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Bengaluru, Feb 9: Senior JD(S) leader and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda has called upon all the regional parties and secular parties to join hands with the Congress and work in tandem to take on the BJP.

Noting that mere speeches would not help, he said the regional and secular parties should enhance their strength politically in the country.

"We all need to join together with Congress and work in tandem with the available strength only then will we be able to stop them (the BJP)," the JD(S) supremo said at a public meeting organised by the party in Hassan district on Saturday.

Gowda cautioned the regional and secular parties against sitting idle watching the developments in the country.

"If the small and regional parties do not exercise the powers given by Dr B R Ambedkar to the country, they (BJP) are going to the extent of finishing them up," he said. Interestingly, the JD(S) patriarch, had in the run-up to the December bypolls to Karnataka assembly said he would not align with the Congress and dubbed it as "not trustworthy."

Mangaluru, May 12: The first repatriation flight to Mangaluru from Dubai with nearly 180 passengers landed at the international airport here. 

The total passengers, including 88 men, 84 women, five children and two infants arrived by the Air India Express flight IX 384 late Tuesday night, airport sources said.

There were 12 medical emergency cases and 38 pregnant women among them, they said. The district administration had made arrangements for receiving the passengers, who were provided with sanitizers and masks. They were advised to maintain social distancing as per the health protocol.

All the foreign returnees were screened as per the standard operating procedure to ensure that they were asymptomatic.

The passengers were taken to their chosen place of accommodation in KSRTC buses. They will be undergoing a 14-day quarantine in the places, which will be monitored by doctors assigned by the health department. More than 17 hotels and 12 hostels have been arranged for the accommodation of the returnees.

Passengers were also asked to download the mandatory 'Aroygya Sethu' app for contact tracing. Rahul Shinde IAS who is in charge of arranging quarantine facilities, airport director V V Rao and district health officer Ramachandra Bairy were present at the airport.

New Delhi, Jun 25: The Central government submitted before the Supreme Court on Thursday that the remaining class 10 and 12 CBSE exams, which were earlier rescheduled to be held between July 1 to July 15 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, have been cancelled.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), informed a three-judge bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar that the remaining class 10 and 12 CBSE exams scheduled to be held in July have been cancelled.

Delhi, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu have conveyed their inability to conduct the examinations, Mehta said.

The bench asked whether class 12 students were being given the option to either get marks on the internal assessment basis or appear for an exam later, to which the Mehta responded in the affirmative.

CBSE exams for class 10 students stand cancelled, Mehta said and added that they don't have to give any examinations. Mehta further submitted that as soon as conditions are conducive, CBSE exams for class 12 students, who opt for it, will be conducted.

The apex court was hearing a petition, filed by advocate Rishi Malhotra, seeking directions to cancel the remaining CBSE exams in view of the health risk of coronavirus infection. The apex court was also hearing a similar petition regarding the ICSE exams.

Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), through its counsel Jaideep Gupta, also informed the court that it will also cancel the class 10 and 12 board exams. However, it submitted that it does not agree to give the option to students to give the exam later.