Archives for May 2022

BENGALURU: The Karnataka Police have formed seven teams to nab the man who threw acid on a woman for refusing his marriage proposal, said officials on Monday.

The police had formed three teams earlier which was increased to five. The accused, identified as Nagesh, has been absconding since April 28 — the day the attack happened. The police teams have gone to neighbouring states also in search of the accused.

Police Commissioner Kamal Pant earlier had said that the accused would be arrested by Saturday evening.

The police have detained the accused’s elder brother and parents in connection with the case. They have also taken 20 more persons into custody.

Meanwhile, hospital sources said that the victim was recuperating and responding to the treatment well. She was being treated in the ICU.

Hospital sources said that they will start with the skin transplantation treatment from Monday. After the transplantation, the damaged skin of the victim is expected to grow naturally again.

After the skin transplantation process, the victim would also have less pain. The skin is expected to grow within 2 to 3 weeks, sources said. The skin is collected by donors and stored at the Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru after testing.

Accused Nagesh, who was enraged after being rejected by the victim, had carried out the acid attack on the woman on April 28.

The accused waited in an auto until she reached her work place in Sunkadakatte locality of Bengaluru in the morning. When she was standing outside, waiting for the office to open, the accused rushed towards her with an acid bottle. Even as the victim tried to escape, he chased her and poured acid on her.

The police said the accused studied in the same school with the victim in SSLC (Class 10). The students and teachers of Nisarga school of Hegganahalli had staged a protest demanding immediate arrest of the accused.

Karnataka Health Minister K.Sudhakar visited the acid attack victim in the hospital and assured free treatment. He also announced that the government would provide her with a suitable job once she recovers. Minister for Large and Medium Industries Murugesh Nirani had also announced all the support from the government to the family of the acid attack victim.

LUCKNOW: In an administrative reshuffle, the Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday transferred 16 IAS officers, a senior official said.

Sanjeev Mittal has been made the chairman of the board of revenue.

Manoj Kumar Singh has been made the new agriculture production commissioner.

He also will continue to discharge his duties as additional chief secretary of rural development and Panchayati raj departments.

Nitin Gokaran Ramesh, who was the principal secretary in the Public Works Department has been made the principal secretary of housing and urban planning.

Narendra Bhushan, who was the CEO of Greater Noida has been made the new principal secretary of the Public Works Department.

MD of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited M Devraj has been made the principal secretary of energy and additional sources of energy department while L Venkateshwar Lu is the new principal secretary of the transport department, the official said.

NEW DELHI: India’s Covid case positivity rate went past one per cent again after over two months as the country witnessed a single-day rise of 3,157 infections and 26 fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

The rise reported on Monday pushed the country’s overall Covid tally to 4,30,82,345 cases and 5,23,869 deaths, the data said.

The number of active cases rose by 408 in a 24-hour span to reach 19,500, the data updated at 8 am showed.

At 1.07 per cent, the daily positivity went past one per cent again after a little over two months, the ministry said.

It was at 1.11 per cent on February 27. The weekly positivity rate was 0.70 per cent, according to the health ministry.

Positivity rate refers to percentage of all coronavirus tests performed that return positive result. A higher positive rate means higher transmission rate for the virus.

The death toll has now climbed to 5,23,869 with the latest 26 fatalities being reported, 21 of them from Kerala alone.

The active cases constitute 0.05 per cent of the total infections. The country’s COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.74 per cent, the health ministry said.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease rose to 4,25,38,976, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.22 per cent.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 189.23 crore.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

The 26 new fatalities include 21 from Kerala, two from Odisha and one each from Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

A total of 5,23,869 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,47,843 from Maharashtra, 69,068 from Kerala, 40,102 from Karnataka, 38,025 from Tamil Nadu, 26,175 from Delhi, 23,508 from Uttar Pradesh and 21,202 from West Bengal.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with (those of) the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.