Convening meeting of legislators: Khader urges CM

Wayanad, Apr 21: Panic gripped residents of Mananthavady and Mepaddi regions of the district after several cats in the region were found dead.

A group of people approached authorities after which the Animal Husbandry Department tested samples from the carcasses and found that the cat deaths were caused by Feline Parvovirus, which does not transmit to humans.

Speaking to ANI, Dr D Ramachandran, Chief Veterinary Officer, Wayanad said that Feline Parvovirus affects cats and vaccines are available to protect cats and keep the virus at bay.

"There were incidents of cat deaths in Mananthavady and Meppadi region of Wayanad district creating panic among the local residents. The officials of the Animal Husbandry department visited the spots for epidemiological investigations. The samples were collected and sent to the State Institute of Animal Diseases, which confirmed that the deaths were due to Feline Parvovirus. There is no need to worry as this virus does not spread to humans," he said.

A cat owner in Meppadi said that within a span of two-three days, over 13 cats had died in the region.

"We are afraid of these sudden cat deaths amidst coronavirus outbreak. We have informed the Health Department and Animal Husbandry department. Officials came here and collected the samples," she said.

Bengaluru, Jul 24: A government doctor who was turned away by three private hospitals because he could not produce a coronavirus test result passed away today in Bengaluru. Dr Manjunath, who was a frontline COVID-19 doctor, was allegedly turned away by hospitals when he was extremely ill and struggling to breathe.

Dr Manjunath worked in the state Health and Family Welfare department and was based in Ramanagara district, around 50 km from Bengaluru.

D Randeep, a Special Officer with the Bengaluru municipal body BBMP, said that the hospitals that had refused to admit Dr Manjunath would be reported to the health department.

In June-end, Dr Manjunath went to Rajashekhar Hospital in JP Nagar, BGS Global Hospital in Kengeri and Sagar hospital in Kumaraswamy Layout. All three demanded to see his COVID-19 test result but those were still not in at the time, according to his family. His brother-in-law Nagendra is also a doctor with BBMP and in charge of allotting hospital beds, yet he was completely helpless when it came to his own relative.

He was finally admitted to Sagar hospital on June 25 when his family sat in protest on the footpath outside the Dayananda Sagar campus. He was placed on ventilator and later shifted to the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, where he died earlier today. The hospital says Dr Manjunath was discharged on July 9 because he wanted plasma therapy.

Six members of his family, including a 14-year-old, tested COVID-19 positive. Most of them have recovered.

Bengaluru has seen several cases of patients being turned away from hospitals in the city. Hospitals say they need Covid test results to know whether to admit patients in the coronavirus ICU or in the general section and to understand treatment protocol.

Mr Randeep said hospitals have been instructed to admit patients even without such a certificate. Notices have been sent to hospitals that fail to comply. The OPD of two private hospitals was sealed for 48 hours when they refused to admit a patient.

Kozhikode, Jun 9: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter Veena T is all set to marry DYFI National President and CPM state committee member PA Muhammad Riyas on June 15. Interestingly, it's the second marriage for both. 

Veena, the elder daughter of Pinarayi Vijayan and Kamala Vijayan, is an IT entrepreneur based in Bengaluru.

According to sources, the marriage will be a simple function in Thiruvananthapuram where only close relatives will participate. The marriage registration has already been done. 

"It's only a private affair of two individuals," Riyas told media persons, reluctant to divulge more details. 

The 44-year-old Muhammad Riyas started his political career with the Students Federation of India (SFI) and climbed up the rungs through DYFI. He had unsuccessfully contested against UDF's M K Raghavan from Kozhikode parliament constituency in 2009. 

The son of retired IPS officer P M Abdul Khadar, Riyas is the familiar face of the left in primetime TV discussions, strongly articulating the CPM stance. 

A law graduate, he had begun at the grassroots level and gradually worked his way up the ladder. 

His marriage to Dr Sameeha Saithalavi, a former syndicate member of Calicut University, happened in 2002. The couple separated in 2015 and they have two sons aged 10 and 13. 

The 40-plus Veena is MD of the IT firm Exalogic Solutions since 2014. 

Prior to that, she was the CEO of RT Technosoft, a Thiruvananthapuram-based company owned by NRI industrialist Ravi Pillai. Before that, she had a six-year stint with Oracle. She has a son from her first marriage. 

"They both were divorced for more than five years. They knew each other and the marriage decision was taken by them only. It's completely a private affair," said a DYFI leader.