Cops accused of torturing Muslim youth after he gets anticipatory bail

Panaji, Feb 6: Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday told the Legislative Assembly that neighbouring Karnataka has diverted the Mahadayi river water, due to which its flow in the state has taken a hit.

He was speaking during a debate on the motion of thanks to Governor Satya Pal Malik for his address.

Goa and Karnataka are locked in a dispute over sharing of the Mahadayi river water. Goa is strongly opposing the Kalasa Banduri project proposed to be built by Karnataka on the river, which is aimed at providing drinking water to three north Karnataka districts by diverting the Mahadayi water into the Malaprabha river.

Speaking in the House, Sawant said that the flow of Mahadayi river has reduced due to the diversion of water by Karnataka.

"I am admitting that they (Karnataka) have diverted the water. We have brought it to the notice of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change," he said.

The Goa government has explained to the Centre that the water which flows into the state is "not wasted".

"We have told them that the perennial flow of water is necessary for Goa's wildlife," he said.

Sawant said that his government was serious on the issue of Mahadayi.

"Mahadayi is more than a mother to me. We have not compromised anywhere on the issue. I have been associated with the Mahadayi agitation since 2000," the chief minister said.

He said the issue would be fought before the Supreme Court, where special leave petition has been filed by the state.

Bengaluru, Apr 11: The coronavirus-driven lockdown will continue for another 15 days, but relaxations will be allowed in a graded manner, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said after a four-hour-long video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.

“Agriculture and industrial sectors will be given relaxation. Government offices will be allowed to work with partial strength. But the PM said detailed guidelines will be issued in two days,” Yediyurappa said, briefing reporters. 

“Importantly, the lockdown for the next two weeks will be different than how it was in the past three weeks. The Centre, keeping in mind economic activities, especially agriculture, industry and employment of labourers, the Centre will tell us what needs to be done,” the CM said.
 
According to Yediyurappa, PM Modi told all chief ministers that the next 2-3 weeks will be critical. “The next few weeks will decide whether or not we have succeeded. If the situation worsens, we have to face the crisis,” Yediyurappa said, quoting Modi. 

Apparently, Modi sought details on the COVID-19 situation from 12-13 states where the situation is grave. “He did not take a report from Karnataka,” Yediyurappa said. “This morning, seven new cases were reported in the state, taking our tally to 214. Nationally, we were in the third place; we’re now 11th,” he said, hailing the efforts of officials involved in fighting the pandemic. 

The CM said it was “inevitable” to continue the lockdown for another 15 days. “But for citizens to get essential supplies, there’s no bar on them going by walk alone. Also, we will see to it that agricultural activities are not affected anywhere,” Yediyurappa said.

Wuhan, Feb 6: Chinese multinational conglomerate holding company Tencent has allegedly published "real" data on the novel coronavirus deaths, with briefly listing death toll as 24,589 -- way too higher than over 500 deaths China has officially announced to date.

According to Taiwan News, "Tencent... seems to have inadvertently released what is potentially the actual number of infections and deaths, which were astronomically higher than official figures".

Tencent, on its webpage titled "Epidemic Situation Tracker," showed confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in China as standing at 154,023 - over 10 times the official figure given to the world on February 1.

Data leaked: Tencent lists 25,000 deaths in China, 1.54 lakh infections from coronavirus
It listed the number of suspected cases as 79,808, four times the official figure.

"The number of cured cases was only 269, well below the official number that day of 300. Most ominously, the death toll listed was 24,589, vastly higher than the 300 officially listed that day".

Once people noticed this, Tencent immediately updated the numbers to reflect the government's "official" numbers.

"Netizens noticed that Tencent has on at least three occasions posted extremely high numbers, only to quickly lower them to government-approved statistics," said the report.

Some people speculated a coding problem may be behind the real "internal" data but others believe that someone is actually trying to reveal the real numbers.

Tencent was yet to officially comment on these reports.

"According to multiple sources in Wuhan, many coronavirus patients are unable to receive treatment and die outside of hospitals."

There have been multiple reports of Wuhan officials cremating deceased coronavirus victims before they could be added to the official death toll.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the coronavirus numbers coming out of China are "fishy".

If the numbers from the alleged Tencent leak are accurate, it would put coronavirus' mortality rate at almost 16 per cent. By comparison, SARS' mortality rate was 9.6 per cent, reports CCN.

Caijing, an independent magazine based in Beijing that covers societal, political, and economic issues, has also claimed that the Communist Party of China (CCP) is underreporting the extent of the coronavirus outbreak.

Caijing's article on Coronavirus that detailed how Wuhan officials are not reporting real figures was censored in China.

As of Thursday, the official death toll in China rose to 563, with 28,018 confirmed cases.