Need a law to shoot at sight those raising anti-India slogans: B C Patil

Mangaluru, Jan 19: Karnataka’s coastal city of Mangaluru has been ranked India’s safest city with the lowest crime index (24.14) in the country, according to a survey conducted by Numbeo.

Numbeo is a crowd-sourced global database of reported consumer prices, perceived crime rates, and quality of healthcare, among other statistics.

Mangaluru was named the city with the highest safety index of 75.86 among all major Indian cities.

According to the survey, Abu Dhabi is the world's safest city which has the lowest crime index of 11.33. It has the highest safety index of 88.67 in the list of 374 global cities.

Abu Dhabi sits on number one spot - as an increase in a city's ranking means a drop in its crime rate.

Sharjah ranked fifth safest and Dubai was ranked as the seventh safest city in the world with its safety index at 82.95.

Joining Abu Dhabi in the top ten are Taipei, Quebec, Zurich, Dubai, Munich, Eskisehir, and Bern. Islamabad (74) was ranked the safest in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Caracas in Venezuela was rated the as the most unsafe city with the highest crime index 84.90.

Mangaluru, Feb 13: After pro-Kannada outfits called for a state-wide bandh today, the police are on high-alert to avoid any untoward incidents.

The dawn to dusk bandh was called demanding implementation of Sarojini Mahishi report which recommended certain percentage of jobs to Kannadigas in private & public sector companies.

There is no official holiday declared for schools and colleges. Besides, all government institutions and private establishments are open.

But, in some parts of Karnataka, autorickshaws and taxis, including Ola and Uber stayed off the roads.

Even though the bandh is unlikely to hit normal life in coastal Karnataka, stones were pelted on a Tirupati-Mangaluru bus in Farangipet.

Bengaluru, Mar 18: BJP MLC Lahar Singh Siroya on Wednesday wrote a letter to Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, urging him to allow half-an-hour daily discussion in the State Assembly and Council to take stock and review preparation of the government to contain the spread of coronavirus.

"Since the entire world including India is facing an emergency-like situation, it is appropriate for lawmakers to discuss the matter in the legislature. I would like to request you to allow the matter to be discussed every day in the upper house," said Siroya in his letter to the Chief Minister.

He said discussion and suggestions on the issue can help the government to improve the surveillance activities.

He said members of the Assembly can bring realistic information from their districts and present the same before the House.

Stressing that Bengaluru is a global hub of software and electronic industries, Siroya said: "We need to step up surveillance on the improvement of the international community. So, we have to discuss in detail and devise a robust strategy to contain the spread of the disease."

He asserted there is a possibility of people using social media to mislead public.

"lf the government discusses and debates the issue besides making announcements if any, there will be no scope for social media to mislead the public. Media is doing a good job in educating people. So, I would like to request you to involve the media and select NGOs to sensitise people and bring in the preventive mechanism of self-quarantine more effectively," he said.

Two more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Karnataka on Wednesday, taking the tally of infected persons in the state to 13, Health Minister B Sriramulu said.

A total of 147 positive cases of coronavirus have been reported in India so far, as per the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The deadly virus has claimed three lives in the country, the first one was reported from Karnataka.