Offer prayers at home if some mosques can't follow covid guidelines: Mangaluru Qadhi

Bengaluru, Apr 18: Amid fears that people from the unorganised sector are running out of cash to meet their daily expenses, the Karnataka government said there was no data available for such labourers, who can be provided financial assistance under the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme.

"The government does not have data of people in the unorganised sector such as drivers, farmers, domestic help and others. If we have to deposit directly into their account, we need data..," State Labour minister A Shivaram Hebbar told reporters.

The minister said a situation borne out of the COVID-19, where the entire nation has been lockdown was never anticipated.

To him, the pandemic has given an opportunity to gather information about the unorganised sector.

"This COVID-19 has taught the department and the workers a lesson that we should be prepared for a situation like this. We have learnt that all the information about labourers should be available with the labour department," Hebbar conceded.

The minister opined that the department should have had the list during the good times but nobody bothered to have it.

"During the good times nobody bothered about it -- neither they (beneficiaries) asked for it, nor we thought of it.," Hebbar said.

Now that the pandemic has struck, the government is focusing only on not letting anyone starve to death.

A three-level preparation has been made -- at the village level, Taluk level and the city level, the minister said.

Village anganwadis have been stuffed with food items to be cooked for the needy, whereas in Taluk level, government hostels have been turned into shelters for the labourers, he said, noting that lakhs of philanthropists in cities have come forward to feed the people from unorganised sector.

"The basic objective of our government is that no one should starve to death. The issue of organised or unorganised sector comes next," he explained.

On the fear of large-scale retrenchment, the minister said notices have been served on all the industries that no one should be expelled from the job.

However, Hebbar underlined that the industrialists today are as much in distress as the workers and his department was taking into account everyone's concern.

A decision will be taken in this connection by the government in the next two days, to provide assistance to small enterprises to keep them afloat.

New Delhi, Jan 20: Security has been beefed up at airports across the country after a suspicious bag was found at the Mangaluru airport on Monday.

According to Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which guards the airports in the country, a man was captured in the CCTV dropping the bag inside Mangaluru airport.

According to the CISF DIG Anil Pandey, traces of improvised explosive device (IED) have been found from the bag.

"According to CCTV footage, a suspect kept the bag at Mangaluru airport and was then seen leaving in auto while concealing his face. The suspected object was detected timely and local bomb disposal team is working on its disposal," DIG Pandey told media.

"We have found traces of IED from a bag lying at a ticket counter in Mangaluru airport, we have safely evacuated it," DIG Pandey told media.

According to sources, initial investigations have revealed that the bag contained some type of black powder.

"Initial investigation has revealed that the bag contained a black powder which seems to be explosive, though it is yet to be cleared what kind of explosive it is," sources claimed.

"After we found the suspicious bag at Mangaluru airport, a security drill has been initiated at all the airports and CISF staff have been asked to beef up security," DIG Pandey said.

Also Read: IED recovered from Mangaluru Airport defused safely; 3 teams formed to nab suspect: Top cop

Bengaluru, Mar 26: In a second coronavirus related death in Karnataka, COVID-19 test results of a 75- year-old woman who had died on Wednesday has come out as positive, Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said.

"I regret to inform that the COVID-19 test result has come out as positive for patient, who had succumbed to death yesterday. The govt stands committed to curb the spread of Corona Virus in the state. Please stay home, stay safe," Sudhakar tweeted on Thursday.

Health and Family Welfare Minister B Sriramulu too said the lab reports regarding the death on Wednesday have come and it has come out as positive, and death was due to COVID-19.

The exact cause of her death would be known only after the final report comes, both Minister had said on Wednesday.

The woman from Gauribidanur in Chikkaballapura district, had returned from Mecca in Saudi Arabia recently.

Sharing details about the woman, Sriramulu in a tweet on Wednesday had said, she died at Bowring hospital here at 1 am, and was suffering from diabetes, chest pain and hip fracture.

The patient was undergoing treatment in isolation ward at a hospital in Gauribidanur, later for more treatment she was shifted to Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases in Bengaluru, from where she was shifted to Bowring hospital on Tuesday," he had said.

This is the second coronavirus fatality in the state.

Earlier this month, a 76-year old Kalaburagi man died "due to co-morbidity and was also tested positive for COVID- 19", becoming the country's first coronavirus death.