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Bengaluru, May 3: Erection of barricades and drawing up of boxes or circles aimed at maintaining social distancing were seen in front of liquor shops in different parts of Karnataka on Sunday, a day ahead of their reopening after a gap of over 40-days, due to the lockdown.

Karnataka Excise Commissioner on Saturday had ordered that only CL-2 (retail shops) and CL-11C (state-run retail shops like Mysore Sales International Limited) would open from May 4.

It had permitted liquor sale liquor between 9 am and 7 pm only in areas that are outside COVID-19 containment zones.

Reports of barricades being erected to ensure that people stand in line and drawing of boxes or circles in front of shops to maintain social distancing in front of retail and MSIL shops have emerged from across the state, including the state capital.

Also reports about shop keepers doing special poojas outside liquor shops in Kolar and some even illuminating their outlets with lights from outside have surfaced from other parts of the state.

Meanwhile, officials were engaged in checking stocks ahead of the shops opening on Monday morning.

"We are making all preparations to ensure that government rules are followed. We also seek the cooperation of the people and police," the manager of a shop said.

Another said there may be a rush initially, after which things may get back to normal.

"We expect things to go on smoothly," he added.

Calling for number of customers to be limited to five at a time while ensuring that they maintain social distancing of not less than six feet distance, the order states that customers and the staff will have to wear masks and sanitizers should be used at the shops.

Only stand alone CL-2 and CL-11C shops are allowed to commence liquor sale and not those at malls and super markets, it said.

Officials in Bengaluru said liquor sale is prohibited in 26 containment zones in the city, while in other places rules that have been prescribed need to be followed.

In case of any violation, strict action would be taken, including imposing of penalty, they said.

There was pressure on the government to kick start economic activities, including allowing sale of liquor, to boost the state's finances as excise is the key area which generates revenue.

State Excise Minister H Nagesh had recently pegged the losses at Rs 60 crore per day because of closure of liquor shops, due to the lockdown.

Mangaluru, May 5: The Dakshina Kannada district administration has denotified two containment zones, Sampya in Puttur and Thumbe in Bantwal. They were declared containment zones after one coronavirus positive case was reported from each area.

All the primary and secondary contacts of the patients have completed home quarantine period, said DC Sindhu B Rupesh.

The district administration hitherto had already denotified three other such containment zones based on a report of DHO,  after no new case was reported in the area in the last 28 days.

At present, the district has six containment zones-- Shakthinagara, Boloor, First Neuro Hospital in Mangaluru city, Uppinangady in Puttur, Kasaba and Narikombu in Bantwal taluk.

Udupi, Jan 17: In a unique philanthropic initiative, two US based NRI children have established the first unit of Keithan & Keisha Skill Development Centre at SVS English Medium School, Katapady in Udupi district.

The centre was inaugurated by Dr. Ranjan B. Kini, Professor of Management - Information Systems of Indiana University Northwest (UCN), USA on Saturday, January 11, 2020.

The centre will provide exposure to rural high school students in technical skills in emerging technological domains, soft skills and life skills through online training and video conferencing during weekend seminars. The centre is established by Keithan and Keisha with the help of their parents. They are the children of Katapady Krishna Mohan Pai, CEO of Invenger Technologies Inc., USA. One 55 inch LCD TV, two computers and one laptop were donated as part of the initiation package.

Dr. Srikanth Prabhu, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, MIT, Manipal will be anchoring the training sessions which will cover emerging fields like Robotics, its impact and the opportunities in the future. The training will include international online programmes and video conferencing.

“In today’s competitive world, students need technical knowledge to keep pace with the changing scenarios. Along with technical exposure, they should also be equipped with soft skills, communication skills and organizing abilities,” said Dr. Ranjan B. Kini after inaugurating the first unit at SVS English Medium School, Katapady.

Dr. Srikanth Prabhu informed the gathering about the idea behind the project, explained its features and programmes. “If good awareness is given to students at a young age regarding latest developments in technical fields and if they are trained in soft skills and other complementary skills, they will be able to face the future with confidence and attain the heights of success even if beginning from zero,” he said.

Presiding over the function K. Sathyendra Pai, Director of Invenger Technologies said, “This is the first centre to be set up under our initiative to train rural children in add-on skills and help them to gain parity with better educated students.”  More such centres will be set up in other schools soon, he added.

Katapady Krishna Mohan Pai, CEO of Invenger Technologies Inc., Amith Nayak of Archana Developers, Umesh Rao, President of Rotary Club Katapady, Savitha Manjunath, PWD Officer of Udupi, technical experts Nidhi Manjunath and Mitesh Singh were the guests of honour. Directors of the company B. C. Pai, Srinivas Vasudev Kini and Venkatramana Bhat were present.

School Headmaster Devendra Nayak welcomed the gathering. Megha gave a vote of thanks. School teachers Uma and Chaitra along with other teachers coordinated the event. Student leaders Dhanush and Jessel Vinola Quadros compered the programme.