'Diluted' anti-superstition bill gets State Cabinet nod

Tumakuru, Jun 30: As many as 43 sheep were quarantined after a shepherd tested positive for novel coronavirus at Godekere Gollarahatti in Tumakuru district. 

J C Madhuswamy, district in-charge minister, has instructed the district administration and the Animal Husbandry department to subject the sheep to Covid-19 tests.

The move followed after five sheep found dead in mysterious circumstances at the village. All 43 sheep of the infected person have been isolated from the herd and kept at a place in Jakkanahalli.

"There is no evidence that the sheep can contract Covid-19 and transmit the virus to the people. But since the virus has many strains and keep changing its genetic make-up, draw throat swab samples of the sheep and send the same to Covid-19 lab. Till the report comes, keep the livestock in isolation," Madhuswamy told the officials.

Bengaluru, Jul 13: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has initiated the process of recruiting 1,700 medical professionals, doctors, staff nurses and support staff to scale up its workforce to set up 30,000 COVID-19 care beds, an official said on Sunday.

According to the official, to establish and run 30,000 COVID care beds, 1,800 doctors and 3,600 nurses are required. A 10,100-bed facility was set up last week in the Bengaluru International Exhibition centre (BIEC) on Tumkur road.

The Health Department has calculated that one doctor per shift is needed for every 100 patients and one staff nurse for every 50 patients. Similarly, two supporting staff and three Group D employees are needed per shift for every 100 patients. Generally, a day is divided into three shifts of eight hours each.

According to the director of medical education, there are 25,000 nursing students who have completed GNM and BSc Nursing courses and are pursuing higher education.

Likewise, there are 3,231 medical, dental and Aayush interns, while MD and MS postgraduate students have been identified to be 1,613 in Bengaluru colleges.

"The department plans to actively utilise the services of interns and postgraduate students for the COVID Care Centre (CCC) operations," said the official.

Currently, there are 2,100 CCC beds operational under the civic body in Bengaluru with a pool of 503 doctors, 167 ayush doctors, 128 nursing and paramedical staff.

Earlier in May, the civic body also notified the recruitment of 380 microbiologists, technicians and data entry operators for six months. In June, the civic body again notified the recruitment of 637 doctors, nurses, technicians and group d employees to strengthen its fight against the pandemic.

Bengaluru has recently seen a spike in COVID-19 in Karnataka, accounting for 61% of all active cases in the state.

On Saturday, the city reported 1,533 new cases, taking its total tally to 16,862, of which 12,793 are active.

Karnataka recorded 2,798 more coronavirus cases and 70 more casualties on Saturday evening, raising the state's total cases to 36,216 and the death toll to 613.

Lucknow, Feb 24: The Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board on Monday accepted the five acres of land provided for construction of the mosque in Ayodhya.

The Board also decided to form a trust to oversee the construction of the mosque.

The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by the Board's Chairman Zufar Faruqui.

Apart from this, the trust will also construct a charitable hospital, public library and a centre showcasing the heritage of Indo-Islamic civilisation which will also serve as a research and study centre for the same, according to a press release by the board.

The appointment of members to the trust will be announced following its creation, the release added.

The Supreme Court had on November 9 last year directed the Central government to hand over the disputed site at Ayodhya for the construction of a temple and set up a trust for the same.

The apex court had further directed the government to allocate an alternative five acres of land at a prominent location in Ayodhya for the construction of a mosque to the Sunni Waqf Board.