Mangaluru: Madrasa students take out rallies to mark Eid Milad

Mangaluru, Jan 5: In a frightening incident, a leopard which was trapped in a snare attacked and injured three persons in its successful bid to escape Balpa village in Sullia taluk of Dakshina Kannada. 

The incident occurred on Thursday when around 15 forest staff approached the trapped leopard to tranquilize it with a dart. The leopard, however, managed escape. 

While running away, it attacked a villager Balakrishna, aged about 70, who was working in the nearby plantation. He sustained injuries on his upper lips.

He was rushed to a hospital in Sullia and then was shifted to the Government Wenlock hospital for further treatment. He is learnt to be out of danger.

After this incident, the forest department kept a tab and tracked the leopard using a drone.  

According to V Karikalan, deputy conservator of forest (DCF), Dakshina Kannada, Between 5pm to 5.30pm on a tip off that leopard was spotted near a bush, the forest department tried to approach it again and the animal jumped on the officials, injuring Assistant Conservator of Forests Austin and forest guard Divith. 

The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital and then taken to Mangaluru for further treatment. They are learnt to be out of danger.

Meanwhile, the department is continuing combing in the village and surrounding areas. Three teams consisting of three RFOs and 10 Dy RFOs, supported by doctors are on the field. The forest department has also placed two leopard capturing cages in the area. Night patrolling will continue and public announcements are being made.

Kottayam, Apr 6: "I will leave this room within a week after defeating you," the braveheart nurse had vowed after contracting the deadly coronavirus while attending to India's oldest COVID-19 survior, expressing unflinching faith in Kerala's health care system.

Last Friday, 32-year old Reshma Mohandas lived up to her promise and walked out holding her head high to her home, where she is now placed under 14-day quarantine, after she and the elderly man and his wife were discharged from the Medical College Hospital here on being cured of th e disease.

Soon after 93-year-old Thomas Abraham, whose recovery has been dubbed as a 'miracle cure' by the medical community, and 88-year old Mariyamma left the hospital, Reshma too headed home but with the resolve to come back and serve the patients after the mandatory two weeks quarantine.

"I will leave this room within a week after defeating you (coronavirus)", Reshma had posted in a WhatsApp group of her friends and colleagues while undergoing treatment in isolation at the hospital.

"I posted that message in the WhatsApp group because I have full faith in Kerala's health system. It is world class," Reshma told reporters from her home.

The nurse, who took care Thomas and Mariyamma since March 12, believes she contracted the disease as she was in close contact with and often talked to the couple, who did not wear masks as it made them uncomfortable.

She said she loved taking care of all their needs.

"I was not tensed at all. I love taking care of elderly people. We used to talk a lot (in the ICU)", she said.

Reshma, who was earlier working in the operating theatre of another section, said she used work for four hours in the ICU before she contracted the virus and was admitted to the same wing as a patient.

"I had close contact with them in the ICU because I paid attention to address their every needs," she said. The first warning sign came on March 23 morning when she had a throat infection.

Reshma immediately alerted the head nurse, who in turn informed the doctors.

She was asked to visit the fever clinic at the Medical College and was later referred to the isolation facility where she took care of elderly novel coronavirus patients.

Some 20 nurses who had come into contact with her were sent to home quarantine.

On March 24, she tested positive.

"I did not have any other complications, barring headache and body pain", she said.

Reshma said she was ready to serve in the isolation facility for COVID-19 patients after 14 days of mandatory home quarantine.

"I am ready to work again in the isolation facility when I return," the feisty nurse, whose husband is an engineer, said.

She was all the more happy that proper medical care at the hospital led to recovery of Abraham and Mariyamma.

Kerala Health minister K K Shailaja telephoned Reshma to express her happiness over her recovery.

The Minister said the news about a health professional contracting the coronavirus was a matter of concern for the state.

In a statement, she hailed Reshma's dedication as a professional and said she had treated elderly patients like her parents, attending to their every need.

The elderly couple, hailing from Ranni village in Pathanamthitta district had contracted the virus from their son, daughter-in-law and grandson who returned from Italy last month, all of whom have also recovered.

Bengaluru, Jul 18: Bringing a major change in the  administration of Bengaluru, which has emerged as a Covid-19 hotspot, the state government on Saturday transferred B H Anil Kumar out of the BBMP and brought N Manjunath Prasad to take his place. 

Manjunath Prasad, who headed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) before being replaced by Kumar, will take over with immediate effect. The government has also placed him in concurrent charge of the Revenue Department as well as the Disaster Management, Bhoomi and UPOR.

Kumar, an Additional Chief Secretary, has been put in a place where earlier a secretary was posted. He now heads the Department of Public Enterprises. The posting would have brought him two spots down had it not been for the government upgrading it to the level of additional chief secretary. 

Anil Kumar, who was earlier praised for his work to contain the coronavirus pandemic, had faced criticism by the High Court of Karnataka for the BBMP's failure to help people in containment zones as well as other issues on the spread of the pandemic. 

Sources in the government said, pressure has been building up against Anil Kumar over the last two months after most of the Bengaluru MLAs complained to the chief minister's office.

"No MLA backed him. Everyone had a problem," a source said. 

Things came to the head with regard to a Rs 436 crore project given to KRIDL. "The issue reached the chief minister's office as all the MLAs took an issue with the way the project was awarded," a source said. 

Another source said that Kumar came under fire after a central team flagged the issue of failing Covid-19 surveillance measures in Bengaluru. The central team's criticism, it is widely believed in the government, came as the last straw.