BJP leader shot, brutally hacked to death near Pune

Dubai: The father of a 16-year old girl who came on a visit visa to the UAE to visit him is desperate for help as she has been hospitalised, even as he has been rendered jobless.

On February 6, Amber D’Couto flew into Dubai from Mangaluru, India, along with her older sister, Alison, 19. The girls wanted to visit their dad Vivian D’Couto who was working in an automobile company at Jebel Ali.

The father was overjoyed to meet his girls until things took an ugly turn.

Two months into her stay, Amber fell seriously ill, even as D’Couto was served a termination letter by his company.

D’Couto said his daughter, a Grade 10 student, was perfectly healthly but suddenly developed high fever and began vomiting. She was rushed to a private hospital in Qusais which could not accommodate her because of the ongoing COVID-19 situation.

On April 30, she was admitted to another private hospital in the same area. After testing negative for COVID-19 thrice, she was diagnosed with acute pancreatis and Rheumatoid fever.

While the girl remains in hospital, the bill has spiralled to over Dh50,000, D’Couto said, adding that without a job now, he had no means to pay the huge amount.

“Amber is a very sweet child and a very bright student. She was living a very healthy life prior to coming to Dubai. But she is so ill now and under round-the-clock vigil in the ICU. The treatment for her condition is very specific and costly.”

A worried man, he said: “My daughter was on a visit visa and she had no insurance. We appeal to compassionate people to help us out in this difficult hour. Due to the current situation, I have lost my job and I am unable to pay for her medical expenses. Her condition has not stabilised yet and I am taking each day as it comes. I trust the doctors to help her recover, and we hope to be repatriated to India at the earliest so she can get further medical care.”

Bengaluru, Jan 24: On the last day of his four-day trip to Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum, chief minister BS Yediyurappa urged the global business community to invest in cities other than Bengaluru in the state.

On Thursday, while extending an invitation to entrepreneurs to participate in the Global Investors Meet in November in Bengaluru, Yediyurappa highlighted the “conducive investment climate” in the state vis-a-vis others by pointing to its 7% growth rate which is much higher than the national average of below 5%.

He also pointed to the state’s rich history and the fact that it is home to a number of desi MNCs such as Infosys, Biocon Wipro and Dynamatics. “At the same time, the state has one of the lowest unemployment rates compared to the national average,” Yediyurappa said.

In his address to heads of businesses, industries minister Jagadish Shettar also urged investors to consider Tier 2 and 3 cities for investment. “Land banks have been created in Tier 2 and 3 cities and regional connectivity has improved. Let us strive to place Karnataka on a highgrowth path,” Shettar said.

Lending a “helping hand”, Union minister Piyush Goyal, in his address, appealed to the community to invest in Karnataka, which “has a robust and congenial industrial atmosphere”, but also urged them to spread “tentacles” to all parts of the country.

Bengaluru, Jul 3: Karnataka on Friday reported its biggest single day spike of 1,694 new COVID-19 cases, taking the taking the total number of infections in the state to 19,710, the Health department said.
The state also recorded 21 fatalities pushing the number of deaths to 293.

The day also saw 471 patients getting discharged after recovery; even as 201 patients in the state were undergoing treatment in ICU. Of the 1,694 fresh cases reported on Friday, a whopping 994 cases were from Bengaluru Urban alone.

As of July 3 evening, cumulatively 1,9710 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 293 deaths and 8,805 discharges, the Health department said in its bulletin.

It said, out of 10,608 active cases, 10,407 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 201 are in ICU.

The 21 dead include five from Bengaluru Urban, three each from Chikkaballapura and Kalaburagi, two each from Vijayapura and Shivamogga and one each from Ballari, Hassan, Davangere, Bidar, Raichur and Bengaluru Rural.

Out of 21, fourteen are men between the age 48-87 years, and seven women between 25-75 years.

Those dead include those with the history of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI), Influenza-like illness (ILI), inter-state and inter-district travel and cardiac patients.

The contact history of at least four dead people is under tracing.

Out of 1,694 positive cases on Friday, contacts of the majority of the cases are still under tracing.

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru Urban accounted for 994, followed by 97 from Ballari

and Dakshina Kannada, Kalaburagi 72, Tumakuru 57, Bengaluru Rural 44, Dharwad 38, Mysuru 35, Mandya 33, Bidar 28, Chamarajanagara 24, Shivamogga 23, Gadag 19, sixteen each from Udupi and Kodagu, Yadgir 14, thirteen each from Hassan and Belagavi, Kolar 11.

Bengaluru Urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 7,173 infections, followed by Kalaburagi (1,560) and Udupi (1,258). Among discharges, Kalaburagi tops the list with 1,143 followed by Udupi (1,093) and Yadgir (855).

A total of 6,71,934 samples have been tested so far, out of which 18,307 were tested on Friday alone.

So far 6,35,582 samples have been reported as negative, and out of them 16,290 were reported negative on Friday.