Rescue teams on Friday used GPS coordinates from aerial drone pictures and cell phones, including the last location of people who lived in the landslides-hit areas of Wayanad to help locate survivors, amidst accelerated search operations after the completion of the 190-foot-long Bailey bridge by the Army.
'Kerala is on a par with global standards.'
A total of 116 persons, who had come in contact with some of the infected persons, have been put under quarantine-- 94 in their homes and 22 in various hospitals, the sources said.
"This year, the Southwest Monsoon is likely to set over Kerala on May 31 with a model error of four days," the India meteorological department said on Wednesday.
As many as 32 students have tested positive for COVID-19 in a college in Karnataka's Kolar KGF College of Dental Sciences and Hospital, said Karnataka health minister Dr K Sudhakar on Wednesday.
A person who returned to Kerala from abroad and was hospitalised after showing signs of monkeypox tested positive for the disease, state Health Minister Veena George said on Thursday.
Kerala health minister Veena George, who reviewed the state's COVID-19 situation two days ago, today blamed the violation of home quarantine directives for the worsening situation and cautioned against the increased indoor transmission of coronavirus at homes.
The Omicron variant was first detected in India in Bengaluru with two people testing positive for it comprising a South African national of Indian origin and a doctor.
"All those who were involved in rescue operations at Kozhikode Airport should go into self-quarantine. State Government will conduct COVID-19 tests of all," said K K Shailaja.
No fresh Nipah positive cases were reported in the state since September 16 with 218 samples of persons who were in the high-risk contact list turning up negative for the virus till date, the Kerala government said on Monday.
Sports Minister V Abdurahiman said 20 deaths were confirmed on the basis of information from various hospitals where those pulled out from the water and inside the boat were admitted.
The 59-year-old man who was stuck for 42 hours in the lift of a major government hospital in Thiruvananthapuram over the weekend said that while being trapped there he had written a note akin to a farewell message to his family, and kept it in his bag.
Shruti, who lost her entire family in the Wayanad landslide disaster and later her fianc in a road accident, began a new chapter of hope by joining government service. The state cabinet had recently decided to provide a government job to the young woman, who had endured back-to-back tragedies. She joined the Revenue Department as a clerk in the mountainous district, expressing gratitude to the government for its support during her difficult times.
Personal competence, where it should have been acknowledged and appreciated, was sacrificed for that oft heard line: Party-is-supreme. It angered that at a time when lives are at stake amidst the pandemic, the government didn't deem continuity in leadership important for the health portfolio, observes Shyam G Menon.
All the five have been isolated in Pathnamathitta general hospital and are under observation. Their tests were confirmed on Saturday night.
'The true measure of Project Tiger's success is not just rising tiger numbers, but our ability to ensure harmonious human-wildlife coexistence'
''We had three positive cases, but our success was the three not going up to 30 or 100.' 'Also, all the three survived the virus,' says Kerala's Health Minister K K Shailaja.
The young IAS officer had returned to the state on March 19 from his honeymoon abroad and had been asked to remain under observation. However, he left for his brother's place in Bengaluru without informing anyone.
Controversial Telugu Desam Party legislator TV Rama Rao, who is facing a case of alleged rape and murder, is likely to be arrested by the Crime Branch's Criminal Investigation Department. Five girls from Kerala have given a statement to the CID, alleging sexual harassment and attempted rape by the legislator. The Kerala government has also raised the issue with the government of Andhra Pradesh and the central government. Rama Rao has claimed that this was a conspiracy.
The minister said there has been no cases of Nipah reported from anywhere in the country
The government has declared that night curfew would be enforced in the state from next week to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
'Women' as a political constituency appears to be an idea that has come of age. It is changing India in ways that we only dimly understand, asserts Aditi Phadnis.
Forty years after the Bhopal gas tragedy, 377 tons of hazardous waste has been shifted from the defunct Union Carbide factory for its disposal, an official said.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday declared the southern state as India's first fully e-governed state where an entire range of government services have been digitised so that they can be provided to the citizens promptly and transparently.
Temperatures remained above 45 degrees Celsius in large parts of Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh, affecting daily life as many chose to remain indoors in the afternoon.
A total of 1,162 essential documents have been distributed among 872 persons at the camp, the district administration in Wayanad said.
The sessions court instead included the offence of causing death by negligence against the IAS officer and a similar order was passed with regard to co-accused Wafa Feroze in the case, the public prosecutor dealing with the matter said.
The famous Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala, opened for the annual Mandala-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season, is all set to receive more pilgrims now with the Kerala government deciding to allow more devotees for darshan by adhering to Covid-19 protocols.
More than 1,30,000 cases of the novel coronavirus have been recorded in 116 countries and territories, killing at least 4,900 people.
Most deaths were due to smoke inhalation while residents were sleeping, and a significant number of occupants were evacuated, they added. The fire started in a kitchen in the six-storey building in the Mangaf area in Kuwait's southern Ahmadi Governorate, officials said, adding that the building reportedly had 195 people living in it, who are workers of the same company.
The Centre on Wednesday deployed multi-disciplinary teams in bird flu-affected areas of Kerala and Haryana, while Madhya Pradesh, where crows have died due to the influenza, banned the entry of chicken consignments from southern states for 10 days as a precautionary measure.
'Healthcare is not an industry.' 'The government is only encouraging insurance as they are not able to provide healthcare to people.' 'Opening new medical colleges is not what is needed.' 'You have to invest in public sector hospitals.' 'You cannot hand over healthcare to the private industry.'
Kerala has reported the season's first death due to H1N1 virus ahead of the onset of southwest monsoon as various types of viral fever spread in the state, including a large number of dengue cases.
'...to address the serious faultlines that had got exposed during the pandemic.' 'If the economy is looking up this year, we could have been allocated an increase of at least 20%.'
The PMK has now lent its voice to the protests against the mining of atomic minerals in Kanyakumari.
After the outbreak of Nipah at a hamlet in Perambra last week, 16 people have tested positive, of whom 13 have died so far.
As many as 422 Omicron cases have been detected across 17 states and Union Territories in India so far and 130 of these people have recovered or migrated, according to Union health ministry data updated on Sunday.
A 23-year-old doctor was stabbed to death on Wednesday at a taluk hospital in Kottarakkara area of Kollam district in Kerala allegedly by a man, a school teacher under suspension, who was brought there by police after being involved in a fight with his family members.
Maharashtra has recorded a maximum of 108 Omicron cases, followed by Delhi at 79, Gujarat 43, Telangana 38, Kerala 37, Tamil Nadu 34 and Karnataka 31.
If Kerala wants to sustain its room for independent thinking and talk back to Delhi when needed, it should put its finances in order. Or - if one takes the North East example - Kerala's political posturing may end up commensurate with its financial dependence on others, suggests Shyam G Menon.
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