17-yr-old girl riding pillion falls to death as biker does stunts

Udupi, June 19: The coronavirus has claimed second life in the coastal district of Udupi. The victim is a 54-year-old person who had returned from Mumbai.

A resident of Tekkatte in Kundapur taluk of Udupi district, the person was among four travellers that returned together from Maharashtra on June 18. 

Even though all four were asymptomatic they were home quarantined separately as per norms. According to sources, all of a sudden he collapsed at home and died. His throat swabs tested positive for the coronavirus, according to deputy commissioner G Jagadish.

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 7: Kerala government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday has come under the spotlight for depicting the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on the cover of the state finance budget 2020-21 document.

Issuing clarification on the same, Issac justified that it is a political statement.

"Definitely, it is a political statement, the cover of my budget speech. It is a painting by a Malayalam artist of Mahatma Gandhi's murder scene. We are sending out a message that we will not forget who murdered Gandhi."

He also alleged that history is being re-written and National Register of Citizens (NRC) is being used to divide the country on communal lines.

"This is important at the times when history is being re-written. There is an attempt to erase some popular memories and use NRC to divide the population on communal lines. Kerala will stand united."

NRC is an official record of those people who are legal citizens of India. The dossier includes demographic information about all those individuals who qualify as citizens of India as per the Citizenship Act, 1955.

The register was first prepared after the 1951 Census of India and since then it has not been updated until recently.

Bengaluru, May 9: A three-year-old boy was killed by a leopard in the early hours of Saturday in Magadi taluk near Bengaluru.

According to police, the boy identified as C Hemanth, was sleeping with his parents - Chandrasekhar and Mangalagowramma - outside his grandfather Chikkanna's residence at Kadaraiana Palya.

The couple, residents of Dodderi, near Big Banyan Tree (Dodda Alada Mara), had been staying at Chikkanna's [Mangalagowramma's father] residence since past a few days following the outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic in Bengaluru.

Some of the family members, with the child, had slept outside the residence on Friday as the temperature was high. The feline might have taken the child between 1.30 a.m. and 4 a.m., and killed it on the outskirts of the village, said the sources.

After a frantic search, family members and villagers found the mutilated body of the child in the early hours. The leopard had left the partially devoured body on the outskirts of the village, added the sources.

According to the villagers, many felines have been prowling in the area, probably arriving from forests around Magadi and attached areas, for the last several weeks.

The Forest Department officials said that they have launched an exercise to trap the animal by placing cages with live baits.

According to preliminary investigations, the child was killed by a leopard. Pugmarks were found near the body. A detailed investigation and post-mortem report will find the exact cause for the death.

The incident has sent shockwaves in the vicinity of the village. According to the sources, people are planning to launch a protest to condemn the killing of the boy.

Minister for Forest and Environment B.S. Anand Singh has announced a compensation of ₹7.5 lakh to the family of the victim.

Accompanied by Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha member D.K. Suresh, Magadi legislator Manjunath and senior officials, Mr. Singh visited the place on Saturday morning.

Addressing media persons, he said that the department has decided to start combing operations for the leopard.

Mr. Suresh said the leopard might have come from Thippagondanahalli reservoir's catchment area on the outskirts of Bengaluru. The leopard has already tasted the blood of the child and hence the department should initiate immediate action [as the chances of the feline becoming a man-eater is high, Mr. Suresh added.