Jarkiholi will quit Congress, he has sympathy towards Opposition: Poojary

Bengaluru,  Jun 19: Following the coronavirus outbreak, Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport has introduced ultraviolet treatment while scanning outbound baggage apart from other measures to enhance passenger and staff safety.

"Two custom-designed UV tunnels have been created to disinfect trolleys after every use. Two custom-designed UV tunnels have been created to disinfect trolleys after every use. These Tunnels are located at a cordoned-off area of the Terminal," according to a statement by the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL).

The airport plans to use an ultra-low volume (ULV) spray treatment for check-in bags: all outbound passenger baggage is sanitised before dispatch to the aircraft

Authorities also plan to minimise use of additional trays for footwear by introducing specially designed trays; the trays that are in use are UV treated and sanitised manually after every use.

Officials are currently in the process of implementing silver nano-coating for frequently used touchpoints for self disinfection like check-in counters, Immigration counters, ATRS trays, etc. Currently, sanitisation of high-traffic areas and frequently touched surfaces continues to be done every thirty minutes manually without disrupting the flow of passengers.

All high-traffic areas are sanitised once every three hours by using ULV machines - eight times in 24 hours.

Washrooms across the Airport premises are sanitised on a regular basis with dedicated manpower, irrespective of the frequency of use. 456 units of tabletop hand sanitiser and 107 units of sensor-based hand sanitisers have been placed across the Terminal.

120 biowaste bins located across the Airport campus enable passengers and staff to dispose of their masks, gloves and other PPE conveniently and safely. This bio-waste is managed by a dedicated team and handed over to a Pollution Control Board-approved vendor and taken away for incineration.

The Airport said that the passenger feedback for the contactless process has been positive. "The objective of the process is to minimise physical contact and enhance passenger throughput," it said.

These sanitisation measures come in light of the highly infectious COVID-19 pandemic which spreads through person-to-person contact. Small droplets from the nose or mouth can spread the virus when they land on objects and surfaces around the person.

Bengaluru, Jan 20: The suspense over chief minister BS Yediyurappa expanding his council of ministers is set to continue until after he returns from his trip to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

Yediyurappa, who heads a 10-member delegation to the Swiss ski resort, left on Sunday. Prior to his departure, he told reporters cabinet expansion will happen only after his return on January 24. “I discussed the issue with [BJP] national president Amit Shah for 30 minutes or so. He has given a positive response and I will expand the cabinet within two days after my return,” Yediyurappa said.

But sources said Shah, during his visit to Hubballi on Saturday, had indicated the exercise is likely to be delayed further as the central leadership will be busy with the assembly elections in Delhi. “Indications are there is no possibility of expanding the cabinet until February 11 when the electoral process for the Delhi elections ends,” said a source.

The development has obviously left ministerial aspirants, especially defectors from Congress and JD(S) who were re-elected on BJP tickets last month, restive. Moreover, while Yediyurappa has promised ministerial berths to all MLAs who switched to the BJP from Congress and JD(S), sources say Shah is only in favour of inducting six defectors (11 of whom won MLA seats on saffron party tickets in the byelections) into the cabinet.

“Shah’s advice to Yediyurappa is to strike a balance between defectors and loyalists. His concern is loyalists should not be left disappointed, while justice should be served to the defectors as well,” said a BJP functionary.

Meanwhile, KS Eshwarappa, senior party functionary and minister for rural development, said the BJP would never let down the defectors. “The party is indebted to them and I am sure they will all be rewarded,” he said.

BC Patil, one of the defectors, said some of them had met Shah in one-on-one meetings in Hubballi. “It was more a courtesy call and the issue of cabinet expansion didn’t come up during the meeting,” he said.

Bengaluru, May 7: Fear and anxiety gripped migrant workers who lined up at police stations in the city on Wednesday to register for train services without knowing that the state government had cancelled the train facility.

Senior officials in South Western Railway said they were ready to run special trains for migrant workers. On Tuesday evening, the state government decided to withdraw the requests made for 13 such trains to north India after realtors said they need the labourers here.

Migrants continued to stream into the railway station at Majestic, Bangalore International Exhibition Centre and even the bus station hoping for some travel arrangement. Many who were aware of the government web portal, stood in front of the BBMP ward office or police stations for enrolment.

In Varthur, over 100 migrants stood in front of the police station and sought to know what happened to the forms they had submitted four days ago. "We first went to the BBMP office and were shooed away by an official who directed us to go to the police station. We want to go home and demanded that the police help us. There was no response first. Then they came out and beat us," said Pintu Kumar from Mohanpur of Bhagalpur district in Bihar.

Though a video clip accidentally shot by Kumar showed two police personnel charging the cane at them, a police officer from the Varthur station, however, disputed the claim. "The video doesn’t show the cane landing on any person. We were beating the seat and tyre of two-wheelers to send the migrants away," he said.

At Mahadevapura, the workers came in groups and submitted the forms at the police station.

At the railway station in Majestic, a group of labourers from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand had walked from several areas in south Bengaluru only to be told that there is no train. Mahendra, a labourer from Jharkhand, said they received 5 kg rice and nothing else in the last 45 days. "Now, I don’t want food. I don’t want the job or money. I can't get stuck here. I want to go home,” he said.

'Restore dignity'

Activists and leaders wrote an open letter to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa questioning the decision to cancel trains without consulting labourers and protesting the violation of their fundamental rights.

The letter had support of 522 organisations and individuals, including Dalit rights organisations and trade unions. It urged the government to restore the dignity of the migrant workers. "We demand recognition of the autonomy and dignity of the migrant workers to decide their travel plans. No one should be forced either to stay back or to return to their home states," it said.