Checkposts will come up in border regions having village-to-village contact to stop COVID surge: CM
Kalaburagi, Jan 4: With rising COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra and Kerala, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said checkposts will be set up in places where there are village-to-village contacts between Karnataka and neighbouring states.
He also said the police station under the jurisdiction will be responsible for such checkposts.
"Our experiences since the first and second wave have been that the infections in Karnataka rise whenever COVID-19 cases spiral in our neighbouring states, with whom we have daily business activities. We have to focus on that area," Bommai told reporters.
When asked about the laxity in the border regions, the Chief Minister said the border is vast and checking is happening at the main checkposts only. However, there are contacts with neighbouring states at the village level.
"Today, I am going to issue a direction to hold the police stations responsible for places where there is village-to-village contact. We will set up checkposts in such villages there and deploy people," the Chief Minister said.
To a query on the possibility of a lockdown, semi-lockdown or weekend curfew, Bommai said he will have to wait for the experts' view on it. He, however, pointed out that the lockdown will have an adverse effect on the economy.
"We have to keep the economy moving along with taking care of public health. That's the thinking of our government. I seek public support to contain the spread of the disease," Bommai said.
Regarding the possibility of closure of schools and colleges in view of rising COVID cases, Bommai said he will go by what the experts say in the meeting later in the evening.
The state on Monday reported 1,290 cases and five deaths of which 1,041 infections and three fatalities were in Bengaluru itself.
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After fake ID crackdown, IRCTC daily new accounts down to 5000 from one lakh: Railways
New Delhi (PTI): With a new, stringent system to establish user identity, the number of new user IDs being added daily on the IRCTC website has declined to about 5,000 from nearly one lakh, officials said on Saturday.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw noted that the crackdown by Indian Railways on train ticket booking through fake identities is yielding positive results, according to a press note.
Before the latest reforms, this number had touched nearly one lakh new user IDs per day, it said.
"Following the introduction of a stringent system to establish user identity and detect fake IDs, about 5,000 new user IDs are now being added daily on the IRCTC website," the note said.
The officials stated that these steps have already helped Indian Railways deactivate 3.03 crore fake accounts.
"Another 2.7 crore user IDs have either been temporarily suspended or identified for suspension based on the suspicious activities they are indulging in," they said.
The Union minister directed officials to ensure that the ticketing system is reformed to a level where all travellers are able to book tickets easily through a real and genuine user ID, the press note added.
Additionally, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has directed officials to provide local cuisine of the region in Vande Bharat trains.
Introducing local cuisine that reflects the culture and tastes of the regions being traversed will significantly enhance the passenger experience, officials said.
This facility will be expanded to all the trains progressively in future, they added.
