It’s a Rs 1,000-cr scam: U T Khader on alleged ‘wholesale trade’ of MLAs by BJP in Karnataka

Kochi, Apr 18: The Centre on Friday informed the Kerala High Court that there was no immediate plan to bring back the Indian citizens stranded in the Gulf countries due to the novel coronavirus outbreak and that the expatriates had been granted visa extension.

The counsel for the central government made the submission before a division bench comprising justices Rajavijayaraghavan and T R Ravi during the hearing of a plea seeking a direction to bring back Indians stranded in the UAE.

Permission of the Gulf countries was required to send medical teams there to carry out medical examination of the stranded Indians, the counsel said when the court sought to know the Centre's view on Kerala government sending medical teams to the Gulf countries to deal with the issue of COVID-19 disease among Malayalees there.

The court posted the plea for April 21 for consideration after the Central government informed that a similar petition is under consideration of the Supreme Court.

In its plea, Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC) in Dubai, the organisation for non-resident Indians from Kerala, sought directions to the Ministries of External Affairs and Civil Aviation to provide exemptions in the international air travel ban to bring back Indians stranded in the UAE.

The petitioners noted that those who return could be kept in quarantine as per the protocol of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Karnataka, Mar 18: Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has asked its administrative staff to work from home until further order amid coronavirus outbreak.

KSCA has taken various measures to mitigate the risk of spreading coronavirus. The association had already closed down all section of the sports centre and also given off to all the sports centre staff from March 14.

"Ksca had already closed down all section of the sports centre and also given off to all the sports centre staff w.e.f 14th March 2020. Further to that, now it is decided that most of the KSCA administrative staff will be working from home until further orders," KSCA Treasurer and official spokesperson Vinay Mruthyunjaya said in a statement.

"All the KSCA employees have been advised strictly to be at home and should not travel and be available on phones and mails. However skeleton staff will be deputed at KSCA to make sure ongoing works like grounds maintenance, regular maintenance etc., is not affected," he added.

Bengaluru, Apr 15: As many as 17 new positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Karnataka, taking the total number of cases in the state to 277, including 75 discharged and 11 deaths, the state government said on Wednesday.

Of the 17 new cases, nine are workers of a pharmaceutical company in Mysuru, the government stated.

Meanwhile, a 65-year-old from Chikkaballapur, who had tested positive for COVID-19, lost his life on Wednesday.

"He was referred to a Bengaluru hospital with complaints of H1N1 positive, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease with obstructive sleep apnea and a past history of diabetes and hypertension," the government stated.