Uttara Kannada police officers, who went missing in a forest, return safely

Police

The two police officers were part of combing operations near Bare village in Uttara Kannada when they were separated from the rest of the team.

TNM Staff

Two police officials who went missing in a forest area of Uttara Kannada district on Sunday were found in the Masthikatte forest area near Sunkasala village on Monday morning. The missing officers were identified as Shankar Marihal, Karwar Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP), and Ravichandran, an Intelligence Bureau official. Police and forest department officials traced Shankar and Ravichandran in the dense forests, where they camped overnight after they were separated from other police officials during a combing operation near Bare village that included other officials and began at 9:30 am on Sunday. The missing police officers were eventually rescued from the dense forests located between Yellapur and Kadra early on Monday morning after three teams were pressed into service to search for them. "They were separated during the combing operation after they spotted a leopard. The area where they went missing is known for the presence of many wild animals so we decided to intensify our search for them this morning," confirmed Gopal Byakoda, Additional SP, who led the search for the police officials. Gopal confirmed that the missing policemen camped in the forest overnight before they were found unhurt on Monday morning. They were reported missing around 7:30 pm on Sunday evening and search officials managed to establish contact with the duo only at 6:30 am on Monday. Search teams scoured the forest area looking for the missing policemen. Uttara Kannada SP Shiva Prakash Devaraju refuted reports that suggested that the missing policemen were tracing a mysterious satellite phone call placed from one of the villages. "They were part of a team doing general combing operations when they went missing. In combing operations, police officials familiarise themselves with the terrain and speak to people living in villages. These are in remote areas inside the forests," said Shiva Prakash. Rain spells also affected the search efforts after the two missing police officeres could not be contacted. Bare is located 15 km away from Kaiga, where a nuclear power generating station is located. 

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Karnataka pollution control board comes up with 44-pt action plan, but will it work?

Environment

Experts and activists have stated that the new action plan will do nothing for the city’s air pollution and have questioned some of the arbitrary points mentioned in the plan.

Soumya Chatterjee

Representational Image

The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board’s (KSPCB) has submitted a revised action plan to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to combat air pollution in Bengaluru, but experts and activists doubt it will work. Read: Air Pollution not a priority? K’taka skips filing action plan to curb air pollution These action plans were submitted by respective state pollution control boards after a National Green Tribunal order on non-attainment of National Ambient Air Quality Standards. (NAAQS). The initial plan submitted earlier this year was rejected by the CPCB. Those closely following the issue closely observe that the new action plan has minor differences compared to the initial plan submitted, except changes in the column for “Time Target for Implementation”. Read: Air quality in 11 K’taka cities including Bengaluru does not meet set standards Most of the 44 action plans, the KSPCB has cited points which activists call bogus and are routine work of different departments. Even then some of the action points they state are more likely to contribute to air pollution than curb it. For starters, the second action plan calls for a routine check of calibration of equipment by the Transport Department in all Emission Testing Centres in the city. For an example of counterproductive plans, No 15-”To construct more number of multilevel vehicle parking facilities”. Citizens question how this will reduce pollution given, having dedicated more parking areas will encourage more car usage when vehicular pollution is the prime cause of air pollution in the city. "The current action plan of KSPCB is more like a laundry list and lacks; clear understanding of causality,  holistic approach, clear assessment of possible impacts, and fixation of accountability in case the set targets are not met.  The KSPCB should take a more consultative approach and should build upon the knowledge that various organizations in Bangalore have through their studies and research." Ashish Verma, a sustainable transport expert at Indian Institute of Science said. This development comes when a Greenpeace study recently had suggested that even if air pollution is reduced by 30% by 2024 as set by National Clean Air Program (NCAP), seven cities including Bengaluru in the state will still continue to breathe polluted air above the NAAQS even in 2024. While some action plans make sense, lack of details and their target dates seem askew.  Another important information that the action plan fails to state is that while nine government agencies have been listed as enforcers, no agency has been made the nodal authority. In a joint statement, an NGO—  Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) and city-based St. John’s Research Institute, says, “The draft action plan published by the KSPCB lacks a vision for clean air. It neither has the ambition to target percentage reduction in pollution nor does it aim for time-bound measures to curb various sources responsible for air pollution. What is more worrying is the fact that it requires multi-tier coordination across departments and administrative divisions. There is no clarity on the accountability mechanism for the list of actions mentioned under the plan.” Reacting to the criticism, Dr H Lokeshwari, senior environment officer at KSPCB, said, “The plans are good and have been orally approved by the CPCB. This plan is prepared by a committee headed by Principal Secretary of Environment and Ecology and consists of top officers of Urban Development, Transport and other departments.” Read: Does new data suggest air pollution in Bengaluru is reducing? Nope, say experts    

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‘The nightmare everyone is worried about’: HIV cases tied to opioids spike in West Virginia county

The surge in cases comes as the Trump administration sets out to eradicate HIV transmission by 2030.

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Search operation for missing people called off in Kodagu 24 days after landslide

Disaster

Ten residents of Thora, a village in Virajpet taluk, went missing following the landslide. Among them, four missing persons are yet to be found

Prajwal Bhat

Over three weeks after a landslide struck Thora, a village in Virajpet taluk of Kodagu district, authorities have called off the search operation for the four people still missing after the calamity. Ten residents of the village went missing following the landslide on Aug. 9. A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel began searching for survivors and bodies soon after, but the operation was halted, with four people still missing. "We have decided to call off the search operation after speaking with the family members. The rains are making the search difficult now. We will check the feasibility of re-starting the search after the rains subside," Kodagu Deputy Commissioner Annies Joy said.  Rescue and search officials told TNM that rainfall had turned the area affected by the landslide slushy. The search was also hampered by the uneven terrain in the village and the mist in the evening. The landslide struck the hill-side village near Virajpet between 10.30 am and 11.30 am on August 9, sparking panic among the residents. The landslide wiped out houses, trees and acres of coffee plantations within minutes after a spell of heavy rainfall. Immediately after the disaster occurred, authorities in the district rescued the survivors of the landslide by boat and a search operation began to look for the missing people. Two teams of the NDRF were pressed into service while as many as six excavators were deployed in the search for survivors. Six bodies were found including that of Anusuya (40), wife of Prabhu Kumar, a 45-year-old resident of the village. Prabhu’s family, including his wife Anusuya, mother Devaki (65) and two daughters Amrita (15) and Aditya (10), were inside the house at the time and went missing after the landslide struck. "Prabhu has been at the site of the landslide every day since the disaster occurred. On the third day, his wife's body was found but his mother and two daughters are still missing," Vijay Kumar, a resident of Thora told TNM. Another resident of the village Veena (35) also went missing and is yet to be found. A team of scientists from the Geological Survey of India (GSI) visited the areas affected by landslides this year in Kodagu. The team will submit a report of its findings shortly. The disaster stirred memories of the landslides that struck the hilly region in August 2018, taking the lives of 18 people and displacing over 7,000 others. While the landslides affected areas in Somwarpet and Madikeri taluk last year, landslides occurred in areas of Virajpet taluk in the southern part of the district this year. Virajpet taluk received 905 mm of rainfall in the week before the landslide in Thora.   

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Advantage BJP in Bengaluru mayoral polls? Independents may play spoiler for Cong-JD(S)

Politics

BJP sources say that the party is trying to convince several Congress and JD(S) corporators, who are supporters of the disqualified rebel MLAs, to refrain from voting.

Theja Ram

Representation Photo

Bengaluru mayoral elections are slated to occur in the third week of September and the BJP, which is currently in the opposition in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Council, is confident of being able to elect its corporators as the Mayor and Deputy Mayor this time around. The tenure of the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor is a year. The BJP is the single largest party in the BBMP Council with 102 corporators. However, the party was pushed into the opposition after the Congress and JD(S) had forged an alliance in 2015. The coalition had also got the support of the seven independent corporators. With the Congress-JD(S) coalition’s collapse at the state-level, the alliance is now shaky in the BBMP Council as well, sources say. For the last four years, Congress has been able to appoint a Mayor of its choice, thanks to the numbers the coalition enjoyed. As per the rules, any MLA, MLC or MP with a registered permanent address in Bengaluru is allowed to vote for the mayoral elections.   The total strength of the Council is 262. However, with the disqualification of five MLAs from Bengaluru -- Byrathi Basavaraj (KR Puram), ST Somashekhar (Yeshwanthpura), Munirathna Naidu (RR Nagar) and Roshan Baig (Shivajinagar) from Congress and K Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout) from the JD(S), the strength of the Council is reduced to 257. This means the simple majority is now 129.   The BJP currently has 102 corporators, three Lok Sabha MPs, two Rajya Sabha MPs, 11 MLAs and 7 MLCs to vote for its candidate, taking its total number of votes to 125. The Congress has 100 votes, with 75 corporators, seven MLAs, 11 MLCs, and seven Rajya Sabha members. The JD(S) has 21 corporators and four MLAs eligible to vote. The Congress-JD(S) combine also have 125 votes. This makes the votes of the seven independents crucial. Speaking to TNM, BJP’s Leader of Opposition in the BBMP Council, Padmanabha Reddy said that the party has convinced all seven independents to vote in its favour for the upcoming Mayoral elections. BJP sources also told TNM that the party is in talks with corporators, who are loyal to the five disqualified MLAs. BJP sources say that these corporators from the Congress and JD(S) will be persuaded to abstain. “The Congress will take the independents to resorts. Even if the corporators are taken to resorts, we have to be sure that we have the numbers. So, we are in talks with some of Congress and JD(S) corporators, who are willing to refrain from voting even if their parties take them to resorts,” the BJP source added.     

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25 medical students in Kalaburagi contract diphtheria, infection source not known yet

Health

While 5 students are stable and are being treated on an outpatient basis, 20 others are in the hospital and are undergoing treatment.

Dr Nimeshika Jayachandran

At least 25 female medical students from Kalaburagi district in Karnataka have contracted diphtheria and have been admitted to the hospital for treatment. While 5 of the students were given treatment on an outpatient basis as their condition was found to be stable, 20 others remain in the hospital and are undergoing treatment. The affected students are all students of the Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) in the district and all lived in the same hostel. The first student was diagnosed on August 30 by doctors in the ENT department at the hospital. Hospital officials suspect that she was exposed to a patient in the outpatient department (OPD) who had diphtheria. “We have yet to ascertain the source of the infection, investigations are still underway. We do know that one of the girls who fell sick was staying in the hostel and there is a possibility that some of the other students contracted the infection from her,” explained Dr MK Patil, Kalaburagi District Health Officer (DHO). Diphtheria is an extremely contagious disease which is caused by the organism Corynebacterium diphtheriae. An infected individual usually develops severe throat pain and the airways can also be affected. If not treated correctly and controlled, the infection can spread and affect several other organs. Diphtheria spreads via the air in the form of droplets. A vaccine is available against diphtheria, in the form of the trivalent (protects against three diseases) DTaP vaccine, which covers diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough) and tetanus. As per the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP), the diphtheria vaccine can be given along with the tetanus toxoid vaccine (TT). It can be given as a pentavalent vaccine (effective against 5 other infections in addition to diphtheria) or can be given via the above mentioned trivalent vaccine. Booster doses are usually given as DT (diphtheria and tetanus) injections. Officials investigating the outbreak at GIMS believe that the reason so many students contracted the infection was because they had not received the vaccine, or if they had, they had not gotten the booster dose. Though vaccination efforts have considerably improved over the years, officials are encouraging more people to come forward and ensure that they are vaccinated. Symptoms of diphtheria to look out for include severe throat pain or a sore throat, weakness, swollen glands in the neck region, and also fever.

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DK Shivakumar laments that ED did not let him offer prayers to his dad on Ganesha Chaturthi

Income Tax

The senior Congress leader broke down after his request for a day’s time to celebrate Ganesha Chaturthi with his family in Bengaluru was rejected.

TNM Staff

Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials probing the alleged money laundering case against former Karnataka Water Resources and Power Minister DK Shivakumar are set to question him again on Monday in New Delhi. The senior Congress leader, however, turned emotional after his request for a day’s time to celebrate Ganesh Chaturti with his family in Bengaluru was rejected. "What makes me cry is that the BJP and ED officials did not allow me to offer prayers for my father. It is okay. I will offer my prayers from the ED office to my father and grandmother that their souls rest in peace," Shivakumar told reporters in New Delhi before leaving to appear before ED officials. He added that his family offers special prayers for his deceased father during Ganesh Chaturti.  An emotional DK Shivakumar to reporters before appearing for questioning by ED officials in New Delhi. "BJP and ED officials did not allow me to offer prayers for my father" pic.twitter.com/oORz3cmB8A— Prajwal (@prajwalmanipal) September 2, 2019 On Friday evening at around 6.30 pm, the Congress leader appeared before the ED for questioning. This was after the Karnataka High Court refused to grant him protection from the summons. Shivakumar was questioned by ED officials in New Delhi on Saturday as well. Monday is the third day of questioning by ED officials in connection with the cases against him. The ED had issued a summons to the Congress leader to question him in a probe connected to a money laundering case of around Rs 7 crore.  The summons come a year after the ED booked Shivakumar and four of his business associates under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).  Sources in the ED told TNM that Shivakumar was questioned over his links to Sunil Kumar Sharma, the proprietor of Sharma Travels, to Karnataka Bhavan employee Anjaneya Hanumantha and Sunil Kumar Sharma’s driver N Rajendra.  

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