Mersal row: BJP’s Raja drags Vijay’s Christian identity to justify GST!

Bengaluru, Jul 16: Aiming to forge a citizen-government partnership in combating the Covid pandemic, the Karnataka government is seeking plasma donations from survivors for a token appreciation of Rs 5,000, a minister said on Wednesday.

"I request all those who have recovered from Covid-19 to donate plasma and save lives. As a token of our appreciation, we will give Rs 5,000 to patients who come forward and donate their plasma," said Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar.

He said the battle against the pandemic can only be won through citizen-government partnership.

On Wednesday, Covid cases swelled by 1,975 infections in Bengaluru, ground zero for the pandemic in the southern state, raising its total number of cases to 22,944, out of which 17,051 are active.

In the past 24 hours, the state as a whole registered a record 3,176 cases, raising Karnataka's tally to 47,253, even as 87 people succumbed to the virus.

Meanwhile, Sudhakar said 8,134 booth level workforce will conduct a house to house survey along with other Covid control measures in Bengaluru.

He said many locals and block level officers will be the members of the workforce.

Mangaluru/Udupi, Jul 7: Coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi crossed 100 plus Covid19 positive cases mark again on Tuesday, after slipping to double digit cases for a day on Monday. While Dakshina Kannada accounted for 83 of these cases and one death, Udupi tallied 28 fresh cases taking the combined tally of new cases to 111.

DK stood second behind Bengaluru Urban that recorded 800 out of 1,498 new cases that the state recorded for the day.

In all, 48 primary contacts testing positive led DK district’s spurt of 83 cases, Sindhu B Rupesh, deputy commissioner, said. Influenza like illness (ILI) cases accounted for 20 of the 83 cases, one each were diagnosed with severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) and from pre-surgery sample collected before delivery, two had history of inter-district travel, three each were cases of random, pre-surgery samples and source of infection being traced.

A 65-year-old male from Moodbidri who had co-morbid conditions including diabetes, pneumonia and heart ailment succumbed to the pandemic during the day. He was admitted for treatment at a private hospital on July 3. With this, the death toll due to coronavirus in DK district rose to 26 and two of them are due to non-Covid reasons including a case each of suicide and a person succumbing to liver cirrhosis and they tested positive post death.

G Jagadeesha, deputy commissioner, Udupi district said the 28 new cases took the total positive cases in Udupi to 1390. With 1182 patients discharged and three deaths, Udupi as on date has 205 active cases. Those who tested positive include KSRTC driver who travelled to Bengaluru, vegetable vendor at Adi Udupi market and people with travel history to Tumakuru, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Dubai and two even from DK and rest primary contacts, DC said.

Health authorities in DK district also discharged 99 patients during the day to keep their active cases tally at 650. The two districts combined have 855 active cases as on date. As per revised protocol issued by the department of health and family welfare, the district administration also permitted 28 patients with mild symptoms to undergo home isolation while the rest are being treated either at private hospitals or at the designated Covid19 hospital for DK.

Bengaluru, Mar 5: Amulya Leona, the 19-year-old woman who captured a nation’s attention by shouting full-throated slogans, allegedly in support of Pakistan, at a rally in Bengaluru, has reportedly held her composure under grilling by the Special Investigating Team (SIT).

The woman was arrested after her speech to an audience of protesters against the Citizenship Amendment Act on February 19, and was slapped with sedition charges.

Sources in the police said Amulya Leona seemed to be absolutely normal during interrogation by senior cops, unlike most other persons in such circumstances.

Not once throughout the grilling nor in judicial custody did she break down.

Amulya is said to have defended herself on charges that she shouted pro-Pakistan slogans. She made it clear that by speaking out at the rally at Freedom House, she did not mean to support the enemy country and that she was not against India.

Lower-rung officers said Amulya Leona seemed to be considerably influenced by the late firebrand activist Gowri Lankesh, who was shot dead in 2017.

In fact, the policewomen to whose charge she was entrusted right after she was arrested are said to have heaved a sigh of relief when she handed over to custody of prison staff.

An urban legend going around in lower-rung police circles is that Amulya Leona attended the funeral of Gowri Lankesh and fainted near where the late activist was buried. “It’s impossible for a 19-year-old to show such grit. We have seen hardcore criminals breaking down in custody. Forget about breaking down, Amulya Leona is becoming stronger,” they explain.