State's first butterfly park opens in Belvai

Mangaluru, Apr 26: In the wake of the fears among local people regarding the cremation of coronavirus victims, an understanding has been reached with all stakeholders that the Mangaluru city corporation's crematorium here will be the official funeral site for such cases in future.

Mangaluru South MLA D Vedavyas Kamath, who had to face stinging criticism on social media for his alleged support to local people who stopped the cremation of a COVID- 19 victim at Pachanady near here on Thursday, took an active role in finding the solution.

The body of the victim, a woman, had to be taken from Pachanady to Kaikunje during the night, delaying the funeral by hours.

Kamath visited Boloor on Saturday and sought to convince the people that cremating the bodies of coronavirus victims would not endanger their lives in any way as the guidelines of WHO and union health ministry are being strictly followed.

The crematorium at Boloor is run by the MCC and has an electric furnace and firewood pyres.

Kamath said a tacit understanding that final rites of COVID-19 patients inDakshina Kannada will be performed at Boloor has been reached at a meeting with all stakeholders.

Cremating bodies in such a controlled environment is deemed safe as per guidelines, he said.

City Mayor Diwakar, local corporator Jagadish Shetty and MCC assistant commissioner Madan Mohan took part in the meeting.

The decision was conveyed to the DK district administration.

The district administration has also launched a campaign on dead body management protocol to convince the people to ignore misinformation being spread regarding the cremation of coronavirus victims.

Bengaluru, Feb 26: Karnataka Police and intelligence have been asked to be on alert in the wake of communal violence in Delhi and take preemptive measures, state Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said here on Wednesday.

"We have been keeping a close watch on the developments after the Delhi incident. I have instructed my officers to be on alert and take precautionary actions rather than actions after the incidents," Bommai told media.

"The day before yesterday we had a high-level meeting...we are having a close watch," he added.

Violence erupted in Delhi on Sunday evening after groups protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and those supporting it indulged in stone pelting at each other.

The confrontation soon turned communal and the violence spread to other areas of northeast Delhi including Chand Bagh, Mustafabad, Brijpuri, Shiv Vihar and Noor Ilahi on Monday and Tuesday in which at least 20 persons, including a police head constable, have died and over 200 have been injured.

Bengaluru, May 29: Karnataka reported 248 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, and with that, the state tally surged to 2,781. 

A 50-year-old woman, resident of Chikkaballapura district, succumbed to the infection on Friday. She was admitted to a private hospital on May 24 following acute kidney injury and pneumonia. As her condition deterorted, she was shifted to a designated hospital in Bengaluru Urban on May 28, where she tested COVID-19 positive.

Out of the 248 cases, only 16 persons have contracted the virus inside the state. The remaining are the people who have returned from Maharashtra, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Ireland.

The maximum number of people, who tested positive for COVID-19, have returned from Maharashtra. Most of these people are residents of Udupi, Kalaburagi, Yadagiri and Raichuru.

Besides, five people have a travel history to Delhi, while one person each has tested positive on returning from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Ireland.

Fifteen people have tested positive within the state and have been infected by persons who had previously tested positive or have a history of Influenza-like Illness and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness.

Out of all the cases, 10 have been reported in Bengaluru Urban while one has come up in Bengaluru Rural.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the Karnataka government asked the Civil Aviation Ministry to reduce the number of flights coming in the state from the five worst-hit states -- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

"Karnataka has appealed to the Civil Aviation Ministry to take steps to lessen the air traffic to the state, with the sacred intention that there may not be adequate quarantine facilities if there is a huge turnout in a short span of time," state Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J.C. Madhuswamy explained.