Security tightened in Mangaluru for PM Modi’s visit

Chithradurga, Mar 25: COVID-19-positive cases in Karnataka jumped to 42 from 33 on Tuesday, with nine cases added to the list overnight. The daughter of G M Siddeshwara, Davanagere MP, is the latest case.

Sources from the Siddeshwara family said that the MP’s daughter, along with her two children, who started from Guyana, first landed at New York airport and from there, she took a flight to New Delhi.

From Delhi, she flew to Bengaluru. And then, she and her children travelled with her father in a chaffeur-driven car on March 21 to their house in Bheemasamudra.


Siddeshwara said that protocol for COVID-19 had been followed and all who returned were under self-quarantine at his house. However, the administration was not informed of her travel history till the samples were given for test, Chitradurga Deputy Commissioner Vinoth Priya R told TNIE. The DC said the test results of the MP’s daughter were collected by district health authorities and sent to Shivamogga Institute of Medical Sciences on March 22.

The test turned out to be positive for COVID-19 and she was shifted to the isolation ward at Chigateri district hospital in Davanagere. This is the first positive case in Chitradurga.The patient, who is the wife of an Indian Diplomat in Guyana, complained of flu-like symptoms and remained self-quarantined at her house at Bheemasamudra. Her condition was informed to the health department, which collected her samples and forwarded it to the SIMS for tests, results of which arrived on Tuesday evening.

The DC said that samples of family members including the two children, and those working at the MP’s house would be collected and sent for testing to ensure proper protocol is followed. The administration has declared a ‘red zone of a 5km radius around Siddeshwara’s house at Bheemasamudra. DHO Dr Palaksha said that the patient is not suffering any serious problems and is normal. However, we have put her in the isolation ward of Chigateri District Hospital in Davangere, he said.

Hubballi,  Jul 25: South Western Railway (SWR) inducted seven lady sub-inspectors (SI) in the Railway Protection Force (RPF), in a first, on Friday. Three more women SI undergoing training in Lucknow are expected to join SWR soon.

According to the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of SWR, the inducted sub-inspectors are part of 164 women SI cadets who passed out of the RPF training centre in Moula Ali, Hyderabad, after a rigorous training of nine months. They will take care of the security of railway passengers, Railway property, and Railway premises, after resuming their duties.

They will also be responsible for giving special care to the vulnerable sections of society, women, and children while discharging their duties, the CPRO said.

The CPRO also informed that the newly admitted female SIs will be posted to major stations on SWR for regular duties on completion of their two months of practical training over the Zone. Further 120 ladies are undergoing constables training for various training centres across India.

This move is considered a step forward into women empowerment in Railways.

Mangaluru, Mar 8: The Saraswat Co-operative Bank Ltd., celebrated International Women’s Day with a special seminar on Financial Planning for the banks’ women customers. The programme was held on Friday, March 6, 2020 from 4.00 to 6.00 p.m. at Hotel Ocean Pearl Inn, Bejai, Mangalore. Dr. Sukanya Rao, academician and financial planner, was the chief guest and resource person for the seminar. Mr. Srinivas C., Karnataka State Head, Future Generali India Insurance Company Ltd., was the guest of honour.  Mrs. Vimala Anchan, Senior Manager and Branch Head of M. G. Road Branch of Saraswat Bank presided over the function.

In her chief guest’s address, Dr. Sukanya Rao defined empowerment of women as the ability of take one’s own decisions and utilize resources. Quoting global rankings, she said India enjoys a high ranking of being 9th in the world in political empowerment of women, whereas in other sectors we stand abysmally low. In social empowerment of women, India ranks at 120th, in economic empowerment at 124th and health and survival at 135th.

She suggested that the best tool for enhancing these empowerment rankings is education, which will lead to earning potential and result in enhancing social status. “Every year spent in school boosts girl’s wages by 10-20%,” she said “When a girl receives 7+ years of education, marriage gets postponed by four years and she has 2.2 less children.” She advised women to learn to take one’s own decisions. “Learn to take decisions, especially financial decisions, on your own instead of depending on significant others to do the decision making,” she said.

She followed up her talk with an interactive session on personal financial planning. She enlightened the audience on factors influencing our financial decision making and gave different perspectives on prioritizing savings, spending and investment. 

Srinivas C., Karnataka State Head, Future Generali India Insurance Company Ltd., along with Deepak enlightened the women regarding financial safeguards available under Married Women's Property Act (1874).

Established in 1918, Saraswat Bank was the first co-operative bank to provide merchant banking services after it was recognized as a scheduled bank by RBI in 1988. The bank enjoys high proportion of women employees (nearly 75%) and it is a recipient of Best Cooperative Bank Award in 2016.

Fun games were conducted and prizes were distributed to the winners. Bhavanthi Street Branch Head Karthik Shetty welcomed the gathering. Prithvi Pai and Aishwarya rendered the invocation. Naina Shenoy expressed the bank’s Women’s Day greetings. Chilimbi Branch Head Kishore Shetty gave a vote of thanks. Mahesh Nayak compered the programme. Past Branch Head Mamtha Rao was present.