Mexico's president says he's tested positive for Covid

“I regret to inform you that I am infected with COVID-19,” he tweeted.

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Deborah Birx: ‘Parallel set of data’ on Covid-19 was delivered to Trump

“I saw the president presenting graphs that I never made,” the former White House coronavirus response coordinator told CBS.

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Biden health officials express concern about short-term vaccine supply crunch

“I think that the supply is probably going to be the most limiting constraint early on," the CDC director said.

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Second phase of COVID-19 vaccination in Karnataka likely to begin from Feb 15

COVID-19

Meanwhile, vaccination under the first phase is set to resume across Karnataka on Monday, January 25.

TNM Staff

The second phase of COVID-19 vaccination in Karnataka is likely to begin on February 15 with the first phase scheduled to end by February 13. As reported earlier the first phase has been targeted towards frontline workers as done across the country. The second phase will target one crore people over 50 years of age, and those suffering from comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes and kidney diseases among others.  However, Dr Rajani Nageshrao, State Deputy Director (Immunisation), said how these beneficiaries will be identified is yet to be determined. “We are still awaiting directions from the Union government,” she told TNM. Meanwhile, vaccination under the first phase is set to resume across Karnataka on Monday after it was carried out only in Bengaluru on Saturday for reconciliation purposes. Among 81,519 targeted healthcare warriors across the state, 42,425 took the vaccine, achieving 52% coverage till Friday. Highest coverage was in Chitradurga district (75%), with 806 of the 1,079 registered beneficiaries taking the jab.Lowest coverage was in Koppal district (20%), with only 82 of the 414 beneficiaries taking the shot. "Since January 16 when the vaccination drive was launched, 1,38,656 COVID-19 warriors received the vaccine till Friday, with 1,36,882 given Covishield and 1,774 Covaxin," the health department said. Of the 8,47,908 registered healthcare workers across the state, 3,27,201 are in the state-run hospitals and 4,45,389 in private hospitals while the remaining are civic workers. So far nine Serious Adverse Events Following Immunisation (SAEFI) were reported in Karnataka till Friday, according to the government. All of these patients were given Covishield (Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine developed in the UK and manufactured by Serum Institute of India). Two persons were also reported dead after taking the vaccine but the health department has concluded that the death had occured due to reasons unrelated to the jab.

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Students of Karnataka govt institutions left with no scholarship, hostels

Education

While colleges have reopened, hostels have not started catering to students as of now.

Shishir Rao

While an acute shortage of teachers impacts Karnataka government colleges, there are several other issues that are affecting their lives since the easing of lockdown. While the colleges have started functioning for over three months, there has been no talk about reopening hostels and giving scholarships to deserving students especially for students of marginalized and out of station students.  “When we were called here for offline classes, we came but now there is no indication of us getting our scholarship. Now our condition is such that we don’t have hostels to stay in and to try elsewhere we don’t even have the scholarship amount,” said Suman Gowda HR, a student  of SKSJTI College in Bengaluru. Hostels continue to be shut even as the institutions have reopened. “I am originally from Raichur and I have come here (Bengaluru) to study. When I went to our hostel the warden said that he can’t open the hostel just for me. However, even when fifteen of us showed up and asked, he told us to make arrangements elsewhere as he doesn’t have orders from the government. My parents are farmers and I definitely cannot live where rent is high! On top of this if we try to get our scholarship that website doesn’t open. If this continues how can students like me get education at all?” said Ramesh, a Class 10 student who used to stay at Government SC/ST Boys hostel in Austin Town. Lack of bus facility  Another issue that affects rural students is the lack of proper bus facility.  Post-lockdown several busses that used to cater to remote villages have not resumed operations despite the reopening of schools and colleges forcing students to use other means of transport. This lays a burden on those students who have already been hit hard due to the lack of income during lockdown. “Before the lockdown there used to be a lot more busses that came to our village but now there is one in the morning and one in the night. Even if we catch this morning bus, we always miss a class. Now internals are going on for us by the time we reach college we will be late for internal tests.,” said Shivshankar, a B Ed student from Ballari. AIDSO, which held a state-wide protest on these issues on Friday, in a statement, said, “After 8 months of online classes now students are coming for offline classes and now, they are suddenly faced with a situation where there is no scholarship. Students were to pay for bus passes and hostels with this but now are left clueless about where to get the money from. On the other hand, before opening schools and colleges the government had to take necessary measures to provide hostel facilities. That too hasn’t been done. Thirdly, for rural student’s government bus service is crucial to get education as it is very expensive to get private transport or to use private busses. AIDSO condemns the government and demands that immediate measures be taken to solve these issues.”

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Scientists find heavy metals in food crops irrigated from Bengaluru’s lakes

Health

The scientists conducting the study have found that consumption of these food items may prove to be fatal in the long run.

Shishir Rao

Representational image

Crops grown in and around Bengaluru using lake water have been found to have high levels of heavy metals, way above the permissible limits, according to a recent research. The scientists conducting the study have found that consumption of these food items may prove to be fatal in the long run. Some of the crops that were sampled were spinach, tomato, paddy and beetroot among others. All the crop samples that were collected had a higher level of chromium, cadmium and nickel that is permissible under the Indian Standards (IS). Chromium levels which according to EU (European Union) standards should be less than 0.2 mg per KG of crop and Indian standards which is 20 mg per KG of crop were high especially in crops such as knol khol, spinach, tomato, amaranthus, paddy and beetroot. “We have found high levels of cadmium, chromium and nickel in our assessment. The heavy metals make it to the food chain when farmers use the water from these lakes to irrigate their fields and also when they use the sediments of the lake to fertilize their soil.” NB Prakash, scientist at the Department of Soil Sciences and Agricultural Chemistry at GKVK in Bengaluru, who is one  one of the authors of the study told TNM. “The accumulation is especially high in leafy vegetables as the transpiration rate is higher in leafy vegetables that allows higher quantities of metals to travel from root to stem. Also, the other reason is due to the large surface area exposed to pollution. This has been caused by years and years of pollution,” he added. The research paper has been published in leading scientific research journal Current Science. The researchers said that there is an accumulation of heavy metals in farmland irrigated with lakes around Bengaluru such as Margondanahalli, Yele Mallapa Shetty (YMS), Hoskote Doddakere, Varthur, Byramangala and Jigani Lakes. According to several experts, when vegetables and other produce that is contaminated with these heavy metals are consumed, they have severe consequences in the long run and could lead to many fatal diseases. “Chromium and nickel are necessary micronutrients necessary for the body but when they are consumed in higher quantities over an extended period of time it can lead to severe health consequences. Excess chromium causes respiratory disorder. It is known to cause gastrointestinal symptoms like diarrhea, vomiting often with blood. It leads to electrolyte imbalance and even acidosis (acidity of blood and body tissues). Nickel causes respiratory disorders like chronic bronchitis, nasal sinus or even cancer,” said Seema Mukund, Nutritionist and Dietitian and Consultant at GOQii Technologies in Bengaluru. This is not the first time research has shown that toxic metals are finding their way into crops grown in Bengaluru. In 2017 too, an expert committee formed to rejuvenate Bellandur and Varthur lakes had found that soil around the lakebed which is used for small-scale cultivation was laced with toxic metal. Researchers had then said that even milk from cattle which grazes on these areas may also be harmful for consumption.

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KPSC exam leak: CM Yediyurappa warns officials will be sacked if found guilty

Controversy

A total of 14 persons have been arrested by the police so far in connection with the question paper leak racket.

PTI

Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday said the officials allegedly involved in leaking the first division assistant (FDA) examination question papers may be dismissed from service in wake of further arrests in the case. The exam conducted by the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) was to take place on Sunday but was cancelled following the expose on the question paper leak racket. "We will initiate stringent action against all those involved in the case. I am not only ready to suspend them but also dismiss them from the service," the Chief Minister told reporters. Stating that the officers concerned have been suspended, he said he would get the matter investigated. "It is an unpardonable act to leak the question papers even before the exams are held," Yediyurappa said. As earlier reported, the Central Crime Branch of Bengaluru police had arrested six persons on Saturday evening after they carried out a raid to unearth the racket. Rs 24 lakh in cash and the question papers which were allegedly being sold to job aspirants were also recovered. Meanwhile, the Bengaluru Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Patil, in a statement, said based on the inputs given by the kingpins of the racket - Rachappa and Chandru - eight more have been arrested taking the total arrested to 14. A senior police officer from Central Crime Branch (CCB) had earlier said that a special team conducted raids in Ullal in Jnanabharathi Police Station limits based on a tip off. The police added that the gang was using the stolen vehicles to circulate the question papers to job aspirants who had approached them a few days ago and paid some money in advance. The KPSC was to conduct this exam for 1,112 vacancies for the post of First Division Assistant, out of which 975 are reserved for Residual Parent Cadre (RPC) and 137 for Hyderabad Karnataka Local Cadre (HK) and cumulative about 3.75 lakh job aspirants had applied for these posts across the state.

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