Shocking: No passport for PM's wife, as she has no marriage certificate

Mangaluru, Jan 19: ‘Ride For Rotary’ convoy of motor vehicles was flagged off from Hotel Ocean Pearl Inn at Bejai-Kapikad, Mangaluru on Sunday, 19th January, 2020 at 9.00 a.m. Rotary district governor Joseph Mathew flagged off the event along with Assistant Governors Sumith S. Rao, Geethanand Pai and Ritesh Baliga. The riders headed for Puttur after topping up their fuel tanks at Lady Hill Petrol Pump.

2019-20 Ride For Rotary includes 28 motorbikes and 5 cars. 38 Rotarians from 14 countries are participating, in this, the fourth edition of the event. They will traverse through Madikeri, Mysore, Wayanad, Ooty, Coimbatore, Munnar, Thekkady and Allepey before terminating at Kochi on 29th of January, 2020. The participating nationalities are India, Norway, Sweden, Canada, France, Germany, USA, UK, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Poland and Belgium. They belong to ages 21 to 78, with 78-year old Otto Rieve from Canada being the senior most enthusiast. Swiss national of Indian origin Raj Patholi and Mangalorean Abraham Zacharias are among the riders. 

Mangalore was chosen as the starting point for the convoy route this year which will cover Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. On the eve of the event, the organizers hosted a gala dinner for the riders at Citi Beech, Bolar. The riders were given a glimpse of the traditional dance forms and were treated to some wonderful songs in Tulu and Kannada along with local coastal cuisine.

They were also given a glimpse of the major service projects undertaken in our district by Rotary, such as the Rotary Blood Bank on Wheels, the Physiotherapy Clinic at Wenlock Hospital, the Schools adopted by Rotary and the Ashrams and Villages that are being served by Rotary. The idea behind this is to see that riders carry these memories and think of helping Rotarians in India through their matching contributions for future service projects.

‘Ride For Rotary’

Ride for Rotary is a charity event conceived by Rotary District 3181 which comprises of the revenue districts of Mysore, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada and Chamarajanagar covering 85 Rotary Clubs in 9 zones. Rotarians from across the world will come together for twelve exhilarating days. They will traverse through the meticulously arranged routes, enjoy the natural beauty of the places and experience the varied cultures and cuisines of the region. Ride for Rotary connects people and places like no other - Rotary Connects the World.

The proceeds from the event go to The Rotary Foundation, a charitable organisation that works tirelessly for the upliftment of the society.

Bengaluru, Apr 4: As calamity struck the nation in the form of coronavirus, many philanthropists have generously opened their wallets to sustain the urban poor, especially the migrant labourers in the city and elsewhere in Karnataka.

These individuals either directly or through organisations opened up their kitchens to ensure that no one goes to bed hungry in this distressing time.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, the nodal agency to feed urban poor, responded positively to requests by these organisations and individuals to supply food to the needy on their behalf.

"We had been serving food through our Indira canteens, which we continue to do even now. However, many philanthropists and corporates have come forward to feed the needy," the BBMP joint commissioner Sarfaraz Khan told reporters.

According to BBMP, Indira canteens used to provide two lakh meals a day on normal occasions.

However, since the lockdown has been clamped, the number swelled by almost 50 per cent.

"On Thursday alone, we served 2.85 lakh food, which comprises breakfast, lunch and breakfast," a Palike officer said.

The major aid came from Jain International Trade Organisation (JITO) and Azim Premji Foundation.

While JITO is feeding around 22,000 people, Azim Premji Foundation is taking care of 20,000 people.

Sajjanraj Mehta, an office bearer of JITO, told reporters that his organisation has been providing packaged cooked food since March 27.

"We got in touch with Bengaluru Mayor M Gautham Kumar, Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao and the BBMP commissioner B H Anil Kumar. According to their list, 27,000 food packets were required daily," Mehta told.

The JITO members have arranged vehicles of their respective businesses to transport food packets to different locations as part of the campaign named as 'COVID-19 manav seva'.

The organisation has also decided to utilise the kitchen of Princess Golf, a marriage hall on Palace Grounds here to prepare food.

Palike officials said on Thursday alone JITO supplied 53,000 meals.

"We asked them to cover migrant labourers in those areas where Indira Canteen could not reach. We mapped the cluster and provided them info. Now, they are distributing it there," they said.

Another organisation engaged in charitable work is ISKCON Bengaluru.

Ever since the lockdown, it has been working in various parts of India providing food to various people.

"We are providing materials such as rice, wheat flour, Daal, oil, vegetables with long shelf life, salt, sugar and spices. Each packet can sustain for at least 21 days," Madhu Pandit Dasa, president of ISKCON Bengaluru.

The organisation has set a target to cover at least two lakh people but so far it has reached out to 30,000 people including 25,000 in Bengaluru alone.

"We are feeding about 50,000 people in Delhi, with the Telangana government we are feeding about 40,000 people in Hyderabad, about 10,000 people in Ahmedabad in association with the Gujarat government," Dasa told.

According to BBMP, other organisations providing food to the needy are KMFY, TVS Group, Vimal Bhandari, Radisson Blue Atria Hotel, Hitech Ecowood, Mohammed Shajid, Prestige Group.

Wipro Ltd also pitched in to feed the poor by opening up its industrial kitchen infrastructure.

In a statement, Global Head- Operations of the company Hariprasad Hegde said the humanitarian crisis we are faced with as part of the Covid-19 crisis has multiple dimensions to it, of which the need to deliver cooked meals to the stranded migrant workers and other vulnerable communities is probably the most critical and immediate one.

Recognising this, Wipro has decided to use the industrial kitchen infrastructure in our facilities to provide cooked meals, he said.

This kicked off on April 2 with the delivery of 43,000 meals from our Bangalore facility in Kodathi to the government.

"We have made use of our own procurement logistics to source the food provisions. This is a collaborative process, with the government taking responsibility for the logistics of last mile delivery to the communities that need it the most,” he said.

In the case of Bangalore, the Karnataka government has come forward to provide this kind of complementary delivery support. We are reaching out to other state governments and local administrations for similar efforts." he said.

Bengaluru, Jul 6: Karnataka government has revised quarantine norms according to which those entering the State from other states, including from Maharashtra, shall be placed in 14-days home quarantine.

Until now, the state government had issued that those returning from Maharashtra are to be placed under 7-day institutional quarantine followed by 7-day home quarantine.

A fresh state government order with the subject line "Regulation of movement of persons from other States to Karnataka" reads: "Whereas the State Government vide Order dated June 30, issued unlock 2 guidelines which permit reopening of more activities in a calibrated manner, in areas outside the Containment Zones, and to extend lockdown in Containment Zone upto July 31. The guidelines also permit unrestricted interstate movement of persons and goods adhering to the SOPs/ Guidelines issued by the Department of Health and Family Welfare and Department of Revenue (Disaster Management)".

Whereas, the Department of Health and Family Welfare issued revised SOP for the moment of persons from other State to Karnataka vide document dated June 8, this year, further, quarantine norms were modified vide Orders of even number dated June 15 and June 26.

"The quarantine norms are regularly reviewed and calibrated with the prevailing Unlock 2 guidelines and infusion of technology and community involvement to enforce the strict home quarantine. In light of the above, the quarantine norms issued vide Order dated June 26, has been further modified and is follows--Persons coming from other State to Karnataka, including Maharashtra shall be placed in 14-days Home Quarantine," the order read.

"The other conditions as specified in the Order dated June 15 and aforementioned SOP enclosed issued on June 8 by the Department of Health and Family Welfare shall continue to be in force until further orders," it added.