Thank you King Salman! Saudi to send stranded Indians back at its own expense

Bengaluru, Apr 2: In a bid to discourage people from coming out on roads during the lockdown, Bengaluru Traffic Police have inscribed a message that reads, "If you come to road, I'll come to your home."

It was written on the road at Nagenahalli check-post. The message was written by the cops in the regional language.

Meanwhile, nine fresh cases were reported in Karnataka with the count rising to 110 in the state on Wednesday.

Out of the total cases, three persons died due to the virus while nine others have been discharged after recovery.

"COVID-19 cases climb to 110 in Karnataka, with nine fresh cases being reported between 5 pm yesterday and 2 pm today. Out of the total cases, three have died while nine others have been discharged," a bulletin issued by the state health department said.

"Out of 110 cases detected and confirmed in Karnataka so far, seven cases are transit
passengers of Kerala who have landed in our airports and being treated in
Karnataka," it added.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday said that there are 1,834 coronavirus positive cases in India, including 1,649 active cases, 144 cured/discharged/migrated people and 41 deaths.

Jan 2: A year after 12,000 acres of forests in Bandipur went up in smoke, the Karnataka Forest Department is gearing up for the summer even as the Forest Survey of India (FSI) has cautioned that 22.78 lakh acres (9,222 sq km) or about 20% of the green cover spread across three districts in the central part of the state is fire-prone.

The FSI studied forest fire incidents across the country between 2004-05 and 2017 before coming up with state-specific inputs.

According to the 13-year observation, Karnataka has 7,352 “fire points” or areas measuring 5 km X 5 km with frequent fire incidents.

Though the number is lower compared to states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha with over 20,000 points, the sheer spread of the fire-prone area itself is a challenge for the Karnataka Forest Department.

According to data, about three lakh acres (1,199.9 sq km) of forest area is very highly fire prone with 26 to 52 fire incidents in 13 years. This is followed by 7.6 lakh acres (3,067 sq km) of “highly fire prone” areas with an average of one to two incidents every year.

Almost all of the “red alert” areas are concentrated in Uttara Kannada, Chikkmagaluru, Shivamogga and Chamarajanagar districts. As temperature rises at the end of January, so does the risk of forest fires, requiring officials to be on vigil till the end of summer.

After an investigation into the Bandipur blaze revealed that faulty fire lines and poor supervision were the reason for the spread of the fire, the department has come up with a multi-pronged approach to prevent similar incidents this year.

“After the Bandipur incident, we have created a fire cell and a standard operating procedure (SOP) which everyone has to follow. Firstly, a fire management plan is prepared and approved by a competent authority.

The SOP has well defined firelines which have to be executed by December-end and burning must be completed by January 15,”  Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Head of Forest Force) Punati Sridhar told DH.

He said that to ensure its strict implementation, GPS readings of firelines are to be submitted for random verification.

“All the required equipment from fire jackets to shoes, gloves, backpack sprayers and tractors mounted with 2,000-5,000 litre tanks with high pressure pumps will be deployed at vantage points,” he said.

In addition, the department’s fire cell works in collaboration with the Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications Centre (KSRSAC) to give fire alerts within half and hour of an area catching fire and detected by satellites.

“Earlier, the gap used to be four hours by when the fire would have spread beyond control. Now, with reduced time gap, it would be easier to control fire early,” he added.

Bengaluru, Jul 19: The Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwathnarayan on Saturday inspected the country's first modular Intensive Care Unit (ICU) containers.

A notice from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said that the new mobile modular container ICUs, which will be used in the fight against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, have been created by Rinac India Limited, known for setting up sanitised operation theatres and clean rooms in hospitals.

On a pilot basis, the Deputy CM, who is also in charge of setting up COVID-care centres, said that 10 modular container ICUs will be deployed at the KC General Hospital in Malleshwaram. Each of the containers will have five beds.

Deputy CM Ashwathnarayan also said, "These mobile ICUs donated by Rinac will be useful, particularly in times of a crisis like COVID 19 or any natural calamity."

"The entry of health officials will be through an airlock, and entry of patients will be through a different door. There will be two doors for patients and can be increased if need. ICUs are fitted with cameras to monitor online from a centralized monitoring station, thereby limiting the exposure of the health personnel," the CMO informed.

The CMO further added, "the advantages of this new system are that the prefabricated modules of 5 can be shifted to any location by trailers and it is easy to deploy multiple containers to create a common facility. They are easy to clean and the airtight functionality ensures that no moisture or heat ingression happens, hence, it is easy to air-condition or ventilate."