NRIs in Dubai demand arrest of Karnataka TV journalist accused of blasphemy

Mangaluru, Apr 3: The laboratory at District Wenlock Hospital has initiated trial for Covid 19 testing, close on the heels of receiving permission from state government.

Doctors, elected representatives and stakeholders had repeatedly demanded that a laboratory should be set up in the port city. Without the lab, the samples were sent either to Shivamogga or to Bengaluru for testing. When Heath Minister Sriramulu had visited Mangaluru on March 17, he had promised a lab in the city for testing of the samples.

Accordingly, the government gave permission for starting the laboratory at Wenlock Hospital. The process of registering the lab with Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) will be completed shortly. The laboratory will be fully operational only after it is registered.

Bengaluru, May 30: The Karnataka government will soon launch a project to maintain the health database of all its citizens, said Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Friday.

A first of its kind initiative, the "State Health Register" will be a robust and standardised health repository of all the citizens, as per an official release.

Sudhakar said that the project will be implemented first in Chikkaballapur district on an experimental basis. "Enhanced focus on healthcare has become imperative and our government is committed to providing world-class healthcare to all citizens," he added.

While speaking to media, the minister said that COVID-19 experience has demonstrated the necessity of having robust, real-time public health data and, therefore, there is a need to maintain a repository of health data of each and every citizen.

He said that the government will be undertaking a survey of all 6.5 crore people in the state, by using a team of Primary Health Centre officials, revenue officials, education department staff and ASHA karyakartas.

"They will visit each household and collect health data of all the members of the family. This will not only help the government to provide better healthcare but will also help efficient resource allocation, management and better implementation of various citizen-centric schemes in the state," Sudhakar stated.

"Public-Private Partnership -- It's our vision to provide world-class healthcare to all citizens in the state and we need accurate data to make our vision a reality. The health register is a futuristic project which is taken up in the interest of the people. The project will include 50 per cent partnership of private hospitals. The data collected will help us to prioritise healthcare based on geography, demography and other targetted measures," read the release.

Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has assured all support for the project and a detailed discussion will be undertaken in the upcoming cabinet meeting, said Dr Sudhakar.

The minister also assured that he is committed to ensuring that all citizens of the state have access to world-class healthcare.

Bengaluru, Mar 7: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday said that the Upper Krishna Project (UKP) will be completed within the next three years.

Speaking in the Assembly, the Chief Minister said: "After discussing with the officials of the finance department, we have decided to allocate Rs 10,000 crore funds for the third phase of UKP. This project will be completed within a span of three years."

Yediyurappa also said that the government will hold talks for additional funds from the Central government.

The leader of Opposition, Siddaramaiah, interrupted and said that the CM has announced this just to gain the confidence of MLAs from north Karnataka.

"The government could have announced it in the budget itself or else the Chief Minister could have announced it at the time of discussion on the budget. Where are the funds with the government to complete the project? CM has announced this just to gain the confidence of MLAs who hail from north Karnataka," said Siddaramaiah.

Deputy Chief Minister Govinda Karajol while speaking to the media welcomed the Chief Minister's statement and said that the earlier government didn't allocate a single penny in the last seven years he added.