Oscar calls for job security to drivers, cleaners and conductors

Bengaluru, Apr 13: Eminent scientist and NITI Aayog member V K Saraswat said on Monday the number of COVID- 19 cases is not going to go beyond what's being reported daily in India as he maintained that the country is in the process of flattening the curve.

The former Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister said the coronavirus positive cases have seen a sharper rise in the last four-five days because of increase in the number of testing.

"It's a good sign; all those asymptomatic cases lying hidden they are also coming out," Saraswat told PTI. "We certainly had a catalytic factor which was basically this (Nizamuddin) Markaz problem which has actually created clusters at different places and that has also been one of the factors for the kind of rise that has taken place."

But he said India is in a much better shape compared to other nations in the battle against COVID-19. "I can only say that the rate is not going to go beyond what has been going on now, may be 700 to 800 cases per day. So, we are in the process of flattening the curve."

The government's decision to declare nation-wide lockdown has paid dividends, Saraswat, a former chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, said.

Noting that India has seen a series of virus attacks in the last 15-20 years including Chikungunya and Dengue, he said the emphasis now should be on more and more R & D to find vaccines in advance.

Mangaluru, Mar 29: Infosys Foundation Chairperson Sudha Murty has sent the second consignment of N95 Masks, Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and Sanitisers worth about Rs 73 lakhs, City police Commissioner Dr P S Harsha said on Sunday.

"These will be primarily used by Doctors, Nurses and Paramedics of Wenlock Hospital here and masks by the frontline staff of ASHA and police at risk of exposure to the virus,” Dr Harsha tweeted on Sunday.

The district has received the first consignment with critical medical equipment worth Rs 28 lakh from the Infosys foundation on Saturday, March 28.

Udupi, Jul 14: Abhijna Rao, a student of Vidyodaya PU College, Udupi, has emerged state topper in the science stream of II PUC. 

Abhijna has secured 596 marks in the II PUC examination-2020, the results of which were announced on Tuesday July 14. She scored a perfect 100 marks in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Computer Science (PCMC). In Sanskrit and English she scored 100 and 96 marks respectively.

She had secured second position in the Karnataka SSLC examinations two years ago.

She is daughter of Asha Rao and Vittal Rao, a retired professor. Her sister Raksha Rao has completed Engineering from NITK Suratkal.

“After securing second rank in the state in SSLC, my target was to score more in PUC examinations. My parents and lecturers have supported me in my studies. All my teachers gave me proper guidance. Vidyodaya College also supported me. I was studying on a daily basis. The exams were easy and I had expected to score above 590. I am very happy to score 596," she said.