Vishwesha Theertha Swami, Seer of Udupi Pejawar Mutt, Passes Away at 88

Bengaluru, Jun 15: A total of over 4,000 COVID patients have been discharged in Karnataka so far, as the state on Monday reported 213 new cases of coronavirus and two related fatalities, taking the total number of infections to 7,213 and the death toll to 88.

On Monday alone 180 patients were discharged in the state after recovery. As of June 15 evening, cumulatively 7,213 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 88 deaths and 4,135 discharges, the health department said in its bulletin.

Out of the 2,987 active cases, 2,931 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 56 are in Intensive Care Units. Among the two deaths were a 65-year-old man from Dharwad, who was the contact of another patient already tested positive.

He was admitted on June 14 at a designated hospital and died the same day. The other was a 75-year-old woman from Bengaluru, diagnosed with ILI (Influenza Like Illness) A known case of Diabetes mellitus and Hypertension , she was admitted on June 13 at a designated hospital and died on June 15.

Out of 213 new cases 103 are returnees from other states, a majority of them from neighbouring Maharashtra, while 23 are those who returned from other countries.

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Kalaburagi accounted for 48, followed by Bengaluru urban 35, Dharwad 34, Dakshina Kannada 23, Raichur 18, Yadgir 13, Bidar 11, Ballari 10, Koppal 4, three each from Vijayapura, Bagalkote and Shivamogga, two each from Udupi, Haveri and Ramanagara, and one each from Hassan and Davangere.

Udupi district tops the list of positive cases with a total of 1,028 infections, followed by Kalaburagi 944 and Yadgir 822.

Among discharges also Udupi is on top with total of 736 discharges, followed by Kalaburagi 459 and Bengaluru urban 329. A total of 4,49,331 samples have been tested so far, out of which 5,362 were tested on Monday alone.

So far 4,32,346 samples have been reported as negative, out of which 4,738 reported negative today, the bulletin said.

Bengaluru, Mar 27: A 65-year-old coronavirus patient who died in Karnataka this morning after apparently contracting the infection on a train ride has raised concern about community transmission of the highly contagious disease.
The man, the 60th coronavirus patient in Karnataka, died in Tumakuru. It is not known for certain how he caught the virus. The Karnataka Health Department has posted a notice on Twitter asking whoever travelled with him on train to come forward.

He had no history of recent foreign travel but had apparently traveled to Delhi on March 5 by Sampark Kranti Express and returned on March 11.

On March 7, he arrived at Delhi's Nizamuddin station and participated in an event at Jamia Masjid.

The man took a train back on March 11 and arrived at Yeshwantpur in Bengaluru. From there, he took a bus on March 14 to his hometown Sira.

He first showed symptoms of COVID-19 on March 18 and was taken to a private hospital. He was sent home with medicines but his condition worsened.

On March 23, he was admitted to a district hospital, but checked himself out against all advice and went to a private hospital. When his health showed signs of deterioration, he was again sent to the district hospital, where he tested positive for coronavirus yesterday. He died around 10.30 am today.

The health department has since traced 24 people who came in direct contact with him and are so, in the high-risk category. Thirteen are in hospital and eight have tested negative.

"All passengers who had travelled with him on the train are being traced," K Rakesh Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, Tumakuru, was quoted as telling news agency ANI.

A 70-year old woman and a 76-year old man had died of coronavirus or COVID-19 earlier in Karnataka.

India has over 700 coronavirus cases, including 17 deaths.

Newsroom, Jan 24: BJP leader and Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP Shobha Karandlaje has been booked by Kerala police over a misleading and communally provocative social media post.

Karandlaje had tweeted that that Hindus from a colony in Kuttipuram in Malappuram district were denied water supply as they supported the the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). 

"Kerala is taking baby steps to become another Kashmir. Hindus of Kuttipuram Panchayat of Malappuram was denied water supply as they supported #CAA2019. #SevaBharati has been supplying water ever since. Will Lutyens telecast this intolerance of PEACEFULS frm God's Own Country!?," she tweeted. 

A case has been booked under section 153(A) of IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race etc). Karandlaje took to Twitter to slam the Kerala government, and said it had lodged a complaint against her instead of acting against the discrimination faced by dalit families of Cherukunnu. 

"It is high time the society unites against these pressure tactics of a non-performing, biased left government," she said. 

Karandlaje claimed that the CAA had been accepted by both houses of Parliament and people supporting the Act were facing boycott in business and were being denied basic amenities and jobs. "The CPI(M) government is blind to all these incidents across Kerala, but files a case against me for speaking the truth!" she retorted.

According to reportage from multiple outlets, the colony in Malappuram district's Kuttippuram was dependent on a private individual for water; then came accusations that they were denied the water for attending BJP's pro-CAA rally. 

A resident of the colony was quoted by a newspaper, “We were denied drinking water because our husbands participated in a meeting organised to gather support for the CAA. Some people told the family that they should not give drinking water to us because CAA is a threat to the people in their community.” 

However, the individual in question denied the accusation, claiming a lack of water because of technical issues.

The case was registered after a complaint by lawyer Subhash Chandran, a resident of Malappuram. Aravindan E.A., SI of Kuttippuram police, said, "From a private person's borewell, water was being provided to the people of the colony. This motor had taken for agricultural work and he was recently issued a warning by State Electricity Board. He was told that if he uses the motor for any other purpose, power supply would be disconnected. He then had stopped using the pump following the crisis worsened.”