Mangaluru safest city in India; Abu Dhabi safest in the world: Survey

Bengaluru,  Jul 9: Former Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said that he was opposed to a tie-up with Janata Dal-Secular in the last Lok Sabha elections but the party high command did not listen to him.

"I had suggested that we should fight alone (in Lok Sabha elections) because JD-S votes would not have come to us and our votes would not have gone to JD-S," Siddaramaiah told reporters here.

Congress leader said that he was the only one to make the suggestion and he did not get support.

"I was the only one to raise a voice that's why it was not heard by (party) high command and I did not get support. We might have won over seven seats in parliament election if we had fought alone," he said.

After forming government in Karnataka in 2018 with support of JD-S, Congress had fought the 2019 general election in a pre-poll alliance with the party. Congress could only one seat of the 21 it contested and JD-S also won one seat of the seven it contested.

Kochi, May 8: Five people, who were among 181 individuals evacuated from Abu Dhabi, have been sent to the isolation ward of the district hospital after they displayed symptoms of coronavirus during thermal screening.

The first repatriation Air India Express flight with 181 individuals from Abu Dhabi landed at Cochin International Airport here on Thursday.

Among the returnees, 49 women were pregnant and four were children. They have been home-quarantine.

Meanwhile, the rest have been taken to quarantine centres in their respective districts.

The Air India Express flight IX452 to Kochi with 177 passengers and four infants took off from Abu Dhabi International Airport and touched down at Kochi post 10 pm.

The government has made it mandatory for foreign returnees to be quarantined for 14 days, either in a hospital or in an institutional quarantine on payment-basis, by the concerned state government.

A COVID-19 test would be done after 14 days and further action would be taken according to health protocols.

India on Monday began phased repatriation of its citizens stranded abroad due to coronavirus lockdown.

The government said that Air India will operate 64 flights from May 7 to May 13 to bring back around 15,000 Indian nationals stranded abroad amid the COVID-19-induced lockdown.

Starting from 7 May, 64 flights will take off for 12 countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Maldives, Singapore and the US.

Kalaburagi, May 15: Former Karnataka Minister Dr Sharanprakash Patil and 22 others, including several local Congress leaders, have been booked for violating lockdown guidelines by conducting a meeting at a convention hall in Sulpeth town on May 13.

The FIR was registered on Thursday against 23 persons, including the former MLA and 21 local Congress leaders, under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Congress leader Patil and his followers had conducted a meeting at a convention hall in Sulpeth town on May 13, following which sectoral magistrate Muneer Ahmed lodged a complaint.

This comes as the country of under lockdown and the Centre and states have issued strict social distancing and other norms to be followed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.