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BJP veteran, union minister Ananth Kumar dies of illness at 59

News Network
November 12, 2018

Bengaluru, Nov 12: Veteran leader of Bharatiya Janata Party and Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs H N Ananth Kumar passed away in the early hours of Monday after undergoing treatment for cancer at a private hospital in Bengaluru. He was 59.

Kumar, one of the chief architects of Karnataka BJP, was battling cancer for the last several months. Kumar's body, which has been taken to his Basavangudi residence, will be kept for public viewing at the National College Grounds from 8 am onwards.

He had undergone treatment in London and New York, before being flown to the Sri Shankara Cancer Hospital in the city a few days back.

Upon hearing the rapid deterioration of his health, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had visited Kumar at the hospital on October 28.

Speaking to DH, surgical oncologist Dr B S Srinath who heads Shankara Hospital said that Kumar was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer in the month of June. 

"After his diagnosis in Bengaluru, he was taken to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, where he was treated. He, however, failed to respond to the treatment, following which was brought back to Bengaluru and kept on life support," he added.

Incidentally, Kumar's wife Tejwaswini is one of the trustees of the Sri Shankara Cancer Foundation.

The six-time Parliamentarian, who had continuously represented the Bangalore South Parliamentary constituency, Kumar began his political career as an Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) leader.

After serving various positions in ABVP like the state secretary and later national secretary in 1985,  he decided to walk in the bigger ground of politics by joining the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1987.

His first important role was when he was nominated as the State President of BJP Yuva Morcha.

In 1995 he was appointed as the national secretary of the party. He was elected to Lok Sabha in 1996 for the first time. In 1998 he was inducted into Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet as the Minister for Civil Aviation. 

In 1999, he became one of the most important cabinet ministers in the NDA government handling various ministries including Tourism, Sports & Youth Affairs, Culture, Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation.

Born in a middle-class family on July 22, 1959, he is the son of Narayan Shastri and Girija N Shastry. Kumar is survived by his wife Tejaswini and two daughters, Aishwarya and Vijetha.

Comments

Ibrahim
 - 
Monday, 12 Nov 2018

Inna Lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un

Sandeep Ullal
 - 
Monday, 12 Nov 2018

It's a shock to me.. He was just 59

Reshma kodialbail
 - 
Monday, 12 Nov 2018

Rest in peace

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coastaldigest.com web desk
June 7,2020

Mumbai, June 7: As the Maharashtra government has given green signal for outdoor physical activities under 'Mission Begin Again' despite amidst growing cases of covid-19,  thousands of Mumbaikars flocked to Marine Drive for 'morning walks' on Sunday.

People were seen wearing masks as a precaution from the novel coronavirus pandemic, however, from the viral photo, it seems that no social distancing norms were followed what so ever.

"Better call it marne waalon ka drive," said a Twitter user. "Still people have no sense of responsibility," said another Twitter user.

After nearly 80 days of lockdown, Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra revved back to life on Friday. 

Most markets, market areas, commercial and trading areas - barring malls or market complexes - reopened for business even as Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray reiterated that "people should tread cautiously while beginning a 'new life' from today".

Meanwhile, of the total 82,968 cases in Maharashtra, Mumbai now accounts for 47,354 cases and 1,577 deaths.

On Saturday, Maharashtra reported 120 deaths, including 58 in Mumbai, due to COVID-19, taking the overall number of fatalities to 2,969, state Health department said.

The recovery rate in the state stands at 45.06 per cent and the fatality rate at 3.57 per cent, an official statement said.

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coastaldigest.com news network
July 31,2020

Mangaluru, Jul 31: Muslims across coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada today observed Eid al Adha following the safety guidelines issued by the government amidst covid-19 pandemic. 

While coastal Karnataka is celebrating the festival of sacrifice today, it will be observed in other parts of Karnataka and country tomorrow. 

Congregational Eid prayers were held in many mosques while ensuring physical distancing norms. Only 50 devotees were allowed in mosques. Children below 10 years of age and elders above 60 years of age weren’t allowed. 

Eidgahs in the region wore a deserted look as the government has temporarily prohibited prayers in the open grounds. The Eidgah at Lighthouse Hill in Mangaluru, which usually witnessed huge crowd during Eid celebrations, was also closed this time. 

As expected, the celebration this time was a low key thanks to the restrictions placed in tune with the threat of coronavirus infection.

Prayers were held in Kudroli’s Nadupalli and Bundar’s Zeenat Bakhsh Central mosque. All those who entered mosque were wearing masks. 

In Udupi city, Eid prayers were held at Jamia Masjid and other mosques with limited number of devotees. In Bhatkal took some of the mosques hosted Eid prayers with all precautionary measures.

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 23,2020

Bengaluru, May 23: Karnataka reported 216 covid-19 positive cases in last 24 hours, marking the highest single day spike in the state ever since the first case was detected on 8 March. 187 of these 216 patients have recently returned from Maharashtra.

A 32-year old male resident of Bengaluru died on Saturday making it the 42nd fatality in the state.

The spike on Saturday takes the total number of covid-19 positive closer to the 2,000 mark and the number of active cases to 1,307 in the state, according to the daily health bulletin of the health department.

Yadgir in northern Karnataka recorded 72 cases on Saturday while Raichur recorded 40 cases. Cases in the sugarcane growing region of Mandya continued to rise as 28 people tested positive on Saturday that takes the total number of active cases to 211 as against Bengaluru that has 124.

Gadag registered 15 cases while Bengaluru recorded 4 cases.

Most of those who tested positive on Saturday had returned from other states, especially Maharashtra, one of the worst affected regions in the country.

The spike in cases comes even as the B.S.Yediyurappa-led state government is deliberating further easing of lockdown restrictions post 31 May. The state government has already resumed public bus and train services as well to facilitate inter-district movement of people that has added to fears of spreading the virus from cities to villages where healthcare infrastructure is poor and inadequate.

Karnataka will also see domestic flight arrivals from Monday.

In a statement on Saturday, Bengaluru International Airport said that it introduced ‘Parking-to-Boarding contactless’ journey.

“We have introduced innovative contactless procedures to minimise exposure at the Airport. These enhancements demonstrate our continued commitment to keep our passengers safe in this environment," said Hari Marar, managing director and chief executive of the airport said in a statement on Saturday.

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