MLA helps research scholar from Italy reach home
Mangaluru: Former Minister and Mangaluru MLA U T Khader helped a research scholar in virology who had arrived in India from Italy on March 22 to reach her home at Kulai here on Sunday. Madhu Bhat, a PhD student at University of Turin, had arrived in Delhi on March 22. After the mandatory quarantine period, she was brought to Bengaluru two days ago by a special bus arranged by the central government. But she could not travel to her home due to the continuing lockdown. Learning about her plight through a common friend of the family, Khader arranged his personal car and she reached home safely. Bhat is the daughter of retired army officer Shivaram Bhat and Shailaja Bhat, a professor at Vijaya college in Mulki. The government had brought 26 Indians stranded in Italy, including Bhat, to Delhi where they were placed under quarantine. Later, a bus was arranged for them to go to their states and it reached Bengaluru on April 10. (PTI)
Youth booked for spitting near cop
New Delhi: Delhi Police have booked a city resident on the charge of spitting near a policeman deployed on lockdown duty in the national capital. Police said the incident occurred in the Lahori Gate area of north Delhi on April 12 evening when an ASI and a couple of policemen were on duty at a checkpoint in the area. A young man seen loitering nearby was asked to stop, but he spit near a policeman and ran away into a bylane nearby. Police have registered a case under the Epidemic Diseases Act and other law provisions and launched a manhunt for the accused. (IANS)
Eatery owner booked for selling liquor
Firozabad (UP): Illegal foreign liquor worth Rs 2 lakh has been seized in a raid conducted by the police at a roadside eatery in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad district, police said on Monday. Acting on information that foreign liquor is being sold from the ‘dhaba’ (roadside eatery) in violation of the lockdown orders, a number of liquor bottles of different brands were recovered from there, Additional Superintendent of Police Iraj Raja said. The eatery owner, Saurabh Jadaun, did not have the licence to sell the liquor. A case has been registered against him and two others under the Excise Act, and also for violation of lockdown orders, the ASP said, adding that an investigation was on, police said. (PTI)
Dog sacrifices life to save owner
Hyderabad: Proving its faithfulness to man, a pet dog sacrificed its life to save its owner from a poisonous snake. The owner was sleeping when the dog, a Pomeranian, engaged a snake which had slithered into the house. The incident occurred in Kallur in Telangana’s Khammam district on Sunday. Kishore, a Registered Medical Practitioner (RMP), was enjoying his siesta when the canine spotted a snake entering the house. It started barking and sensing danger to its master’s life, engaged the reptile in a fight. On hearing the cries of the dog, which had suffered a venomous bite, Kishore found the snake. He killed the snake with a stick and took his pet to a veterinarian but it died on the way. Kishore and his other family members were seen wailing at the body of Snoopi, the name they had given to their pet dog. (IANS)
Plea against PM CARES Fund rejected
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea seeking quashing of the decision to set up the PM CARES Fund, where people can donate money, to deal with the situation arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde described the PIL filed by lawyer M L Sharma as “misconceived” and dismissed it in a hearing conducted through video conferencing. The bench, which also comprised justices L Nageswara Rao and M M Shantanagoudar, did not agree to the contention of the lawyer that the fund has been created without following the schemes enumerated under Articles 266 and 267 (which deal with the contingency and the Consolidated Funds of India) of the Constitution. On March 28, the Centre set up the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund with the primary objective to deal with any kind of emergency situation like the one currently posed by the COVID-19 outbreak and provide relief to those affected. (PTI)