other proposes tax slabs at 9 per cent, 18 per cent, and 27 per cent.
Ahead of the Union Cabinet expansion on Wednesday, several Union Ministers, including Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, Education Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar resigned from their posts.
Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh passed away on Thursday night at the age of 92. He was brought to the emergency department of AIIMS Delhi in critical condition after "sudden loss of consciousness."
The government also decided to make face masks mandatory in closed spaces and airconditioned rooms.
The official said multiple samples were sent for genome sequencing, and one of them tested positive for the JN.1 variant.
The first nationwide mock drill was held on January 2 which, the health ministry said, helped to iron out any glitches in the final execution and further refinement of the operational procedures.
The minister appealed to states and Union Territories to continue and strengthen surveillance and focus on genome sequencing for identifying new variants in the country.
The Tirupati Laddu row intensified on Friday with the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which is managing the super-rich temple, backing Chief Minister N Chandra Babu Naidu's claim that the famous 'prasadam' had animal fat and Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy dubbing the accusations as 'atrocious'.
Larger hospitals are not worried about a spike in cases, as they are now accustomed to converting ICUs and general wards into negative pressure zones or isolation rooms. For smaller hospitals, the task is tedious.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has boosted the representation of backward castes, dalits, tribals and women in his Council of Ministers in a big shake-up of his government with a focus on politically crucial states, including the all-important Uttar Pradesh.
During a virtual meeting with health ministers and senior officials of states in view of the recent surge in coronavirus cases in some parts of the world, he said, "The Centre and states need to work in tandem and in a collaborative spirit as was done during the previous surges for Covid prevention and management."
COVID-19 cases in India climbed to 169 on Thursday after 18 fresh cases were reported from various parts of the country, according to the Union health ministry.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai held a meeting with experts, and senior ministers and officials of his government to assess the COVID-19 situation in the state and curbs that were put in place to control its spread.
To a question whether police cases will be registered, Sudhakar said, "I am compelled to say that I will discuss with the home minister and decide the future course of action."
The government on Thursday took a series of measures in view of the rising number of COVID-19 cases in several parts of the world, including China.
The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday decided to promulgate an ordinance to give effect to the contentious law against religious conversions.
Karnataka Ministers, who moved a court in Bengaluru seeking injunction against the media from publishing or airing anything 'defamatory or unauthenticated' against them, on Saturday said it was a precautionary measure against a 'big political conspiracy' targetting them.
Banking on the Budget's tax relief, the BJP seeks to energise Delhi's middle class; the AAP is doing its bit too. But will their outreach mobilise this politically crucial yet disengaged electorate?
In a relief to actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, an accused in the Renukaswamy murder case, the Karnataka high court on Wednesday granted him interim bail on medical grounds, to undergo spine surgery.
Intensifying screening of international passengers at airports, asking educational institutions to postpone their public events, and limiting gatherings, meetings, conferences to 500 people, are among the other measures announced by the government.
Celebrations on New Year's Day should last only till 1 am, Health Minister K Sudhakar said.
For renomination to the Rajya Sabha, Nadda will have to look for a seat outside his home state of Himachal Pradesh as the Congress is in power there.
He urged people not to panic and clarified that there was no change in the guidelines for international air travel so far.
The states will be asked to tap the Centre's JAM trinity.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said the rescue mission in the landslide-hit Mundakkai region of Wayanad could take a few more days, and appointed a cabinet sub-committee of four ministers to coordinate the rescue efforts.
Some states have flagged the shortage of vaccines and expressed their inability to start vaccination of people above 18 years from Saturday
