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Sumalatha upsets JDS, Cong plans in Mandya

Agencies
March 26, 2019

Bengaluru, Mar 26: Actress Sumalatha’s decision to contest as an independent from Mandya Lok Sabha seat, where JD(S) has fielded Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil, has upset the calculations of the ruling coalition, especially with the BJP now extending support to her.

Under the seat-sharing agreement between Congress and the JD(S), the Mandya constituency in the Vokkaliga heartland was left to former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's party which holds sway in the region.

Sumalatha’s husband Ambareesh, a popular Kannada film star who died last year, had represented the seat thrice -- two times on Congress ticket and once as Janata Dal candidate.

The Mandya seat has become a prestige issue for the JD(S) as party patriarch Deve Gowda is launching his grandson Nikhil Gowda into politics with this contest. Sumalatha’s decision to fight from the seat has left the JD(S) fuming. The party had won all the eight assembly segments under the Lok Sabha constituency in the 2018 Assembly elections.

"Sumalatha is having so much of power aspiration and she is knocking on the doors of BJP….. Now people are getting the reality. The BJP is playing all these things. Voters of Mandya will not entertain such dirty politics. We will retain the Mandya seat," JD(S) spokesperson Ramesh Babu told news agency.

PWD minister and Deve Gowda's son H D Revanna has also attacked Sumalatha for deciding to join politics soon after Ambareesh’s passing away.

The JD(S) sitting MP from Mandya L R Shivarame Gowda is apparently upset as he has not been given ticket to contest from Mandya though he won in the bypolls a few months ago, according to party sources.

Early his month, Shivarame Gowda met Congress leaders N Chaluvarayaswamy and Balakrishna and BJP leaders MLA Dr Ashwathanarayan and C P Yogeshwar.

The Congress has meanwhile directed all its workers to back the JD(S) candidate Nikhil Gowda.

"Congress will not support Sumalatha. Our eight MLA candidates (under Mandya Lok Sabha seat), 16 block presidents, district Congress committee, members of district, Taluk and Gram Panchayat and booth committee members have to abide by the KPCC," party spokesperson A N Nataraj Gowda told news agency.

The party has warned four Congress leaders who are rallying behind Sumalatha. State president Dinesh Gundu Rao has cautioned them and if they do not mend their ways, action would be taken against them, Nataraj Gowda said.

Sumalatha has already started aggressive election campaigning in Mandya much to the discomfort of JD(S) and Congress. The Congress tried some back channels to persuade her not to contest from Mandya but to no avail.

Ambareesh enjoyed a following in Mandya which he represented in Lok Sabha thrice from 1998 to 2009 and was the union minister of state for information and broadcasting for a small duration. He had left the Janata Dal and joined the Congress in 1999.

Sumalatha has alleged there is a threat to her life and requested the Election Commission to provide her security.

She said Mandya has become a sensitive seat as Chief Minister Kumaraswamy's son is contesting from there.

The actress cited the example of actor Darshan whose house at Rajarajeshwarinagar in the city was allegedly stoned a few days ago when he was not at home, as he had extended support to her.

The actress also called on BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa on Monday.

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News Network
February 14,2020

Mangaluru, Feb 14: In a unique initiative, students of a government school in Dakshina Kannada have made a food stop in the campus to provide water and food to birds and squirrels.

The students have hung coconut shells on trees in the school premises with food and water in it for birds and squirrels.

Speaking about the same, the Principal of the school said: "Students are taking a lot of interest in the activity. Various types of birds visit the school campus, making the ambience very nice."

He added that he wants children to become socially and environmentally conscious. "The one area where children need to be given exposure is the protection of the environment, the upkeep of the campus and the greenery in and around their homes as well as in their schools."

Commenting on the recent initiative of the school's eco-club, he said, "Using this small idea, we can have a great beginning towards taking up bigger initiatives to take care of the environment."

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News Network
April 26,2020

Mangaluru, Apr 26: In the wake of the fears among local people regarding the cremation of coronavirus victims, an understanding has been reached with all stakeholders that the Mangaluru city corporation's crematorium here will be the official funeral site for such cases in future.

Mangaluru South MLA D Vedavyas Kamath, who had to face stinging criticism on social media for his alleged support to local people who stopped the cremation of a COVID- 19 victim at Pachanady near here on Thursday, took an active role in finding the solution.

The body of the victim, a woman, had to be taken from Pachanady to Kaikunje during the night, delaying the funeral by hours.

Kamath visited Boloor on Saturday and sought to convince the people that cremating the bodies of coronavirus victims would not endanger their lives in any way as the guidelines of WHO and union health ministry are being strictly followed.

The crematorium at Boloor is run by the MCC and has an electric furnace and firewood pyres.

Kamath said a tacit understanding that final rites of COVID-19 patients inDakshina Kannada will be performed at Boloor has been reached at a meeting with all stakeholders.

Cremating bodies in such a controlled environment is deemed safe as per guidelines, he said.

City Mayor Diwakar, local corporator Jagadish Shetty and MCC assistant commissioner Madan Mohan took part in the meeting.

The decision was conveyed to the DK district administration.

The district administration has also launched a campaign on dead body management protocol to convince the people to ignore misinformation being spread regarding the cremation of coronavirus victims.

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News Network
May 22,2020
Bengaluru, May 22: Evacuation planes from Male in Maldives and Doha in Qatar landed in Bengaluru with returnees from Karnataka after they were stranded for two months due to suspension of international flights since March 23 and the extended lockdown, an official said on Friday.
 
"An Air-India flight (#0266) with 152 passengers from Male and its subsidiary Express flight (IX-0822) with 177 returnees and 5 infants from Doha landed here safely at 6.50 pm. and 9.05 pm respectively," an airline official told media persons in Bengaluru.
 
Both the flights are first from their respective countries to Bengaluru, bringing in returnees to the southern state in the second phase of the Vande Bharat mission, being carried out to evacuate Indians stranded the world over.
 
"As per the standard operating procedure and guidelines of the state health department, all the passengers were screened with thermal device and tested to ensure they were asymptomatic before leaving the airport," a nodal officer said.
 
The returnees were given a spare mask to wear all the time and a sanitiser to wash their hands.
 
"The luggage of all passengers was screened and disinfected before handing over to them after they completed formalities such as filling the self-declaration form and downloading of the Quarantine App for contact tracing later,” said the official.
 
The passengers were ferried from the airport in state-run buses in batches for 14-day institutional quarantine in hotels and resorts across the city.
 
The flights were the 6th and 7th flights to Karnataka, of the national carrier and its Express arm, which are operating the service to repatriate thousands of Indians, including distressed workers, migrants, students, senior citizens and tourists, stranded overseas.
 
Five flights have flown about 650 returnees till date from May 18-21 under the mission's second phase to Bengaluru and Mangaluru on the west coast. The passengers have been brought from Dubai in the UAE, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Muscat in Oman, Dammam in Saudi Arabia and San Francisco in the US.
 
The remaining flights to Karnataka will land in Bengaluru and Mangaluru over the next 12 days till June 3 from 9-10 more destinations the world over.
 
In the first phase of the mission from May 7-17, the airline and its arm flew 6 flights to the state from May 11-15, bringing in 800 passengers, including 623 to Bengaluru and 177 to Mangaluru from London, Singapore, San Francisco and Dubai.

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