Call it science by press release — a tactic that pharmaceutical companies are increasingly relying upon to set their experimental vaccines apart.
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Saturday, June 6, 2020
Withdrawn drug study adds more politics, distrust to coronavirus science
Hydroxychloroquine retraction stirs partisan response.
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Friday, June 5, 2020
Karnataka reports 515 new COVID-19 cases with over 200 from Udupi
A majority of the cases are returnees from Maharashtra, as per the bulletin.
Karnataka reported 515 new COVID-19 cases on Friday- the highest single day surge in the state. With this the total number of cases in the state rose to 4835 and with no new death reported on the day, the COVID-19 death toll in the state stands at 57. Friday also saw a total of 83 patients being discharged. There are presently 3088 active patients undergoing treatment at COVID-19 hospitals. According to the official bulletin, 473 (91.8%) of the 515 patients who tested positive on Friday are returnees from Maharashtra. As far as the total numbers go, 3034 or 62.7% of Karnataka’s patients recently returned from Maharashtra. Four persons who tested positive on Friday are returnees from Haryana and Andra Pradesh (with two patients from each state), three of them returned from Delhi. One person each returning from Tamil Nadu and Indonesia also tested positive. Twenty seven patients are contacts of already infected persons or contacts of residents of containment zones. However, the source of infection of five patients who tested positive on Friday is yet to be traced. They have no travel or contact history. Udupi continued to see a rise in cases, reporting 204 (39.6%) on Friday. Yadgir reported the second highest number of cases with 74. Vijayapaura and Kalaburagi reported 53 and 42 cases respectively. Belagavi and Bidar also reported 36 and 39 cases respectively. Capital Bengaluru reported 10 cases while Bengaluru Rural reported 12 cases. All other districts reported less than 10 cases. With these additions, Udupi emerged as the worst affected districts both in terms of active and total cases. The district has a total of 768 cases with 685 still being treated at the designated hospitals. The district has reported only one COVID-19 fatality. Only Kalaburagi (417), Yadgir (345) and Raichur (318) districts have 300-plus active cases. Bengaluru Urban which so far has reported 434 total cases, has 149 patients undergoing treatment presently.
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Two COVID-19 patients treated with plasma therapy recover in Karnataka
Earlier this week, doctors in Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubballi had successfully treated a patient with plasma therapy.
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The Karnataka health department has been successful in treating two patients suffering from COVID-19 by using convalescent plasma therapy till date. These are the second and third patients to undergo plasma therapy in the state. The first patient who had undergone plasma treatment at Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru had succumbed to his comorbidities on May 14. Medical Education Department Minister K Sudhakar tweeted about the development. He said, “Karnataka achieves yet another significant landmark in fight against COVID19. After KIMS (Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences) Hubballi, BMCRI (Victoria Hospital) becomes the second hospital to successfully treat Corona patients with plasma therapy. Congrats to all doctors & staff of BMC for this success!” The plasma therapy treatment was administered at the Victoria Hospital in collaboration with HCG Global Cancer hospital, which was one of the first hospitals in the country to get the Centre’s nod to conduct clinical trials for this experimental treatment method. On Friday, authorities at the Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru confirmed a second patient that they treated with plasma therapy has recovered well and is likely to be discharged in the coming days. Dr Jayanthi, Director of Victoria Hospital, speaking on behalf of the team of doctors, said, “The second plasma therapy patient is stable and has been shifted out of the ICU (intensive care unit). This 38-year-old female patient was admitted to the Victoria hospital ICU with severe illness. She was also a diabetic with poor sugar control. She was put on high flow nasal oxygen, antibiotics and COVID-19 treatment as per protocol. She received convalescent plasma therapy on May 27. Since then there has been a steady improvement in her condition resulting in her being weaned off high flow nasal oxygen on June 2 “ She added, “She was shifted from the ICU to the ward on June 4 and is presently on 2 litres per minute oxygen. This significant improvement in her clinical condition is reassuring and encouraging. We are closely monitoring her and hope to see her recover completely and go home.” This development came after doctors at the Karnataka Institute of Medical Science (KIMS), Hubballi, were successful in treating a 64-year-old COVID-19 patient with plasma therapy on Tuesday. That patient is at present without oxygen support, doctors said. Earlier, doctors involved with this have explained that the treatment involves injecting plasma of recovered patients to COVID-19 patients who are at a critical stage, requiring ventilator support or artificial oxygen supply. The therapy has been successful in the past during the fight against ebola and the Spanish flu as well.
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Eyeing Ministerial berths, lobbying begins in BJP for MLC seats in Karnataka
Both MTB Nagaraj and CP Yogeeshwar are likely to get elected as Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had promised them ministerial berths in 2019.
As elections for the Karnataka Legislative Council loom close, political lobbying continues, with several BJP leaders aspiring to be elected. Among the front runners are former Hoskote MLA MTB Nagaraj, one of the richest politicians in the state, who was instrumental in bringing down the Congress-JD(S) coalition in June 2019. BJP insiders indicate that former Channapatna MLA CP Yogeeshwar, who was key to enabling the defection of 17 Congress and JD(S) MLAs to the BJP, is likely to get elected to the Legislative Council. Yogeeshwar had lost his home turf Channapatna to former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy in the Karnataka Assembly elections in 2018. Yogeeshwar had defected from the Congress to the BJP as the INC snubbed the senior leader, giving away his ticket to the JD(S) on a pre-poll alliance. A strongman from the Vokkaliga community, he was among the team of BJP leaders who held talks with Congress and JD(S) MLAs, and convinced them to defect and bring down the coalition government. MTB Nagaraj, who had won the Legislative Assembly elections for three consecutive terms, suffered a massive defeat against independent candidate and former BJP leader Sharath Bache Gowda in the December 2019 bye-polls. MTB Nagaraj, who is a strongman from Hoskote, was accused by his former party (the Congress) of accepting Rs 50 crore to defect to the BJP. He was also aspiring to become a Minister upon winning the bye-elections. However, due to his defeat, he is now lobbying for an MLC seat, with the aspiration of bagging a ministry. Former Hunsur MLA AH Vishwanth, who defected from the JD(S), met Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday and lobbied for a ticket, BJP sources say. Vishwanath too harbours ministerial ambitions. He had defected from the JD(S) as he was unhappy about being sidelined, despite being named the party’s state president. Vishwanath, who had incurred debt to contest polls, was aspiring to be a Minister. He had defected to the BJP hoping to snag a ministry, but was kept out as he lost the bye-polls in Hunsur. “AH Vishwanath is very unlikely to get a seat as an MLC. There are many other candidates who are more deserving. Vishwanth’s political ideology does not sit well with the high command and he does not have an RSS background. This may be why he is unlikely to get selected as a candidate,” a BJP leader said. For the quota reserved for women, three names have emerged in the BJP including long-time party spokesperson and actor Malavika Avinash as well as former actors Sruthi and Tara Arundathi. All three women have been with the BJP for a long time. However, sources say that Malavika Avinash has the upper hand as she has been more vocal and visible within the party due to her efforts in the state unit. The lobbying began ahead of the BJP’s core committee meeting slated to be held on Saturday where candidates for the Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council will be shortlisted. JD(S) aspirants for Rajya Sabha apprehensive Among the names that emerged in the JD(S) camp regarding nominating a candidate to the Rajya Sabha were Muddahanume Gowda from Tumakauru and Kupendra Reddy. However, a section of party leaders want party supremo HD Deve Gowda to be nominated. “It will be good for an experienced politician like former Prime Minister Deve Gowda to be nominated to the Rajya Sabha as we need a strong face to fight for the farmers of Karnataka,” said JD(S) MLA Shivalinge Gowda. However, JD(S) sources close to Deve Gowda said that a section of leaders have expressed concerns over his nomination. “He is old and his presence is required to build the party from the ground up in Karnataka. Whatever influence JD(S) had in the old Mysuru region is fading away as the BJP is taking over. If he is elected to the Rajya Sabha, his presence would be minimal, which is concerning,” the JD(S) source added.
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Mallikarjun Kharge to be Congress candidate from Karnataka for Rajya Sabha polls
Mallikarjun Kharge was picked due to his experience with Delhi’s politics and also due to his seniority.
The All India Congress Committee President Sonia Gandhi on Friday approved the nomination of former Kalaburagi MP Mallikarjun Kharge for a Rajya Sabha seat. There were multiple aspirants from the Congress in Karnataka for the biennial election for Rajya Sabha, which is slated to be held on June 19. However, the party picked Mallikarjun Kharge due to his seniority and experience as a Member of Parliament. Kharge is the General Secretary in charge of Maharashtra, where the party has formed a coalition government with the Shiv Sena. Kharge is a prominent Dalit leader from Karnataka. A nine-time MLA from Chittapur segment in Gulbarga and a two-time MP from Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency, 76-year-old Mallikarjun Kharge had remained undefeated in every election he had contested in prior to 2019. He had lost the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 to Dr Umesh Jadav, who had at the time defected from Congress to BJP. Kharge had been severely disadvantaged in Gulbarga in 2019 after several Congress heavyweights including Mallikayya Guttedar, the MLA from Afzalpur and a leader of the Ediga community, and Baburao Chinchasur MLA of the Gurmitkal segment and a leader of the Koli community joined the BJP ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections in 2018. Soon after these defections, Umesh Jadav, former MLA of Chincholi too deserted the Congress. He joined the BJP soon after he tendered his resignation. While campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections too, Kharge had repeatedly stressed that the 2019 polls would be the last one he would contest. Sources in the Congress told TNM that Kharge had lobbied for the Rajya Sabha seat as he did not want to be involved in the state politics. Former MPs BK Hariprasad and Rajeev Gowda, were also lobbying for the post. “Kharge suffered a lot of injustice in Congress as Siddaramaiah had always checked Kharge’s growth in the state politics. Even when Umesh Jadav and other Congress leaders had defected to BJP, the state’s leaders, who were at the time close to Siddaramaiah, had placed the blame for their defections on Kharge’s shoulders. Now that Siddaramaiah’s influence has waned, many in the party have aligned themselves with different leaders,” the Congress source said.
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Activist Aakar Patel booked for tweet calling for ‘US like protests’ in India
The FIR was registered based on a complaint filed by one police inspector in Bengaluru.
Aakar Patel, activist, journalist and the former head of Amnesty International India, has been booked by Bengaluru police for a tweet calling for protests, similar to those being held in the US over the murder of George Floyd, in India as well. TNM has accessed the copy of the first information report (FIR) registered on May 31 by JC Nagar Police Station where he has been booked under Sections, 153 (Wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and 117 (Abetting commission of offence by the public or by more than ten persons) and 505 (1)B of the Indian Penal Code. Section 505 (1) (B) deals with statements conducting public mischief with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquillity. The FIR was registered based on a complaint filed by a police inspector, Nagaraj. In the said tweet, Aakar had tweeted a US media report of the protests in Colorado, USA, saying, “We need protests like these. From Dalits and Muslims and Adivasis. And the poor. And women. World will notice. Protest is a craft (sic).” We need protests like these. From Dalits and Muslims and Adivasis. And the poor. And women. World will notice. Protest is a craft. https://t.co/6btWiMtbOX — Aakar Patel (@Aakar__Patel) May 31, 2020 Speaking about this, Aakar Patel told TNM, “I don’t think they can make an offence out of the tweet. I came to know about the FIR from the news reports, the police have not contacted me.” Reacting to the development, Amnesty India has issued a statement. In the statement, the Executive Director of Amnesty International India, Avinash Kumar said, "The FIR filed by the Bengaluru police against Aakar Patel is just another example of how the right to dissent is being increasingly criminalised in the country.” He added, “The Bengaluru police must stop abusing its authority and put an end to the intimidation and harassment of Aakar Patel for exercising his constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of expression. People of this country have the right to agree or disagree with those in power, and to express these opinions in peaceful protests - without fear or unlawful interference. Peacefully protesting against the government is not a crime. Not agreeing with the policies of those in power does not make you a traitor either.”
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