Gau rakshaks attack farmhouse, destroy property over qurbani; victims booked

Thrissur, Feb 11: The latest test result of the woman medical student, who arrived here from China's Wuhan region and was the first positive case from India for the novel Coronavirus (nCoV), has come out negative, health officials said on Monday.

Her condition was "stable", they said.

According to the state health department as of now, 31 people are in isolation wards across various hospitals in the state.

"The blood test result of the first patient from Thrissur, from the National Institute of Virology (NIV) testing centre at Alappuzha, shows a negative result.

But we need confirmation from the NIV at Pune," a senior medical officer told news agency.

After the first positive case was reported from Thrissur, two other Keralite students from Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, had tested positive in Alappuzha and Kasaragod districts.

The health department had earlier said those in isolation wards of various hospitals in the state have come down to 34.

"A total of 3,367 are under observation across the state, of which 3,336 are under home quarantine," a release issued by the health department said.

The department has already sent at least 364 samples for testing at the NIV at Pune and so far 337 results have returned negative.

The ''state calamity'' alert, which was declared on February 3, was withdrawn on Friday after no new positive cases of infection were detected.

Bengaluru, Feb 7: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) ordered the destruction of a tilted building in the city after evacuating about 150 people from 35 families in the vicinity, an official said on Thursday.

"The top portion of the building has been destroyed 70 per cent today (Thursday). Later, the destruction contractor will allow machines to be used," Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Yelahanka joint commissioner Ashok said.

Located on Vinayaknagar Street in Hebbal's Kempapura, the five-storey building being used as a hostel for boys got tilted on Wednesday morning, spreading panic in the neighbourhood.

Though the tilted building owned by one Rahul, a jeweller, was a sound structure, Ashok said a neighbour, Babu, hired a JCB excavator to dig deep beside the affected structure to build his own structure.

"Babu not only dug very deep but also damaged the foundation pillar of the tilted building, weakening the structure and leading to its slant," said Ashok.

Babu has been booked and arrested even as the police are on the look-out for the JCB owner and operator.

The titled building erected five floors unauthorisedly and falls into the B Khata category. It was constructed without the civic body's plan, said Ashok. 

A Khata and B Khata denote the two types of khatas that exist under BBMP. Khata is a document which shows a property owner having an account with the municipality to pay taxes. An A Khata denotes that the building owner has paid relevant property taxes and that the building conforms to building bylaws and government rules. A B Khata denotes that the building is in violation of government regulations regarding properties in Bengaluru, even when the civic charges for the property have been cleared by the owner.

"As per procedure, we issue notice, but such constructions are rampant in the city. Under the BBMP jurisdiction, there are 15 lakh B Khata structures," said Ashok.

For all B Khata sites, the civic body does not give any plan and there is no proper control on them, he said.

Ashok said the case to regularise the B Khata buildings to A Khata buildings is currently pending in the Supreme Court.

Luckily, no injury or loss of life has been reported from the tilted building.

The civic body arranged alternative accommodation for the affected families, but most of them chose to stay with their relatives, said Ashok.

Bengaluru, Apr 8: Heavy rain lashed Belthangady taluk in Dakshina Kannada district and parts of Udupi district on Tuesday providing much-needed relief to the people from the sultry heat.

Belthangady, Guruvayanakere, Madantyaru, Venoor, Naravi and surrounding areas received rain coupled with lightning and thunder. 

Rain also lashed Karkala, Kundapura, Kollur, Siddapura, Gangolli, Hemmady, Uppunda, Shiroor, Hebri and surrounding areas in Udupi district.

Parts of Malnad --- Koppa, Balehonnur and NR Pura taluks in the neighbouring Chikkamagaluru district --- received good rainfall coupled with lightning and thunder.

The rain has brought a smile on the face of coffee growers as it will help in the blossoming of the flowers in coffee plants.

In Kodagu district, heavy rain lashed Madikeri, Hudikeri, Ponnampet, Srimangala, Siddapura, Galiubeedu, Bapoklu, Talacauvery and Bhagamandala.

Parts of Mysuru city and district, Chamarajanagar, and Hassan received a good spell of rain on Monday night, bringing down the mercury levels.

Heavy rain lashed T Narasipur taluk in Mysuru district and the Kothegala Gram panchayat limits received 7 cm rainfall. Karya village in Nanjangud taluk received 5 cm rainfall.

Male Mahadeshwara Hills in Chamarajanagar district received good rain in the evening. 

Meanwhile, the Agriculture Research Station at Naganahalli has predicted thunderstorms, on April 7 and 8 in the region. The research centre recorded 12 mm rain on Sunday night and 22.5 mm on Monday midnight. 

Moderate to heavy rain, accompanied by strong wind and lightning, lashed some parts of Shivamogga district, including Ripponpet, Sorab, Bhadravathi, Thirthahalli, Sagar
and Shikariput. 

Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district received heavy rain from 4 to 7 pm. The town had also received the rain for about half-an-hour in the morning.

Hosapete town and the surrounding villages also received the rain. At some places, the rain brought down the branches of the trees. The rain has cooled the mercury level at Hosur, Nagenahalli, Basavadurga, Kamalapur, Hampi and other villages in Hosapete taluk. 

Rain also lashed several places in Ballari district, including the Ballari city. Rain, accompanied by hailstones, brought cheers to the people at Kottur. 

Meanwhile, rain and hailstones have destroyed the standing paddy crop in hundreds of acres of land at Maraladinni, Katagal, Uskihal, Belladamaradi and other villages in Maski taluk of Raichur. The farmers are waiting to harvest the crop.