MYSURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said that he has directed the district ministers to conduct a study on the prevailing drought in their districts and submit a report before November 15.

“I have asked the district ministers to visit all the taluks in their districts to study drought. I have asked them to meet the people to know the ground reality. Even though the Union Government has not provided funds, the State Government has released Rs 900 crore to take up drought-relief works,” he said while regretting that the Centre has neglected Karnataka in sanctioning funds for drought-relief works.
Siddaramaiah said that after several letters, the Centre released Rs 600 crore for MGNREGA works on Saturday.

“There has been a loss of Rs 33,000 crore and we have requested the Centre to release Rs 17,900 crore as per the guidelines. Our revenue, rural development, and agriculture ministers had visited Delhi to meet PM Modi. But they returned after they did not get the PM’s appointment. The PM is still unable to come to terms with Congress returning to power in Karnataka. We will write to put pressure on the Central government to release funds,” he elaborated.

On MLAs speaking on leadership change, Siddaramaiah said that he has warned the legislators and ministers not to speak on the issue in public, and should only explain the welfare programs initiated in their respective segments.

Commenting on Modi’s criticism over state guarantee schemes during election campaigns in five states, Siddaramaiah said that the Congress government is not worried about any criticism but is committed to serving the poor and farmers. Reacting to BJP former minister KS Eshwarappa’s statement that the caste census report by Kantharaju commission must be burnt, the CM said that Eshwarappa is a depreciating coin.

“His words have no value. They are all depreciating coins. BJP did not give him a ticket as he is a depreciating coin. If the report is submitted, we will accept it,” he added.

On irregularities in the KEA examination conducted in Kalaburagi where Bluetooth was used and mangal sutra and anklets were asked to be removed by candidates, the CM said that a complete investigation would be carried out. Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah on Sunday had lunch with the officials who successfully conducted the Dasara festivities.

Even though there is a practice of the district minister hosting lunch for the officials, the CM set a new precedent by attending the luncheon with the district officials and MLAs and MLCs organized by district minister HC Mahadevappa at a private hotel in Mysuru city.

Speaking on the occasion, Siddaramaiah appreciating the work of the officers during Dasara celebrations said that Mysuru will be the number one district in the state if the officers work effectively. “Officials must prepare a blueprint to take up welfare activities. Mysuru must return back to its glory. Mysuru Maharaja Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar’s irrigation, agriculture, and social welfare works must be an inspiration for us,” he said.

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has called for a high-level meeting on Monday amid rising pollution levels in the national capital.

Environment Minister Gopal Rai and other related departments will be part of the meeting.

The overall air continues to be in the ‘severe’ category for the fifth day, as per the Central Pollution Control Board.

The national capital is grappling with a massive health crisis linked to escalating pollution levels. The city has been consistently making headlines as one of the most polluted cities in the world, with air quality often reaching hazardous levels.

Doctors say, for any healthy person, a recommended AQI should be less than 50, but these days the AQI has spiked beyond 400, which could prove fatal for those suffering from lung-related diseases and even poses a risk of lung cancer.

Two days after cellular and internet service abruptly vanished for most of Gaza amid a heavy Israeli bombardment, the crowded enclave came back online Sunday as communications systems were gradually restored.

That’s a welcome development for Gaza following a communications blackout that began late Friday as Israel expanded ground operations and launched intense airstrikes that illuminated the night sky with furious orange flashes. A rare few Palestinians with international SIM cards or satellite phones took it upon themselves to get the news out.

By Sunday morning, phone and internet communications had been restored to many people in Gaza, according to telecommunications providers in the area, Internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.org and confirmation on the ground.

After weeks of a total Israeli siege, Palestinians in Gaza felt the vise tightening. Social media had been a lifeline for Palestinians desperate to get news and to share their terrifying plight with the world. Now even that was gone. Many were consumed with hopelessness and fear as the Israeli military announced a new stage in its war, launched in a response to a bloody cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct 7, and troops crossed into Gaza.

Exhausted and afraid her link to the world could drop at any moment, 28-year-old Palestinian journalist Hind al-Khoudary said the massive airstrikes that shook the ground exceeded anything she had experienced over the past three weeks or any of the four previous Israel-Hamas wars.

“It was crazy,” she said.

Residents on Saturday darted across dilapidated neighbourhoods under heavy bombardment to check on loved ones. Medics chased the thunder of artillery and bombs because they couldn’t receive distress calls. Survivors pulled the dead from the rubble with bare hands and loaded them into cars and donkey-drawn carts.

“It’s a catastrophe,” said Anas al-Sharif, a freelance journalist. “Entire families remain under the rubble.”

Reached by WhatsApp, freelance photojournalist Ashraf Abu Amra in northern Gaza said panic and confusion surrounded him.

“It’s barely possible to send this message,” he said. “All I want to convey is that the international community must intervene and save the people of Gaza from death immediately.”

Local journalists posting daily on social media scavenged the 360-sq-km (140-square-mile) territory to find even a spotty connection. Some moved closer to the southern border with Egypt, hoping to pick up that country’s network. Others had foreign SIM cards and special routers that connected to Israel’s network.

Mohammed Abdel Rahman, a journalist in northern Gaza, kept track of Israeli airstrikes all night, noticing the raids were concentrated along the strip’s northern border with Israel.

“A new bombing is happening right now as we speak,” he said, as the roar of explosions resounded in the background. “There is an explosion, gunfire, and clashes are heard near the border.”

“We do not know if there are (dead) or wounded because of the lack of communication,” Abdel Rahman added.

When the pace of bombardment slowed Saturday morning, residents rushed to the homes of loved ones with whom they had lost touch overnight.

“People right now are walking, using their cars because there isn’t internet,” al-Khoudary said. “Everyone is checking on us, seeing us, and now we are going to check on others.”

She went directly to Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest, where doctors, exhausted from operating on patient after patient with dwindling fuel and medical supplies, pressed on, despite the crowds of some 50,000 people sheltering in the compound.

The wounded poured in from Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, al-Khoudary said, where Israeli bombs wrought destruction the night before.

Health authorities in Gaza and UN agencies warned that the blackout has exacerbated Gaza’s humanitarian crisis.

Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said the communication outages had paralyzed an overwhelmed health system. As ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra addressed reporters at a press conference livestreamed by the Al Jazeera satellite network from the hospital, an older bespectacled man positioned himself just behind the podium.

While al-Qidra spoke, the man waved into the camera and pointed his hands upward to the heavens apparently hoping to reassure someone far away that he was alive.

International aid organisations, whose limited operations inside the enclave have teetered on collapse, said they couldn’t reach their staff nearly 24 hours after the blackout.

The chief of the UN Palestinian Refugee Agency, Philippe Lazzarini, penned a public letter to his staff in Gaza expressing “immense worry” for their safety.

“I am constantly hoping that this hell on earth will soon come to an end and that you and your families are safe,” he wrote. “You are the face of humanity during one of its darkest hours.”

Doctors Without Borders said the group had not communicated with its team in Gaza since since 8 pm Friday.

“We are not able to send our team to different facilities because we have no way to coordinate with them,” Guillemette Thomas, the regional medical coordinator, said from Paris. “That’s really a critical situation.”

Visakhapatnam: The number of casualties in the train accident on the Howrah-Chennai line in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh rose to 13 while 50 people were injured, Superintendent of Police M Deepika said on Monday.

Officials of the East Coast Railway (ECR) said that at around 7 pm on Sunday, the Palasa passenger train hit the Rayagada passenger train from behind at Kantakapalli, about 40 Km from here, causing three coaches to derail.

Biswajit Sahu, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of the ECR, last night said at least nine people were killed in the incident.

However, according to the police the death toll on Monday morning rose to 13.

According to the information provided by Vizianagaram Collector S Nagalakshmi, at least 32 people were injured.

A senior railway official has said the injured were being shifted to hospitals in Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram.

Expressing shock over the incident, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy also instructed officials to pay an ex-gratia amount of Rs 10 lakh each to the kin of the deceased and Rs 2 lakh each to the injured from the state.

He also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each for the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each for the injured from other states, according to an official release.

The ECR has set up helplines.

In an exceptional achievement, Dr. Mukta Agrawal,
Assistant Professor (Pharmaceutics) at SVKM’s NMIMS School of Pharmacy & Technology
Management, Jadcherla, Hyderabad, was honoured with the Best Oral Presentation Award for
her groundbreaking research presentation titled, “Comparative Analysis of SLN and NLC as
Novel Drug Carrier System”. Dr. Agrawal received the honor at the International Platform,
“Pharmacon 2023” on ‘New Horizons in Drug, Devices and Diagnostics’.
The international conference was organised by the one of the most prestigious institution,
National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research (NIPER), Hyderabad, under
the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemical and Fertilisers, Government
of India, at the Heartful Wellness Centre, Kanha Shanti Vanam, Hyderabad.

The “Pharmacon 2023” is a congregation of prominent domestic and international leaders in
academia, industry, and policymakers, held to discuss the current challenges and
opportunities in drug discovery, drug development and medical diagnostics. Participants
present their original research work through oral and poster presentations at this event.
Dr. Agrawal presented her extensive research in Solid Lipid Nanoparticles (SLN) and Nano
Lipid Carriers (NLC), titled, ‘Comparative Analysis of SLN and NLC as Novel Drug Carrier
System’, wherein, the professor compared the efficiency of both the nanocarriers, SLC and
NLC, for drug targeting to the brain for treating inflammatory or neurodegenerative
disorders. The findings of the comprehensive research revealed that both nanocarriers have
been proven efficient for the treatment of tumour targeting, brain targeting and other chronic
disorders. NLC nanocarriers were found comparatively better in terms of drug loading,
entrapment, stability and pharmacokinetic parameters.

Dr. Mukta Agrawal is an Assistant Professor (Pharmaceutics) at the NMIMS SPTM, Hyderabad
Campus. A PhD from CSVTU, her core subjects of interest include Nanoparticles, Stimuli
Responsive Drug Carriers, Brain Targeting, Alzheimer’s Therapy, Nose-to-Brain Drug
Delivery, and Tumour targeting. Dr. Agrawal teaches in the domains of Pharmaceutical
Technology, Controlled Drug Delivery Systems, Novel Drug Delivery Systems and
Pharmacokinetics. To her credit, she is having over 70 national and international research
papers on varied topics receiving numerous accolades. Dr. Agrawal is a regular attendee at
conferences and workshops of significant importance and was recently featured in the ‘Top
2% Scientists of the World’ list by Stanford University and Elsevier for second consecutive
year. She is also a recipient of Young Scientist 2016 and many other National Scientific
Competitions.

Sharing the joy of her achievement, Dr. Mukta Agrawal said, “The recognition is a moment of
honour for me. I express my gratitude towards the NMIMS faculty and management for their

exceptional support and encouragement. NMIMS SPTM Hyderabad has the right infrastructure
and resources to pursue path-breaking research in distinct realms of science which helped me
achieve the recognition.”

Expressing appreciation for Dr. Agrawal, Dr. Siddhartha Ghosh, Director, NMIMS
Hyderabad, said, ‘The recognition at ‘Pharmacon 2023’ is an honor for NMIMS SPTM
Hyderabad. High-quality and path-breaking research is the bedrock of any institution and we
encourage and strive hard to provide the best avenues for our learned faculties to pursue