JAB-O-METER TAKE YOUR SHOT January 20 60,79,373 doses January 21 58,37,209 doses TOTAL DOSES: 1,61,05,63,199 NATIONWIDE JAN 20 JAN 21 Fresh cases 3,17,532 3,47,254 Recoveries 2,23,990 2,51,777 Deaths 491 703 KARNATAKA FLYERS CAN CARRY JUST ONE HAND BAG, SAYS REGULATOR The restriction for domestic air passengers is aimed at reducing the burden of security screening to ease congestion and delays ENFORCE RULE STRICTLY, CISF TELLS AIRLINES LADIES’ BAG, LAPTOP BAG ALLOWED Following a directive by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, the regulatory authority for civil aviation security in India, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has asked the aviation authorities to implement the ‘One Hand Bag’ rule strictly. The decision was taken after it was found that passengers carrying multiple handbags were taking more time to clear security screening ■ ■ The CISF, which guards airports in the country, has asked all airlines to sensitise passengers about the rule by displaying the information prominently at vantage points at airports and including it on boarding passes as well as tickets Ladies’ hand bag and laptop bag are exempt from the rule 47,754 48,049 Recoveries Deaths HUBBALLI  SATURDAY  JANUARY 22, 2022  `9.00  PAGES 12  CITY EDITION JAN 20 Fresh cases JAN 21 22,143 29 18,115 22 7 kg MAXIMUM ALLOWED WEIGHT OF THE CABIN BAG THAT A FLYER CAN CARRY IN A FLIGHT CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI K’TAKA GOVERNMENT LIFTS WEEKEND CURFEW FURORE OVER PUTTING OUT FLAME Night curfew to continue, order to be withdrawn if hospitalisation rises EXPRESS N E WS S E RVI CE @ Bengaluru EXPRESS READ 35 Pak-based YouTube channels blocked New Delhi: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has ordered the blocking of 35 YouTube channels and two websites operated from Pakistan which were running anti-India propaganda and spreading fake news “in a coordinated manner”. | P7 Utpal Parrikar quits BJP, to fight as Ind Panaji: Denied ticket from Panaji, his late father’s constituency, former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar’s son Utpal Parrikar on Friday quit the BJP. He will contest the February 14 Assembly elections in Goa from Panaji as an independent, Utpal told the media on Friday. | P8 HEEDING to pressure from the business sector, ruling and opposition party members, the Karnataka government lifted weekend curfew starting from January 22 (Saturday). However, the night curfew from 10 pm to 5 am will continue for all seven days. Schools can reopen across the state, except in Bengaluru. Malls, hotels and theatres can operate with only 50 per cent occupancy . The Basavaraj Bommai government took the decision after a marathon meeting with experts, ministers and officials that stretched for nearly twoand-a-half hours. However, the no-curfew order could be rescinded if hospitalisation increases in the coming days. The chief minister appealed to the public to take all precautionary and safety measures. Briefing the media after the meeting, Revenue Minister R Ashoka said that according to the information given by experts, Covid-positive cases are increasing, but hospitalisation has stayed below 5 per cent. “ As on January 20, there were 2.93 lakh Covid-positive cases, of PRIYANKA CONGRESS FACE IN UP POLLS EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi ENDING reticence, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday almost pitched herself as the party’s chief ministerial face in Uttar Pradesh but was non-committal on contesting the forthcoming state elections. Responding to a question on the party’s CM candidate during the launch of the Congress Youth Manifesto for UP, she said: “Aapko kisi aur ka chehra dikh raha hai Cong ress par ty ki taraf se? To phir? Dikh tho raha hai na sab jagah mera chehra.” (Can you see the face of any other Congress leader? It’s mine alone that is being seen everywhere in UP). That was a brave statement, considering the party is a marginal player in UP that is set to witness a straight fight between the BJP and the SP in most seats. She had refused to project herself as the CM face during the 2017 UP polls after which the party forced Sheila Dikshit to take up that role. As for entering the poll fray, Priyanka parried, saying: “When it is decided, you will get to know. We haven’t made a decision yet.” CONTINUED ON: P8 which 2.86 lakh are in home isolation. Across the state, 5,344 Covid-positive patients are in hospital, of which 340 are in ICU with 127 under ventilator,’’ he added. The hospitalisation rate is between 5 and 6 per cent, while recoveries are high. On a cautionary note, he said that the number of covid cases will increase, probably by next week. During the meeting, it was discussed that despite the weekend curfew, Covid cases did not decline and taking that as the criterion, the decision was taken to lift the curfew, he said. “The order would be withdrawn only if hospitalisation increases. The discussion centred around lives and livelihoods of people being affected,” P3 he added. NEW NORMS FOR INT’L PASSENGERS The health ministry has issued new rules for international passengers from January 22. They should submit in self-declaration form factual details of their health before travel on Air Suvidha portal, including the last 14 days’ travel history. Uploading a negative RT-PCR report not older than 72 hours of their travel is must. DOS AND DON’TS Weekend curfew imposed from Friday 10 pm to Monday 5 am withdrawn Night curfew will continue from 10 pm to 5 am across the state The measures will be reviewed based on the number of cases and hospitalisation in coming weeks Rallies, dharnas and congregations, including social, religious and political, are prohibited Marriage functions are permitted involving not more than 200 people in open space and 100 people in closed places strictly adhering to Covid-appropriate behaviour Pubs, clubs, restaurants, bars, hotels and eateries will function with 50 per cent of seating capacity Cinema halls, multiplexes, theatres, rangamandiras and auditoriums to seat only 50 per cent audience. Entry only to double-vaccinated people Intensive surveillance along the borders of Maharashtra, Kerala and Goa will continue Any person or group violating containment measures and not complying with Covid-appropriate behaviour will be booked under the Disaster Management Act 2005 INTERVIEW Lokayukta: May move HC to punish officials YATH I RA J U @ Bengaluru The Lokayukta may knock on the doors of Karnataka High Court asking it to direct the State Government to clear the proposals seeking sanction for prosecution of bureaucrats, which have been pending for over five years. Lokayukta Justice P Vishwanatha Shetty, who is demitting office on January 27 after completing a five-year term, told TNIE in an exclusive interview that he is seriously examining the prospect of asking the Lokayukta registry to take up the issue with the high court. “What I regret is the government taking away Lokayukta’s powers to prosecute errant public servants under the Prevention of Corruption Act after the establishment of the ACB,” he said. P4 Minister says power tariff hike inevitable No ‘corona pass’ for SSLC students this year: Nagesh EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru RAMKRISHNA BADSESHI @ Kalaburagi A power tariff hike is unavoidable as development works have to be taken up across the state, said Power Minister Sunil Kumar here on Friday . Bescom sources said the electric supply company is seeking a tariff increase of around Rs 1.5 per unit. The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC), which clears the tariff hike, is expected to meet in April to take a decision. Sunil Kumar said that huge pending bills are a burden and pointed out that BWSSB, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj and other departments owe around Rs 16,0000 crore to electric supply companies. Sunil Kumar has apprised individual department heads and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai about this, the minister added. He said around 1,800 vacancies in the department were filled recently . Power generation from hydroelectric units was good this year because of good rainfall, he said. PRIMARY and Secondary Education Minister BC Nagesh said students have to appear for SSLC exams and answer questions this year as there will be no “corona pass” — a reference to students being passed without exams because of the raging Covid pandemic last year. He told The New Indian Express that the issue was different last year as students and schools faced severe C ov i d - r e l a t e d p r o b l e m s throughout the 2020-21 academic year. “If we keep extending this facility, students will forget how to study and it will set a bad trend,” he added. Nagesh said that as per his infor mation, almost all schools in the State have completed 70 per cent of the syllabus, while 30 per cent has been reduced to help students. “Experts are of the opinion that Covid will drastically come down in the last week of February or in the first week of March, while SSLC exams According to Primary and Secondary Education Minister BC Nagesh, most schools have completed 70% of syllabus will take place in the last week March to April 11. Let us see the situation at that time,” he added. On the delay in issuing appointment orders to guest teachers for high schools, he said that the orders were issued on November 1 last year. But the orders were there since the beginning of the academic year. For 2022-23, they will be issued at the beginning o f t h e a c a d e m i c ye a r, P2 he added. If we keep extending this facility, students will forget how to study and it will set a bad trend BC Nagesh, Primary and Secondary Education Minister on the issue of ‘corona pass’ (Top) Air Marshal B R Krishna, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, merging the Amar Jawan Jyoti flame with the one at National War Memorial in New Delhi; and (right) Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s statue will be installed at India Gate | PTI The Congress on Friday accused the Centre of “removing history” by extinguishing the Amar Jawan Jyoti. However, government sources said there is a lot of misinformation on the matter and said the Amar Jawan Jyoti was not extinguished but merged with the flame at the National War Memorial P7 Netaji’s statue at India Gate, eternal flame shifted to Nat’l War Memorial EXPRESS NEWS S ERVI CE @ New Delhi A g rand statue of iconic freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose will be installed at India Gate to commemorate his 125th birth anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday . “This would be a symbol of India’s indebtedness to him,” Modi tweeted. The statue, made of granite, will be installed under the canopy next to the India Gate. The canopy used to have a statue of King George V, which was removed in 1968. Till the statue is completed, a 28-ft long, 6-ft wide hologram statue would be present at the spot, which the PM will unveil on Sunday The installation of . Bose’s statue will be part of the year-long celebrations to mark his 125th birth anniversary the , PMO said in a statement. While most Opposition parties welcomed the decision, the Trinamool Congress alleged it was to blunt the criticism arising from the Centre’s rejection of Bengal’s tableau on Bose for the Republic Day parade. The announcement also came on a day the flame at Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate was merged with the immortal flame at the National War Memorial. “In a befitting military ceremony, the flame at Amar Jawan Jyoti was merged on Friday with the eternal flame at National War Memorial with full military honours,” read a defence ministry statement. Amar Jawan Jyoti was inaugurated on January 26, 1972 to commemorate India’s victory over Pakistan in 1971 and as a tribute to the soldiers who laid down their lives. The 42-metrehigh India Gate War Memorial Arch was built in honour of more than 80,000 soldiers who died in the First World War (1914-1918) and the Third AngloAfghan War (1919). India Gate was built in 1931 and remains a memorial to the soldiers from India who died in action. The National War Memorial was inaugurated in February 2019 in honour of soldiers who have made the supreme sacrifice to defend the sovereignty and integrity of the country .