Karnataka reports 380 infections, 8 fatalities
Bengaluru, Feb 12: Karnataka on Friday logged 380 COVID-19 cases and eight fatalities, taking the total number of cases and toll to just above 9.44 lakh and 12,259 respectively, health department said.
Four new cases of the UK strain of the coronavirus were confirmed on Friday, taking the total number to 25.
As many as 405 people were discharged after being cured of the virus as cumulative recoveries rose to 9.26 lakh, leaving 5,925 active cases.
Bengaluru Urban district accounted for 318 of the fresh cases, followed by Dakshina Kannada 33, and Mysuru 31 while the remaining was scattered over the state.
Cumulatively 9,44,437 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which include 12,259 deaths and 9,26,234 discharges, the bulletin said.
Of the active cases,137 are in Intensive Care Units
Seven out of the eight deaths were reported from Bengaluru Urban and one in Dharwad
Five of the 31 districts --Gadag, Kodagu, Koppal, Yadgir and Ramanagara -- reported nil infections and fatalities
A total of over 1.78 crore samples have been tested so far, with 68,993 on Friday, the bulletin said.
It said 12,879 of the targetted 1,10,871 Covid warriors were vaccinated today
Four cases of Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFI) were reported
It said 4,89,854 out of total of 11,07,353 corona warriors, comprising healthcare personnel and frontline workers have so far been vaccinated.
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SC to hear on May 4 PIL seeking stringent guidelines for issuing Aadhaar to adolescents, adults
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea seeking a direction to the Unique Identification Authority of India to issue new Aadhaar cards only to citizens up to the age of six years, and frame stringent guidelines for its issuance to adolescents and adults to stop infiltrators from masquerading as Indian citizens.
As per the apex court's causelist of May 4, the plea would come up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay has also sought a direction to the authorities to install display boards at common service centres stating that the 12-digit unique identification number is only a "proof of identity" and not a proof of citizenship, address or date of birth.
Besides all the states and Union Territories, the plea has made the UIDAI -- which is the authority that issues Aadhaar -- and the Union ministries of home, law and justice, and electronics and information technology as parties.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, said Aadhaar, originally intended as a proof of identity, has increasingly become a "foundational document" enabling individuals to obtain other identification documents, such as ration cards, domicile certificates and voter identity cards.
"The UIDAI has issued 144 crore Aadhaar and 99 percent Indians have been enrolled. Therefore, the petitioner is filing this writ petition as a PIL under Article 32, seeking a direction to UIDAI to issue new Aadhaar to children only and frame new stringent guidelines for adolescents and adults, so as to stop infiltrators from getting it and masquerading as Indian citizens," the plea said.
It said the need to file the plea arose when the petitioner came to know the manner in which infiltrators are able to procure Aadhaar through a verification process that is weak and can be easily manipulated.
"Foreigners apply for Aadhaar under the 'foreign' category. But infiltrators apply for Aadhaar under the 'Indian citizen' category and get it easily made. Thereafter, they obtain a ration card, birth and domicile certificate, driving licence, et cetera, essentially becoming indistinguishable from Indian citizens…," it said.
Besides seeking other directions, the plea has raised legal questions, including whether the Aadhaar Act 2016 has become "temporally unreasonable" for failing to keep up with the legislative intent of distinguishing foreigners from Indian citizens.
It said the alleged misuse of Aadhaar undermines targeted welfare delivery and leads to diversion of public resources.
