Schoolboy drowns during immersion of Ganesha idol

Apr 21: An 80-year-old COVID-19 patient has died in Karnataka's Kalaburagi district, taking the death toll in the state to 17, Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said on Tuesday.

The elderly person was suffering from Parkinson's disease for the last three years and died at a hospital on Monday, the minister said in a tweet.

"The person had developed fever on Sunday and was admitted to the hospital. The patient passed away yesterday at 9 am. Last night at 9 pm the death report came, which confirmed that the person was COVID-19 positive," Sudhakar tweeted.

The total number of COVID-19 infections in the state has crossed the 400-mark, according to last evening's bulletin by the Karnataka health department.

Bengaluru, Jul 4: Karnataka on Saturday reported its biggest single day spike of 1,839 new COVID-19 cases and 42 related fatalities, taking the total number of infections in the state to 21,549 and the death count to 335, the Health department said.

The day also saw 439 patients getting discharged after recovery; even as 226 patients in the state were undergoing treatment in ICU.

Out of 1,839 fresh cases reported on Saturday, a whopping 1,172 cases were from Bengaluru Urban alone; while 24 of the 42 deaths were from the capital city.

The previous biggest single day spike was recorded on July 3 with 1,694 cases.

As of July 4 evening, cumulatively 21,549 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 335 deaths and 9,244 discharges, the Health department said in its bulletin.

It said, out of 11,966 active cases, 11,740 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 226 are in ICU.

Among the 42 dead are six from Bidar, four from Dakshina Kannada, three each from Kalaburagi and Dharwad and one each from Hassan and Bengaluru rural.

Of the 42, twenty-six are men, the bulletin said, adding most of them were with a history of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI), Influenza-like illness (ILI).

Out of 1,839 cases tested positive today, contacts of the majority of the cases are still under tracing.

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru Urban accounted for 1,172 cases, followed by Dakshina Kannada (75), Ballari (73), Bidar (51), Dharwad (45), Raichur (41), Mysuru (38), thirty seven each from Kalaburagi and Vijayapura, thirty-five each from Mandya and Uttara Kannada.

Bengaluru Urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 8,345 infections, followed by Kalaburagi 1,597 and Udupi 1,276.

Among discharges, Kalaburagi tops the list with 1,189 followed by Udupi (1,103) and Bengaluru Urban (965).

A total of 6,89,526 samples were tested so far, of which 17,592 were tested on Saturday alone.

So far 6,50,876 samples have been reported as negative, and of them 15,294 were reported negative today.

Bengaluru, Feb 22: President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday said an ideal trade-off needs to be reached between new media -- which is fast and popular -- and traditional media which has developed skills to authenticate a news report, which is a costly operation.

Addressing the fourth edition of ‘the Huddle’ – the annual thought conclave of the Hindu here, he asserted that the internet and social media had democratised journalism and revitalised democracy, but had also led to many anxieties.

While the new media was fast and popular and people could choose what they wanted to watch, hear or read, traditional media would have to introspect on its role in society and find ways to earn the reader’s full trust again as "the project of democracy was incomplete without informed citizens – which means, without unbiased journalism."

Debate and discussion were internalised in India’s social psyche to arrive at truth since time immemorial, he said.

"There is no doubt that perception of truth is conditioned by circumstances. The conditions that cloud the truth’s positions are effectively dispelled by a contestation of ideas through debate, discussion and scientific temper. Prejudices and violence vitiate the search for truth."

Expressing happiness to attend ‘The Huddle’ organised by The Hindu, he said the Hindu group of publications had been relentlessly aiming to capture the essence of this great country through its responsible and ethical journalism. He commended them for their insistence on sticking to the five basic principles of journalism – truth-telling, freedom and independence, justice, humaneness and contributing to the social good, an official release here said.

Mr Kovind said dogmas and personal prejudices distorted the truth. In the 150th year of Gandhiji’s birth, he asked all to ponder over this question: "will it not be proper to pursue truth itself as the ideology? Gandhiji has shown us the path by walking ceaselessly in search of truth which would ultimately encompass every positive attribute that enriches the universe."