CM skips Kudroli Dasara, spends time at Ivan's house; Poojary curses both

Mumbai, Apr 15: A 35-year-old man, who worked as a priest in suburban Kandivali, allegedly committed suicide on Tuesday afternoon, hours after learning that lockdown to contain coronavirus has been extended.

The deceased was identified as Krishna Pujari, native of Udupi in Karnataka, who was attached to Durga Mata temple in Iraniwadi area of Sanjay Nagar.

Pujari, who lived with three other priests, was waiting for the lockdown to end as he wanted to go back to his hometown, a police official said.

When he learnt that the lockdown has been extended till May 3, he was terribly depressed and allegedly hanged himself in kitchen, the official added.

No suicide note has been found, he said.

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 10: Eight foreign nationals from Italy and United Kingdom, who were undergoing treatment in Kerala, have recovered fully from COVID-19, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday.

The state reported 12 more positive cases of coronavirus on Thursday taking the total number of confirmed cases to 357, Vijayan said as he cautioned that the strict vigil against the pandemic will continue.

While the northern districts of Kannur and Kasaragod reported four cases each, two cases were reported from Malappuram district and one each from Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts, Vijayan told reporters after a COVID-19 review meeting here.

Of the eight foreign nationals, seven were undergoing treatment at the Ernakulam Medical College Hospital and one in Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital, Vijayan said, adding that some of the patients were in a serious condition.

The seven foreigners from UK, admitted in Ernakulam medical college, were part of the group which had on March 15 tried to leave the country without permission while being under observation at Munnar, a hill station in the state.

The Italian tourist in Thiruvananthapuram was staying at a resort at Varkala near here and was admitted to hospital on March 13, Vijayan said.

"The recovery of this UK tourist group, which comprised of 83 and 76-year-olds is a testimony to our robust healthcare system and good treatment extended to these patients," the chief minister said.

It has been 100 days since the first COVID-19 case was reported in the state and since then, a total of 357 cases have been confirmed and currently, 258 patients are under treatment in different hospitals.

The Himachal Pradesh police have confirmed the arrested a man for injuring a pregnant cow by feeding her wheat flour ball laced with firecrackers. 

The cow’s jaw was blown off-- reprising the tragic story of a pregnant elephant that lost its life after eating a pineapple stuffed with a firecracker in Kerala.

While the incident took place on May 26 in Jhandutta area of Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur district, it came to light only on Saturday, May 6, when the cow’s owner, Gurdayal Singh, uploaded a video of the injured animal on social media.

In the video, Gurdiyal Singh describes how the cow’s mouth had been injured after one Nandlal fed her explosives.

He confirmed that Nandlal works as a mechanic in Singh’s neighbourhood. Singh said that Nandlal has no remorse for his action. Nandlal has said that he is not scared of the repercussions and that he will continue to do whatever he deems fit. “Even the village sarpanch cannot harm me”, challenged Nandlal when confronted by Singh. 

The cow has given birth to a healthy calf since but Singh said the animal is still not able to eat because of an injured jaw and is being administered Glucose.

The video went viral with people demanding strict action against the person who fed firecrackers to the animal.

The practice of studding dough balls with firecrackers isn’t uncommon in Himachal, and farmers resort to this to keep wild animals, especially boards, off their fields. In the Kerala incident too, the explosive-filled-fruit was meant for wild boars. In many parts of the country, including Himachal, the method is also used to hunt for bush meat -- an illegal practice.

Bilaspur superintendent of oolice (SP) Devakar Sharma confirmed the incident and said the cow was fed a highly explosive firecracker popularly called “aalu bomb”. 

Aalu is Hindi for potato. He said a case under Section 286 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act has been registered and the role of the neighbours named by Singh is being investigated.