Two college students held for supporting Pak cricket team on WhatsApp

Bengaluru, Jun 12: Karnataka Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar on Friday said experts have indicated a surge in coronavirus cases in the state after August 15 and the government was taking all precautionary measures in that direction. Speaking to reporters in Ballari, Sudhakar said, "About 97 percent of over 3,000 active cases in the state are asymptomatic.

Experts after studying the developments in other countries and states have said that there will be a surge in infections after August 15."

He said the government was taking all precautionary measures in that direction.

 As of June 11 evening, cumulatively 6,245 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 72 deaths and 2,976 discharges, the health department's bulletin said.

It said, out of 3,195 active cases, 3,185 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 10 are in ICU.

Meanwhile, in a tweet pointing out that nearly 60 per cent of the COVID cases in the country are from 10 cities, Sudhakar said, despite being the fourth most populous city in the country Bengaluru has been successful in containing its spread.

"Nearly 60% of total COVID-19 cases in India are found in 10 cities. Despite being 4th most populous, Bengaluru has been successful in containing spread of virus.

I urge people to keep up the fight, continue vigil & together with #CoronaWarriors we can defeat the virus," Sudhakar tweeted.

Bengaluru that does not figure in the list of 10 cities shared by the Minister has reported 581 coronavirus cases till last evening, out of which 258 are active.

Mar 11: The Karnataka government on Wednesday started a campaign called 'Namaste over Handshake' that encourages people to greet in the traditional Indian style, to tackle the spread of coronavirus.

The campaign also includes health advice on how people can protect themselves from the infection by adopting hygiene practices such as regularly washing hands to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

As part of the campaign, the state health and family welfare department has uploaded a poster on the social media, featuring a 'Bharatnatyam' dancer draped in a red saree saying 'Namaste'.

"Use Namasthe to greet others, fight against corona" read a message on the poster online.

The poster has health helpline numbers (104 and 011- 23978046) for public queries on the viral disease, which has claimed 4,251 lives worldwide.

A health department official told PTI that as part of the campaign, posters have been uploaded on social media and it would be printed and despatched to different districts to be put up at important junctions.

"We had been working on this idea. Kerala has already done it. They are using Kathakali dancers whereas we are using a Bharatanatyam dancer as our model," the official said.

Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar too had insisted that people should adopt 'Namasthe' or 'Namaskara' to greet people instead of handshakes or hugs.

With an aim to provide water to stray animals in Mangaluru, an animal activist announced a project 'Jal' under which free water bowls will be distributed to the people across the city.

Tauseef Ahmed believes many animals and birds do not find source to drink water which leads to death.
"Finding clean and safe drinking water has been a major issue in a lot of places. We humans when we face some scarcity we manage by taking the water out from the well," Ahmed told ANI.

"Unfortunately, that's not the case with when it comes to animals and birds. They do not find sources for water to drink so they eventually end up drinking sewage water and they fall sick. In some cases, even that is not available and due to dehydration, they die," he added.

Under the "Jal" project, Ahmed will distribute free water bowls to the people and expects them to make equal efforts in saving the lives of the animals.

"So, this project "Jal" will be providing 100 free water bowls all over Mangaluru. We are distributing it free of cost. All you have to do is keep the bowls outside in the garden or any places where animals frequently visit. Every day, we just have to fill the bowls with water for the animals. It will help a lot of animals to survive in the harsh weather of summers," Ahmed highlighted.

"We have used cement to make the bowls which will keep the eater really cool. We are spending close to 74 rs per bowl. We have made around 100 bowls and will continue making it. We are trying to cover as many animals as we can," he said.