PM Modi breaks bread with Indian construction workers in Saudi Arabia

Tumkur, Feb 9: A special puja was performed at the Durga Parameshwari temple and the Shaneshwara temple in Karnataka's Rangana Halli village to save people from coronavirus.

Yashwanth Shastri, a priest, said: "We performed this special puja on Friday to save the world from virus and diseases like corona and H1N1."

"Our ancestors used to perform a special puja for the betterment of society and save the world from viruses when they attacked," he said.

Coronavirus originated in China's Wuhan city in December last year and has since spread to various cities around the world.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the coronavirus outbreak as a global health crisis.

Mangaluru: As many as 178 passengers arrived in the coastal city from Dubai as the second flight under the Vande Bharat Mission landed at the Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) at 7.55am on Monday.

Among 178 passengers, there were 99 male, 67 female, 11 children and one infant.

Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh said that all the necessary arrangements had been made to ensure that the passengers were not inconvenienced in any way. 

“All of them have been provided with health kits, sufficient food, sim cards, etc. We have also set up facilities at the airport where they can exchange foreign currency. The emigration process was conducted only after each passenger was subjected to screening by health department personnel at the airport. We will have their throat swabs tested for Covid-19 on Tuesday,” Sindhu said.

Personnel attired in personal protective equipment gear shifted the passengers’ luggage, while buses had been arranged for transporting them to quarantine facilities, Sindhu added.

Probationary IAS officer Rahul Shinde, additional deputy commissioner MJ Roopa, district health officer Dr Ramachandra Bairy and MIA director VV Rao were among those who received the returning Indians along with the DC at the airport.

Public, including friends and relatives of the passengers, were barred entry to the airport.

Rooms in as many as 10 hotels have been reserved to quarantine passengers flying in to Mangaluru from the Gulf. The rooms are priced between Rs 1,000 and Rs 5,400. Meanwhile, those unable to afford rent will be accommodated at government hostels.

Mangaluru, May 18: The second repatriation flight to the coastal Karnataka from Dubai landed at Mangaluru International Airport at 7.45 pm. today.Mangaluru: As many as 178 passengers arrived in the coastal city from Dubai as the second flight under the Vande Bharat Mission landed at the Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) at 7.55am on Monday.

Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh said that all the necessary arrangements had been made to ensure that the passengers were not inconvenienced in any way.

“All of them have been provided with health kits, sufficient food, sim cards, etc. We have also set up facilities at the airport where they can exchange foreign currency. The emigration process was conducted only after each passenger was subjected to screening by health department personnel at the airport. We will have their throat swabs tested for Covid-19 on Tuesday,” Sindhu said.

Personnel attired in personal protective equipment gear shifted the passengers’ luggage, while buses had been arranged for transporting them to quarantine facilities, Sindhu added.

Probationary IAS officer Rahul Shinde, additional deputy commissioner MJ Roopa, district health officer Dr Ramachandra Bairy and MIA director VV Rao were among those who received the returning Indians along with the DC at the airport.

Public, including friends and relatives of the passengers, were barred entry to the airport.

Rooms in as many as 10 hotels have been reserved to quarantine passengers flying in to Mangaluru from the Gulf. The rooms are priced between Rs 1,000 and Rs 5,400. Meanwhile, those unable to afford rent will be accommodated at government hostels.

Bengaluru, Jan 20: The suspense over chief minister BS Yediyurappa expanding his council of ministers is set to continue until after he returns from his trip to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

Yediyurappa, who heads a 10-member delegation to the Swiss ski resort, left on Sunday. Prior to his departure, he told reporters cabinet expansion will happen only after his return on January 24. “I discussed the issue with [BJP] national president Amit Shah for 30 minutes or so. He has given a positive response and I will expand the cabinet within two days after my return,” Yediyurappa said.

But sources said Shah, during his visit to Hubballi on Saturday, had indicated the exercise is likely to be delayed further as the central leadership will be busy with the assembly elections in Delhi. “Indications are there is no possibility of expanding the cabinet until February 11 when the electoral process for the Delhi elections ends,” said a source.

The development has obviously left ministerial aspirants, especially defectors from Congress and JD(S) who were re-elected on BJP tickets last month, restive. Moreover, while Yediyurappa has promised ministerial berths to all MLAs who switched to the BJP from Congress and JD(S), sources say Shah is only in favour of inducting six defectors (11 of whom won MLA seats on saffron party tickets in the byelections) into the cabinet.

“Shah’s advice to Yediyurappa is to strike a balance between defectors and loyalists. His concern is loyalists should not be left disappointed, while justice should be served to the defectors as well,” said a BJP functionary.

Meanwhile, KS Eshwarappa, senior party functionary and minister for rural development, said the BJP would never let down the defectors. “The party is indebted to them and I am sure they will all be rewarded,” he said.

BC Patil, one of the defectors, said some of them had met Shah in one-on-one meetings in Hubballi. “It was more a courtesy call and the issue of cabinet expansion didn’t come up during the meeting,” he said.