Here are the big stories from Karnataka today

Karnataka Today newsletter: Is the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway safe?, and more

The new Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway has witnessed 308 fatal and non-fatal accidents, resulting in 100 deaths and leaving over 300 people injured, since its inauguration on March 12, 2023. But the increase in the number of accidents on the 118-km-long stretch has forced the authorities to bring in several restrictions and safety measures.

The recent one is the ban on slow-moving vehicles on the expressway from August 1. What do motorists feel about this? What are the main causes of these accidents? Will the measures taken by the authorities make driving safer on this route? Watch the video to know more.

The Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) has decided to conduct Class 10 final exams at select centres under drone surveillance to avoid malpractices. During the 2022-23 SSLC exams, the department suspended around 60 invigilators and debarred many students for indulging in malpractices.

Karnataka has 3,305 centres for the 2023-24 exams — cluster, non-cluster and private centres. Officials say most cases of malpractice are reported from non-cluster centres — which accommodate students from three to four schools. Most of these centres are also located in the north Karnataka region, and in remote areas.

One more person has died, allegedly due to consumption of contaminated water, in Kavadigara Hatti in Chitradurga district on August 4. With this death, the toll in the village has gone up to four. Since August 1, four persons have died in the village, and nearly 140 persons are under treatment at various hospitals in Chitradurga district.

The biological analysis of water samples collected from the locality indicated that the water supplied to the village was unfit for consumption. However, chemical analysis of the samples did not reveal any trace of poison.

Sachin (26), a resident of Harohalli near Kanakapura and a notorious ‘pig bomb’ maker, was injured when a crude bomb accidentally exploded in his hand at his home on the outskirts of Bengaluru on August 3. Undergoing treatment in the ICU of a private hospital in Bengaluru, he was booked under the Arms Act, 1959, and arrested.