Bengaluru, Oct 30: Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) inducted 20 luxury buses -- Airavat Club Class 2.0 model -- each worth Rs 1.78 crore, to its fleet on Wednesday, officials said.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah flagged off the new buses along with Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy. He also took a ride with the Minister in one of those buses.

According to KSRTC, Siddaramaiah presented 'Sarige Suraksha' accident relief compensation cheque of Rs one crore each to two deceased employee’s (Nagaraju M N, Conductor, Ramanagara Division and Shivanna, Driver-cum-Conductor, Mysuru City Division) dependents.

So far, dependents of 22 deceased employees have been paid with accident compensation of Rs 22 crore. Dependents of five employees, who died due to ailments other than accidents, were also paid family welfare compensation of Rs 10 Lakh each on the occasion.

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said KSRTC is the first corporation in the country to introduce these types of innovative schemes and, under the guidance of the Transport Minister, it is bringing laurels to the Government and all its employees are appreciative of this effort.

The new buses have a 3.5 per cent increase in overall bus length, providing more space between passenger seats, officials said.

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Saharsa (PTI): More than 150 children were taken ill after allegedly consuming food that was part of the mid-day meal in a school in Bihar’s Saharsa district, a senior official said on Thursday.

The incident occurred at a middle school in Baluaha village of the district.

The official said that 115 children were undergoing treatment at the Sadar Hospital, while around 50 students were admitted to Mahishi Public Health Centre.

“We received information that several children fell ill after consuming the mid-day meal in Baluaha. The children were initially treated at the primary health centre, but later, many were referred to the Sadar Hospital,” Saharsa District Magistrate Deepesh Kumar told reporters.

“According to doctors, the health condition of the children has improved, but they will be kept under observation for some time. There is no need to panic. Some kids are having mild fever. They are being treated accordingly,” Kumar said.

Meanwhile, family members of some children claimed that a snake was found in the container in which cooked pulses was stored at the school.

Of the 545 students present in the school, 200 had already eaten their meals by the time the snake was spotted, and later complained of stomach ache and vomiting, they said.

Regarding the claims, the DM said food samples have been collected from the school.

“We will be able to comment on this only after the results of the tested samples arrive,” he said.