Customs officer Kotekar Abdul Kareem conferred presidential award

Mangaluru, June 24: Congress leader Ivan D’Souza has vowed to serve the poor and practice as a lawyer in the city, as he completed six years of tenure as a member of Karnataka legislative council on June 23. 

Expressing satisfaction about his work as an MLC, he said: “I’m one among the three MLCs who have 100% attendance in the council. Meanwhile, I’m the only council member to utilise the privilege of raising five questions in each session. I brought several major issues to the government through the questions and succeeded in finding solutions to the problems of people.”

“During my six years of tenure as a council member, I could bring sanctions to the tune of Rs 46 crore through various departments. Meanwhile, financial aid to the tune of Rs 13.24 crore has been distributed through Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to nearly 1,600 beneficiaries. I will continue to serve the poor on my own as an individual. For this, I have set up an office in the premises of my house,” Ivan said, adding that he has distributed grocery kits and other essential items to over 18,000 families during the lockdown period.

“I have successfully fulfilled my duties as the chief whip of the government in the council and also as the parliamentary secretary to revenue department in Siddaramaiah and H D Kumaraswamy governments, respectively,” he said. 

Ivan said his office in the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) building will be handed over to JD(S) MLC S L Boje Gowda. “My doors are always open for the people. I will strive to build the party in the state,” he added. 

Kasaragod, Apr 21: Kerala reported a spike in COVID-19 cases on Tuesday with 19 people testing positive, after a decline in the numbers in the past few days, as the total infections touched 426 in the southern state.

Kannur recorded 10 cases, Palakkad four, Kasaragod three and Malappuram and Kollam one each, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters here.

The number of those getting infected were in single digits over the past few days.

Of the 10 positive cases from Kannur, nine of them had come from abroad and one had been infected through contact, he said.

Pointing out that the positive cases in Palakkad,Malappuram and Kollam had come from neighbouring Tamil Nadu, Vijayan said there is need to enforce strict vigilance in places bordering neighbouring states.

Sixteen people tested negative on Tuesday, while the total active cases 117, he added.

At least 32,000 people are under observation,

Of the around 20,000 samples sent, 19,440 had returned negative, Vijayan said.

Mangaluru, Jan 21: Operations at Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) are normal, a day after security agencies detonated a bomb recovered from the airport in a controlled explosion, an official said on Tuesday.

"All operations are normal at Mangluru International Airport. Everything is normal," told the airport director V.V. Rao to IANS.

Rao said even on Monday, there was no interruption to the airport operations, except for that one recalled IndiGo flight to Bengaluru.

"As the explosive was isolated and taken away from the airport, there was no disturbance to flights, except one Bengaluru-bound IndiGo flight which suffered a few hours delay and took off later," said Rao.

Meanwhile, security has been tightened at the airport.

Mangluru north assistant commissioner of police Belliappa told media that the police are still on the hunt for the culprits who planted the bomb at the airport.

"We are trying to trace the culprits, we got the footage of the suspects," said Belliappa, highlighting that the police are yet to find the name, age and other details of the suspects.

At Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), the number of police personnel has been increased in a bid to tighten the security and 24 hour searching of vehicles is underway.

"We have set up two check posts on the way to the airport and randomly checking vehicles," told Devanahalli assistant commissioner of police Subramanya to media.

All Karnataka airports, including Hubballi and Belagavi, are on high alert.