Two more men held in Kannur over suspected IS links

Mar 11: The Karnataka government on Wednesday started a campaign called 'Namaste over Handshake' that encourages people to greet in the traditional Indian style, to tackle the spread of coronavirus.

The campaign also includes health advice on how people can protect themselves from the infection by adopting hygiene practices such as regularly washing hands to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

As part of the campaign, the state health and family welfare department has uploaded a poster on the social media, featuring a 'Bharatnatyam' dancer draped in a red saree saying 'Namaste'.

"Use Namasthe to greet others, fight against corona" read a message on the poster online.

The poster has health helpline numbers (104 and 011- 23978046) for public queries on the viral disease, which has claimed 4,251 lives worldwide.

A health department official told PTI that as part of the campaign, posters have been uploaded on social media and it would be printed and despatched to different districts to be put up at important junctions.

"We had been working on this idea. Kerala has already done it. They are using Kathakali dancers whereas we are using a Bharatanatyam dancer as our model," the official said.

Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar too had insisted that people should adopt 'Namasthe' or 'Namaskara' to greet people instead of handshakes or hugs.

Bengaluru, Feb 4: A 33-year old woman techie allegedly stabbed her mother to death and made a murderous assault on her younger brother before fleeing their home here, police said on Tuesday.

According to police, the woman fatally stabbed her mother using a knife and attacked the brother early on Monday.

The injured brother has been hospitalised here.

A search was on for the techie and the motive for her action under investigation, police said.

The woman, employed as a software engineer with a company here, earlier had told her mother and 30-year old brother that she has been transferred to Hyderabad and she may have to relocate.

The brother told police that in the early morning on Monday he saw his sister searching something desperately and offered to assist, which she refused.

However, minutes later she made a murderous assault on him, he told police, adding when he screamed for help and called his mother, his sister said she has killed their mother.

She stabbed him and attacked with an iron rod before fleeing, her brother told police.

The body of the mother was found in another room in the house.

"We are still investigating the matter. We are not clear about the motive behind the murder," a police officer told media adding the woman was yet to be arrested.

Bengaluru, May 9: A three-year-old boy was killed by a leopard in the early hours of Saturday in Magadi taluk near Bengaluru.

According to police, the boy identified as C Hemanth, was sleeping with his parents - Chandrasekhar and Mangalagowramma - outside his grandfather Chikkanna's residence at Kadaraiana Palya.

The couple, residents of Dodderi, near Big Banyan Tree (Dodda Alada Mara), had been staying at Chikkanna's [Mangalagowramma's father] residence since past a few days following the outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic in Bengaluru.

Some of the family members, with the child, had slept outside the residence on Friday as the temperature was high. The feline might have taken the child between 1.30 a.m. and 4 a.m., and killed it on the outskirts of the village, said the sources.

After a frantic search, family members and villagers found the mutilated body of the child in the early hours. The leopard had left the partially devoured body on the outskirts of the village, added the sources.

According to the villagers, many felines have been prowling in the area, probably arriving from forests around Magadi and attached areas, for the last several weeks.

The Forest Department officials said that they have launched an exercise to trap the animal by placing cages with live baits.

According to preliminary investigations, the child was killed by a leopard. Pugmarks were found near the body. A detailed investigation and post-mortem report will find the exact cause for the death.

The incident has sent shockwaves in the vicinity of the village. According to the sources, people are planning to launch a protest to condemn the killing of the boy.

Minister for Forest and Environment B.S. Anand Singh has announced a compensation of ₹7.5 lakh to the family of the victim.

Accompanied by Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha member D.K. Suresh, Magadi legislator Manjunath and senior officials, Mr. Singh visited the place on Saturday morning.

Addressing media persons, he said that the department has decided to start combing operations for the leopard.

Mr. Suresh said the leopard might have come from Thippagondanahalli reservoir's catchment area on the outskirts of Bengaluru. The leopard has already tasted the blood of the child and hence the department should initiate immediate action [as the chances of the feline becoming a man-eater is high, Mr. Suresh added.