Sri Rama, Sri Krishna, Valmiki were non-vegetarians, reminds Madhwaraj

Bengaluru, Apr 3: Four people, including three who attended the Tablighi Jamat meet in Delhi, tested positive for coronavirus on Friday, taking the total number of the affected in the state to 128, the Health department said here.

The three men from Belagavi had attended the Tablighi- Jamaat congregation from March 13 to 18 at Delhi, while the other case was that of a 75-year-old man, who is a resident of Bagalkote.

A detailed investigation was underway to ascertain how he got infected, the department said in a bulletin.

It said that till date, 128 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, including three deaths and 11 discharges.

"With 128 cases we are in ninth position in the country in number of cases.Today four new cases were confirmed, of which three were those who attended Tablighi-Jamaat congregation," Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar told reporters, giving details about the bulletin.

He said 187 of the total of 288 samples collected from those who attended the congregation had tested negative and only 13 had turned positive so far.

"Out of 288 samples collected, we have got report for only 200 cases and are awaiting reports for 88," he added.

Though Kumar did not give any figures on the total number of people who went from Karnataka to attend theDelhi meet, the health department on Thursday had said nearly 1,000 people (including 19 foreigners) linked to Tablighi Jamat had been screened and swab samples of more than 200 people had been collected, while efforts are on to find out others.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday held a meeting with Muslim leaders and MLAs even as the government stepped up efforts to track those who might have travelled to the state after taking part in the meet in Delhi last month, which has turned out to be the hotbed of COVID-19 spread in the country.

After the meeting, the Chief Minister said Muslim MLAs agreed to provide details of those who attended the Jamaat's congregation to the government and also convince them to undergo COVID-19 tests, along with quarantining themselves.

Out of total of 114 active cases in the state so far, 111 patients (including 1 pregnant woman) are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while three are in ICU (one on oxygen and two on Ventilators).

Seven of the 128 cases detected and confirmed were transit passengers of Kerala, who landed at airports in Karnataka and are being treated in the state.

Among the 128 positive cases, 51 were reported from Bengaluru, 21 from Mysuru, 10 from Bidar, nine from Dakshina Kannada, eight from Uttara Kannada, seven from Chikkaballapur, five from Kalaburgai, four from Ballari, three each from Davangere, Belagavi and Udupi, and one each from Kodagu, Tumakuru, Bagalkote and Dharwad.

Those discharged include nine patients from Bengaluru and two from Kalaburagi and among the deceased are one each are reported from Kalaburgari, Bengaluru and Tumakuru.

The Chief Minister held a series of meetings to review the measures taken to control the spread of COVID-19 and implementation of lockdown in the state.

He asked the labour department to deposit an additional Rs 1,000 from the Construction Workers Welfare Fund to the accounts of 15 lakh labourers in the sector.

The government has already deposited Rs 1000 to their accounts (amounting about Rs 150 crore) in the first round.

During the meeting the shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Kits for Doctors and health care professionals was discussed.

"Work order has been issued for 1 lakh PPE kits, and the Chief Minister has issued directions for the supply of 2 lakh more PPE kits," Kumar said.

Yediyurappa also chaired a meeting with Ministers from Bengaluru on steps to be taken to control spread of COVID-19, as the city has more than half the confirmed cases in the state.

He also decided to covene a meeting of city legislators in this regard on Saturday morning.

Kumar said it was also decided not to provide food free of cost at the state run Indira Canteens as concerns were raised about the quality and misuse that was happening during the Chief Minister's meeting with ministers today.

"We have decided to stop free food supply...we are providing foodgrains to poor through ration already," he said.

However, the Canteens will continue to provide subsidized food- breakfast at Rs 5 and lunch and dinner at Rs 10.

The government last month had decided that Indira Canteens would provide food packets free of cost to the poor and needy in the wake of the lockdown.

Meanwhile, in view of COVID-19, emergency Additional Chief Secretary, H&FW Department ordered extension ofservices of Medical and Para-medical staff, Clinical and Nonclinical staff retiring in April and May this year, to June 30.

Amid reports of lack of co-ordination between Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar and Health and Family Welfare Minister B Sriramulu, Chief Minister Yediyurappa has tasked Suresh Kumar to brief the media on COVID-19 related daily bulletins, official sources said.

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 11: In a unique form of protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a bridegroom in Kerala, Haja Hussain, came for his wedding ceremony riding on a camel holding an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) poster in his hands, on the outskirts of the capital city on Monday.

Accompanied by a large crowd mostly comprising his friends and relatives, Hussain carried a placard which read "Reject CAA, Boycott NRC and NPR" as he arrived at the wedding hall in Vazhimukku, about 20 km from Thiruvananthapuram, on a camel back.

Haja Hussain said that he chose to do this to express his protest against the CAA.

"Along with the ' mahr' (the custom where the groom hands over gold or money to the bride), I also gave a copy of the Constitution. CAA should be rejected," said Haja Hussain, who is a local businessman.

New Delhi, Feb 12: Cooking gas LPG price on Wednesday was hiked by a steep Rs 144.5 per cylinder due to spurt in benchmark global rates of the fuel.

But to insulate domestic users, the government almost doubled the subsidy it provides on the fuel to keep per cylinder outgo almost unchanged.

LPG price was increased to Rs 858.50 per 14.2 kg cylinder from Rs 714 previously, according to a price notification of state-owned oil firms.

This is the steepest hike in rates since January 2014 when prices had gone up by Rs 220 per cylinder to Rs 1,241.

Domestic LPG users, who are entitled to buy 12 bottles of 14.2-kg each at subsidised rates in a year, will get more subsidy.

The government subsidy payout to domestic users has been increased from Rs 153.86 per cylinder to Rs 291.48, industry officials said.

For Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) beneficiaries, the subsidy has increased from Rs 174.86 to Rs 312.48 per cylinder.

After accounting for the subsidy that is paid directly into the bank accounts of LPG users, a 14.2-kg cylinder would cost Rs 567.02 for domestic users and Rs 546.02 for PMUY users.

The government gave out 8 crore free LPG connections to poor women under PMUY to increase coverage of environment-friendly fuel in kitchens.

Normally, LPG rates are revised on 1st of every month but this time it took almost two weeks for the revision to take place - a phenomenon which industry officials said was due to approvals needed for such a big jump in subsidy outgo.

Others said the decision to defer the increase could have been because of assembly elections in Delhi. Delhi voted on February 8.