Mangaluru, Apr 4: The chemistry department of National Institute of Technology-Karnataka (NIT-K) here has started producing hand sanitizers in view of its shortage in the market after the coronavirus outbreak.
The social initiative led by Arun Isloor, professor and head of the department, was launched by NIT-K director K Uma Maheshwar Rao.
The raw materials needed for this product were provided by the institute.
Mangaluru, May 8: Migrant workers, stranded in Karnataka due to lockdown, staged a protest on Friday at the Central Railway Station here, demanding to be sent back to their respective native places.
The workers demanded the state government to take measures and send them back to their homes.
Maintaining social distancing and covering their faces with masks, the workers were holding placards which read -- "We want to go home Jharkhand, We want justice and we want to go home."
They appealed to the state government to arrange trains and buses to ferry them to their native places and threatened to walk home if denied transport.
Several protests have erupted in different parts of the country, such as Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, as stranded labourers took to the roads demanding to be sent back home.
The Ministry of Home Affairs on May 1 had issued an order to extend the ongoing lockdown by two more weeks from May 4 with some relaxations.
Bengaluru, Apr 28: Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday demanded that the Karnataka government announce a "special package" for unorganised sector workers, street vendors and autorickshaw drivers, among others, all daily wagers whose lives are affected by the COVID-19 lockdown. "..a special package needs to be announced to this section of people, this is the demand," Siddaramaiah, who is also Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, told reporters here.
Alleging that the government has failed to control the spread of coronavirus, he said it is the government's responsibility to take care of the basic needs of those from the unorganised sector, whose lives have been impacted by the lockdown. "It is the duty of the government and they should do it immediately. The package should also be announced. I will hold discussions with leaders of other opposition parties like JD(S), CPI, CPI(M) and BSP in this regard and also on trouble faced by farmers," he added. Alleging discrimination in supply of food packets and ration kits, Siddaramaiah said it was being supplied properly only in constituencies represented by BJP legislators.
"Politics is being played out in supply of food materials to the needy, keeping corporation elections in mind.... We don't want to do politics at this point in time as there is lockdown. If things continue to be the same after the lockdown ends, we will protest on the streets," he said.
Siddaramaiah on Tuesday interacted with representatives of auto rickshaw and cab drivers, street vendors, barbers, unorganised workers organisations, among others, to understand the difficulties faced by them during the lockdown and to know whether help from the government has reached them. He said most of them don't have work and it has become difficult for them to lead their normal lives.
They raised several issues like auto and cab drivers being unable to pay road tax and EMI, he said, adding that he would write a detailed letter to the Chief Minister in this regard The former Chief Minister pointed out that there is about 21 lakh registered organised workers, 1.32 crore lakh unorganised workers and also agriculture labourers in the state.
"Among organised workers only 12.5 of the 21 lakh are said to be getting Rs 2000, that too from the Employees Welfare Fund, while others could not get any money, citing reasons like they have not renewed it," he said.
On the other hand, unorganised sector workers don't get money and were also not getting proper food or ration kits, he alleged Though the labour department claimed that it was supplying one lakh food packets and 1.5 lakh ration kits, as also corporations, there were leakages and it was not reaching the beneficiaries properly, he said.
Bengaluru, Jan 19: Australia has conferred its highest civilian honour, the Order of Australia honour, on Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw for her contribution towards advancing the country's relationship with India.
Australia's High Commissioner to India Harinder Sidhu invested Mazumdar-Shaw as an Honorary Member within the Order of Australia (AM) in the General Division at a ceremony in Bengaluru on Friday, the Australian High Commission said in a statement.
An alumnus of Federation University Australia, Mazumdar-Shaw is the founder of Biocon, one of India's largest bio-pharmaceutical companies.
She contributes immensely to promoting women in STEM through the joint research programmes developed between Biocon and Deakin University, Australia, as part of her deep and long-standing commitment to gender equality, the statement said.
Mazumdar-Shaw - an Australian Global Alumni Ambassador - is also recognised for her sustained and significant contribution to industry academia collaboration between Australia and India, it said.
The ceremony was attended by representatives from Indian and Australian business, the diplomatic corps, and family, friends and peers of Mazumdar-Shaw, the statement said.
Speaking at the event, Sidhu said, "Dr Mazumdar-Shaw is a tireless champion of the commercial, educational, and people-to-people links between our two countries, and this award recognises her commitment to progressing the Australia-India partnership."
Honorary appointments in the Order of Australia are made to foreign nationals who have made an outstanding contribution to Australia or humanity at large.
Mazumdar-Shaw is the fourth Indian citizen to be awarded Australia's highest civilian honour.
This follows the conferment of superstar batsman Sachin Tendulkar in 2012, Former Attorney General of India Soli Jehangir Sorabjee in 2006, and Mother Teresa of Kolkata (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) in 1982.
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