Amit Shah to Kannadigas: Want solution for Mahadayi water issue? Bring Yeddyurappa to power!

Bengaluru, Apr 26: A 24-year-old man has been arrested in Vijayapura district in Karnataka for posting the photograph of a COVID-19 girl patient as his whatsapp status photo with a derogatory message, police said.

Anil Rathod on Saturday posted the picture of the girl student as status message with a caption, "Bad News Student got Positive"

By putting her photograph as his whatsapp status message, he tried to create fear among the masses and intentionally defamed her by making her photo go viral, the the police said in a statement.

It is an offence to reveal the identity of the COVID-19 patients by taking the photograph and putting it in the public domain, the police said.

Rathod has been booked under for spreading rumours and causing panic, they said.

Tightening control over companies misleading advertisements of medicines and products, the Indian government could soon slap a fine of up to Rs10 lakh and up to two years' imprisonment. While repeat offender could be fined up to Rs50 and imprisonment up to five years.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's new draft of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) (Amendment) Bill, 2020, provides extremely stringent penalties compared to the current law.

Under the new Act, companies advertising medicines and products falsely claiming to make a person fairer, improve height and memory or cure issues like hair loss or greying and premature ageing, among several others, may attract more stringent fines and jail time.

The current Act, 1954, leaves scope for companies to create deceptive advertisements as first time offender can be jailed for six months while repeat offender can be up to one year in prison, reported The Indian Express.

Under the Bill, deceptive advertisements will cover digital advertising, notice, circular, label, wrapper, invoice, banner and poster, among others. The government also plans to expand the scope of the law under the proposed amendments to cover 24 more deceptive claims not included in the current law, like medicines that can cure AIDS, change the sex of a foetus, among others, reported Livemint.

Bengaluru, Jul 4: Karnataka Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao said on Saturday that he and his family would get tested for COVID-19 after one of his security persons tested positive for the infection.

Rao's family will also be in-home quarantine for the stipulated time.

"One of my police security person has tested positive for COVID yesterday. My family members and I are getting tested now and will be in-home quarantine for the stipulated time period. None of us are showing any symptoms," he said.

The total number of cases in Karnataka stands at 19,710. Out of them, 8,805 have recovered and 293 patients have lost their lives, according to the Union Health Ministry.

Across the country, the total number of cases stands at 6,48,315. As many as 3,94,227 patients have recovered so far and 18,655 have lost their lives due to the virus.