In meeting with Malaysian PM, Modi raises issue of Dr Zakir Naik’s extradition

Mangaluru, Feb 1: “1) Take necessary precautionary measures. 2) Don’t blindly believe in social media rumours.” These are the two important advisories issued by the authorities in Dakshina Kannada district in the wake of coronavirus scare.

According to DHO Dr Ramakrishna there is no specific antiviral treatment recommended for coronavirus infection. Supportive care for infected people can be highly effective, but, there is no vaccine available for coronavirus.

In a health meeting, he advised people to take precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Following are some of the precautionary measures.

1) Wash your hands often with soap and water or an alcohol-based sanitiser.

2) Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

3) Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

4) Stay home when you are sick, and cover your mouth when you cough or use a tissue while sneezing.

5) Throw the used tissue in the dustbin. Clean and disinfect surfaces frequently.

Deputy commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh said there is no need for people to panic about coronavirus.

Dakshina Kannada zilla panchayat CEO R Selvamani said IEC programmes will be held to create awareness on possibilities of spread of diseases.

He also advised people not to follow blindly the advisories being shared on social media, especially WhatsApp without proper verification.

“Posts on cures for coronavirus which are not scientifically proven are being shared on social media. Do not follow such advisories without verifying facts,” he said.

Bengaluru, Feb 17: Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Assembly Siddaramaiah on Monday demanded that forest minister Anand Singh should either be expelled from the Cabinet or assigned a different portfolio.

This comes amid a number of cases, pending against Singh, including those under the Karnataka Forest Act.

"How can we expect justice from Anand Singh who has been made forest minister and is accused of (illegal mining)? We demand that he should either be dropped out of the state Cabinet or at least his portfolio be changed," Siddaramaiah told media.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa allocated portfolios to the 10 newly inducted ministers in his Cabinet.

As part of state Cabinet's expansion, 10 MLAs including Ramesh Jarkiholi, Anand Singh, K Sudhakar, and BA Basavaraja took oath as ministers at Raj Bhawan in Bengaluru on February 6.

Washington, Mar 1: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed a fine of over $200 million for all major US mobile carriers for selling the location data of customers to some agencies.

The Federal Communications Commission today proposed fines against the nation's four largest wireless carriers for apparently selling access to their customers' location information without taking reasonable measures to protect against unauthorised access to that information. As a result, T-Mobile faces a proposed fine of more than $91 million, AT&T faces a proposed fine of more than $57 million, Verizon faces a proposed fine of more than $48 million, and Sprint faces a proposed fine of more than $12 million, the FCC said in a statement on Friday.

The Enforcement Bureau of FCC opened this investigation after reports surfaced that a Missouri Sheriff, Cory Hutcheson, used a "location-finding service" operated by Securus, a provider of communications services to correctional facilities, to access the location information of the wireless carriers' customers without their consent between 2014 and 2017.

"American consumers take their wireless phones with them wherever they go. And information about a wireless customer's location is highly personal and sensitive. The FCC has long had clear rules on the books requiring all phone companies to protect their customers' personal information. And since 2007, these companies have been on notice that they must take reasonable precautions to safeguard this data and that the FCC will take strong enforcement action if they don't. Today, we do just that," said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.

"This FCC will not tolerate phone companies putting Americans' privacy at risk."

The FCC also admonished these carriers for apparently disclosing their customers' location information, without their authorisation, to a third party

The four major US carriers mentioned sold access to their customers' location information to "aggregators," who then resold access to such information to third-party location-based service providers (like Securus).

Although their exact practices varied, each carrier relied heavily on contract-based assurances that the location-based services providers (acting on the carriers' behalf) would obtain consent from the wireless carrier's customer before accessing that customer's location information.