Times of India makes a U-turn on 'Bhatkal RDX dump' report, says sorry

March 26, 2012

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Mangalore, March 26: The Times of India which had carried a sensational report titled 'Bhatkal sits on an RDX dump, warn policemen' has indirectly apologized to the people of Bhatkal insisting, the paper has 'no intention hurt anybody's feelings'.

The climb down in the stand of the prestigious English daily comes after the Uttara Kannada district superintendent of police K.T. Balakrishna denied the newspapers claim that “a dump of explosive material including RDX huge enough to singe major south Indian cities is piled up in an unidentified house in the town”.

Dismissing the paper's report which was believed to be based on “police sources”, Mr. Balakrishna ridiculed the report saying: “Can the explosives be piled up like the fertilizers in a godown?”

The report had quoted Nasir to have revealed about the dump still lying in the Bhatkal house, but failed to lead the police to the house on Thursday, claiming he could not recollect where it was and how it looked, as it was dark when he visited.

The report in TOI also claimed that a joint team comprising personnel from the Anti-Terrorist Squad, Bangalore and Delhi Special police scoured Bhatkal town to identify the house, with the help of four terror suspects including Nasir from Kerala, who is said to be the prime accused in the July 25, 2008 Bangalore serial blasts. The explosives from the Bhatkal dump, the report claimed, are believed to have been used in the Chinnaswamy Stadium blasts in 2010 and Delhi High Court last year, besides several other terror strikes across the country.

A day after the TOI published the local journalists tried to follow up on the 'leads' provided by the paper and were in for a big surprise. The SP clarified that the district police department, central intelligence department and several other departments do not have a clue about such a 'RDX dump' existing in Bhatkal. “I have been to Bhatkal on several occasions. I have never got any clue or information about terrorist activities there. Even the intelligence department has dismissed the report,” he said.

He also dismissed the TOI report as baseless, fictitious and speculative. “Several such reports have flown around in the past. This is the latest,” he added.

Meanwhile, embarrassed by the outright rejection of their 'investigative report' by the police department, TOI has come out with a clarification on Monday with the title “Bhatkal is not a town of culprits.”

Although it insisted that 'the report was based on police sources privy to investigations', the newspaper declared that it had no reason to brand Bhatkal as a town of culprits. If the report paints such a picture of the town, TOI would like to correct the wrong impression and assert it has no intention to hurt anybody's feelings.”

Significantly, the clarification was published on page three (local news page) as a single column item whereas the 'Bhatkal sits on an RDX dump, warn policemen' was displayed prominently on page one across three columns.

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News Network
January 7,2020

Mangaluru, Jan 7: Kasturba Medical College Mangaluru, a constituent unit of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), in association with Pai Family Endowment (in memory of Shri Suhas Gopal Pai) as its social initiative opens a newborn hearing assessment centre at Govt Lady Goshen Hospital on Tuesday.

Dr M Venkatraya Prabhu, Dean of KMC Mangaluru addressing the media persons said that the project is made possible by the generous philanthropic contribution of Mrs Anuradha (Shanthi)Gopal Pai and will be inaugurated by her in Presence of Dr H Vinod Bhat, Vice-Chancellor of MAHE.

Dr Deepak Madi, Deputy Medical Superintendent KMC Hospital Attavar explained that the facility will be managed by the departments from Audiology, ENT and Paediatrics of Kasturba Medical College, Mangaluru. The Centre aims to screen all the babies born in the hospital for hearing loss.

This is the maiden initiative of the MAHE-Pai Family endowment which has been set up to find solutions for the numerous challenges faced by the hearing handicapped in & around Dakshina Kannada district.

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News Network
February 1,2020

Mangaluru, Feb 1: “1) Take necessary precautionary measures. 2) Don’t blindly believe in social media rumours.” These are the two important advisories issued by the authorities in Dakshina Kannada district in the wake of coronavirus scare.

According to DHO Dr Ramakrishna there is no specific antiviral treatment recommended for coronavirus infection. Supportive care for infected people can be highly effective, but, there is no vaccine available for coronavirus.

In a health meeting, he advised people to take precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Following are some of the precautionary measures.

1) Wash your hands often with soap and water or an alcohol-based sanitiser.

2) Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

3) Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

4) Stay home when you are sick, and cover your mouth when you cough or use a tissue while sneezing.

5) Throw the used tissue in the dustbin. Clean and disinfect surfaces frequently.

Deputy commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh said there is no need for people to panic about coronavirus.

Dakshina Kannada zilla panchayat CEO R Selvamani said IEC programmes will be held to create awareness on possibilities of spread of diseases.

He also advised people not to follow blindly the advisories being shared on social media, especially WhatsApp without proper verification.

“Posts on cures for coronavirus which are not scientifically proven are being shared on social media. Do not follow such advisories without verifying facts,” he said.

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News Network
July 12,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 12: Karnataka on Sunday registered 71 COVID-19 deaths, its highest single day count, and 2,627 fresh cases, pushing the tally of infections in the state to 38,843, the health department said.

The total positive cases include 22,746 active cases and 15,409 discharges, the department said in its daily bulletin.

The total active cases include 532 people admitted in the ICUs across the state.

Of the 71 fatalities, a record 45 were reported in Bengaluru alone including the death of 16 day-old baby girl and 17-year-old girl with chronic kidney disease, taking the total mortalities in the city to 274.

Among the districts, where new cases were reported, Bengaluru urban accounted for 1,525 cases, followed by Dakshina Kannada with 196, Dharwad 129, Yadagiri 120, and 19 in Bengaluru Rural.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, 8.39 lakh samples have been tested including 20,050 on Sunday alone, of which 7.80 lakh tested negative.

Other than Bengaluru, five fatalities were reported in Dakshina Kannada, three each in Mysuru, Hassan, Davangere and Belagavi, two each in Haveri and Bagalkote and one each in Dharwad, Koppal, Tumakuru, Vijayapura and Chamarajanagar.

While majority of those who died of coronavirus suffered from Severe Acute Respiratory Illness and Influenza Like Illness, significantly 21 victims did not have any pre-medical conditions while eight were the asymptomatic patients with pre-medical conditions.

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