Two brothers killed as speeding bus rams into auto-rickshaw in Karkala

Mangaluru, Jul 23: Dakshina Kannada recorded seven more deaths related to covid-19 even as the district saw a spike of 218 new coronavirus positive cases in past 24 hours. With this the total number of covid related deaths in the district mounted to 99. 

Among the seven fatalities, the first one is a 36-year-old man hailing from Davanagere. He was admitted to a private hospital on July 16, and breathed his last yesterday.He was suffering from sepsis septic shock, acute liver injury, and acute kidney injury, acute chronic pancreatitis, ARDS, and spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. 

The second victim is a 69-year-old man from Bhatkal, who was admitted to a private hospital on July 7, and passed away July 22. He suffered from heart disease, cancer, renal failure and pulmonary thromboembolism. 

The third one is a 52-year-old man from Palakkad, Kerala. He was admitted to a Wenlock hospital on July 19, and passed away on July 22. He suffered from diabetes, ARDS and respiratory issues. 

The fourth one is an 83-year-old man from Mangaluru. He was admitted to a Wenlock hospital on June 13, and passed away on July 22. He suffered from blood pressure, heart disease and pneumonia. 

The fifth one is a 73-year-old man from Mangaluru, who was admitted to a private hospital on July 21, and passed away on July 22. He was suffering from diabetes mellitus, hypertension, old cerebrovascular accident, hyponatraemia and acute on chronic kidney disease. 

The sixth one a 58-year-old woman from Mangaluru. She was admitted to a private hospital on July 11 and passed away on July 22. She was suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension. 

The seventh is a 52-year-old male from Bantwal. He was admitted to private hospital on July 21 and passed away on July 22. He was suffering from heart disease.

As per the district health bulletin, a total of 31,068 samples have been tested so far. 26,854 have turned out negative, and 4,214 are positive till date. Out of these, 2,253 cases are currently active. 1,862 persons have recovered and been discharged. Among the deceased, 12 are from other districts.

As many as 118 patients were discharged on Thursday from Wenlock as well as private hospitals. Of the 218 who tested positive on Thursday, 36 are primary contacts, 110 have ILI symptoms, 16 have SARI symptoms, and contacts of 57 are being traced.

Bengaluru, Apr 29: Janata Dal-Secular leader and former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy on Tuesday accused the central government of writing off loans of those who are facing charges of fraud.

In a series of tweets, Kumaraswamy slammed the central government.

"Really? At a time when the whole world is worried about unprecedented economic emergency, writing off Rs 68,000 crore loans of willful big fish defaulters became the best antidote to the economic crisis? And how is 50k cr package to mutual funds going to help the common man?" he tweeted.

In another tweet, Kumaraswamy said that "Billionaire scamsters like Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksy, Sanjay Junjunwala seem to be very dear to this government".

"Na khaunga, na khane dunga" is yet another jumla unraveled. Billionaire scamsters like Vijay Malya, Mehul Choksy, Sanjay Junjunwala seem to be very dear to this government. The poor are dying by the roadside, farmers are desperate, the middle class is faced with economic doom.

The government has done little to help. But it writes off loans of those who are facing charges of fraud! What patriotism! What nationalism!" he tweeted.

French Nobel prize winning scientist Luc Montagnier has sparked a fresh controversy by claiming that the SARS-CoV-2 virus came from a lab, and is the result of an attempt to manufacture a vaccine against the AIDS virus.

In an interview given to French CNews channel and during a podcast by Pourquoi Docteur, professor Montagnier who co-discovered HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) claimed the presence of elements of HIV in the genome of the coronavirus and even elements of the "germ of malaria" are highly suspect, according to a report in Asia Times.

"The Wuhan city laboratory has specialized in these coronaviruses since the early 2000s. They have expertise in this area," he was quoted as saying.

The theory that Covid-19 virus originated in the lab is making rounds for quite some time.

US President Donald Trump last week acknowledged Fox News report that the novel coronavirus may have been accidentally leaked by an intern working at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.

The Fox News, in an exclusive report, based on unnamed sources has claimed that though the virus is a naturally occurring strain among bats and not a bioweapon, but it was being studied in Wuhan laboratory.

The initial transmission of the virus was bat-to-human, the news channel said, adding that the "patient zero" worked at the laboratory. The lab employee was accidentally infected before spreading the disease among the common people outside the lab in Wuhan city.

Professor Montagnier was awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine for the identification of AIDS virus, with his colleague professor Franeoise Barre-Sinoussi.

His fresh claim on coronavirus, however, received criticism from scientists, including his colleagues.

"Just in case you don't know. Dr Montagnier has been rolling downhill incredibly fast in the last few years. From baselessly defending homeopathy to becoming an antivaxxer. Whatever he says, just don't believe him," tweeted Juan Carlos Gabaldon.

As per a recent Washington Post, two years ago, the US embassy officials in China raised concerns about the insufficient biosafety at the Chinese government's Wuhan Institute of Virology where deadly viruses and infectious diseases are studied.

Though the institute, located quite close to the Wuhan wet market, is China's first biosafety level IV lab, the US state department had warned in 2018 about "serious shortage of appropriately trained technicians and investigators needed to safely operate this high-containment laboratory".