Archives for January 2022

GURGAON   Amid the ongoing row over offering ‘namaz’ in the open, the police here have lodged an FIR against former Rajya Sabha MP Mohammad Adeeb and others on a complaint filed by local Hindu activists accusing them of disrupting communal harmony and trying to grab land.

When contacted, Kuldeep Singh, Station House Officer of Sector 40 police station, said the facts are being verified and action will be taken as per law.

In December, Adeeb had moved the Supreme Court seeking contempt action against Haryana director general of police and chief secretary for failing to comply with the court’s directions regarding measures to curb communal and violent sentiments that result in hate crimes.

The complainants, Dinesh Bharti, Himmat and Vikky Kumar, accused Adeeb of disrupting communal harmony and trying to grab land, actions that could lead to riots.

They alleged that repeated attempts have been made to grab the land of locals.

Bharti claimed that in Sector 40, a plot where the ancestors of one Mangtu Manihar were laid to rest has been declared a graveyard and it is being demanded that a mosque be constructed there.

“We are not targeting any religion. Land grabbing and encroachment and misuse of public land are our key issues. They (accused) are misleading people and trying to disrupt communal harmony,” he said.

Speaking to PTI, Adeeb said he was not aware of any FIR being lodged against him and had just learnt about it.

“What is this case actually about? We are the ones talking about peace, calm and communal harmony and people who seek publicity glorifying Godse are out to blame us,” he said.

BENGALURU: With two youngsters being arrested for the radical Bulli Bai app, targeting outspoken Muslim women, the Congress linked them to the BJP and RSS, and said they are cultivating an atmosphere of hatred.    

Opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted, “It is distressing to see 18-21 year olds committing crimes sparked by the radicalism of RSS and BJP ideology. Instead of excelling in education and employment, they have become pawns in the hands of BJP-RSS. A generation of Indians are succumbing to hatred.’’  

Congress MLA Roopkala Shashidhar told TNIE, “I felt pain when I heard about this terrible auction of respectable ladies. Does this kind of an auction by the younger generation create a good atmosphere in society? Indian tradition has been to respect all religions..”

Blaming the RSS, MLC B K Hariprasad said, “Which  is the mother organisation of all religious hatred in India? Who is behind the Bulli Bai and Sulli Deals, this has to be investigated thoroughly… The young should not fall prey to hate campaigns.”

“If you are teaching youngsters to hate so you can polarise society and remain in power for perpetuity then it will not work, 18 and 21 year olds cannot be organising these hate-filled auctions…. BJP-RSS needs to stop this shrill hate campaign…” Countering the charges, BJP spokesman Capt Ganesh Karnik said the Congress was stooping to a new low by blaming the RSS. 

BENGALURU: The latest Covid-19 surge, possibly fuelled by the super-contagious Omicron variant, could last another month or more, health experts believe.

So intense has been the surge that the state’s active cases have risen by 28.68 per cent from 13,532 on Tuesday to 17,414 on Wednesday, while that of the state capital shot up by 29.23 per cent from 11,423 to 14,762 overnight.

Warning people to be watchful of the spike, Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said the next four to six weeks will be crucial and that the peak in cases needs to be watched out for.

“The state government, based on experts’ opinion, has imposed stricter restrictions to contain the surge. But the next four to six weeks are crucial and only if people cooperate can we help the situation from not getting any worse,” he said.

Third wave will not be for too long, says minister

Several studies, minister Sudhakar said, have shown that Omicron infects and multiplies 70 times faster than the Delta variant and the original SARS-CoV-2 in the human bronchus, which explains why Omicron may transmit faster between humans than the previous variants.

However, it is also seen that infection in the lung is significantly milder than the original SARS-CoV2, which may be an indicator of lower disease severity and hence, lesser admissions and deaths. The state on Wednesday reported just two deaths, both from Bengaluru.

Sudhakar said, “As we have observed worldwide, it is declining in five to six weeks. This wave will not be for too long, like in the first and second waves that were for three to four months.”

A mathematical model by Prof Siva Athreya of Indian Statistical Institute, Professor Rajesh Sundareshan of IISc, Bengaluru, and their team’s preliminary projections on Omicron has shown that in the best case scenario, there may be 40,000 cases per day and worst case will be around 1.2 lakh for Karnataka at the peak of the wave.

If 1 per cent of this population need hospitalisation, that will mean around 400 to 1,200 admissions per day, as per the prediction.

Well-known epidemiologist and public health expert Dr Giridhara Babu R said, “Based on the modelling results presented by Prof Athreya and Prof Sundaresan, we are likely to see the surge in the last week of January to first week of February. In the best case scenario of the model, assuming that the restrictions imposed from Wednesday are effective, the load on hospitalisation might be lower compared to Delta wave.”

He, however, said the infection with Omicron variant is not like getting vaccinated, and one should stay away from misinformation regarding this.

“It is best to avoid getting infected,” he said.

WHO Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan took to Twitter speaking on the Omicron situation in India, and said, “Omicron is NOT the common cold! Health systems can get overwhelmed. Important to have systems to test, advise and monitor large number of patients as the surge can be sudden and huge.”

GIRL DIES, CONTAINMENT ZONES RISE

Amid concerns of the third wave affecting children, a 15-year-old girl, who had comorbidities, died after testing positive for Covid-19 in Bengaluru.

However, Health Department officials said the death was not due to Covid-19 but due to other comorbid conditions for which the girl was admitted to hospital. The health bulletin from the Karnataka Health Department on Wednesday stated that she had symptoms of Influenza-Like Illness with symptoms of fever. She was a resident of Bengaluru and had immunocompromised disorder.

An official said, “She had a one-year history of intermittent headache and was admitted to the hospital when her condition deteriorated. She was shifted to a private hospital on January 3 where she developed cerebral problems. When a rapid test was done in the ICU, she tested positive for Covid-19.”

Meanwhile, the total active micro containment zones in the city went up to 182 with Mahadevapura having 57 , Bommanahalli 53 and West zone 20.

NEW DELHI: In the major Indian cities, the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is accounting for more than 50 per cent of the fresh cases of the infection and the massive surge in the number of cases over the last one week is indicative of a third wave of the pandemic, as is being witnessed in several countries, Dr N K Arora, the chairman of the COVID-19 working group of the NTAGI, said on Tuesday.

Omicron is being detected in most of the states in the country, he told PTI.

Noting that in the major metro centres and the surrounding regions, the new variant of the virus is accounting for over 50 per cent of the fresh cases, Arora said, “The galloping increase in the number of Covid cases over the last one week is indicative of the third wave, as is being seen in several other countries across the globe.”

He, however, stressed that there is no need to panic.

Arora said over 80 per cent of the people in the country have been infected with the virus naturally, more than 90 per cent of the adults have received at least one dose of an anti-Covid vaccine and over 65 per cent are fully vaccinated.

“If we look at the behaviour of the Omicron wave in South Africa, where it rapidly increased, in two weeks, the number of cases started coming down and most of the cases were either asymptomatic or had a mild illness, along with the decoupling of the total number of Covid cases vis-a-vis those requiring hospitalisation. All these factors indicate that the Omicron wave in South Africa may soon subside,” he said.

There are some epidemiological similarities between South Africa and India.

The natural infection rates in both the countries are very high, Arora pointed out, adding that however, the immunisation rates in India are several fold higher.

“In view of this, we may see a somewhat similar pattern in India as far as the third wave is concerned.”

“Looking at the behaviour of the Covid infection in the last seven to 10 days in India, I feel that we may be in for a third wave peak very soon,” he said.

Arora, however, asserted that there is no need to press the panic button.

“Those who are yet to take the vaccine or are partially immunised should get the jab for protection against severe disease and hospitalisation. Also, one should strictly follow Covid-appropriate behaviour,” he said.

A total of 1,892 Omicron cases have so far been detected across 23 states and Union territories in the country and of the patients, 766 have either recuperated or migrated, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday.

Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of 568 Omicron cases, followed by Delhi (382), Kerala (185), Rajasthan (174), Gujarat (152) and Tamil Nadu (121).

With 37,379 fresh cases, India’s COVID-19 tally has climbed to 3,49,60,261, while the number of active cases of the infection has gone up to 1,71,830, according to the ministry’s data updated at 8 am.

Parmesh S Jain

The South Division police of Siddapura police opened fire at the accused of a robbery case who attacked a police constable in a bid to escape from custody in Banashankari 6th stage on Monday morning.

The accused has been identified as,Parvesh Pasha,21 and his associate identified as Abubakar,

Senior officer told media persons a complaint was registered in Siddapura police station by a 23-year-old private firm employee who stated in his complaint when he was passing near lalbagh two unknown miscreants confronted him and tried to snatch his mobile phone as the victim resisted the robbery of his phone near Lalbagh last wednesday .

The accused stabbed him multiple times before fleeing with the mobile and cash of Rs.1,000 and sped away in their scooter

The injured Fayaz Mohammed was admitted to the hospital and based on his complaint,A special team headed by Siddapura police inspector,Raju A and his team swung into action and with the help of technology skill the team tracked down the accused and arrested him on Sunday.

During investigation the accused was identified as,Pasha and he confessed the crime and told the police that he had dumped the weapon near a vacant site in Banashankari 6th stage for which a team of police escorted him to the place and went to secure the weapon used for the robbery in the early hours of Monday.

While the police are doing mahazar (spot inspection),Pasha used a wooden log to attack police constable,Parmeshwar Mabrukar to escape from the custody,Inspector Raju A,who was at spot warned him to stop by firing in the air but the accused dint heed to his warning and again tried to attack the inspector and to protect his life and his subordinate life he opened another round fire in self defense at his left leg to stop him from fleeing.

The police later shifted both the injured to hospital and were said to be out of danger .

We have registered one more case against Pasha charging him under attempt to murder and obstructing government servant from discharging duties against him and further investigation is on.

Finally Bengaluru Police Commissioner,Kamal Pant has appreciated Addl CP West,Sandeep Patil,DCP,South,Harish Pandey,ACP,BL Srinivasmurthy,PI,Raju A,and his staff as Parameshwar Mabrukar and others who has done a exemplary work and risked their life in nabbing the accused who attacked the staff in a bid to escape but the brave staff and PI has pinned him down by opening fire at his leg a special reward will be given to the team he added.

Parmesh S Jain

A police inspector,Sunil Naik of Madiwala police station has been suspended by commissioner of police Kamal Pant for taking bribe from a accused in Dowry harrasment case.

City police commissioner,Kamal Pant ordered and suspended an Inspector attached to Madiwala police station for taking money from the accused of a dowry case in return for showing an official favor.

The incident came to light when the accused approached the city police commissioner with the complaint against the inspector along with the audio and video recordings which had proof of the money given.

Taking cognisance,City police commissioner Kamal Pant directed the jurisdictional DCP to probe the matter and submit a report .

Based on the report,Mr.Pant suspended Sunil  Y Naik,pending inquiry for further action.

The accused officer Naik had arrested the accused in a dowry case based on the court direction.

However he took money from the accused to show official favors.When there was an increasing demand for more money,the accused approached the city police chief seeking help.