Cows rescued' by vigilantes in coastal Karnataka end up in slaughterhouses'

Bengaluru, Jun 27: The Bengaluru Police Commissioner’s office on Infantry Road has been sealed after one of the staffers tested Covid-positive. It will remain shut from June 27 to 29. 

A senior police officer from the administrative department, in a media release, stated that almost the entire staff has been asked to work from home, while some have told to work from sub-divisions of DCP’s offices. 

It is said that one of the staffers, who recently reported for duty at Anti-Terror Cell (ATC), tested positive on Friday, and officials took a decision to seal the premises after the media got wind of it. 

Earlier, a function for Drug Observation Day too was held on the premises on Friday. The staff has not been asked to go on quarantine. 

Only a few staffers have been asked to come to the police control room situated in the same building.

Mangaluru, May 6: Amidst preparation for the paid evacuation of Indians stuck in Gulf countries amidst coronavirus lockdown, the central government has announced that it would only do a medical screening of the passengers before the flight and only asymptomatic persons would be allowed to travel.

Each passenger will have to fill a self-reporting form to be presented at the health and immigration counter at their destination.

The passengers are required to state whether they are suffering from fever, cough, diabetes or any respiratory disease. This form is similar to the one filled by passengers landing in India during the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak.

As per the announcement by the government, returnees would undergo COVID-19 once they complete 14-day quarantine in a hospital or government –arranged institution on a payment basis.

However, the form asks the applicants to keep themselves isolated at home for 28 days unless they develop any symptoms such as fever and cough.

During the journey, they will have to follow the protocols such as those issued by the Health Ministry and the Civil Aviation Ministry. Applicants from the UAE are yet to receive instructions on these.

On reaching the destination, passengers will have to register on the Arogya Setu app, India’s mobile application for COVID-19 surveillance.

No physical distancing!

Air India Express (AIE) which is set to operate the first two flights to Kerala on Thursday will operate its Boeing 737-800 flights, with a seating capacity of 186 economy class seats.

With nine seats reserved for isolation, only 177 passengers would be flown, sources said.

While most of the UAE flights in the first week will be operated by the AIE, Air India will operate two of its Dreamliner aircraft with a seating capacity of 256 seats. These flights would also reserve some seats for isolation.

However, the plan has made it clear that the Indian government will not be following the rules of physical distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the repatriation flights.

Several people, including the Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan, expressed concern over flying passengers, who will not be tested for COVID-19, without observing physical distancing.

Jan 28: Hindu temple processions with an elephant adorned in ornaments carrying the idol, with percussionists and devotees walking side by side, are no new sight in Kerala. However, a similar procession in Kerala's cultural capital, Thrissur, turned heads. Hundreds of Muslims were seen holding hands and clearing traffic to help the procession move smoothly.

Muslims made way for the passage of a Hindu temple procession during their protest against Citizenship Amendment Act(ACT) in Thrissur on Saturday, January 25.

Various Muslim organisations had organised a mass protest in the Swaraj ground in the town. On the same day, the local Bhaktapriyam temple's procession was also taking place. Stuck in a dilemma, the temple authorities approached the police and the Muslim organisations to find a solution. The Muslim organisations then promised to help proceed the temple procession without any obstacles.

Nearly a thousand people who had turned up for the protest volunteered to clear traffic and control the crowd so that the temple procession could smoothly pass through the town.

A video of the procession was shared on Facebook by the Thrissur City Police on Saturday, which showed Muslims holding hands on either side of the procession to make way.

"Humanity is bigger than religion. That's the lesson the residents of Thrissur are giving to the country. Thrissur is truly the cultural capital of Kerala," read the caption of the post in Malayalam. The video soon went viral and was viewed by over 36k views.