Meet Kannada cinema's first Khan, the son of JD(S) MLA Zameer Ahmed

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.

Mangaluru, June 21: A local court has held notorious serial killer Cyanide Mohan Kumar guilty in the murder of a 25-year-old woman from Kasargod. This is the 20th and the last case of Cyanide Mohan to be tried in the sixth additional district and sessions court. 

According to public prosecutor Jayarama Shetty, the victim was working as a cook in a ladies hostel and got in touch with Mohan Kumar, a teacher. He visited her house thrice and promised to marry her. On July 8, 2009, on the pretext of visiting a temple in Sullia, she left home, never to return. 

They had travelled to Bengaluru and three days later, when her family tried to reach her on phone, he told them that she had gone for a bath and that they were married and would be returning back home soon.

The next day Ramakrishna, a constable from Upparpete police station, found a lady lying unconscious outside the bathroom and he immediately rushed her to a local hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival. Like in all other cases, after staying in a lodge and having sex with the victim, he took her to the KSRTC bus stand and asked her to consume a cyanide laced tablet, stating it was a contraceptive pill. 

He asked her to leave behind the jewellery that she was wearing at the hotel room. An unnatural death report was registered and since none of her relatives had turned up for identification of the body, on July 15,2009 the body was buried.

The moment the Dakshina Kannada district police arrested the serial killer on October 21, 2009 and his pictures were all over the media, the family recognised him and the victim’s younger sister filed a missing complaint. The police had also recovered the victim’s jewellery from the house of Mohan’s second wife and the jeweller from whom he had purchased cyanide had also identified him. Meanwhile, the CID had taken over the case and a charge sheet was filed.

"The report from the Forensic Science Laboratory is crucial in this case as cyanide was found in the victim’s viscera. Mohan over the years has become a legal expert and in this case, he had sought two adjournments," said Jayaram Shetty. Mohan is currently lodged in the Hindalga central jail.
 

Bengaluru, Jun 8: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday fielded Eranna Kadadi and Ashok Gasti as it's candidates for the June 19 Rajya Sabha elections from Karnataka, ignoring the recommendations of the state BJP unit.

The state unit had recommended the names of Prabhakar Kore, Ramesh Katti and Prakash Shetty.

The names of the two candidates were announced in a party statement in Delhi.

The election is scheduled on June 19 to fill four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka, represented by Rajeev Gowda and BK Hariprasad of Congress, Prabhakar Kore of BJP and D Kupendra Reddy of JD(S) that will fall vacant on June 25, with their retirement.

June 9 is the last date for filing nominations. Party sources said both Kadadi and Gasti come from an RSS background.

Kadadi hails from Belagavi, while Gasti is a resident of Raichur.

The 54-year-old Eranna Kadadi started his active political career in 1989 and unsuccessfully contested the assembly election from Arambhavi constituency in 1994 on a BJP ticket.

He had also served as the Belagavi district Panchayat president in 2010.

Ashok Gasti is a lawyer by profession and former general secretary of the BJP's OBC Cell.

He is the former chairperson of the Backward Class Development Corporation.