5 saffron extremists including a Mangalurean are key suspects in Gauri Lankesh murder

Bengaluru, Mar 31: Venkara Raghava, a software engineer from Bengaluru, who was infected with the coronavirus has recovered and is currently "doing perfectly well".

"I am doing perfectly well now. I had travelled to Los Angeles via Heathrow airport and that is when I came in contact with many travellers. I might have picked up the infection there," Raghava told news agency.

It was in Los Angeles when he started getting a 'low-grade fever' which led him to prepone his flight to Bengaluru. "When I landed back in Bengaluru on March 8, I had a fever and I isolated myself. The same day I went to a hospital where my travel history was taken and I tested positive for COVID-19", he said.

The next day, he was admitted to the isolation centre. His entire family was also tested but the results came back negative.

When asked about what does suffering from COVID-19 feel like, he responded that it was a like a regular viral fever and was "nothing to be scared of". "The fever is very grinding, and since my childhood, I never had a fever. I had a fever for almost 15 days consistently 100 degrees (F)," he said.

About his experience at the isolation centre, he said that it was an experience unlike that of a hospital. "At the isolation centre, one has to take care of themselves, unlike a hospital where doctors and nurses take care of the patient. I had to put a wet cloth on myself and you cannot overdose yourself with Calpol or Paracetamol," he said.

For him, "The tough times are now over" and now he has fully recovered but in the process, he ended up losing about five kilograms. "After the fifteenth day when I woke up with no fever, they took a test for the nose and the throat and it came back negative," he recalled, and on March 22, he was set free.

For one week, he has been in self-quarantine at home "being completely watchful" that the symptoms do not reoccur.

The number of total coronavirus cases reached 1,251 on Monday. There are 1117 active cases in the country, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Dubai, Mar 3: Abu Dhabi-based Indian retail tycoon MA Yusuff Ali has become the first Indian to receive Saudi Arabia's premium residency, his office said in a statement on Monday.

Yusuff Ali, 64, is the chairman of the LuLu Group, who was ranked the richest expat in the UAE by the Forbes magazine last year.

The permit, informally known as Saudi Green Card, grants expatriates the right to live, work and own business and property in the Kingdom without need for a sponsor, the LULU group said in a statement.

The introduction of the Premium Residency comes as a part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 reform plan, which was announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to boost the Saudi economy, the statement said.

Yusuff Ali said "obviously a very proud and humbling moment in my life. This is a great honour not only for me but for the entire Indian expat community and I sincerely thank the HM the King Salman, HRH Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman and the government of Saudi Arabia."

"@Yusuffali_MA , an investor from India, after obtaining Premium Residency in Saudi Arabia: ''The Kingdom became an attractive investment destination due to the remarkable growth in economy," Premium Residency tweeted on Monday.

Yusuff Ali said he was sure that this new permanent residency initiative will further boost Saudi Arabia's image as one of the key investments and business hubs of the region as well as attract and retain new investors.

This initiative is targeting key investors and prominent personalities from various fields, including sports, arts & culture, who have played a defining role in the nation building process.

The Lulu Group owns and operates more than 35 hypermarkets and supermarkets in Saudi Arabia, which includes ARAMCO Commissaries and National Guards super stores.

Bengaluru, Mar 14: Bus-stands and railway stations in this IT city wore a deserted look on Saturday and malls, cinemas, pubs and night clubs remained shut as part of the lockdown announced by the state government following the country's first coronavirus fatality reported from Karnataka on March 12.

Six people in Karnataka have contracted the virus including the 76-year-old man who died due to this disease from Kalaburagi in the state.

A day after chief minister B S Yediyurappa announced the shutdown for a week, the usual rush at the Central bus-stand was missing.

"Since yesterday there is slackness. Today again we are witnessing the same," a Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation official told PTI.

The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, which runs inter-city and inter-state buses, too has seen a decline in its revenue.

"For the past five to six days we are seeing a drop of Rs 32 lakh to Rs 35 lakh in our daily revenue of Rs eight crore," Bengaluru divisional controller B T Prabhakar Reddy said.

On March 13, Yediyurappa issued instructions to stop all kinds of exhibitions, summer camps, conferences, fairs, marriage, sports and engagement events and birthday parties state-wide for a week from Saturday.

Business at pubs and aars have taken a hit due to the virus threat.

"Our businesses have suffered somewhere between 40 per cent and 70 per cent.

It is very difficult to cope with the situation," said Manu Chandra, Bengaluru chapter head of National Restaurant Association of India.

In Chitradurga district, the annual Rathayatra was cancelled whereas in Bengaluru, a temple displayed a board that it will not distribute any 'teertha' (holy water) or 'prasad' (offering) to devotees in view of the coronavirus scare.