Karnataka cop donates plasma after recovery from COVID-19, earns praise

Coronavirus

A healthy person between 18-55 years can donate their plasma 28 days post their recovery from COVID-19. The helpline number for donating plasma in Bengaluru is 080-47190606.

TNM Staff

KSRP (Karnataka State Reserve Police) police constable Veerbhadraiah donated plasma at HCG hospital in Bengaluru and earned praise from the senior-most police staff of the state. Karnataka police chief, Director General and Inspector General of Police Praveen Sood mentioned that his act will work as an inspiration for others to come forward and donate their plasma. The police chief on Sunday mentioned that many policemen in the state, like Veerbhadraiah, who have recovered from COVID-19 in the state have already donated their plasma to help other patients.   Reserve police constable of KSRP Veerbhadraiah donated plasma at HCG hospital after recovering from Covid 19. You make all of us in the department proud. May you be inspiration for many more to come forward. pic.twitter.com/1Y3Df9MUfP — DGP KARNATAKA (@DgpKarnataka) August 2, 2020   It may be recalled that the state government had introduced an incentive scheme to encourage those recovering from the disease to donate their plasma. Medical Education Minister Dr Sudhakar had said every recovered patient who comes forward to donate plasma will be given Rs 5,000. Experts have told TNM while each donor in one sample can help two patients at a time, it also helps the patients themselves as it helps to flush out toxins from the body. A healthy person of 18-55 years can donate their plasma 28 days post their recovery from COVID-19. The helpline number for donating plasma in Bengaluru is 080-47190606. Convalescent plasma (CP) therapy is still in an experimental stage where plasma of a cured person is injected to a person who is struggling to cope with the disease. Through this, doctors try to mimic an efficient memory response like a vaccine would do. The treatment protocol has shown positive response across the globe, not only in combating COVID-19 but also other diseases as well like Ebola.  Incidentally, the first state government-run plasma bank was inaugurated on July 23 in the same HCG hospital. The government had said donors need not visit the same hospital but can donate their plasma at other hospitals as well like Manipal Hospital or Victoria Hospital. Karnataka was one of the first states in the country to get approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to use this form of treatment on April 22. Incidentally, HCG Cancer Hospital had got the regulatory approval and had partnered with Victoria Hospital for the controlled study.  The treatment is targeted towards patients who are vulnerable and are already on critical support, like patients in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) or on ventilator support.

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Crack in Bengaluru metro pillar near Mysuru Road? BMRCL says it will take care

Civic

MN Srihari, an independent construction and road traffic expert said this appears to be a non-issue.

TNM Staff

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An alarm was raised about a potential public safety hazard after photos appeared of a possible crack in a Namma metro pillar in Kengeri-Challaghatta Metro section off NICE Road. Incidentally the metro rail line is under construction and is set to start operation only by February 2021. The issue came to fore after a metal structure of a viaduct resting on a pillar near the Rajarajeshwari Hospital on the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway became exposed. BL Yeshwanth Chavan, Chief Public Relations Officer, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) did not confirm if this was an error on part of the contractor.  “This is not a crack. Our experts are looking into the issue and we will take corrective action and ensure that this does not cause any harm to the public,” Chavan told TNM. An MN Srihari, an independent construction and road traffic expert said this appears to be a non-issue. “Whenever there is a situation where there is doubt over the stability of the structure, we have to do an oscillation test. During normal train movement a lot of vibrations will take place due to its speed, so we have to ensure that this structure can sustain that,” he said. However, he insisted the present issue is not of much significance.   It may be recalled that the metro operations were shut for  four days in the last week of 2018 due to cracks (honeycomb formation in concrete) in the metro pillar structure near Trinity Metro Station. Even the slider (ramp on which tracks are laid) was found to be dislocated. Incidentally the same spot had developed cracks in 2012 just a year after the Byappanahalli to MG Road route became functional. Earlier in February, 2018 officials had discovered a crack near the crossover section of the RV Road and Yelachenahalli line at Yelachenahalli station.

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Rs 21 lakh worth gold jewellery goes missing from bank locker in Bengaluru, FIR filed

Crime

The issue has been reported from Jayanagar Branch of Bank of Baroda.

Soumya Chatterjee

Police in Bengaluru have registered a case after a man complained that Rs 2,120,000 worth of gold jewellery and other valuables have gone missing from his bank locker. The incident has been reported at the Jayanagar Branch of Bank of Baroda, a nationalised bank.  According to the police, the complainant, Shivaprasad R, had kept gold jewellery  and other ornaments at the locker in February but when he had recently gone to withdraw some of the ornaments on July 22, he found that all the jewellery was missing. He confronted the bank staff over the issue but to no avail. Following this, he approached the jurisdictional Jayanagar Police Station after which the first information report (FIR) was registered. As part of the probe, police are reviewing the security camera footage of the area. The FIR has been registered under Section 408 ( Criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant) of the Indian Penal Code.  Shivaprasad told TNM that he is confident that the police will recover his stolen goods and said that he does not have any suspect in mind. The FIR mentions a total of 12 sets of ornaments that have gone missing including solid gold, bangle, and chains. Speaking to TNM, the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Jayanagar Division, Shantamalappa, said that the  investigation is undergoing and the case is yet to be resolved.  This incident comes after, in December, 2019, a large scale robbery was reported in Bengaluru from Muthoot Finance outlet in Bengaluru’s Lingarajapuram. In that incident, 70 kgs of gold worth Rs 16 crore, was burgled by at least four persons.  The robbery had come to light after staff of the outlet opened the office on Monday morning and found that the office had been ransacked and the strong room empty. The police had found that burglars had made their way into the outlet by drilling a hole on the above floor of the commercial building and used gas cutters to break open the strong room.,

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Trial for ayurvedic tablets for COVID-19 in Bengaluru to be suspended

Coronavirus

The clinical trial of Dr Giridhar Kaje’s tablets was going on at Victoria Hospital, which comes under Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute.

TNM Staff

Dr Giridhar Kaje/ Facebook

A Bengaluru-based ayurvedic medical practitioner Dr Giridhar Kaje has been warned by the ethics committee of the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) for promoting a medicine claiming it can ‘cure’ COVID-19, without any evidence. Dr Kaje, the principal investigator at Prashanthi Ayurvedic Centre in Rajajinagar, had introduced two tablets named Bhoumya and Saathmya, the clinical trial for which was going at Victoria Hospital (which comes under BMCRI). However, BMCRI has now decided to suspend the trial, which had started after the  Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) had given a green light.  Dr CR Jayanthi, director and dean of BMCRI said the hospital will suspend trials for the medicine as Dr Kaje went to the media claiming its without first going through the ethics committee. Dr Jayanthi told The New Indian Express that the two tablets were used only on 10 patients and that too as a supplement to regular treatment. Speaking to the Times of India, Dr Kaje denied the allegations and said that he is yet to get an official notice in hand, although it has been reported in the media. The notice reportedly called out Dr Kaje for his “unacceptable and overstepping his responsibility”.   TOI quoted the notice from BMCRI saying, “This is unacceptable and amounts to overstepping one’s responsibility. You are aware that any disclosure of such sensitive information will have to be with all clearances from various appropriate authorities. The above act is viewed seriously since the information is very sensitive in the present circumstance.” TOI reported that Tourism Minister CT Ravi has also advocated the use of the tablets and claimed that he got ‘cured’ after taking the medicines as prescribed by Dr Kaje. Dr Kaje, however, claimed his Facebook page that he himself had said that he will not prescribe the medicines before it has been approved.

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Bengaluru’s Sakra Hospital booked for allegedly not providing info on COVID-19 beds

Coronavirus

The complaint was filed by a health department official on the insistence of the Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner GN Shivamurthy.

TNM Staff

Twitter

The police in Bengaluru have booked Sakra Hospital at Devarabisanahalli on the Outer Ring Road for allegedly not complying with the COVID-19 regulations of providing information on its bed occupancy. A first information report (FIR) has been filed against the hospital at the Marathahalli Police Station after the health department officials complained that the administration of the hospital did not provide information about the status of bed occupancy for COVID-19 patients. The officials also alleged that the hospital did not inform the number of patients it treated between July 23 and 29.  The complaint was filed by a health department official on the insistence of the  Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner GN Shivamurthy. According to a report in the Hindu, the FIR mentions that the hospital management failed to disclose information, as directed by the special officers and the nodal officer concerned, when they went to inspect the hospital on July 29.  The report said that the FIR has been registered under sections of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, and the accused have been named as Deepak Balani, head of the hospital and two others associates, Deepthi and Deepak Agarkad. The Times of India reported that IAS officer Uma Mahadevan and IPS officer Sunil Agarwal, the nodal officers assigned to help patients find beds in hospitals, had sought the bills and payment slips from the hospital for patients admitted between July 23 and July 29. This team is one of the seven such teams, led by one Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official and one Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, formed to reign in private hospitals in Bengaluru in the wake of complaints of overcharging. TOI quoted a police official saying that the team of IPS and IAS officers wanted to check if the hospital was following the price cap put in place by the Karnataka government for COVID-19 treatment. However, the hospital has denied the allegation and said that they were unaware of the FIR registered against them while speaking with the newspaper. Deepak, who has been named in the FIR, told TOI that they were working with the government to tackle this pandemic and said the legal proceeding was a setback.

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Bengaluru reported highest number of COVID-19 recoveries in a day at 1683

Coronavirus

While Karnataka reported 5,172 new cases of coronavirus in the state, 1,852 are in Bengaluru.

TNM Staff

Representational image/PTI

Karnataka reported another day of more than 5,000 new cases in 24 hours. However, on the bright side, the state has reported the highest number of recoveries in a single day. A total of 53,678 patients in Karnataka recovered and have been discharged so far, with 3,860 patients being discharged on Saturday evening. Bengaluru reported the highest number of recoveries, with 1,683 discharges. Ballari district reported the second-highest number of discharges, at 408. The state reported 5,172 new cases on Saturday, taking the total cases in the state to 1,29,287. The current active cases in the state stand at 73,219 cases. Bengaluru reported the highest spike in the state on Saturday, with 1,852 cases of coronavirus. This takes the total cases in the city to 57,396 cases. Other districts reported more than 200 cases in 24 hours: Mysuru reported 365 new cases, while Ballari reported 269 cases. Kalaburagi and Belagavi both reported 219 new cases of coronavirus. Districts that reported more than 100 cases include: Dharwada (184), Hassana (146), Dakshina Kannada (139), Udupi (136 new) cases, Bagalkote (134), Vijayapura (129), Shivamogga (119), Raichuru (109), Davangere (108), and Koppala (107).  A total of 98 persons succumbed to the disease in Karnataka, as on Saturday, taking the total deaths in the state to 2,412. Bengaluru reported the most number of deaths due to COVID-19, with 27 deaths. Mysuru reported nine deaths, while Dakshina Kannada and Dharwada districts reported eight deaths each. In Kalaburagi, five patients died due to COVID-19. A total of 602 patients are in the intensive care units (ICU) across the state. Out of this, 338 patients are in the ICUs across Bengaluru urban district. Karnataka reported that 34,760 tests were conducted on this date, with 21,075 being rapid antigen tests and 13,685 being RT-PCR tests.

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Karnataka to adopt NEP from August: Education Minister Suresh Kumar

Policy

The government said that it will merge the state policy with the new National Education Policy.

IANS

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Karnataka will adopt the new National Education Policy (NEP) from August after merging a draft state policy with it, state Primary and Secondary Education Minister Suresh Kumar said on Friday. "In two weeks' time, the NEP and a state policy will be merged to bring out a separate policy for Karnataka," said Suresh Kumar. Suresh Kumar revealed these plans in a video conference he had with NEP draft committee Chairman Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan. He further said that the state will be at the forefront in implementing the policy systematically, and observed that NEP is a complete policy. The Karnataka government has already passed a resolution accepting the Central government's National Education Policy and held a meeting on how to implement it. “A resolution was passed accepting the NEP," said Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka and Minister for Higher Education, CN Ashwath Narayan. Ashwath Narayan had held a meeting with the members of the Task Force on the Implementation of NEP 2020. According to the minister, the task force will present a plan of action on August 16 and a detailed plan of action on August 20. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved the NEP 2020, making way for large-scale, transformational reforms in school and higher education sectors. As the first education policy of the millennium, it will replace the 34-year-old National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986. On Friday, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and Narayan met Kasturirangan and honoured him. "Visited and congratulated Kasturirangan, chairman of the committee on NEP 2020, in the presence of Yediyurappa. NEP is set to transform our nation's education sector for which all of us are grateful to Kasturirangan and his team," said Narayan. Kasturirangan was former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and a former Rajya Sabha member. He held several other important positions across the country. Read: Mother tongue vs English: NEP’s recommendation on medium of instruction revives debate Read: Stakeholders divided over extension of RTE up to 18 years in NEP 2020 Also read: NEP 2020: Why altering school education in India has divided experts

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