Meenakshi Shantigodu elected Dakshina Kannada ZP chief, Kasturi Panja deputy

Bengaluru, Apr 13: Eminent scientist and NITI Aayog member V K Saraswat said on Monday the number of COVID- 19 cases is not going to go beyond what's being reported daily in India as he maintained that the country is in the process of flattening the curve.

The former Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister said the coronavirus positive cases have seen a sharper rise in the last four-five days because of increase in the number of testing.

"It's a good sign; all those asymptomatic cases lying hidden they are also coming out," Saraswat told PTI. "We certainly had a catalytic factor which was basically this (Nizamuddin) Markaz problem which has actually created clusters at different places and that has also been one of the factors for the kind of rise that has taken place."

But he said India is in a much better shape compared to other nations in the battle against COVID-19. "I can only say that the rate is not going to go beyond what has been going on now, may be 700 to 800 cases per day. So, we are in the process of flattening the curve."

The government's decision to declare nation-wide lockdown has paid dividends, Saraswat, a former chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, said.

Noting that India has seen a series of virus attacks in the last 15-20 years including Chikungunya and Dengue, he said the emphasis now should be on more and more R & D to find vaccines in advance.

Kalaburagi, Mar 7: Congress and JDS MLAs are eagerly waiting to join BJP, said former minister and chairman of Nijasharana Ambigara Choudaiah Abhivradhi Nigama, Baburao Chinchansur, here on Friday.

Speaking at a press conference here, Baburao said if the BJP top brass gives a green signal to include MLAs of other parties, both Congress and JDS would be almost empty. Many leaders, including D K Shivakumar and G Parameshwara, won’t support Siddaramaiah and the former CM will have to find his own way in the coming days, he predicted. He said Congress will not be coming to power in Karnataka for the next 20 years, he said.

Chinchansur thanked Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa for providing Rs 50 crore for Nijasharana Ambigara Choudaiah Abhivrudhi Nigama in the budget. He also said that a delegation will be taken to New Delhi under the leadership of the CM, after the budget session, to pressure the Union government to include Koli community in ST category.

Mangaluru, May 15: In a shocking development, five residents of Udupi district, who recently came from United Arab Emirates today tested positive for covid-19.

As many as 49 passengers among over 175 repatriates who were brought from Dubai to Mangaluru International Airport on May 12 were from Udupi district.

Hence they were quarantined in Udupi district and their throat swabs were sent for testing on the same day. Today, five of them obtained positive report. They were today shifted to TMA Pai covid-hospital from their hotel rooms.