ZP/TP polls: Congress may face fresh troubles in DK, Udupi

Bengaluru, Jan 14: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the government of Karnataka while hearing the plea for ordering Judicial probe into the December 19, violence and police action in Mangaluru.

On December 19, the local police while taking action against anti-CAA and NRC protesters had fired at them which had killed two citizens. The police action was then followed by curfew in the region for over 48 hours.

The High Court bench hearing the plea of JD(s) leader Iqbal and Sullia Pattan Panchayat member Iqbal seeking its intervention to order judicial probe into the matter has issued the notice to the government.

Mangaluru, Jan 5: In a frightening incident, a leopard which was trapped in a snare attacked and injured three persons in its successful bid to escape Balpa village in Sullia taluk of Dakshina Kannada. 

The incident occurred on Thursday when around 15 forest staff approached the trapped leopard to tranquilize it with a dart. The leopard, however, managed escape. 

While running away, it attacked a villager Balakrishna, aged about 70, who was working in the nearby plantation. He sustained injuries on his upper lips.

He was rushed to a hospital in Sullia and then was shifted to the Government Wenlock hospital for further treatment. He is learnt to be out of danger.

After this incident, the forest department kept a tab and tracked the leopard using a drone.  

According to V Karikalan, deputy conservator of forest (DCF), Dakshina Kannada, Between 5pm to 5.30pm on a tip off that leopard was spotted near a bush, the forest department tried to approach it again and the animal jumped on the officials, injuring Assistant Conservator of Forests Austin and forest guard Divith. 

The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital and then taken to Mangaluru for further treatment. They are learnt to be out of danger.

Meanwhile, the department is continuing combing in the village and surrounding areas. Three teams consisting of three RFOs and 10 Dy RFOs, supported by doctors are on the field. The forest department has also placed two leopard capturing cages in the area. Night patrolling will continue and public announcements are being made.

Bengaluru, May 29: The hotel industry is one of the worst-hit industries due to lockdown, along with the tourism industry. Bengaluru's hotel industry has incurred a loss of around Rs 1200 crore during the lockdown period however, the hotels here are likely to open in June if the State government issues guidelines for the resumption of their services.

Speaking to media, PC Rao, President, Bangalore Hotelier's Association said, "It's not only the loss of business, but we have lost the customer base as well. 
We don't expect any good future for the next six months. There will be a slow down in the business even after opening."

"We have requested our CM to give first preference to the hotels. We are going to restart our business in June if granted permission. Around 10 per cent of the hotels cannot open at all. They are in the stage of merging or closing down position. Few hotels may open after five or six months," he added.

He continued saying that many hotels are for sale but there are no buyers. There are around 21,000 restaurants in Bangalore, 3500 hotels with rooms and restaurant which has an average turnover of Rs 20 crores per day, Rao informed.

"We expect losses of around Rs 1200 crores in these two months. We are giving special online training to all the hoteliers and to our managers particularly to deal with the COVID-19 situation, including how to deal with the guests, employees, how to start the hotel services. 

Each and every manager has already been trained and we are still continuing it. We will conduct face to face meeting as well and brief the managers," said Rao.