DKMA to provide beneficiary cards to Muslim working women too

Bengaluru,  Jul 21: The salaries of doctors under the National Health Mission (NHM) has been hiked to Rs 45,000 in Karnataka, according to Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar.

Addressing the media on Monday, Dr Sudhakar said that the state government will bear the cost of the hike in salaries of the doctors and added that ASHA workers too will get a hike in their pay soon.

Regarding the COVID-19 management in the state, he further said that testing will be increased in the containment zones.

During a meeting chaired by Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, the Education Minister said that it had been decided that booth level committees will conduct door to door survey for early detection of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI), and vulnerable persons.

He also implored private hospitals to admit and treat COVID-19 patients and asked them to not be hesitant in admitting pregnant women.

Karnataka on Monday reported 3,648 COVID-19 cases taking the tally to 67,420, informed the state health department.

According to a bulletin issued by the department, the state recorded 72 more deaths due to COVID-19 with the toll at 1,403 while six patients who tested positive for the infection have died due to non-COVID causes, as of Monday. There are 42,216 active cases in the state.

Udupi, Jun 16: A young software engineer died on board a bus bound for Udupi’s Kundapura from Bengaluru due to suspected cardiac arrest this morning.

The deceased has been identified as Chaitanya (25), son of Vishnu Murthy, a resident of Kumbri in Koteshwar in Kundapura taluk. He was working for a software firm Bengaluru.

Chaitanya had boarded a ‘Durgamba’ bus from Bengaluru at 9 pm on June 15. At around 6.30 am on June 16, he called his father and informed that the bus had reached Barkur.

When his father called Chaitanya again at around 7.30 am, the bus driver answered the call and told him that his son had fallen ill and been taken to Vinaya hospital in Kundapur.

Vishnu Murthy rushed to the hospital, but was informed by the doctors that Chaitanya was declared brought dead.

A case has been registered at Kundapura police station. Even though it is suspected that he died of cardiac arrest, the exact cause will be known only after the post-mortem.

Bengaluru, Jan 13: Though he submitted his resignation as leader of the opposition over a month ago, former chief minister Siddaramaiah continues as the face of the Congress in Karnataka.

However, this may change as All India Congress Committee (AICC) interim president Sonia Gandhi has summoned Siddaramaiah to Delhi for a final consultation over change of guard. Over the past month, there has been speculation over the possibility of Congress persisting with Siddaramaiah as opposition leader and either party troubleshooter DK Shivakumar or former ministers MB Patil, HK Patil or Eshwar Khandre replacing incumbent president Dinesh Gundu Rao. Both tendered resignations owing moral responsibility for the party's dismal performance in the 15 bypolls held last month.

In the past 24 hours, there has been talk of Siddaramaiah being asked to be the state unit president and vacating the other post for a young turk or experience legislator including the likes of Shivakumar who could be the face of KPCC by 2023 if he gets a clean chit from the ED in cases of money-laundering, etc. Seniors, including former KPCC president and DyCM G Parameswara and former minister HK Patil, are strong contenders to be leader of the opposition if Siddaramaiah is asked to vacate the post.

However, sources in the Siddaramaiah camp dismissed the possibility of him becoming KPCC president. "He has never aspired for the post and the high command is not inclined to do it," said a member in his camp.

Siddaramaiah may meet Sonia on Tuesday morning. It's still unclear if any other KPCC functionaries have been summoned. Sources said Sonia is scheduled to leave India for medical treatment on January 15 and wanted to complete the consultations about Karnataka. The high command has reportedly gone through reports submitted by party observers Madhusudan Mistry and Parameswara.