Over 30,000 people leave Bengaluru ahead of lockdown; rush at grocery stores and liquor shops
Bengaluru: Ahead of the week-long lockdown in Bengaluru starting from Tuesday night, over 30,000 people have left the city and grocery stores and liquor shops are witnessing a rush with customers thronging to stock up on for the shutdown.
According to transport department officials, laborers from other parts of the state migrated in good numbers from Bengaluru ahead of the lockdown fearing that they would have to face similar challenges as they had to confront during the previous shuttering.
"Yesterday 35,000 passengers left Bengaluru. The number is big given the fact that we are allowing a limited number of passengers in the buses to maintain social distancing," a KSRTC official told PTI.
Tipplers made a beeline for liquor shops and a senior State Excise official said liquor worth Rs 230 crore was sold on Monday alone.
"There was apparently a mad rush yesterday. India Made Foreign Liquor worth Rs 215.55 crore and 14.83 crores worth beer was sold...," the officer said.
In view of the rising coronavirus cases in the city at an alarming proportion, the government decided to impose lockdown from Tuesday 8 pm till 5 am on July 22.
Later, Dharwad and Dakshina Kannada districts too decided to impose a lockdown for nine days and seven days respectively from Wednesday.
"For the past two days, there is an unusual rush of customers in our store," an executive of the Metro Cash and Carry told PTI.
According to him, people are buying grocery items and vegetables with long shelf life such as onion, potato, radish, carrot, and beetroot.
A salesperson at the Star Bazaar too said people were thronging the store for the past two to three days.
During the Sunday curfew, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the week-long lockdown will be stringent one and the government has made all arrangements to address all concerns ahead of the shutdown.
As many as 19,702 people in Bengaluru have tested positive, of which there are 15,052 active cases, while 4,328 have been discharged. The number of fatalities as of Monday is 321.
Across Karnataka, 41,581 people have tested positive for coronavirus including 24,572 active cases, 16,248 discharges, and 757 deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic in the state.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
