Use Manipal lab for COVID-19 tests, Udupi, Uttara Kannada districts appeal to govt

Coronavirus

Approving the lab at Kasturba Hospital in Manipal (not MIV) would enable quicker testing of samples in coastal Karnataka.

Prajwal Bhat

The Udupi and Uttara Kannada district administrations have appealed to the Karnataka government to mount pressure on the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to allow coronavirus tests at the Kasturba Hospital in Manipal.  ICMR, in a list released on March 24, had approved the Kasturba Hospital Laboratory Services in Manipal for COVID-19 testing. However, the approval for the lab to test for COVID-19 was withdrawn on the same day without any explanation.  “We were not given a reason for the withdrawal. We have written to the Chief Secretary asking the state government to mount pressure on ICMR to approve the laboratory for testing,” says Udupi Deputy Commissioner (DC) G Jagadeesha.  His views are echoed by Uttara Kannada DC Harish Kumar who says that if the laboratory in Manipal starts testing for coronavirus, it would drastically cut down the time needed for samples to be sent for testing from the district. “We have requested along with the Udupi DC for the laboratory in Manipal to begin testing for COVID-19,” says Harish Kumar.  Samples from Udupi have been sent to Shivamogga and Hassan, which are at distances of 154 km and 221 km respectively. Currently, the cases in Uttara Kannada are clustered in Bhatkal, which is at a distance of 91 km from Manipal. The samples from Bhatkal, however, are sent to Shivamogga, which is 178 km away. “It is time-consuming and leads to anxiety for us. It would be highly beneficial for both Uttara Kannada and our administration if the laboratory in Manipal, which is considered an elite facility, is approved,” an official in the Udupi district administration told TNM. The DCs have repeatedly stressed on the need for the laboratory in Manipal to be used for COVID-19 testing. Until last week, there were no laboratory testing samples in coastal Karnataka. Currently, only Wenlock Hospital in Mangaluru is a designated COVID-19 testing laboratory in the coastal region of the state. Eight cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Uttara Kannada while three cases have been reported in Udupi district. The appeals of the district administration were supported by Congress leader Pramod Madhwaraj from Udupi. “Testing needs to be done wherever facilities are available. Taking samples from here to Shivamogga or Hassan is time consuming,” he said. The laboratory mentioned in the ICMR list on March 24 is not the Manipal Institute of Virology (MIV), officials at the Kasturba Hospital said. Both the laboratories— MIV and the one at Kasturba Hospital— are part of the Manipal Group of healthcare services.  MIV, which was instrumental in detecting and containing the Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala in 2018, found itself mired in a controversy when ICMR struck it off the list of Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratories over charges of storing pathogens of the Nipah virus. Dr G Arunkumar, who heads the laboratory, has strongly contested the charges.

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Hospitals in crisis as coronavirus cases mount, HHS watchdog says

Many hospitals lack enough thermometers to monitor the temperatures of its own staff.

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Tired of haphazard parking in Bengaluru? Have your say on new draft parking policy

Civic/ Transport

Activists working in the urban mobility space in the city say the draft policy is contradictory to the state government’s draft mobility plan

Soumya Chatterjee

Representational image

Are you upset about your walking spaces like pavements being encroached by parked vehicles? Or tired with the entrance to your home blocked by someone’s car? You can finally make your voice heard till April 14, which is the last date to submit suggestions, comments and objections to the draft parking policy prepared by the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) for Bengaluru city.  The first such policy prepared by DULT more than a decade ago did not get implemented. The draft prepared by DULT in collaboration with the Traffic Engineering Department of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) which was released in March can be accessed here. At the outset, DULT says it has a four-point goal: making a shift from chaotic parking to organized parking in the city; from free parking to paid parking; move from government-driven parking supply to market-driven parking supply; and management and ensure strict enforcement of the new policy – a shift from the present “passive and weak” enforcement. However, activists working in the urban mobility space in the city say the draft parking policy is contradictory to the state government’s draft mobility plan released earlier as it does not stress on discouraging private transport to naturally reduce the demand for parking zones. Nagesh Aras, an activist, pointed out a host of problems with the current draft plan. For one, “while the common mobility plan proposed to increase the trip share of public and intermediary public transport to 73%, it is not possible if the parking policy wants to make parking available across the city at cheap rates,” he said. He added that the government did not do ‘travel demand modeling’ to understand the parking demands for each traffic analysis zone. “On the supply side, the policy assumes that its model is scalable, and any number of parking slots can be created off-road.  But we do not have any reliable data for that today, or a projection for the future.” Similarly, Sanjeev Dhyamanavar, a public transport policy expert in Bengaluru, also said that the parking policy should be coherent to the overall mobility plan of the city. “Ideally, this should all be formed by an organization like the Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority, so that while solving one mobility problem in the city, two-three interlinked problems can also be addressed. Primary importance should be given to discouraging private vehicles from entering the CBD (Central Business District) area by making paid parking expensive and scarce. And all the revenue collected should be utilized to incentivise public transport by reducing fares and increasing service,” he said. “But they should not allow parking on roads like Brigade Road. It is in practice now, but the road width is too small. This way they are only encouraging private vehicles. Other than this, they should make taxi/ auto stands in all busy areas of the city so they do not park on roads. At the policy level itself, we should make public transport much more attractive, and this can only happen with multimodal integration of transport systems,” he added. Srinivas Alavilli, an activist advocating for decentralization in governance, said, “Parking policy is essentially a city policy. City corporation, which in this case is the BBMP, should be the one that passes this resolution and enforces it along with other agencies.  While it’s a city-wide policy, it needs to be further decentralised to ward level. Since this policy requires behaviour change, if we incentivise wards to receive the primary chunk of revenues they will be willing to get things done locally. The policy can also mandate what the ward can do with revenues coming out of this - for example, use the revenue for pedestrian facilities.” He further added, “Ward committees represent all sections of society and know the local dynamics and will be able to bring the community to own the new policy. Another important aspect is to enforce the basement parking rules for all commercial establishments where the basement is supposed to be parking space but mostly used for rentals, causing parking issues everywhere. Commercial entities will resist parking fees to avoid loss of customers and following the basement parking will benefit them as well as the city.” Meanwhile the draft bill Management and Maintenance of Parking Rules, 2018 which suggested banning of street side parking in busy roads remains in cold storage. Read: Law making roadside parking in Bengaluru chargeable may apply in a month

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Karnataka allows bakeries to function with minimum staff

Coronavirus

The circular says that bakery products and related items are being consumed by patients elderly people, children and the general public.

TNM Staff

In what will come as a relief to confectionary, sweet and bakery items manufacturers, retail units and customers, the Karnataka government has allowed the re-opening of these units. A circular issued by Rajendar Kumar Kataria, the State Nodal Officer of Essential Commodities and Supply Chain Management says that a Central government notification on March 24, “has permitted the’ functioning of food units engaged in bakery and biscuit, condiments, confectionery and sweet for manufacturing, supply and operating retail outlets with minimum staff and labour’. The circular says that bakery products and related items are being consumed by patients elderly people, children and the general public, which is the rationale behind allowing these units to function as essential commodities. Since the lockdown was announced, Karnataka has allowed only grocery stores and medical shops to operate. It has strictly banned the use of two and four wheelers. However, with this circular reiterating the Centre’s stand, bakery units will be allowed to function for the rest of the lockdown period. Meanwhile, Karnataka reported 12 new cases of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease COVID-19 on Monday, taking the total number of people infected in the state to 163. Seven of these fresh cases were reported in Mysuru.

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HD Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil to get married on Apr 17 in a low-key ceremony at home

Coronavirus/Wedding

Prior to the spread of coronavirus in India, Kumaraswamy had planned to hold a grand wedding and invite over 2 lakh people.

TNM Staff

Former Karnataka Chief Minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Monday said that his son, Nikhil's wedding would take place on April 17 at home, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Speaking to the media in Ramanagara on Monday, Kumaraswmy said that the wedding would not be cancelled as April 17 is an "auspicious day".  "We are not celebrating a huge wedding. Around 15 to 20 people from both families have been invited. It will take place in one of our houses. We will hold a celebration later, once the time is right," Kumaraswamy said.  Kumaraswamy's spokesperson told TNM that the wedding is taking place at the bride's residence in Bengaluru's Vijaynagar. Fifteen people from each of the two families have been invited.  "Once the coronavirus threat and the public health issues related to it are settled, then there is a plan to organise a huge celebration in Ramanagara district," Kumaraswamy's spokesperson said.  The plan is to organise a huge event where people from Ramanagara and Channapattana and other taluks in the district are invited for lunch. "They are planning to set up pandals in a 60-acre plot where people from the whole district will be given free food. But this will happen much later when there is no threat of coronavirus," the spokesperson added.  Before the novel coronavirus pandemic hit India, Kumaraswamy and his wife Anitha, who is the MLA of Channapattana, had planned a grand wedding for their son Nikhil. Kumaraswamy's plan was to host a wedding in Ramanagara, his home constituency and invite over two lakh people. On February 10, Nikhil Kumaraswamy was engaged to Revathi alias Ruthu, the grand-niece of former Congress Minister for Housing, M Krishnappa. The engagement party was held at Taj West End in Bengaluru with over 6,000 attendees. The guest list included political big-wigs like Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, former Congress ministers DK Shivakumar, KJ George and Dr G Parameshwara. IPS officer Alok Kumar, former DG and IG of Karnataka Neelamani Raju also attended the engagement party.  Read: Nikhil Kumaraswamy engaged to former Cong min’s grandniece Revathi in Bengaluru Nikhil Kumaraswamy unsuccesfully contested the Lok Sabha elections from Mandya in 2019, losing to Sumalatha Ambareesh. He has acted in Sandalwood films including Seetharama Kalyana.  This is not the first politician, whose children have got married in the midst of a pandemic. Earlier in March, Health Minister B Sriramulu hosted a wedding bash for his daughter Rakshita in Bengaluru's Palace Grounds.  A grand procession was held in Bengaluru on March 5. Over 1 lakh guests attended the wedding bash just three days before the first case of COVID-19 in Karnataka was announced.  Read: Pics: Lavish sets at Bengaluru Palace Grounds for minister Sriramulu’s daughter’s wedding      

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Kannada actor ‘Bullet’ Prakash critical after liver and kidney failure

Sandalwood

A statement by Fortis Hospital in Bengaluru said that the actor was put on a ventilator on Monday morning.

TNM Staff

There was commotion outside Fortis Hospital in Bengaluru on Monday after Sandalwood actor and BJP politician 'Bullet' Prakash was admitted in the intensive care unit following kidney and liver failure.  A statement by Fortis Hospital said that the 44-year-old actor was placed on a ventilator. "On Monday morning 6th April 2020, we had to put him on a ventilator due to his worsening condition. Despite all the treatment measures, he is still in a critical state. We are keeping a constant check on his health and are keeping his family updated on the same," a statement by the hospital said.  It stated that the actor was admitted to the hospital on March 31. "Bullet Prakash has been admitted at Fortis Hospitals, Cunningham Road on Tuesday, March 31st, 2020 with complaints of liver failure, kidney failure and infection. He was put on dialysis to stabilise his condition. The team of doctors including gastroenterologist, nephrologist, transplant surgeon and intensivists have been closely monitoring his condition," added the statement.  The actor earned the moniker 'Bullet' for his penchant for riding a Royal Enfield Bullet motorbike. He is known for portraying comic roles and has appeared in over 300 films in his career including in  Mast Maja Maadi (2008), Aithalakkadi (2010), Mallikarjuna (2011) and Aryan (2014). He made his debut in the movie 'Dhruva' released in 2002 and has acted alongside stars including Darshan, Puneet Rajkumar and Upendra. He was a participant in the second season of Kannada reality television show Big Boss. He joined the BJP in 2015 and was welcomed into the party by senior leader R Ashok.  Bullet Prakash underwent weight reduction surgery two years ago. His brother Narayan Swamy was quoted by Kannada television channels as saying he was confident that the actor will recover. "The doctors are doing their best. People are calling us saying there are rumours in the media that he has died. We request the cooperation of people. We will update regularly about his condition," he said.     

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How internet is making live events, religious occasions and more possible amid lockdown

Culture

Many cultural spots and places of worship are leveraging online platforms to engage with people.

Alithea Stephanie Mounika

How does one experience culture during the lockdown? In this digital age, you may be watching a lot more TV, reading a lot more news or books on your phone or tablets, or even streaming videos through Facebook and OTT platforms like Netflix. And the remote capabilities of the internet are what many establishments – from cultural spaces to religious ones – are tapping into to keep their affairs going amid the lockdown. Socialising online The use of video conferencing software such as Zoom has become a go-to during this period of self-isolating. For those with access, it is now common to have video conference calls during the lockdown, whether with work, classmates, or friends. Going against the grain, as many other businesses count their losses, Zoom has had an unprecedented growth due to the lockdown. READ: Video conferencing app Zoom tops download charts in February and March: Report However, it may not be everyone’s cup of tea to operate platforms like Zoom. So, some public spaces have stuck to the YouTube and Facebook live options to invite people to join events that cannot be physically attended. Several artists – including Coldplay, Hozier, Lindsey Sterling – have performed at-home concerts on Instagram or YouTube live, where people could send in requests, and they could talk to their fans. Towards the end of March, Instagram announced a Live in your Living Room feature, which was a virtual music festival featuring many Indian artists like Monica Dogra and Arjun Kanuno. Cultural spaces coming online In Bengaluru, a local bookstore and cafe, Champaca, which often has speaking and book events at their space, decided to hop on to Zoom to have a themed speaking event on Sunday. Journalist-author Rohini Mohan spoke on the topic, ‘Writing as an act of hope’. “I write to document something, in the hope that there is justice in the future. I write to do something, to give something for my hands and legs to do while something is happening,” she said. She spoke for about half an hour and then took questions about being a writer, and about her books. It was interesting to see how the platform was being used to its maximum potential: Everyone got emails about the event, and once it started, about 40 people logged in. Everyone, except for the speakers, was muted until the end, when they asked questions. The listeners who tuned in were asked to use the virtual ‘raise hands’ option, so they could be unmuted, or they typed the question into the Zoom group chat which Rohini then answered. The Bengaluru International Centre (BIC), an important cultural space in the city, has also decided to take some discussions online. Their website announced that the centre is closed until May 31, 2020. However, the managers are using YouTube livestream as well, and are saving their sessions so that people can access them whenever they want. On platforms like BookMyShow, you can now find theatre performances and concerts, that you can register for free, and watch from the comfort of your home as well. Religious institutions leveraging digital platforms Churches across the world are closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent large gatherings. South Korea’s Patient 31, for instance, reportedly became the first of a fringe church in the country called Shincheonji, to be infected with COVID-19. Within a month of her diagnosis, thousands who were connected to the church tested positive for the virus. Churches became hesitant to open their doors to worshippers early on, even before the lockdown was announced. This year's Easter season falls in the first two weeks of April: right in the middle of the national lockdown. While religious centres look to avoid large crowds, many pressed on to provide online celebrations for devotees. The pastors of one of Bengaluru’s largest churches, St Mark’s Cathedral, posted a video of a pre-recorded Palm Sunday message on YouTube. In Rome, the Vatican church also streamed their Palm Sunday service through YouTube with a sparse gathering of about a dozen people in the church, after the pope cancelled the in-person service to the public. Thousands of people watched the livestream, and more are expected to stream the sermon on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The video description for Sunday’s livestream was as follows: “Pope Francis presides over a Mass at 5 pm (Manila time) on Palm Sunday, April 5, in Vatican City, without the physical presence of the faithful due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.” In another example, the Nanjangud “Rathothsava of Srikanteshwara Swamy temple” in Mysuru, a chariot festival, which usually sees thousands of devotees attending every year, also had to have a low-key observance of the event. The city of Nanjangud in Mysuru district has reported a localised cluster of coronavirus cases, the exact source of which not been found yet. This year, the temple priests of Srikanteshwara temple pulled a mini chariot early morning of the festival, and did not gather a crowd.   Follow @XpressBengaluru Every year lakhs of people attend the annual & age old Rathotsava at Nanjangudu. This year due to lockdown, srikanteshwara temple authority symbolically pulled mini chariot in the early morning .@NewIndianXpress @santwana99 @Tejasvi_Surya @mepratap pic.twitter.com/VoTJnWSY1t — TNIE Karnataka (@XpressBengaluru) April 4, 2020   Such steps are being taken even in Islam. The Friday sermons in mosques have been disallowed, and in many places, have moved online. It’s interesting to note that both the religious events, whether the temple or church, were carried out like they would previously: one with chanting of the shlokas and pulling the deity’s chariot through the city, and the other with the playing of the hymns and the declaration of the sermon as usual. The only difference is the lack of the followers being physically present.

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