Karnataka government announces fresh COVID guidelines, weekend curfew to begin on Jan 7
Schools for 1-9 grade to be shut down in Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Jan 4: The Karnataka government on Tuesday decided to impose weekend curfew and extend the night curfew for two weeks in Bengaluru in view of the alarming rise in number of COVID-19 cases.
The government also decided to shut schools and pre-university colleges except for 10th and 12th standard students for two weeks.
"We have decided that barring 10th and 12th classes, schools will be shut for rest of the classes in Bengaluru. These COVID rules will come into effect from Wednesday night," Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashoka told reporters.
Ashoka said there will be weekend curfew for two weeks from 10 PM on Friday to 5 AM on Monday. All essential services will continue, he added.
Further, the government announced extension of night curfew, which ends on January 7, for two weeks.
The Minister also said that there should not be a congregation of more than 200 people in marriages at open places and 100 in marriage halls. There should also be 50 per cent occupancy in pubs, bars, cinema halls and malls and those working and visiting these places should have taken both the jabs of COVID vaccine.
Also, the government decided to make a negative RT-PCR test report mandatory for those coming to state from Maharashtra, Kerala and Goa, the minister said.
Government offices will have to follow the Government of India guidelines, he explained.
The decision was taken in a high level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, which was attended by senior ministers including health minister Dr K Sudhakar, Ashoka and Higher Education Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, medical experts and senior officials.
The meeting was held in view of tge sudden jump in COVID cases in the state. Karnataka logged 2,479 cases on Tuesday and four fatalities. Since January 1, the city has been logging over 1,000 cases daily.
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Getting US consulate in B'luru issue visas 'sooner' my top priority when I visit US: Jaishankar
Bengaluru (PTI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar asserted on Friday that the opening of "long-in-waiting" US consulate in Bengaluru was the "very important milestone" in the bilateral ties and urged the American authorities to ensure that the mission starts visa operations at the earliest.
"This will be my number one talking point with Secretary (of State Nominee Marco) Rubio when I go and see him. The sooner we get it done, the better it is," said Jaishankar.
The External Minister was in Bengaluru today to attend the "site dedication ceremony" of the fifth United States consulate in India, which will start operating in Bengaluru soon.
Delivering his speech, Eric Garcetti, US Ambassador to India, said the consulate in Bengaluru will not be offering visa services for the time being.
In his speech, Jaishankar pointed to statistics to nudge the US to get around to issuing visas from Bengaluru as early as possible.
"I was checking figures, and was very glad to see that last year, the RPO (Regional Passport Office) Bengaluru issued 8,83,000 passports. That's just for one year. Do the math, and you will see how important it is to ensure that travel is smooth," added Jaishankar.
He also added that there are three flights every week from here to San Francisco. "Hopefully, if Boeing and Airbus deliver, there'd be more. I think that's a legitimate expectation," said Jaishankar.
Jaishankar said a US consulate in Bengaluru has been "long-in-waiting".
"One, which I believe, Bengaluru legitimately deserved and expected," he added.
"I think Bengaluru has such an important place that it was for me an imperative that there is a permanent resident presence of American diplomats here," said Jaishankar.
He also said every time he had visited the city in the last five years, there was always somebody who would ask him, 'so, when is that consulate coming?'.
"It was from, really, I would say, the cross section of the society. It was from businessmen; it was from the tech world; it was from academics. It was even from people you would meet in a restaurant," added Jaishankar.
According to him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2023 had brought up the issue of opening a consulate in Bengaluru when he visited the US.
He also said India had promised to open a consulate in Los Angeles if the United States "get the Bengaluru consulate done". He said now, with the opening of the consulate, collaborations in defence and education would reach new heights.
"I think the formal opening of this consulate is one more sign that we are overcoming the hesitations of history. It is now within our grasp, within the realm of possibility, that we realise more fully the potential of India-US relations. And I think it is important that Bengaluru too realises its potential in the relationship," said Jaishankar.
In his address, US Ambassador Garcetti, who would be relinquishing his responsibility in India soon, said he was glad that getting a consulate up and running in Bengaluru would be his last task in India.
"You know, our relationship in India is not new. Our second consulate in the world was here in India. After the independence of a new America in 1776, we opened a consulate in Lyon, France, and then the second was in Kolkata, showing, back then, the importance of India to a new American nation," said Garcetti.
India, said Garcetti, is now the second largest mission of America anywhere in the world.
"It produces the second most visas, the most students we're breaking records every single year 'record employees, record visas, record students, record military exercises, record engagement from the seabed to space," added Garcetti.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who was also present during the "site dedication ceremony" said the opening of the consulate in Bengaluru is a testament to the growing importance of Karnataka in the global stage.
"Nowadays, the world is looking at India through Bengaluru. We know there are a lot of hiccups there, as Bengaluru is not a well-planned city. But still the city has proved itself to be the safest city in the entire country for the global firms to have their headquarters," said Shivakumar.
Other dignitaries present for the ceremony include MP Tejasvi Surya, Karnataka's Minister for Large & Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development M B Patil, Minister for IT & BT Priyank Kharge.
Several entrepreneurs from the city, including Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, executive chairperson and founder of Biocon Limited and Biocon Biologics Limited, had also attended the 'site dedication ceremony'.
