50-year-old man dies in Bantwal polling booth after casting his vote

Bengaluru, May 24: In an effort to protect passengers and staff from the risk of COVID-19 transmission, the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has introduced a parking-to-boarding contactless journey at the airport.

With a greater emphasis on minimum touch and minimum exposure between passengers and airport personnel, BIAL aims to minimise all physical contact at the airport. The technology will continue to enable a seamless airport journey, with greater emphasis on health and safety.

"As the gateway to a new India, BLR Airport has a key role to play in helping passengers through this global health crisis by reassuring them that their safety is our top priority. We have introduced innovative contactless procedures to minimise exposure at the airport," said Hari Marar, MD and CEO, BIAL.

"These enhancements demonstrate our continued commitment to keep our passengers safe in this environment. We believe our new measures will boost confidence among passengers," continued Marar.

"BLR Airport is all geared up to welcome our passengers back and - working with various government departments - we're committed to offering them a safe experience by implementing the best-in-class standards, procedures and practices," Marar added.

Earlier, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that domestic flight operations will resume from May 25 noting that all airlines and airports were ready but it is not viable to keep the middle seat vacant as it will lead to hike in the ticket price and prescribed social distancing norms would still not be met. 

Kannur, Jan 23: A member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has been arrested for attempting to create unrest in Kerala by hurling crude bombs at RSS office and police picket. The miscreants had reportedly planned to pass the blame on others.

The bomb attack took place of January 16 in Kerala’s Kannur. The accused Prabesh, an RSS hardliner, was arrested from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.

According to the Kerala police Prabesh hurled steel bombs towards the police picket in front of Kathirur Manoj Smrithi Kendram, an RSS office.

"He threw bombs during the wee hours of January 16 morning. Following the arrest he has confessed that his aim was RSS office. Kannur, being politically sensitive region, any attack on political party offices will be regarded as an act by the opponent," Kathirur SI Nijeesh said.

"We had a police picket in the region for a few months now. We are assuming he wanted to create unrest in the area by removing the police from the spot. We could contain the situation because of the CCTV visuals. He was identified immediately after the incident. Following the attack he went to Coimbatore and was hiding there. Our team nabbed him from Coimbatore," he said.

The police have also said that the accused Prabesh had many criminal cases pending against him including those under Explosive Substances Act, 1883. He was nabbed by a team lead by Kathirur SI Nijeesh, CPO Rohith and Vijeesh.

The RSS office in the region is named after Kathirur Manoj a senior karyakarta (worker) who was allegedly killed by the CPI(M) activists in 2014. Kathirur Manoj was the prime accused in the attempt to murder of senior CPI(M) leader P Jayarajan in 1999.

Bengaluru, Jun 10: The Karnataka government on Wednesday said coronavirus tests conducted in the state has crossed the four lakh mark, while the recovery rate remained at 44 per cent.

Sharing the daily COVID-19 bulletin on his Twitter handle, Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said till Tuesday 4,00,257 samples were tested in 71 COVID-19 testing labs across the state.

"Karnataka crossed 4 lakh tests mark on Tuesday. So far, we tested 4,00,257 samples in 71 #COVID19 testing labs across the state with a positivity rate of 1.4 per cent," he said.

He tweeted that the state's recovery rate remained healthy at 44 per cent with 2,605 discharges and 5,921 cumulative cases.

The minister said Karnataka was home to nearly a tenth of the total testing labs in India.

According to the Karnataka Health department, out of the four lakh odd samples tested, 3,87,027 samples were reported negative.

The total active cases in the state as on Tuesday evening were 3,248 whereas 66 people lost their lives to coronavirus so far.

Major contributors to the spike in COVID-19 cases in Karnataka are those who returned from Maharashtra recently.