Lockdown yielding results, should be extended if need be: Sadanada Gowda
Bengaluru: Union Minister Sadananda Gowda on Saturday said lockdown has to be extended if need be, as it has been yielding results, with major cities including Bengaluru witnessing a decline in daily COVID-19 cases.
The state is currently under complete lockdown till May 24.
"Lockdowns have been successful and have yielded results, cities like Mumbai, Delhi, and Karnataka's Bengaluru are examples. There has been a decline (in Bengaluru) since the last couple of days," Gowda said.
Speaking to reporters here, the union minister who represents Bengaluru North parliamentary seat said, there is a need to break the chain.
".. it (lockdown) has been going on successfully, after May 24 if there is a need for it to be extended, it has to be done.
We have to save lives, leading life may become difficult, governments will have to take steps to improve it," he added.
Gowda's statement came a day after Revenue Minister R Ashoka batted for the extension of the statewide lockdown, aimed at controlling the spread of the pandemic.
Amid the rising Covid-19 cases in the state, the Karnataka government that had initially announced 14 days "close down" from April 27, subsequently imposed a complete lockdown from May 10 to May 24, amid continued spike in cases.
Noting that the state and central governments were ready to take all the criticism regarding COVID management, Gowda said, those in the government will not get disturbed by it.
"We have a responsibility and the commitment and we will have to fulfill it," he added.
Conceding that the government's action plan on vaccination got disturbed as people of all the age groups started coming in large number to take it, with the intensity of the second wave increasing, the Union Minister said necessary steps and policies will be implemented soon so that everyone gets the vaccine.
Karnataka on Friday reported 41,779 new cases of COVID- 19, and 373 fatalities, taking the total number of infections to 21,30,267 and the death toll to 21,085.
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Russian First Deputy PM Manturov meets PM Modi; discusses trade, energy ties
New Delhi (PTI): Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov on Thursday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties in areas of investment, energy and industrial cooperation.
Manturov, on a two-day visit to India, also held talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
The Russian embassy said Modi and Manturov discussed "specific steps to implement agreements reached" during the India-Russia summit held in December last.
"Particular attention was paid to further strengthening Russia-India trade, economic, investment, energy and industrial cooperation," it said on social media.
In their meeting, Doval and Manturov were learnt to have discussed bilateral defence cooperation besides the evolving regional security situation.
The Russian first deputy PM's visit to New Delhi comes days after India cleared procurement of a fresh batch of five S-400 missile systems from Russia.
The decision to procure the additional batch of five S-400 air defence missile systems was taken against the backdrop of the missile system proving its capability during Operation Sindoor.
The missile system played a crucial role in India's dominance over Pakistan during the May 7-10 hostilities last year.
In October 2018, India had signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning by the US that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions under the provisions of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Three squadrons have already been delivered.
In the talks, the two sides are also expected to exchange views on the West Asia conflict and its impact on global economy, especially on the energy sector.
It is learnt that both sides also reviewed the implementation of decisions taken at the summit talks between Prime Minister Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in last December.
Following talks between the two leaders, India and Russia unveiled a raft of measures including a five-year roadmap to build a robust economic partnership and to increase the annual trade to USD 100 billion by 2030.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last week lauded India's "independent foreign policy" and said that Russia looks forward to welcoming Prime Minister Modi for a visit this year.
In an address at a conference titled 'India and Russia: Towards a new bilateral agenda', he said the "time-tested" friendship between the two countries is a model on interstate relations based on mutual trust and respect.
