KURNOOL:  For the first time after the outbreak of Covid-19 in the district, the Government General Hospital (GGH) does not have a single coronavirus patient undergoing treatment. The first Covid positive case was admitted to the GGH in March, 2020. The GGH has treated more than 70,000 Covid positive patients in the last 20 months.

With the decline in fresh Covid cases and increase in number of discharges in the past few weeks, the active count in the district came down to as low as 17 on Wednesday. All the 17 Covid patients are in home isolation. 

The last patient, a 65-year-old woman from Jupadu Bungalow mandal, was discharged from the GGH in the morning, enabling it achieve the distinction of zero Covid cases. A railway worker from Rajasthan, who was staying at Nossam village in Uyyalawada mandal, had tested positive after he returned from his native place in March, 2020. It was the first Covid case in the district. The railway worker was admitted to the Kurnool GGH on March 24, 2020. When the first and second waves of Covid was at its peak, more than 1,100 patients underwent treatment at a time in the 1,050-bed government hospital. 

GGH staff get relief after a long time as no Covid patient was admitted

The GGH set up temporary sheds using German technology to treat the increasing number of Covid patients when the pandemic was at its peak. Speaking to TNIE, Civil Surgeon Resident Medical Officer (CSRMO) Dr Hema Nalini, who is overseeing admission of Covid patients, said the GGH staff got some relief after a long time as no Covid patient was admitted to the hospital in the past 48 hours.

“We are waiting for this moment for the past few months,’’ she added. Dr Hema Nalini was the first Covid warrior in the district to get the vaccine jab. About 100 GGH staff, including a superintendent, heads of departments, professors and associate professors, had contracted coronavirus in the last 20 months while discharging their duties.

The GGH doctors had successfully performed nearly 3,000 deliveries of Covid-infected women. GGH Superintendent Dr Narendranath Reddy, who also tested positive for Covid during the second wave, appreciated the dedication of doctors, medicos and other staff in discharging their duties during the pandemic. The daily Covid count in the district has also come down to single digit.

Hospital with a distinction
As many as 876 doctors, 390 PG doctors, 206 house surgeons, 630 nursing, 150 paramedical, 316 sanitation, 175 security and 50 administrative staff are working in the Kurnool GGH, where about 1,500
inpatients undergo treatment on an average. It gets about 2,000 outpatients a day

MYSURU: Months after the Union Government announced that it would give Rs 50,000 and  Rs 1 lakh from the state government as compensation for bereaved family members of those who succumbed to Covid-19, only 890 of them have submitted applications to claim the relief of the total 2,400+ deaths reported in Mysuru district.

Though over 2,415 people died due to the pandemic, only 890 applications were received following which the DC’s office issued a circular on the requirements to claim the compensation. Those claiming relief need to provide the Covid positive report and related lab reports. These reports must be authenticated by the health official after which a self declaration and NOC signed by other family members needs to be handed over to the taluk office.

LAHORE: The first batch of 28 Indian Sikhs, including women, arrived at the revered Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan on Wednesday by using visa-free corridor, some 20 months after the pilgrimage was suspended in March 2020 following the Covid-19 outbreak.

Similarly, over 2,500 Indian Sikhs arrived in Pakistan via Wagah border crossing to take part in the annual commemoration of the birth of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev.

“As many as 28 India Sikhs including women visited the Kartarpur Sahib on the first day (Wednesday) after the Indian government reopened the corridor,” Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) spokesperson Amir Hashmi told PTI.

The ETPB looks after the holy places of minorities in Pakistan.

Hashmi said that Kartarpur Corridor chief executive officer (CEO) Muhammad Latif, Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) Pardhan (president) Sardar Ameer Singh and Dr Mampaal Singh greeted the Indian pilgrims at the Sikh shrine.

The pilgrims spent several hours at the gurdwara and offered religious rituals before crossing back to their homeland, he added.

The corridor links Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan, where Guru Nanak Dev lived and died at the start of the 16th century, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district.

The 4 km-long corridor provides visa free access to Indian pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib.

Separately, over 2,500 Indian Sikhs entered Pakistan via Wagah border crossing by foot.

“The yatrees had been queued since 6am Wednesday. Immigration and vaccine and other Covid related tests made the process slow, causing a great deal of inconvenience for the pilgrims.

He added that unlike the past practice, the yatrees would come here by foot instead of train.

“This time they came by foot and that made the whole immigration process lengthy,” he said.

When asked about the exact number of Indian Sikhs who arrived via Wagah border crossing, Hashmi said, “Pakistan had issued 2,890 visas to Indian Sikhs for this occasion and so far over 2,500 have arrived. Hopefully by late in the evening all those issued the visas will reach here.”

At Wagah, ETPB chairman Dr Aamer Ahmed, senior board members and PSGPC officials received the Indian pilgrims.

Almost all yatrees entered Wagah bare feet in respect of their spiritual leader Guru Nanak Dev.

Talking to reporters at Wagah, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Delhi leader Sardar Balwinder Singh said that Sikhs are very happy after the reopening of the Kartarpur Corridor.

He also expressed satisfaction over the upkeep of the Sikh holy places in Pakistan.

Dr Ahmed said the ETPB welcomes the Sikhs all over the world and it will try its best to provide them with best facilities during their stay in Pakistan.

He said the main event in connection with the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak will be held at Gurdwara Janamasthan Nankana Sahib on Friday.

All visiting yatrees will be taken to the Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib during their 10-day stay.

In November 2019, Prime Minister Minister Imran Khan had formally inaugurated the Kartarpur Corridor as part of commemoration of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak at a colourful ceremony, paving the way for Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit one of their religion’s holiest sites in Pakistan without needing a visa.

KOLKATA: A Kolkata court has declared a purported marriage between actor turned Trinamool Congress MP Nusrat Jahan and city-based businessman Nikhil Jain in Turkey as legally invalid.

“It is declared that the alleged marriage held on 19/06/2019 at Bodrum, Turkey in between the plaintiff and the defendant is not legally valid,” Civil Judge S Roy of 2nd court, Alipore, ordered on Tuesday.

The court noted in its order Jain’s contention that he and Jahan celebrated a wedding party in presence of their close friends and relatives “following both Western and Indian style and rituals of Hindu marriage.”

It noted that the marriage was never registered in Turkey.

The plaintiff, Jain, claimed that after returning to India, they started residing together, but the relation between them deteriorated subsequently and that she was not willing to continue the union.

It was further claimed that the parties to the suit, one being a Hindu and the other a Muslim, never got married under the Special Marriage Act, “so their consensual union cannot be treated as a marriage.”

The court also noted that Jahan prayed for a judgement, admitting the contentions of Jain regarding the alleged marriage.

“Considering all aspects of the suit and in view of the admission made on part of the defendant, the court is of the opinion that the alleged marriage held between the parties to the suit is not legally valid,” the court directed, disposing of the suit.

BENGALURU: The main accused in the Bitcoin scam, Sri Krishna alias Sriki, has gone incommunicado, despite the police deciding to provide a gunman to the hacker, whose revelations have become a political hot potato now.

A police team visited Sriki’s address on Tuesday morning to consider providing him a gunman.“But he was not present in the house and his family members told us that Sriki had not come home for the last few days. They also did not have any clue of his whereabouts.

We tried calling him on his mobile phone, but it was switched off. We went to his house again on Wednesday, but it was the same story. We have told the family members to inform us soon after they establish contact with Sriki,” a senior police officer said.

The police are inquiring with Sriki’s friends to trace him and provide him security as soon as possible. Police Commissioner Kamal Pant too said that a gunman will be provided to Sriki. On Monday, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah had demanded Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to ensure adequate protection to Sriki as “many influential people are said to be involved in the scam and hence protecting him becomes necessary”. There were reports on Wednesday afternoon that Sriki had been arrested by the police in Chennai, but it turned out to be false.

Sriki’s laptops sent for forensic analysis

The Jeevan Bima Nagar (JB Nagar) police on Tuesday sent Sriki’s four laptops for digital forensic
analysis. The JB Nagar police had arrested Sriki and his friend Vishnu Bhat on November 6 in an alleged
assault incident at a star hotel. As part of the probe, the police had searched Sriki’s room and
seized the four laptops. The police had obtained permission from a city court on November 11 to subject the laptops for forensic analysis, to know whether he is involved in any fresh cyber crimes.

KOLKATA: Six months after West Bengal witnessed high-octane Assembly polls highlighted by a communal divide, a poor Muslim farmer has donated a portion of his land to construct a Kali temple in Nadia district.

This year, BSF was not initially ready to give permission which touched Hannan Mondal and he decided to solve the issue permanently. The small farmer donated a portion of his land to villagers to construct a permanent Kali temple. 

Ahead of the Assembly polls, the district was in the list of BJP’s bigwigs, as it is dominated by Matuas, a Hindu religious sect that migrated from Bangladesh. During the poll campaign, BJP leaders tried to woo the Hindu refugee electorate by talking about alleged atrocities by Muslims in Bangladesh while explaining why Matuas had to migrate from the country during Partition.

“This is the real colour of India. Bengal has always been famous for its communal harmony and communal discord has no place here. We all are grateful to Hannan for setting up an example of brotherhood,” said Bimal Sarkar, president of the Kali Puja committee.

Hanna donated a piece of land measuring up to around 460 square feet to the committee. “Every year, villagers used to be concerned about BSF’s green signal to organise the Puja. I never thought that the Puja would not be held because of this land problem. I decided to donate the plot so that a permanent temple can be constructed there, where Kali Puja will be organised every year,” said Hannan. 

Welcoming Hannan’s decision, Hindu villagers of Bhimpur said that the political parties, who are trying to play the religious card to bag votes earlier this year, should take a lesson from this gesture of a poor man.

“We witnessed a never-seen-before attempt to polarise the voters on the line of religion ahead of the Assembly polls. Butr Hannan’s sacrifice makes it clear that such line of politics will not work in Bengal,” said a villager.

Fitting reply to polarisation attempts, say villagers

Earlier this year before Assembly elections in West Bengal, there were attempts to divide voters along religious lines. Villagers of Bhimpur where the Muslim farmer has donated land for the Kali temple, say that this incident shows such tactics will not work in the state.

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu may not be part of the ‘jatha’ which is going to pay obeisance at the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan on Thursday.

“Sidhu saab had made all preparations for going to the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara tomorrow,” said Dalla, adding that he was supposed to go with the Punjab Cabinet ministers.

Sidhu had submitted his application on Tuesday for travelling to the historic shrine in Pakistan to offer prayers, he added.

Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, along with his ministers, will be part of the ‘jatha’ (group) which will visit the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara on Thursday, officials said.

Some MLAs and a few officials will also accompany Channi, they said.

The Kartarpur Corridor, which links Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan, the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district, reopened on Wednesday.

Gurpurab, which marks the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, will be celebrated on November 19.

Pilgrimage to the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara was suspended in March 2020 due to the Covid pandemic.

SRINAGAR:  In a major jolt to Jammu and Kashmir Congress, about a dozen senior leaders including former ministers and legislators loyal to Ghulam Nabi Azad have revolted against the unit chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir and resigned demanding a change in guard.

Those who have resigned belong both to Kashmir and Jammu and all of them are close to former J&K Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. They have maintained that they are leaving the party. In the letter to Sonia, the leaders have alleged that under Mir, Congress is heading towards a disastrous situation and over 200 leaders, including former ministers, MLAs, MLCs, PCC office-bearers, district presidents and AICC Members have left for other parties.

The leaders informed that they have been requesting the high command for long to change the J&K Congress president but no heed was paid.

“Mir has been a total disaster for the party. He has been the president of the J&K unit of Congress for about seven years. Normally a person heads the party unit in a single term for two years (maximum three years),” said J&K Congress senior vice-president Monga. He made it clear they are not leaving the party. “We are Congress by heart and won’t leave the party,” asserted Monga.