BJP MP Nalin Kumar Kateel threatens to set Dakshina Kannada district ablaze

Bengaluru, May 19: Karnataka on Tuesday recorded the highest single-day rise in the COVID-19 cases in the state as a whooping 149 people tested positive for the virus. With the spike in new cases, the overall tally has risen to 1,395.

This is for the first time the state recorded 100 plus cases in a single day. So far, 40 people have also succumbed to the virus including three deaths today. 

The new deaths consist of a 61-year-old male patient, a resident of Ballari; a 65-year-old male patient, a resident of Vijayapura; and a 54-year-old male patient from Bengaluru.

Among the new cases, a maximum of 71 are reported from Mandya, followed by 22 in Davanagere, 10 in Shivamogga, 13 in Kalaburgi, six in Bengaluru Urban, four each in Udupi and Uttara Kannada, five in Chikkamagaluru, three in Hassan and one each in Yadagiri, Chitradurga, Vijayapura, Gadag.

Most of the new cases are of the people who traveled to Mumbai in Maharashtra, Solapur, Ahmedabad, and Kerala.

The remaining are those who came in contact with the people who had tested positive earlier.

At present, 811 people are actively taking treatment, while 543 have been discharged after recovery.

French Nobel prize winning scientist Luc Montagnier has sparked a fresh controversy by claiming that the SARS-CoV-2 virus came from a lab, and is the result of an attempt to manufacture a vaccine against the AIDS virus.

In an interview given to French CNews channel and during a podcast by Pourquoi Docteur, professor Montagnier who co-discovered HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) claimed the presence of elements of HIV in the genome of the coronavirus and even elements of the "germ of malaria" are highly suspect, according to a report in Asia Times.

"The Wuhan city laboratory has specialized in these coronaviruses since the early 2000s. They have expertise in this area," he was quoted as saying.

The theory that Covid-19 virus originated in the lab is making rounds for quite some time.

US President Donald Trump last week acknowledged Fox News report that the novel coronavirus may have been accidentally leaked by an intern working at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.

The Fox News, in an exclusive report, based on unnamed sources has claimed that though the virus is a naturally occurring strain among bats and not a bioweapon, but it was being studied in Wuhan laboratory.

The initial transmission of the virus was bat-to-human, the news channel said, adding that the "patient zero" worked at the laboratory. The lab employee was accidentally infected before spreading the disease among the common people outside the lab in Wuhan city.

Professor Montagnier was awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine for the identification of AIDS virus, with his colleague professor Franeoise Barre-Sinoussi.

His fresh claim on coronavirus, however, received criticism from scientists, including his colleagues.

"Just in case you don't know. Dr Montagnier has been rolling downhill incredibly fast in the last few years. From baselessly defending homeopathy to becoming an antivaxxer. Whatever he says, just don't believe him," tweeted Juan Carlos Gabaldon.

As per a recent Washington Post, two years ago, the US embassy officials in China raised concerns about the insufficient biosafety at the Chinese government's Wuhan Institute of Virology where deadly viruses and infectious diseases are studied.

Though the institute, located quite close to the Wuhan wet market, is China's first biosafety level IV lab, the US state department had warned in 2018 about "serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory".

Bhopal, Mar 10: Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Tuesday parried questions on the exact number of MLAs supporting the party in Madhya Pradesh amid a political crisis triggered by the resignation of Jyotiraditya Scindia and 14 MLAs loyal to him.

Repeating his allegation that the BJP was trying to destabilise the Congress-led government, Singh told reporters that the BJP had arranged three chartered planes for Bengaluru on Monday to fly out some MLAs loyal to Scindia.

"We want to know why Bengaluru is used every time to destabilise governments?" he questioned.

When asked about the number of MLAs supporting the Congress in the current political scenario, Singh only said, "Just wait".

He said an atmosphere of uneasiness has been prevailing in the BJP since the Kamal Nath government started cracking a whip on various mafias.

"We (the state government) are exposing Vyapam scam, e-tendering scam, Madhyam scam. In the honey-trap case, BJP men were found to be involved. This will be exposed," he said.

The political crisis in Madhya Pradesh precipitated with the resignation of Jyotiraditya Scindia over his apparent marginalisation in the state politics. Following Scindia's suit, 14 legislators loyal to him have sent their resignation letters via e-mail to Madhya Pradesh Raj Bhavan.

Scindia was subsequently expelled from the Congress by party president Sonia Gandhi.

Speculation that the Guna royal might join the BJP gained ground after he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi this morning.