Cloth-like plastic bags also banned in Karnataka, says official

Bengaluru, Mar 13: India has registered the first confirmed case of death due to novel coronavirus. A 76-year-old man from Karnataka's Kalaburgi who passed away recently has been tested positive for Covid-19.

The doctors had suspected that the man had coronavirus, however, the test had not confirmed it.

In an official notification, a senior health official in Karnataka government Dr Suresh Shastri said that the lab test has confirmed that the deceased man had Covid-19.

"The 76-year-old man from Kalburgi who passed away and was a suspected COVID 19 patient has been confirmed for COVID 19. The necessary contact tracing, isolation and other measures as per protocol are being carried out. Telangana government has also been informed since he went to a private hospital there," Dr Suresh Shastri said.

The same information was also shared by Karnataka health minister B Sriramulu.

A senior Union health ministry official said in New Delhi that the death of the man had visited Saudi Arabia from January 29 to February 29. The official said the man had reached in Hyderabad on February 29 and went to Kalaburagi in Karnataka.

State Joint Director (Communicable Diseases) BG Prakash Kumar said all protocols were followed for disposal of the body.

"The body is disinfected completely and disposed of as per the Government of India guidelines," he added when asked to elaborate on the protocols.

He said the Telangana government has also been informed as the man had gone to a private hospital in Hyderabad earlier.

While announcing the death of the man on Tuesday, the state authorities had said the exact cause his death was being ascertained.

According to the Union health ministry official, "While he was asymptomatic on his return (from Saudi Arabia), he developed symptoms of fever and cough on 6th March. One private doctor visited him at his home and treated him there."

"On 9th March, the symptoms got aggravated and he was shifted to a private hospital in Kalaburagi. In this private hospital, he was provisionally diagnosed as 'mid-zone viral pneumonia' and 'suspected Covid-19'," the official said.

"The sample was collected on March 9... Without waiting for the test results, the attendees insisted and the patient was discharged against medical advice and the attendees took him to a private hospital in Hyderabad," the official said.

The patient was admitted to a private hospital in Hyderabad and treated. He died on Tuesday when he was being brought back to the Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) in Kalaburagi.

Apart from the deceased, Karnataka has confirmed five other positive cases of the novel coronavirus. The fifth case, confirmed on Thursday is of a 26-year-old man who recently returned from Greece.

The patient has been admitted and isolated at a hospital and his condition is stable, a department media bulletin said.

The day also saw the education department declaring summer holidays for students from kindergarten to class six and study leave for higher classes in the city as a precautionary measure.

Mangaluru, Jan 23: With the results of Joint Entrance Examination (JEE-Main) out, it is celebration time at CFAL (Centre for Advanced Learning), Mangalore’s top training institute as 12 of its students have secured above 99 percentile, out of 120 students who appeared at the prestigious national examination held in January this year. The students are: Kaustubh Rao (99.79), Ujwal Kumar (99.77), Dheeraj Kamath (99.74), Pramod Rao (99.68), Santhosh M (99.59), Mohan Nayak (99.49), Rihan D’silva (99.43), Rishan D’silva (99.41), Pranav Rao (99.41), Aamod BK (99.29), Anmol J Shetty (99.22) and Madhura Sabhahit (99.083).

Apart from the above students, 8 students have scored above 98 percentile, the details of the students are: D.K. Goutham (98.67), Tejah S.S. (98.49), Akash Shetty (98.4), Tejas Bhat K (98.34), Ninaad PS (98.31), Shreepoorna Rao (98.3), K. Annapoorna Prabhu (98.3) and Rakshith Sajjan (98.2). The results of many more students are awaited.

A total of 8,69,010 students had appeared in the said exam from across India. The students who have attempted the JEE Main exam in January can attempt the exams again in April to better their percentile. Students who clear JEE Main qualify for JEE Advanced and are eligible for seats at the NIT’s and other top institutions of the country.

JEE – The most challenging undergraduate admission test

Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) conducted this year by National Testing Agency (NTA) is a national level examination for students to qualify and pursue engineering degree at under graduate level. Paper 1 is held for BE/B.Tech admissions and Paper 2 for B. Arch/B. Planning. JEE Main is a critical criterion for admission in India’s most prestigious and elite universities like IITs and NIT’s.

Those students who clear JEE Main can take the JEE advanced – which is a pre-requisite requirement for admission in the Indian Institute of Technology and Indian School of Mines (Dhanbad)

CFAL – The first name in training

The training at CFAL consists of defined hours of classes, tests and mock exams, unique course material, experienced professors and hence is the first choice for students appearing for STEM examinations including JEE, NTSE, KYPY, OLYMPIADS etc.  The centre was established with the intention of giving students of Mangalore information, guidance and tools required to qualify the competitive exams. However, the main aim of CFAL is to inculcate passion for Math and Science learning among students and to encourage research and innovation in the subjects.

Bengaluru, Jun 8: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief DK Shivakumar on Sunday said that Congress is a secular party and they clearly do not want any third candidate from BJP to win the Rajya Sabha elections.

Speaking to news agency, Shivakumar said, "We are a secular party. We are very clear that we don't want any BJP third candidate to win the Rajya Sabha election. My leader, Sonia Gandhi will take a call on it."
"My party leaders have taken a call on HD Devegowda Ji, very soon they will come with an announcement," he added.

Shivakumar had on Saturday said that the party has decided to field one candidate for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections.

He said the party would soon take a decision on the issue of support to former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda's candidature to the Upper House.
The elections to fill the vacant 18 Rajya Sabha seats from seven states will be held on June 19.