Low-cost X-ray to detect virus among six products Bengaluru startups announced for Covid controlIt was a matter of pride for the State as they were all developed by local scientists, innovators and research professionals with the government’s support, Ashwath Narayan said. All the six products have been approved by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for immediate use and will also be commercially available. - As cases soar, BJP workers to join BBMP efforts in contact-tracingBengaluru Urban district reported 1,235 positive cases on Sunday, with contacts of most cases classified as still “under tracing”. Contact-tracing has turned out to be a massive challenge as the city is adding about 1,000 cases a day, which is expected to go up further in the coming days.
- Karnataka relaxes rules, makes 2-week home quarantine for visitors mandatoryThe changes in Karnataka's policy is in line with its approach to fresh covid-19 positive cases.
- Covid-19 mischief: Hoteliers move police A delegation of hoteliers led by Association president PC Rao met police commissioner Bhaskar Rao and said some mischief-mongers were spreading fake news that employees of some prominent hotels and bakeries had been tested covid-19 positive.
- Tech glitches mar Karnataka's Kaveri Online portal, block access to digitally-signed property recordsEC is one of the most sought after papers as property buyers and bankers rely on them to ascertain ownership. Owners can get e-khatas for their properties only if they furnish EC copies to BDA, BBMP, other municipal bodies and panchayat bodies.
- Karnataka's Class X exams begin, overwhelming response from studentsThe state government had come under pressure not to go ahead with the exams after Tamil Nadu and Telangana decided to cancel Class X exams and promote students en masse.
- Lenders prepare for rise in gold loan demand in FY21Gold loans are a quick way for people to access cash when other avenues are not open," said CVR Rajendran, CEO at CSB Bank. Gold loans also are less risky for lenders as rising gold prices means the loan to value ratio is always kept in check.
- Karnataka's active coronavirus cases could peak to 25,000 by mid-AugustThe projections are so sensitive that if the daily growth rate is 3% then active numbers would reach 17,000 but if daily growth rate is 4% then active numbers would reach 25000 in about 50-60 days
- Citizen squads to watch the quarantinedKarnataka has requested citizen groups and members of non-profit organisations to be part of squads to track down home quarantine violators, in order to check the rising number of such people in Bengaluru Urban district after interstate travel was opened up.
- Yediyurappa bites the bullet: Karnataka to free up market for farmlandNow any Indian, or a trust, society, company or an educational institution can buy farmland in Karnataka regardless of the buyer’s annual income from non-agricultural sources. “We will amend the Sections 79 (A) & (B) of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961, through an Ordinance as we are in the middle of a Covid-19 crisis and the assembly is not meeting anytime soon,” revenue minister R Ashoka told ET.
- Karnataka Congress wants GST rates cut on consumer items to boost demandThe Congress leader has listed out a set of demands in a letter to all MPs elected from Karnataka, and urged them to persuade the Finance Minister to give a set of reliefs to help out the MSME sector, and startups which are facing the biggest crisis due to Covid-19. His letter followed interactions with industry bodies.
- Karnataka bans online education for children up to Class VAs for permitting online education from class 6 to class 10, the government has formed a panel of experts which will study the challenges and come up with a set of guidelines for schools. The committee will submit its report in 10 days, Education Minister S Suresh Kumar said.
- What BJP leadership’s call on Rajya Sabha nominees means for YediyurappaThe latest blow may be a little too hard on Yediyurappa and has also triggered speculation on change of leadership in Karnataka. It’s no secret that Yediyurappa is keen on completing the term. Sections of BJP insiders see the latest development as the beginning of the decline of the 77-year old Lingayat strongman’s clout in the party.
- Two private equity funds in talks with Coffee DaySingapore-based SSG Capital Management and Affirma Capital (formerly Standard Chartered PE) are leading talks for possible investments in Coffee Day Global (CDGL), a subsidiary of the listed entity Coffee Day Enterprises, according to sources privy to the development.
- Toyota to move teams to low-rental officesThe automaker wants to spend less on real estate due to dwindling auto sales, and sedate market conditions made worse by the Covid-19 outbreak. “Our strategy will save our company a few crores in rentals a year,” Shekar Viswanathan, vice chairman at Toyota Kirloskar Motor, told ET.
- Return BPL cards, CM B.S.Yediyurappa asks government employees, other wealthy peopleCM B.S.Yediyurappa issued the warning while reviewing the performance of the food and civil supplies and consumer affairs department in Bengaluru.
- K'taka govt notifies ordinance, BDA to legalise unauthorised constructions in BengaluruThe BDA will levy a penal fee in return for regularisation. These are plots either owned by residents themselves or bought from someone after the BDA notified them for acquisition during the formation of layouts.
- It was a false positive for travellers as ICMR says labs can't test walk-in casesKarnataka has said travellers from Maharashtra, Delhi and four other “high-risk” states will be exempted from institutional quarantine if they bring a certificate declaring them free of Covid-19, but officials at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have clarified that testing laboratories don’t issue such certificates to individuals.
- Bangalore International Airport steps up sanitisation, makes parking facility contact-less"With passenger and driver safety being one of the major priorities, BIAL will ensure that the taxis are sanitised and the drivers are screened before every trip to eliminate all chances of infection," the BIAL said in a press release.
- Bengaluru Tech Summit postponedThe government decided to put off the event in view of the inability of international delegates to attend the event in the present uncertainties over international travel.
- Fitness startups keep fingers crossed as Karnataka’s new guidelines leave little window for re-openingNeighbourhood gyms are concerned about viability of their business even if they are allowed to reopen after some time with a number of restrictions. According to health experts, physical fitness and increased immunity are critical in fight against Covid, but the facilities to improve these have become the first casualty of the pandemic.
- Firms fear disruptions, cautious on reopeningSections of industry in Karnataka have delayed reopening on concerns of facing issues if some employees were to be found Covid-19-positive later.
- Healthcare, delivery may save the day for temp staffing companies“The drop is, however, not going to be significant because some of the sectors that we operate in are resilient,” Quess chairman Ajit Isaac told ET. The increased demand for last-mile delivery services is expected to offset the slump in other areas.
- Temp firms bear brunt of job losses, say last mile delivery, health care acting as cushionFairfax group-controlled business service provider Quess Corp will likely see a drop in headcount in the first quarter as clients trim their workforce. The company, which has about 380,000 people and is among the largest private sector employers in India, counts Amazon, Oracle, Axis Bank, Manipal Hospitals, Bata and Samsung among its clients.
- Some southern states in talks with cement, steel companies to rein in pricesWhile the Karnataka government has ordered price caps on cement prices by responding to the construction industry pleas, others like Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are engaged in parleys with cement and steel producers to rationalise prices.
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