From the Newsroom: Karnataka Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi resigns over sex scandal

In your evening news brief, Karnataka Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi resigns following the controversy over the alleged 'sex for job' scandal; government lifts the time restriction on receiving Covid-19 vaccine jabs; high-level committee to conduct a probe into an incident of harassment of girls at a hostel in Maharashtra and Pope Francis calls for release of political prisoners.

Here is the top news of March 3, 2021:

Ramesh Jarkiholi tendered his resignation as Water Resources Minister on Wednesday, following the controversy over the alleged 'sex for job' scandal.

His resignation came hours after a video was leaked to TV channels of the minister getting intimate with a woman. Social activist Dinesh Kallahalli had filed a complaint at Cubbon Park police station on Tuesday evening, alleging that Ramesh Jarkiholi had threatened the woman, whom he had lured assuring a job in Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited.

Ramesh had initially refused to step down. His brother and BJP MLA Balachandra Jarkiholi had met Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Wednesday morning demanding a CBI or CID probe into the leak.

However, the Chief Minister asked him to resign from the post to prevent further embarrassment to the government ahead of the upcoming Budget Session.

The government has lifted the time restriction on receiving Covid-19 vaccine jabs so as to increase the pace of immunisation, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Wednesday.

People can now get vaccinated round-the-clock according to their convenience, he said in a tweet, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi values the health as well as the time of the citizens of the country.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan told a press conference on Tuesday that the timeline of vaccinating the beneficiaries from 9 am to 5 pm has been done away with and it is up to the hospitals to decide whether they want to continue administering the vaccines even after that.

The Maharashtra government has formed a four-member high-level committee to conduct a probe into an incident where girls were allegedly stripped and forced to dance by policemen at a hostel in Jalgaon Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said on Wednesday.

The minister made the announcement in the state Assembly after the issue was raised by opposition members.

Pope Francis said on Wednesday the hopes of the people of Myanmar cannot be "suffocated by violence" and again called for the release of political prisoners.

At least 30 people have been killed since a coup on February 1. The pope visited Myanmar in 2017.

Francis, speaking at the end of his general audience, appealed directly to Myanmar's military authorities "so that dialogue prevails over repression and harmony over discord".