Six kg gold seized at Mangalore International Airport, Bhatkal man arrested

Bengaluru, Jul 23: The Siddi community in Karnataka got its first lawmaker as Governor Vajubhai Vala nominated five persons, including Shantharama Budna Siddi, to the Karnataka Legislative Council on Wednesday.

Shantharama Siddi had been working as a social worker and was a post holder at the Vanavasi Kalyan Prakalpa, a tribal welfare initiative of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The Siddis, an ethnic group in India, are said to have descended from the people of the East African region. They are included in the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST) in Karnataka.

Apart from the Shantharama, the inclusion of CP Yogishwar, who had left Congress to join BJP in 2017 but failed to retain his seat in the 2018 Assembly polls, is also considered as a big decision.

Adagur H Vishwanath, another former JDS leader, who had quit his party and joined BJP but failed to retain his seat has also caught the attention of the people.

Further, Governor Vala has nominated Talwar Sabanna and Bharathi Shetty to the Upper House in the state.

Mangaluru, May 15: Dakshina Kannada saw a record spike in the number of fresh COVID-19 cases today, which triggered panic among the people of the district, which is currently under orange zone.   

According to the mid-day bulletin of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, as many as 16 people from Dakshina Kannada tested positive for the covid-19. 

Among them 15 are the Gulf returnees who were brought by an Air India Express special flight from Dubai to Mangaluru International Airport on May 12. 

As many as 179 repatriates had landed at Mangaluru Airport. Among them 125 are quarantined in Dakshina Kannada, 49 in Udupi and five in Uttara Kannada districts.  

Meanwhile, a 68-year-old woman from Surathkal area in Mangaluru, who is suffering from Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) was also tested covid-19 positive.

This is the highest number of cases reported in a single day since first case registered in the district on March 22 when Dubai-bound youth from Bhatkal was tested positive. 

With this the total number of covid-19 cases in the district mounted to 50 including five deaths. Many of them have returned home after recovery.

3 members of a family test positive

According to Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh, three members of a same family are among 15 gulf returnees who are tested positive.  They are a 45-year-old man, his 33-year-old wife and their 6-year-old child. 

Six among those who tested positive today are above 60 years of age, said the deputy commissioner. 
 

Hubli, April 6: A disinfection tunnel was installed at the entrance of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) market here on Sunday.

The tunnel, installed with the help of Young India.org, sprays people with a small percentage of Sodium hypochlorite solution through nozzles in order to sanitise them before they enter the market.

"It is helpful for all the farmers, vegetable vendors and other people who are coming and going to the APMC market. This is very useful," said Jagdish Shettar, Minister of Large and Medium Scale Industries, Karnataka.

With regards to any plans of more devices being added in the near future, Shettar added: "Firstly, we will have to see what would be the public's reaction and then, later on, we will decide."

President of Confederation of Indian Industry, Hubli VSV Prasad said that the setting up of this tunnel can help curtail the spread of Coronavirus "by disinfecting the bacteria of the body".

While it was on the trial stage right now, Prasad hopes that the trial is successful and the chamber is set up in more public places. With regards to the cost of the tunnel, he said: "The cost is around Rs 1.5 Lac to Rs 2 Lac and hopefully it will come down once we go for production," he added.

Srinivas Joshi, a representative of Young India.org, speaking to news agency said: "We have added 1.8 percent of Sodium hypochlorite solution in 100 litres of water. It is pumped through high-pressure pumps and sprayed like a mist via nozzles for 3-5 seconds which is very less time to cause any kind of allergy."

"People who are allergic to chemicals should avoid going through this chamber. We are putting signboard very soon," he added.

The number of positive cases of coronavirus in the country continues to surge. As per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is 3,577 with 83 deaths.