Religion row: Decision on expert panel deferred

Bengaluru, Mar 22: People here stayed at their homes due to Janata Curfew on Sunday amid the coronavirus scare.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Thursday urged people to stay at their homes as a precautionary measure against the spread of coronavirus.

"In such difficult times, all Indians are supporting the cause. We accept and obey the Prime Minister's orders wholeheartedly as it is about how we protect ourselves and keep our children safe from this disease," said Shashikant Varma, a resident of Bengaluru.

"We hope the situation gets better at earliest and everyone gets rid of the virus," Varma added.
"All the shops have been closed.Everyone is at their homes to avoid getting infected from this deadly virus," said Harish Niwasi, another resident.

"Today is PMs Janata Curfew and so we all are at home. I appeal to all that by staying at home we can save each other from the deadly virus. We thank the PM for guiding us at such difficult times," said Tulsi Ram Varma.

The Janata curfew which began at 7 am today will come to an end at 9 pm.

Till now, the total number of positive coronavirus cases in Karnataka is 15 out of which one person has been cured and one death has taken place in the state, according to the Health Ministry.

The Karanataka Health Department on Saturday confirmed five new coronavirus cases in the state, taking the total count to 20.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), till now there are 341 positive cases of coronavirus in the country.

Bengaluru, Apr 27: Janata Dal-Secular leader and former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy on Monday said that the government should work towards lowering the cost of living as the spending power of the consumer has weakened, and it should impose COVID cess on the ultra-rich.

"The economy won't bounce back within a very short period. It is important to lower the cost of living as the spending power of the consumer has depleted. The government must cut the petrol/diesel prices. The loss of revenue may be offset partially by imposing COVID cess on the ultra-rich," Kumaraswamy tweeted.

"According to RBI and international economic assessment agencies, the GDP growth rate of the country is expected to fall to a historic low. Such a dire situation calls for citizen-centric measures like full or partial waivers of EMIs, rents, school fees, and other levies," he added.

Kumaraswamy further said that the government must announce schemes to save the livelihoods of people, especially those in the unorganised sector.

"It is high time the government announced schemes to save livelihoods of people, especially those in the unorganised sector. The government must provide immediate relief to farmers, construction workers, cab and auto drivers, garment workers, etc," the former Karnataka CM tweeted.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) had said on April 23 that India's economic growth is likely to hover between zero and 1.5 per cent in the current financial year as the extended COVID-19 lockdown slows down activity across most sectors.

India is under a nation-wide lockdown which was imposed on March 25 and later extended on April 14 to May 3 to stem the spread of coronavirus.

Mangaluru, Mar 10: Four airports which are run by the Airport Authority of India (AAI), including Mangaluru International airport, have been adjudged among the best aerodromes in the world, winning 10 awards in four different categories at the 2019 ASQ awards.

ASQ is a globally established programme that measures passengers’ satisfaction while traveling through an airport. Airports Council International (ACI), which is an independent agency of airport operators, carries out international benchmarking of aerodromes.

“Four AAI airports — Chandigarh, Mangaluru, Trivandrum and Lucknow — have been adjudged the best in the world in recently announced 2019 ASQ awards. These airports won 10 awards in four categories,” Airports Authority of India (AAI) said in a release here on Tuesday.

The survey measures passengers’ satisfaction across 34 key performance indicators that include eight major categories such as access, check-in, security, airport facilities, food and beverage, retail, airport environment and arrival services.

The four categories in which these airports bagged the best airport awards were size and region, environment and ambiance, customer service and infrastructure and facilitation, as per the AAI.

The survey was carried out at across 356 airports across North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

The survey results are monitored by airport tariff regulator AERA, NITI Aayog, and civil aviation Ministry, the release added.