Vatal to form Karnataka Praja Samyukta Ranga, to field candidates in Assembly polls

Bengaluru, May 27: A 69-year-old woman from Yadgiri became the 45th COVID-19 related fatality in Karnataka, where 122 fresh cases have been reported, taking the total number of infections in the state to 2,405, the health department said on Wednesday.

With 45 deaths and 762 discharges, there are 1,596 active coronavirus cases in the state, the department said in its mid-day bulletin. It said, the deceased woman, a returnee from Maharashtra was brought dead to designated hospital in Yadgiri on May 20 and tested positive for COVID-19.

Fourteen patients have been discharged in the state so far on Wednesday. Of the 122 new cases, 108 are returnees from neighboring Maharashtra, three from Tamil Nadu, and one each from Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Delhi. While two are returnees from foreign countries- one each from UAE and Nepal.

Remaining four cases are contact of patients earlier tested positive.

Among the districts where new cases were reported, Kalaburagi accounted for 28, Yadgiri 16, Hassan 15, Bidar 13, Dakshina Kannada 11, Udupi 9, Bengaluru Urban 6, five each from Uttara Kannada and Raichur, Belagavi 4, Chikkamagaluru 3, two each from Bengaluru Rural and Vijayapura, and one each from Ballari, Mandya and Tumakuru.

Bengaluru, Apr 5: The COVID-19 related lockdown has substantially improved the air quality of Bengaluru, taking it from satisfactory level to good, a senior state pollution control board offcial said here on Sunday.

"During the course of the lockdown 19 problem, we reached good position from satisfactory.

It is between zero to 50 AQI (Air Quality Index) now. We have good quality air," the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board member secretary Basavaraj Patil told PTI.

He said the indicator for knowing the air quality in

"If the AQI is zero to 50 then it is good. If it is 50 to 100 then it is satisfactory. 101 to 150 is moderate and if it is 151 to 200, then it is poor, he explained.

Patil said as per available recrods, there has been a 60 to 65 per cent reduction in pollution during the lockdown.

The city railway station and Peenya industrial area, which used to be among the areas with highest AQI, has seen pollution levels come down significantly, he said.

Another major contributor of pollution was construction activities, which too had ground to a halt due to the lockdown, resulting in zero dust emission.

Patil opined that the improved air quality would boost the immune system of the people.

"It will improve the immune system of people, including those who have breathing problems like asthma," he said.

He asked the public to learn lessons from the lockdown and later switch to sustainable means of transport such as public transport, walking and cycling,.

"We can still reduce the pollution load even after the lockdown is over," Patil said.

Mangaluru, Jan 17: An auto-mobile shop at Deralakatte here caught fire on Friday incurring huge loss on the shopkeeper.

According to police, the incident happened in the morning when the shop owner opened the shop.

Locals suspect that miscreants might have set the shop on fire and had escaped from the scene at night.