Mangalore, April 2: The Union Minister for Corporate Affairs M. Veerappa Moily has said that he had written to the Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ajit Singh on March 30 requesting him to declare Mangalore airport as an international airport.
In a press release, Mr. Moily said that the Director-General of Civil Aviation had visited the airport and personally assessed the ground situation.
He had opined that the airport was fit in all respects to be declared as international airport.
Bengaluru, Aug 4: Karnataka has seen a substantial increase in COVID-19 recovery rate, which was 5.67 per cent in the last week, state Medical Education Minister Dr. K Sudhakar said.
"Every day there is an increase in recovery rate which is higher by 9.17 per cent in Bengaluru city. The overall recovery rate of the state by Sunday evening was 42.81 per cent and it is 35.14 per cent in Bengaluru," the Minister wrote in a tweet.
Minister Sudhakar also directed officials to resolve the issue raised by a woman who had written to him about her struggle to take possession of the body of her father in St. Johns hospital, Madivala.
The hospital she claimed was charging money to hand over the body.
"It is inhuman on part of the hospital to refuse handover of the body. I came to know about this incident in the media and responded immediately to help out the woman," Dr. Sudhakar wrote in his tweet.
Karnataka has so far reported 74,598 active COVID-19 cases, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Alappuzha, Jan 9: The houseboat of Nobel Laureate Michael Levitt was blocked in the backwaters here for some time by trade union activists, who were on a nationwide strike against the Centre's "anti-labour" policies on Wednesday.
Michael Levitt, an American-British-Israeli biophysicist and a professor of structural biology at the Stanford University in the United States, said the incident sent a bad message to tourists.
Levitt, who was in Kerala as a state guest, also said he felt as if a bandit had stopped his wife and him at gunpoint. Police said Levitt, who received the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was in Alappuzha with his wife and they were stopped by the protesters near Kainakary.
"Being stopped by criminals on the backwaters sends a very bad message to tourists. It is as if a bandit stopped us at gunpoint and delayed us under the threat of force for one hour," Levitt wrote in an email to his tour agent at Kottayam.
In the email, which was later released to the media, he also said the person who blocked them "ignored all arguments that tourists were exempted" from the strike.
"This person, who did this, ignored all arguments that tourists were exempted and that I am a VIP guest of the Kerala government. He was obviously acting, knowing that he was safe from prosecution. Sadly, this makes me fear that India is sinking into lawlessness," Levitt wrote in the email.
The police registered a case after the houseboat owners filed a complaint in this regard.
Reacting to the incident, state Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said the government would take strong action. "Strong action will be taken against those anti-social elements who stopped the boat. Levitt was here as a guest of the state government. The government had made it clear that the tourism industry was exempted from the strike," he said.
Trade union leaders had also announced that the strike would not affect the tourism industry.
Ten trade unions, including the INTUC, the AITUC and the CITU, had called for the nationwide strike to protest against the labour reforms, FDI, disinvestment, corporatisation and privatisation policies of the Centre and press for a 12-point demands of the working class, relating to minimum wage, among others.
Bengaluru, Jun 25: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday asked people to cooperate by following the measures put in place for the control of COVID-19 if they don't want another lockdown or sealing in Bengaluru.
Amid talks about re-imposing lockdown in the city following the recent spike in cases, the Chief Minister said he will hold discussions on Thursday and Friday regarding the strict measures that need to be taken to control the virus.
"COVID pandemic is increasing, we are making all efforts and we have even sealed some areas. Today afternoon at Krishna (the CM's home office) I have called a meeting with Ministers and officials and will discuss the strict measures to be taken to control COVID," Mr Yediyurappa said.
Speaking to reporters, he said, "Tomorrow noon I have called a meeting of legislators of all political parties from Bengaluru and all Ministers from the city to discuss with them, seek their opinion and take stringent measures."
Citing an increase in cases, Health Minister B Sriramulu on Tuesday had said the government may have to think about imposing lockdown in the city if the situation continues.
Following this several Ministers in the state cabinet on Wednesday had said, any decision on re-imposing lockdown in the city will be taken only after consulting experts.
Some reports had even suggested that a decision on lockdown is likely at the cabinet meeting scheduled today.
The Chief Minister said there is no lockdown in the entire city, adding only in a few areas it has been imposed and would continue.
Concerned over the increase in COVID-19 cases in the city, Mr Yediyurappa on Monday had directed officials to implement lockdown measures strictly in certain clusters which have reported greater number of coronavirus infections.
The city's busy K R Market and Kalasipalya Market have been sealed for 15 days by the civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) as part of measures to check the spread of the deadly virus.
Stating that Bengaluru is a model for the whole country in COVID-19 management, Mr Yediyurappa on Thursday said, when you compare with other major cities, "we have not yet lost control."
A total of 1,678 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the city till last evening.
This includes 78 deaths and 475 discharges.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the state which stood at 3,408 as of June 1 has crossed the 10,000 mark on Wednesday with the state capital topping the districts in the infection count.
Seeking public cooperation in controlling the spread of the virus, Yediyurappa said social distancing and other measures in place were not followed, there has been spread to slums and other places.
"If you don't want Bengaluru to be sealed once again please cooperate and maintain distance," he added.
Mr Yediyurappa also said, the government has taken all measures for the safe conduct of SSLC (class 10) exams from today, and students should come out and write exams for their bright future.
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