Covid warrior Dr Asima Banu takes charge as principal of Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute

Bengaluru: Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said the situation in violence-hit Nagamangala town in Mandya district is peaceful now, and steps have been taken to ensure that no untoward incidents take place.

Clashes had broken out between two groups during the Ganesh idol procession in the town, following which mobs went on a rampage with stone pelting and targeting several shops and vehicles leading to tension on Wednesday night.

"Situation in Nagamangala is now peaceful and there is no problem there. I have also instructed officials to hold a peace meeting there. We have instructed officers to ensure that no untoward incidents take place, enough police force is also stationed there," Parameshwara told reporters here.

About 55 people have been arrested in connection with the incident and they have been sent to judicial custody, according to police sources.

Responding to a question on opposition parties including JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy raising doubts about the FIR, he said, "The police will do what has to be done in accordance with law..."

Asked about BJP sending a fact finding team to Nagamangala, the Home Minister said, "Let them find the facts and inform us, and if there is any fact from their fact finding, we will look into it. It will make our work a bit easier." The BJP panel consisting of MLA C N Ashwath Narayan, former Minister Byrathi Basavaraj, former Minister K C Narayana Gowda, state secretary Lakshmi Ashwin Gowda, and former IPS officer Bhaskar Rao, will visit the spot and submit a comprehensive report to the party in a week.

According to police, an argument had broken out between two groups, when the Ganesh idol procession by devotees from Badri Koppalu village reached a place of worship on Wednesday, and some miscreants hurled stones, which escalated the situation.

In a shocking development, a doctor, who worked for the mobile medical services of the Isha Foundation in Coimbatore district, has been arrested by the Coimbatore District Police on charges of sexually assaulting many girl students of a government school during a medical camp. 

The incident came to light during a meeting between education officers and the students, held following orders from Chief Secretary N Muruganandam. The meeting was part of a larger investigation after four staff members of a government college in Valparai were recently arrested for sexually harassing students.

The arrested doctor, identified as 33-year-old S Saravanamoorthy, was a native of Tirupattur district and was part of a mobile medical units team, operated by the Isha Foundation of Jaggi Vasudev alias Sadhguru.

These units have reportedly been conducting free medical camps for school students and general public across Coimbatore under their ‘Action for Rural Rejuvenation’ programme. 

During the meeting with the education officers on Wednesday, September 4, around 12 girl students belonging to classes 6 to 10, raised complaints about how they were touched inappropriately by Saravanamoorthy during these camps.

Immediately after this, the school management reached out to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), who followed an inquiry with the students. Following this, the Perur All Women police were alerted.

The police officials visited the school and inquired with each of the survivors personally. After recording their statements, they registered a case against the doctor under Section 9(e) (whoever being on the management or staff of a hospital, whether government or private, commits sexual assault on a child in that hospital) read with 10 (punishment for aggravated sexual assault) of Pocso Act. The doctor was later arrested and has been remanded to judicial custody. 

The Isha Foundation, meanwhile, has put out a statement stating that they are fully cooperating with the investigation and that they have a zero tolerance policy for crimes against women and children. 

“It has been brought to our notice that a case has been registered against an employee who is a doctor with our outreach mobile medical services in the rural areas of Coimbatore. Isha holds a Zero Tolerance Policy for any crimes against women and children. We are cooperating with the ongoing police investigation and will take necessary actions by the legal,” read the statement.

Starting in the 2025-26 academic year, private universities in Karnataka offering professional courses will no longer conduct separate entrance exams. This decision follows a directive from the state’s Higher Education Department, prompting private universities to form an association and agree to this significant change.

In a recent meeting with Higher Education Minister Dr. M. C. Sudhakar, representatives from 17 private universities confirmed their decision to discontinue individual entrance tests. Of the 27 private universities in the state, 17 offer professional courses, and they have collectively agreed to accept scores from existing national or state-level entrance exams.

“Some universities will consider JEE scores, others will rely on KCET, and a few are inclined towards COMEDK,” Dr. Sudhakar stated, leaving the choice of examination to the universities themselves. However, the department has also suggested that the universities consider a unified entrance test for admissions.

Looking ahead, Dr. Sudhakar hinted that the government may introduce a common entrance test for general degree courses at private universities as well. "As government colleges and universities currently don’t require entrance exams for general degree courses, we haven’t made any decisions on this yet," he explained.

The meeting also addressed concerns over the high fees charged by private universities. To regulate this, the universities were instructed to establish fee fixation committees, headed by retired judges, as required by law. These committees will be responsible for determining tuition fees. Additionally, the government will continue to regulate fees for 40% of seats in professional courses that are filled through KCET.

In an effort to bring greater uniformity among private institutions, the government is considering enacting a common law for all private universities, which would replace the individual acts currently governing each university. This would place all private universities under a single regulatory framework.

This move is expected to streamline the admissions process and create a more standardized system for both professional and general degree programs across Karnataka's private universities.