2 lakh people in Karnataka recover from COVID-19

Coronavirus

Karnataka reported another sharp spike of 8,161 new COVID-19 cases and 148 related fatalities.

TNM Staff

Representational image

The number of patients recovering from COVID-19 in Karnataka crossed the 2 lakh-mark (2,04,439) as 6,814 patients were discharged following their recovery on Tuesday. Among the districts, Bengaluru Urban tops the list with a total of 74,901 recoveries followed by Ballari (12,748) and Mysuru (10,011).  On the same day, the state reported another sharp spike of 8,161 new COVID-19 cases and 148 related fatalities, taking the total number of infections to 2,91,826 and the death toll to 4,958, the Health department said. Of the 8,161 fresh cases reported, 2,294 cases are from Bengaluru Urban alone. As on August 25 evening, cumulatively 2,91,826 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 4,958 deaths and 2,04,439 discharges, the Health Department said in its bulletin. Out of the 82,410 active cases, 81,659 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 751 are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). As many as 61 of the 148 deaths reported on Tuesday were from Bengaluru Urban, followed by Mysuru (16), Dharwad (8), Ballari and Koppal (6), Davangere, Haveri and Shivamogga (5), Tumakuru and Vijayapura (4). Most of the deceased patients had a history of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) or Influenza-like illness (ILI). Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru Urban accounted for 2,294 cases, followed by Mysuru 1,331 (backlog of four days), Ballari (551), Davangere (318), Belagavi (298), Shivamogga (276), Dakshina Kannada (247), Koppal (238) and Kalaburagi (227), among others. Bengaluru Urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 1,12,087 infections, followed by Ballari (18,536) and Mysuru (13,929). A total of 25,13,555 samples were tested so far, out of which 59,787 were tested on Tuesday alone. Among the samples tested on the day, 24,587 were rapid antigen tests.

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2QrlQwU
via IFTTT

Drugmakers deliver counteroffer to Trump international pricing plan

Drugmakers pitched a counteroffer to the White House aimed at stalling Trump's plan to link Medicare’s spending on some expensive drugs to much lower prices.

from Health Care https://ift.tt/3b32acj
via IFTTT

FDA chief issues mea culpa for his plasma treatment claims

While the therapy is considered safe, plasma has not yet been proven effective against the coronavirus.

from Health Care https://ift.tt/2CWmU90
via IFTTT

CM BSY to decide if vehicles will be allowed into Bengaluru Cubbon Park

Environment

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike council had passed a resolution on June 30 to ban traffic movement inside the park.

Soumya Chatterjee

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa will now decide if the much-favoured traffic ban inside Cubbon Park will continue or not. It may be recalled that traffic movement in the park was banned since mid-March as part of the first set of restrictions imposed by the state government with regards to COVID-19 management.  Activists have been demanding a ban on vehicle entry like in Lal Bagh citing emissions not only affect air quality for walkers but also hamper flowering, fruiting processes in the park which indirectly harm birds and butterflies. Rajender Kumar Kataria, a senior IAS officer posted as the Secretary, Horticultural Department which manages Cubbon Park, told TNM that Minister KC Narayana Gowda who holds the Horticulture portfolio has sent the file to the CM to make the decision.  He said, “From the Horticultural Department’s point of view, we have recommended that we want the traffic ban to continue here so that it can be preserved and maintained as a park. Once traffic is banned, it will help the department to develop the park better.” This development comes two days after Karnataka Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar was petitioned by activists in Bengaluru asking him to roll back the decision to allow vehicular traffic in Cubbon Park.  While Cubbon Park was made open to walkers on May 18, the vehicle ban had remained. It was only from Monday that the restrictions on vehicles were about to be lifted based on the advice of a committee of experts to the state government on urban development policies. Thanks to the consistent activism though, the Chief Secretary had ensured that traffic ban remains in place until a final decision is made. TNM had previously reported how citizen groups like Heritage Beku, Cubbon Park Walkers Association and others had urged the Chief Secretary to consider the impact that the government’s decision to allow vehicular movement would have on the air quality in Cubbon Park.  Instead of vehicles, the activists said that only electric cars, cycles and buggies be allowed inside the green space, which, they say, will go a long way to preserve one of the last two remaining lung spaces of the once famed Garden City.

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/3ljZYlg
via IFTTT

Farmers protest outside Belagavi airport as CM arrives to review damaged by floods

Floods

The farmers demanded compensation for crop losses sustained during last year’s floods.

TNM Staff

Farmers in Belagavi in north Karnataka staged an agitation as Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa landed in the city on Tuesday to review the damages caused by the recent floods. The farmers were demanding delivery of compensation promised by the state government for the crop losses sustained due to floods in 2019. They also shouted slogans against the government decision to amend the Land Reforms Act that paved the way for use of agricultural land for industrial and other purposes. The state government had amended provisions of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961 through an ordinance in June. The farmers had gathered outside the Belagavi Airport shortly before the CM arrived. But the majority of the protesting farmers could not interact with the CM as he got into the helicopter again and did not take the road. A few of them had gained access inside the airport but were halted by security staff five feet before they could meet the CM. “We’re protesting over the lack of government intervention at a time when Malaprabha and Ghataprabha are flooding their banks and farmers are losing their crops. So far, we haven’t got any compensation for last year’s floods either,” Sidagouda Modagi, Bharatiya Krishi Samaj state president, told TNM. He added, “The changes in the land reform laws are only to benefit the corporates at the expense of small farmers who are dependent on their land.” TNM was unable to get a response from the CM’s office. The CM visited Belagavi on Tuesday to perform an aerial survey of the three rain-hit districts in the state’s northern region and assess the damage caused by flash floods and overflowing rivers. Yediyurappa flew to Belagavi in a helicopter from Bengaluru along with Revenue Minister R Ashoka, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, and travelled to Almatti Dam in the adjacent Bagalkot district to take stock of the situation after heavy rains and flooding of villages near the banks of the overflowing Krishna, Malaprabha and Ghataprabha rivers. An active monsoon has led to heavy and widespread rains in the coastal, central and northern regions of the southern state since June 1, filling reservoirs, lakes and other water bodies in catchment areas. The Chief Minister also reviewed relief operations in the region, where hundreds of people are sheltered in makeshift camps after homes in low-lying areas were submerged. Yediyurappa also offered ‘bagina’ at Almatti Dam, which is brimming with rainwater up to 518 metres as against its full height of 519 metres. Earlier the CM had offered ‘bagina’ to the Cauvery river at KRS Dam in Mandya and to Kabini river in Mysuru district on August 21, after copious rains filled all four reservoirs in the river basin.

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/3liBWXW
via IFTTT

DK Shivakumar tests positive for coronavirus, admitted in Bengaluru hospital

Coronavirus

Shivakumar had just returned from New Delhi last Tuesday after meeting the top brass of the Congress party, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

TNM Staff

Karnataka Congress state president DK Shivakumar tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Tuesday. Shivakumar has been admitted to Suguna hospital in Bengaluru's Rajajinagar. Recently, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and former CM and Leader of Opposition Siddaramiah had recovered from the disease following treatment at the same private hospital.  DKS, in a tweet on Sunday, had said that he is postponing his visit to the flood-ravaged northern districts in the state on health grounds. “On health grounds, postponing my visit by three days to the flood affected-regions of Belagavi and Bagalkot districts, which was scheduled on August 24 and 25. A new itinerary will be released soon,” he tweeted.  Shivakumar, the heavyweight leader and former minister, had just returned from New Delhi on last Tuesday after meeting the top brass of the party, including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. This was his first visit to the party headquarters since his appointment as the state unit chief in March this year. He had told reporters that he went to Delhi following an invitation by the central leadership. He was also due to submit a report of the party activities in the state to the high command and also brief them about the events pertaining to the Bengaluru riots that took place on August 11.  Shivakamar had slammed the ruling BJP government in Karnataka over alleged corruption charges regarding the pandemic management and over its response to the flood.   In wake of speculation of a change in guard in the party leadership, Shivakumar and other heavyweights in the state Congress had voiced support for the Gandhi family to remain in charge of the party nationally. “Entire Congress party in Karnataka stands by the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and the Gandhi family. Mrs Gandhi has led Congress during times of crisis and saved our party. Anything that has to be discussed must be done so in the party forum and not in the media,” he had said. In September 2019, when he was arrested in the Rs 8.83 crore money laundering case, DKS was admitted to hospital due to some uneasiness. In November, too, he had complained of chest pain and fluctuating blood pressure. 

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/3aSE2cp
via IFTTT

HD Kumaraswamy asks Centre to take action against AYUSH secy over Hindi row

Politics

“Those who cannot speak Hindi can quit. I don't speak English very well,” the Ayush Secretary had said.

TNM Staff

Former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy took to Twitter on Sunday, calling AYUSH Secretary Rajesh Kotecha’s statement a “shameless enthusiasm for Hindi imposition”. At the virtual training  programme organised by the AYUSH Ministry, Rajesh Kotecha had said, “Those who cannot speak Hindi can quit. I don't speak English very well.” This sparked outrage and Kotecha was accused of imposing Hindi on people.  "In the virtual training hosted by the AYUSH department, Rajesh Kotecha, the secretary of the department, said, ‘Those who cannot speak Hindi can quit. I don't speak English very well.’ Is this a request not to speak English, or a shameless enthusiasm to impose Hindi?” HD Kumaraswamy said in a tweet.  Kumaraswamy said that Kotecha’s statement is a violation of the Indian Constitution as the country follows the constitutional “federal system”. “Every language here is part of the federal system? Isn’t this anti-constitutional?” Kumaraswamy added.  Kumaraswamy questioning the decades-long system of Hindi imposition and asked how long should non-Hindi speaking people suffer in the country. “Just because Kannadigas and people who speak other languages do not know Hindi, how many more sacrifices should we make? The Union government must take action against Rajesh Kotecha, the AYUSH secretary, who is obsessed with Hindi imposition,” Kumaraswamy said.  Kumaraswamy’s statement came after Rajesh Kotecha accused the non-Hindi speaking participants of manipulation. In an interview to CNN News18, he said, “I said I am speaking in Hindi and English, both. Because from North Indian participants, I got messages that I speak in Hindi. So these hooligans started shouting only English, only English. But I said no, I will speak in both languages. They were not ready to listen. This was the kind of manipulation.” On Saturday, doctors from Tamil Nadu had written to the Ministry of AYUSH flagging issues related to training and discrimination against those who could not speak Hindi. Following this, several political leaders from Tamil Nadu had demanded that the Centre take action against Kotecha.  “The Prime Minister should ensure that such incidents do not recur in the future. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Edappadi K Palaniswami, should write a letter to the Prime Minister asking him to ensure that the link language of English should be used in such conferences to enable people from non-Hindi states also understand,” DMK chief MK Stalin had said. 

Body 2: 

from Karnataka https://ift.tt/2CVHtT0
via IFTTT