Mango farmers in Karnataka stare at losses amid corona lockdown

Bengaluru, Apr 14: Karnataka Labour Department has issued an order instructing public and private establishments not to cut salaries or lay off employees during the lockdown imposed to counter Coronavirus.

In view of Covid-19, there may be incidents where services of employees or workers may be dispensed with on the pretext of the disease or employees may be forced to go on leave without pay, the Ministry of Labour and Employment said.

Legal action will be initiated if any establishment violates this advisory, Labour Department Secretary P Manivannan said in a statement issued here on Tuesday.

Mangaluru, Jun 1: A youth was hacked to death and two others suffered critical injuries following a fight between two gangs at Yekkaru Devaragudde near Kateel under the limits of Bajpe police station last night.

The deceased has been identified as Keertan (20), a resident of Marakada. The injured are Nitin (20) and Manesh (20). It is learnt that old animosity led to the attack and murder.

According to sources, members of both gangs were friends in the past. They had become enemies of each other following a fight regarding sand mining.

Sources said that Keertan, Nitin, and Manesh had reportedly invited their rival gang to Devaragudde for some discussion. A verbal friction arose between the two gangs and it culminated in the attack by the rival gang members with daggers. Keertan reportedly died on the sport. The other two were taken to hospital.

The accused fled the scene soon after committing the crime. A case has been registered at Bajpe police station. A manhunt has been launched to nab the accused.

Tumkur, Apr 11: Despite the nationwide lockdown, BJP MLA from Turuvekere constituency, M Jayaram, was on Friday seen celebrating his birthday with several villagers in Gubbi taluk in Tumkur.

A sizable number of people were seen gathering in Gubbi taluk to celebrate the BJP legislator's birthday.

Meanwhile, scores of people around the country are getting booked for violating the lockdown. In Uttarakhand alone, more than 4500 people have been arrested until Friday for violating the norms of lockdown.

Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called for a three-week lockdown, urging people to practice social distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in the country has mounted to 6,761 of which 6039 are active cases, 516 have been cured/discharged/migrated, and 206 deaths have been reported.