Mangaluru does it again: Green Corridor created for organ transport

Bengaluru, Jan 10: Working President of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, Eashwar Khandre on Friday said that his party has extended its support to the demand made by the former chief minister of Karnataka, HD Kumaraswamy, that a House Committee should be formed to probe into Mangaluru violence.

Emphasising the need for a judicial probe into the incident, Khandre said, "Congress has always said that the truth should prevail and that there should be a judicial inquiry and investigation by a sitting Supreme Court judge or a High Court judge into the incident."

"We support his (HD Kumaraswamy) statement that a House Committee should be set up to probe into the incident of Mangaluru violence. Two innocent people lost their lives during the anti-CAA protest, it is very unfortunate," he added.

Two people were killed in Mangaluru in the alleged police firing after protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act turned violent on December 19.

The Act grants Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Parsi communities fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who entered India on or before 31, 2014.

Bengaluru, June 22: Even as the covid-19 positive cases are steadily increasing in Karnataka, an expert has claimed that community transmission has begun in Bengaluru and cases could keep rising over the next two months.

“If you look at the natural course of this virus across countries around the world, it is about six months. Now we’re in the fourth month. This will go on for another two months. It also sounds like this is the beginning of the peak. There is also a possibility of the number of cases going up from now on. Even across India, cases are increasing,” says Dr CN Manjunath, director of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research and State Task Force member.

Besides the increase in number of cases, the virus is advancing silently, stealthily. A lot of people who are testing positive are asymptomatic. In areas like Padarayanapura, Nanjangud and many places in north Karnataka, there have been positive cases who have not had any contact with infected individuals. Some cases recorded in Bengaluru over the last two to three days have not had any contact with Covid-positive people.

Dr Manjunath adds: “We are in community transmission. This will happen because nature is ahead of everything. We have to take all possible precautionary measures at our command. This has to happen. Only then some kind of herd immunity will be developed.”

“We are expanding the guidelines of testing to include a large number of people to be tested. Now, according to the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines, only symptomatic Influenza like Illness (ILI) or Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI), or a person coming in contact with an infected person are being tested.

But since we have crossed 100 days in Karnataka from the first reported case and we’re getting cases with no travel history or contact with a Covid-positive person, we have to start random testing across the sub-group population. Only then will we understand the burden of the disease and what precautions need to be taken,” he says.

Mangaluru, May 20: The local unit of Bharatiya Janata Party has defended the delay in repatriation of coastal Kannadigas from Middle Eastern countries saying that it is impossible to bring all expatriate together at a time when covid-19 cases are continuing to spike in the region. 

Addressing a press conference, Sudarshan M, president of Dakshina Kannada unit of BJP said that the entire district administration was working as a team under the leadership local MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and district minister Kota Shrinivas Poojary and seven BJP MLAs in this critical juncture.

“Without any bias, we also have reached out to the needs of people of Mangaluru assembly constituency represented by former minister and Congress MLA U T Khader,” he said, adding that his party will not forget Indian expatriates in the Gulf too. 

Replying to the charge of not catering to the interests of Kannadigas stranded in the Middle East by way of arranging special flights, Sudarshan said this is part of a well-thought-out move to bring them in batches.

“It is impossible to bring back all Kannadigas stranded in Middle East all of a sudden. Their repatriation will be in phased manner based on facilities available in the district,” he said.

“The district authorities have created healthcare and quarantine facilities for a limited number, be it at Covid-19 hospital or institutional quarantine, and bringing them together will create logistical problems,” he said.