Delhi govt to issue fresh guidelines to schools as Covid cases rise
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi government will issue fresh guidelines for schools amid reports of a few students testing positive for COVID-19 across the national capital and NCR.
Noting a "slight" rise in COVID cases, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said he has directed the education department to issue guidelines on Friday in this regard.
However, both Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Sisodia maintained the government is closely monitoring the situation, and asked people not to panic as there is no rise hospitalisation.
"COVID cases have slightly increased but there is no rise in hospitalisation, so we need not worry. There is no need to panic but (we have to) stay alert. We have to learn to live with COVID. We are constantly monitoring the situation," Sisodia told reporters.
"I have got reports from a few schools in the past few days where parents have informed about their child testing positive. The education department will tomorrow issue guidelines to schools in this regard," he added.
Delhi on Wednesday reported 299 new COVID-19 cases, a jump of 118 per cent in two days. The positivity rate stood at 2.49 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.
Reports of infections from schools have sparked concerns weeks after they opened for completely offline classes after a two-year gap due to the pandemic.
Kalkaji MLA and senior AAP leader Atishi said, "There are reports of a child and a teacher testing positive for Covid. Other students of the class have been sent home. We are closely tracking the situation."
However, she did not specify the name of the school where cases have been reported.
The fresh infections in the privately-run schools in the national capital have been reported close on the heels of schools in adjoining Noida and Ghaziabad reporting new cases.
"As students across Delhi-NCR turn Covid positive, schools are struggling with protocols. My child's school has at least 8 kids, 2 staff members positive. But no proper info given to parents, school functioning normally, even those classes with positive cases," said a parent from a top private school in Vasant Kunj.
Schools in Delhi have four days holidays starting Thursday on account of Ambedkar Jayanti, Good Friday followed by a weekend.
The Delhi BJP demanded that in view of the rise in cases, the government should once again make masks mandatory at public places including public transport, schools, colleges and cinema halls.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
