Murdered neo-convert Anil Faisal’s 13 family members embrace Islam

Bengaluru, May 6: More than a month after international flights have been barred, Karnataka government is preparing to quarantine all 10,823 of the state''s people poised to return home from overseas amid the Covid pandemic, an official said on Tuesday.

"The state has planned to quarantine all 10,823 passengers coming back to Karnataka. The quarantine guidelines framed as below would be applicable," said Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey in a statement.

According to the Government of India, 10,823 Karnataka residents have been stranded abroad by April 30, comprising 4,408 tourists, 3,074 students, 2,784 migrants and professionals and 557 ship crew.

Out of the 10,823 people, the state government is expecting 6,100 to return early as the government has decided to allow Indians stuck abroad to return.

"All the passengers arriving at points of entry (airports and seaports) will be compulsorily screened for symptoms of Covid-19," said Pandey.

Point of entry screening will include self-reporting form verification, thermal screening, pulse oximeter reading, briefing with instructions, categorisation, stamping for some and downloading of Aarogya Setu, Quarantine Watch and Apthamitra apps.

Arriving passengers are also required to declare existing comorbidities such hypertension, diabetes, asthma or any lung disease, organ transplantations, cancer, tuberculosis and other ailments.

Passengers will be categorised into three groups: Category A (symptomatic on arrival), Category B (asymptomatic with co-morbidity or aged above 60 years) and Category C (rest of asymptomatic passengers).

Depending on the category into which the people fall, their quarantine place and time will be determined.

Category A arrivals will be subjected to institutional quarantine for a fortnight, Category B one week quarantine at a hotel or hostel, followed by another week at home, and Category C home quarantine for a fortnight.

Karnataka government is making elaborate arrangements and logistical means, deploying healthcare, police and several other departments into action to handle the huge influx of Kannadigas and state residents.

Pandey has issued a 21-page elaborate standard operating procedure (SOP) guidelines on how to face the international returnees.

Bengaluru, Jun 18: Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah has accused the BJP-led government of not passing the benefit of the low price of crude to the common man and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to bring down prices of petroleum products.

Hitting out at the BJP-led government, he termed it as "opportunistic" and said the price of petroleum products were being increased when people were facing difficulties due to COVID-19.

"It is very disheartening to witness and unprecedented opportunistic government which is trying to extract every pound and flesh from the common man, that too when the whole country is suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is in the backdrop of the continuous price hike in the last 10 days," said the letter was written on Wednesday.

The Congress leader said that the policy decisions taken by the government "with respect to managing fuel sources are inconsistent with the prudent measures generally adopted".

"When the price of crude oil was remarkably low in March, April and May 2020, your government was very reluctant to pass on the benefits to the people by reducing the fuel prices proportionately, but, instead, your government continued to capitalise by increasing the excise duty," he said.

He said the government had also "failed" in the last six years to increase the oil storage capacity which could have been used for the country's advantage when the international crude oil price fell really low.

He said the government should roll back the excise duty and help in the reduction of fuel prices.

"The reduced burden will help the common man to have additional money in hand that will be spent on essential goods and services which will ultimately help them tide over these difficult times," he said.

Bengaluru, Jun 8: Amid the relaxations in the coronavirus-induced lockdown, wedding planners are adapting to changing times and advancing themselves to provide best possible services to their clients.

Wedding planners come up with new trends. While women are matching their masks to their outfits, men who use turban for a wedding are wearing matching masks with the turbans. People are getting creative at the same time maintaining safety protocols. The live streaming of weddings for those who could not attend the wedding is also becoming a new normal.

Manisha Porwal Chouraria, a wedding planner at Color Palette Productions speaking to news agency said that Post COVID-19, weddings are performed as per the old cultures.

"Wedding Industry has impacted due to lockdown in the wake of COVID-19. Now, the concept of micro-wedding is trending in which you have guests who are close to you. Now, the old culture is back again as people who use to hold a wedding at lavish destinations are getting married in their lawns, farmhouses, terraces. Earlier, people used to get married in their 'Aangan' (Courtyard), people seem to be doing the same now. It is more personalised and expenses have come down, now. People are spending small amounts on decoration," said Chouraria.

"Following government guidelines, we are allowing 50 people at the wedding and not more than that. We are doing live streaming telecast and people can watch the wedding. We are also shipping gift boxes with a letter to 500 people who could not become part of the wedding. In the letter, we are writing that because of norms, you may not be invited but we want something to gift you on our wedding. People are planning to get married now and decide to throw a grand reception after 6 months in the hope that things will get better," she added.

Commenting upon how wedding planners are ensuring social distancing and how the fashion style changed due to pandemic, Chouraria said: "People are using matching masks. If women are wearing silk sarees, they are also wearing silk masks. Men are wearing matching masks with saafa (turban). The entire staff is asked to wear PPE kits. We are giving the guests a healthy kit comprising up of masks, sanitisers, gloves and tissues. We are doing thermal screening of the guests. We are also gifting cuddle curtains, a plastic transparent shield by using which you can touch feet of elders without physically touching them."

Mansi Porwal, Creative Head at Color Palette Productions said that it is becoming a challenging task for creative heads to plan wedding but still they are providing their best to the clients.

"Earlier people used to do theme wedding, big Indian Fat weddings. Now people are wedding with a small gathering. Now, family members are getting time to suggest the wedding planners about themes and the thing they want in their weddings. We are providing the best," she said.

"We have come up with a new theme, 'Har Din Subh hai' which means every day is auspicious. Post COVID-19 people are looking for available dates for the wedding. Now, every day becomes auspicious. This is going to be the new trend," she added.

Another wedding planner, Abhilash of Taarini Weddings said that their company is providing customised masks to guests.

"Earlier we have lots of weddings to cover across the globe. But now, we have less numbers of weddings. Budgets are reduced now. We are happy to start again. We are creating e-invites in which we are sending the guidelines to the guests. We also have a help desk to assist the clients and guests. We are providing the matching masks to the groom and we are also giving customized masks to guests too," he said.

Earlier, Karnataka's Department of Health and Family Welfare Services had issued an advisory for marriages, stating that not more than 50 guests shall be allowed and the consumption of liquor on the occasion will be prohibited.

As per the advisory, anyone found having fever, cold, cough, difficulty in breathing shall not be permitted to attend the event and immediately referred to seek medical advice.

"All persons shall wear face mask compulsorily. All persons shall maintain a physical distance of more than one metre. Hand wash with soap and water shall be provided in washrooms," adds the advisory.