Muslim students forced to drink ‘nilavembu’ during Ramadan in school

Bengaluru, Jul 3: Over 35 acres of land in nine villages on the outskirts of Bengaluru have been earmarked for burial and cremation of bodies of COVID-19 victims after concerns were raised over the safety of funerals being held in burial grounds located in residential areas.

Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Urban District GN Shivamurthy issued an order setting apart about 35.5 acres in the villages under four Taluks of Bengaluru North, Bengaluru South, Anekal and Yelahanka.

The order directed the respective Tahsildars to register these chunks of land as reserved for burial grounds and not to use for any purpose.

According to the sources in the district administration, Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu and Revenue Minister R Ashoka had directed the officials to identify places on the city outskirts to dispose of the bodies of COVID-19 victims.

Mr Sriramulu had on Wednesday said COVID-19 victims will not be laid to rest in burial grounds in the city and separate places will be earmarked on the outskirts in the backdrop of safety concerns raised by public.

He had also warned against unscientific disposal of used Personal Protection Equipment kits worn by the families of the victim for the final rites, referring to reports about such instances.

In some places, people have also expressed concern over bodies of those who died of the coronavirus being buried in their neighbourhood.

Mangaluru, Jul 10: The new team of office bearers of Mangalore Toastmasters Club for the year 2020-21 was installed in an online ceremony themed “Unlockdownable MTM” on 04th July, 2020. The new team will be led by Shraddha S Pai as President and her team consisting of Dr. Sapna Ramaraj as Vice President-Education, Ranjani Vittaldas as Vice President-Membership, Fiona Pinto as Vice President-Public Relations, Aashitha Shetty as Treasurer, Chandrashekar Palekar as Secretary and Oliver Lobo as Sergeant-at-arms. Dr. Ananth Prabhu, motivational speaker and cyber law investigator was the chief guest for the occasion.

In his speech, Dr. Ananth Prabhu emphasized the necessity for a paradigm shift towards cyber security with the rampant increase in digitization. He mentioned three out of fifteen skills that are absolutely necessary for anyone to be successful - how to impress people, independent living and surviving skills and how to bounce back when you fall. The remaining 15 can be found detailed in his book - The Samurai who sold his Suzuki which he presented to the outgoing and incoming Presidents.

Aashitha Shetty was the anchor for the program. Chandrashekar Palekar rendered the invocation and Benzita Ferrao welcomed the gathering. Outgoing President Kavitha Kamath thanked her entire team, mentors and the club members for their support during her tenure. Outgoing Vice President-Education Mareena Seema presented the Toastmaster of the year award to Distinguished Toastmaster M. N. Pai. Jyothi Hebbar presented an elaborate Secretary’s report highlighting the club’s happenings, events and achievements during the past year 2019-20.

Sunitha Periera introduced the 11 new members of the club who were then inducted by Division F Director Molly Chaudhuri. The Oath-taking of the new office bearers was presided over by Area F3 Director Sapna Shenoy. In her acceptance speech, Shraddha S Pai thanked the club members for putting their confidence in her and electing her to the new position. She spoke of her sense of debt and duty to those who held the office before her and promised to do her best in meeting the challenges in the coming year.

17 Representatives and leaders from different clubs of Division F including Club Growth Director Savitha Salian, Division Director Molly Chaudhuri and veteran toastmasters Malini Hebbar and Phyllis D’Costa felicitated the outgoing and incoming office bearers. Isha S Pai, daughter of newly sworn-in President Shraddha S Pai and Mrs. Vijaya Kudva, mother of outgoing President Kavitha Kamath also felicitated the new team. The vote of thanks was proposed by Princita Ferrao. Technical support was handled by Praveen M.N. and Yvonil D’Souza.

Mangalore Toastmasters club is built on 17 glorious years of support and encouragement of a healthy mix of veteran as well as rookie toastmasters. Bagging 93 educational awards, the club has placed 11th worldwide in the past year, upholding Toastmasters International’s core values of integrity, dedication to excellence, service to the member and respect for the individual.

Bengaluru, Mar 27: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on Friday formed a task force to monitor the spread of COVID-19 disease in the state and provide guidelines and suggestions to contain its proliferation in the state.

In a press release, the KPCC has stated that the 15 member committee will be headed by the senior Congress leader and former Health minister K R Rameshkumar also included two other former health ministers, Shivanand Patil and U T Khader as the members of the committee.