Mangaluru expat killed in worksite explosion in Qatar

Mangaluru, Apr 24: The last rites of the elderly woman who died of covid-19 yesterday was finally held in the wee hours of Friday amidst tight security at Kaikunje Hindu Rudra Bhoomi near BC Road bus stand in spite of severe opposition from the members of the own community.

The funeral was held as per the protocol for COVID-19 deaths, police said.

Prior to this hundreds of Hindus had staged a protest  last night in front of Pachanady Hindu Rudra Bhoomi near Vamanjoor following reports that the the 77-year-old coronavirus positive woman's mortal remains will be cremated there.

Mangaluru North MLA Bharat Shetty rushed to the spot and convinced the protesters that he will not allow the authorities to cremate the body at Pachanady. Hence, the authorities shifted the cremation venue, it is learnt. 

Meanwhile, many local residents staged protest at Pachanady against the cremation of the dead body of a coronavirus positive woman. Hence, additional police force was sent from Mangaluru to disperse the crowd and facilitate the last rite.

According to sources, initially the authorities had  planned to cremate body at Baddakatte Hindu Rudra Bhoomi near here native place in Bantwal. However, the locals and the community elders had forced the authorities to change the plan.

Such protests due to misconception about the spread of coronavirus had been witnessed in some other parts of the country, including in Chennai, and the governments have warned of action against those opposing cremation or burial of COVID-19 patients.

So far as many as 17 covid-19 postive cases have been reported in Dakshina Kannada including two deaths from same family from Bantwal's Kasba village.

Mangaluru, Feb 3: After neighbouring reported the second confirmed case of dreaded Coronavirus, the government of Karnataka today ordered high alert across border districts including Dakshina Kannada.

Apart from Dakshina Kannada, district administrations in Kodagu, Chamarajanagar and Mysuru that share boundary with Kerala have been put on high alert over the movement of people with suspected cases.

In a statement released on Monday, the Health and Family welfare department said that these districts have been directed to immediately report to the State Surveillance Unit (SSU) if they come across any suspected cases of people infected with Coronavirus.

Currently, about 51 people who returned from Coronavirus-affected regions have been identified and 46 are under home isolation across Karnataka.

So far, 44 samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune for analysis and out of which 29 samples have revealed negative results. Yet, the state government has put in all possible measures to check the spread of the virus in any part of the state.

Bengaluru, Feb 24: Raising questions about the situation in Kashmir, senior Congress leader and former Karnataka chief minister Sidddaramaiah on Monday asked the BJP heading the union government to prove 'normalcy' by hosting US President Donald Trump's event in the valley.

If @BJP4India feels Kashmir has returned to Normalcy, & If @BJP4India feels that there is no govt orchestrated violence. Now is the time to prove the same by hosting @realDonaldTrump's event at Kashmir, Siddaramaiah tweeted.

Amid concerns raised by opposition parties, the government has said efforts have been made to restore normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir which faced months of restrictions after its special status under Article 370 was scrapped in August last year.

Siddaramaiah, who is Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly, in another tweet hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the long wall built near the airport in Ahmedabad allegedly to block the view of a slum, ahead of Trump's visit.

It is time for @realDonaldTrump to get inspired from @narendramodi. Inspiration to build decorative walls to hide not so decorative life!! he tweeted. The opposition Congress in Gujarat had accused the BJP- ruled civic body in Ahmedabad of building the 500-meter long wall to block the view of a slum colony. Refuting the allegations, AMC officials had said the construction of the wall, around four feet in height, was approved much before Trump's Gujarat visit was finalised.

Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump and a high-level delegation, arrived in Ahmedabad around noon on Monday for a little less than a 36-hour-long trip.