Residents of Thokkottu in Mangaluru welcome COVID-19 patient as he returns home

Manglauru, Jun 1: The southwest monsoon has made an onset over Kerala, marking the commencement of the four-month long rainfall season, the India Meteorological Department said on Monday.

"The southwest monsoon has made an onset over Kerala," IMD director general Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said.

The four-month monsoon season from June to September accounts for 75 per cent of rainfall in the country.

Private forecaster Skymet Weather on May 30 had declared arrival of monsoon, but the IMD had differed, saying conditions were not ripe then for such an announcement.

Orange alert

Meanwhile, coastal Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district, which is receiving sporadic rains for past couple of days, is on orange alert.

Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh declared the orange alert following IMD’s prediction of heavy rainfall in the region.

Bengaluru, Apr 16: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday inaugurated a mobile Covid-19 testing booth in Bengaluru.

These mobile booths will be used in all wards of Bengaluru to collect samples of those suspected to be infected.

According to information available on the website of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, as of Thursday, 4:00 PM, 279 coronavirus cases have been reported from the state, with 80 cured/discharged/migrated and 12 deaths.

India's coronavirus tally is at 12,380 cases, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.

Bengaluru, Jan 22: Chief minister BS Yediyurappa has urged the business community to focus on industries that are farmers and job-oriented and promised that his government would provide all the assistance it can in setting up these industries.

“My government will go the extra mile to facilitate industries that help farmers and provide jobs for youths,” Yediyurappa said during a meeting with several investors and entrepreneurs on the first day of the World Economic Forum, which brings global industry players and government representatives face- to-face, in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday.

The chief minister met representatives of 2000 Watt Smart Cities Association, which is represented by sustainability professionals of Nuesch Development, a Swiss Company, and ReNew Power. Both made presentations of their projects to the state delegation.

Yediyurappa appeared impressed by the 2000 Watt’s food processing clusters (development of modern infrastructure and common facilities) projects in rural areas. While presenting their concept, company representatives said they are willing to invest in food clusters, which can provide a better remunerative price for farm produce.

“We will provide all assistance and scientific farming techniques to grow healthy food and market them with added value to the produce,” said Andreas Binkert, scientist and academician, 2000 Watts.

Madhav Bhagwat, CEO of Nuesch Development India, told the Karnataka delegation that the company specialises in carbon-neutral smart township development projects and it has already signed an MoU with the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority.

ReNew Power delegates expressed interest in setting up solar power plants in North Karnataka districts like Vijayapura, Kalaburagi, Koppal and Raichur. Samanth Sinha, CEO, ReNew Power, urged the Karnataka government to remove bureaucratic and legal bottlenecks in acquisition of land.

Industries minister Jagadish Shettar and chief secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar among others were present at the meeting.

Yediyurappa and members of the state’s delegation attended US president Donald Trump’s address at the meet. Union minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goel and Union minister of state for shipping Mansukh Mandaviya were also present in the audience.