Infant suffocation: 1-year-old baby dies while eating ‘chakkuli’

Bengaluru, Jul 17: Karnataka Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar held a meeting through video conference on Thursday with private and government establishments involved in testing and treatment of COVID-19 in the state.

A total of 51,422 cases including 19,729 recoveries and 1,032 deaths were reported in the state till yesterday.

On the same day, K Sudhakar also paid a surprise visit to the Bengaluru's CV Raman Hospital and urged the administration to follow COVID-19 guidelines properly. He also took stock of the hospital's preparedness to fight the deadly virus.

"Surprise visits will continue. I will be in touch with every lab and get the right number of tests done on a daily basis," the minister said while speaking to the media.

He also urged the people who have recovered from coronavirus to donate their plasma to save other lives, adding that donors will receive a reward of Rs 5,000 as a token of appreciation.

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 27: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday said the issue of return of Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs) to the state has been taken up with the Centre and the state government is awaiting a favourable response.

Vijayan said this in a meeting with Non-Resident Keralites over steps taken by the state government for those wishing to return to the state from foreign countries.

The Chief Minister announced that the Department of Non-Resident Keralites Affairs has opened online registration for such NRKs.

"Those returning should undergo screening at airports. All those returning should undergo mandatory home quarantine for 14 days.

Arrangements of isolation wards will be provided for those unable to go home," said Vijayan.

Bengaluru, Mar 13: This year, schoolchildren will have a longer summer vacation starting early, thanks to the new coronavirus onslaught. Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar on Thursday announced that schools in Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts will be closed for vacation from Friday.

Classes from LKG to sixth standard will closed for vacations till the schools reopen in June, while students of classes 7-9 will have ‘study holidays’ until their examinations commence (as scheduled by their respective schools). Their summer vacations will begin with the completion of their examinations.

Class 10 students will have their examinations according to the dates scheduled earlier.

“Let us not treat this as a panic reaction or something to cause a scare. This measure is taken as a precaution. A lot of parents were worried about their children. We have already announced the closure of schools from nursery to sixth standards. Now, we are declaring official holidays upto sixth standard. Students of standards 1-6 will all be promoted based on their formative assessment,” said Kumar adding, “no student will be detained in those classes.”

With respect to seventh, eighth and ninth standards, the schools will be closed for study holidays and students will have to return to write their examinations.“We will not interfere in the examination schedules of CBSE and ICSC schools. However, state syllabus schools have to finish their examinations before March 23”, Public Instruction Commissioner KG Jagadeesh said.Just a couple of papers of the PU examinations are left after which their holidays will begin.

Exam timetable not changed

Miscreants are spreading rumours that SSLC examination dates are changed because of the new coronavirus outbreak. However, Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board director V Sumangala categorically said the examinations will be held from March 27  to April 9 as scheduled earlier.