Monthly Archives: July 2020

The war is on, but more warriors are needed

Records, All, Science & Technology

Mysuru, Kodagu, Chamarajanagar in urgent need of medical professionals to deal with the COVID-19 crisis, especially after all three districts reported spike in cases
Amidst the COVID-19 crisis, doctors’ scarcity is looming large in Mysuru, Kodagu and Chamarajanagar districts. The vacant positions need to be filled up soon, especially when the cases are surging alarmingly.

Sourcing well-trained doctors has become a challenge in the districts with the health emergency putting more pressure on the infrastructure and the already-stressed staff.

In all three districts, the shortage of nursing and paramedical staff is over 50 per cent. With the backing of temporary/contract staff, hospitals and PHCs are battling the pandemic.

In all three districts government medical colleges and their teaching hospitals are reshuffling doctors and other staff to deal with the situation.

In Kodagu, 120 doctors’ posts are vacant in both the hospitals run by the Department of Health and Family Welfare and the Medical Education Department. The Kodagu Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), which is running the designated COVID-19 hospital in Madikeri, and the CHCs and PHCs of the Health Department are struggling to get doctors on contract basis.

Seven doctors’ posts for the COVID-19 hospital need to be filled up immediately. Likewise, posts of 40 junior resident doctors, 23 senior resident doctors, 16 assistant professors, and 4 associate professors are vacant. Nine posts of anaesthetist are vacant in the Health Department besides the posts of gynaecologist and paediatrician.

The response to the announcement about vacancies has so far been tepid. This perhaps led Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy to urge the doctors of Kodagu origin to return to their homeland and help in managing the crisis.

Kodagu and Chamarajnagar districts have limited healthcare resources. Many large private and corporate hospitals are operated in Mysuru, and these two districts look up to them during emergencies.

In Mysuru, the newly-built district hospital (under Health Department) was converted into the designated COVID-19 hospital. The district hospital was inaugurated without doctors and staff. Sources in the department had said the hospital needed about 400 staff members, including 60 doctors, 207 paramedical staff, 100 staff nurses, and 28 administrative staff.

Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMCRI), which runs the KRH and Cheluvamba hospitals, has diverted doctors and staff from its teaching hospitals to balance the situation until the posts are filled.

“I have to arrange doctors for the COVID-19 hospital, the KRH and the Cheluvamba. The pandemic has doubled the load on our doctors. I am looking for anaesthetists and physicians but I am not getting them. Somehow the situation is being managed with the available doctors,” said MMCRI Dean and Director C.P. Nanjaraj.

Chamarajanagar district, which was in green zone earlier and later reported a spike, is also not getting doctors to deal with the situation. The health authorities have been told to recruit the staff for six months on contract basis but the response is lukewarm. The district is in need of 20-25 doctors immediately. It is facing a 50 per cent shortage of paramedical staff. A senior health official said, “We are ready to recruit doctors beyond the sanctioned limit for the district hospital to handle COVID-19 cases.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Shankar Bennur / Mysuru – July 23rd, 2020

COVID Testing Labs To Come Up At All Taluk Centres In Kodagu

Records, All, Science & Technology

CovidLabsKF31jul2020

Madikeri:

Taking yet another step to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) by conducting COVID testing on all symptomatic people, it has been decided to establish COVID testing laboratories at all taluk centres in the district.

The decision in this regard was taken at the Zilla Panchayat (ZP) general meeting at the ZP auditorium in Madikeri which was chaired by ZP President B.A. Harish.

Speaking at the meeting, ZP Member Madappa said that COVID-19 positive cases were increasing in the district and there is a need to prevent the spread of the virus.

District Health and Family Welfare Officer Dr. K. Mohan, who also spoke said that COVID testing is being conducted at all hospitals in the district and samples are being sent to the District Medical Sciences Laboratory to get the reports. Stating that doctors are employed on contract basis to all Primary and Community Health Centres in the district, Dr. Mohan said and added that AYUSH doctors have already been deployed.

Meanwhile, Kodagu Institute of Medical Sciences Director Cariappa said that Rs. 1.5 crore was needed to commence COVID testing labs and added that the Government has established COVID labs in all districts and the staff at the labs was working in three shifts.

Mookonda P. Subramani, Mookonda Viju Subramani, Kiran Cariappa, Srinivas, Appachanda Mahesh Ganapathy, C.P. Puttaraju, Kavitha Prabhakar and others also spoke.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Coronavirus Update / July 31st, 2020

Kodagu tops State in COVID-19 testing

Records, All, Science & Technology

4,539 tests per million population done in last 10 days which is higher than Bengaluru Urban, which did 4,091 tests

Kodagu has topped the State in the tests against COVID-19 per million population in the last 10 days.

The district did 4,539 tests per million population which is higher than Bengaluru Urban and Mysuru which have reported a big surge in cases over the last few days.

Kodagu was free from the virus for a long time after the first case was reported on March 19.

The district administration’s efforts for keeping Kodagu safe from COVID-19 for a continuous 28 days were hailed by the Union Health Ministry.

However, cases rose since June-end. Till June 21, the district had only three cases but the cases now stand at 60. The authorities have stepped up testing to combat the infection and stop its spread to the community.

Kalaburagi stands at second spot with 4,478 tests per million and Bengaluru Urban did 4,091 tests per million in the last 10 days, according to statistics provided by the State COVID-19 War Room.

Mysuru, which had once topped the State, is now testing 1,605 per million and Chamarajanagar, 1,289 per million. Till recently, Chamarajanagar was the only district in the State which was free from COVID-19 and was described as “evergreen” district for keeping its population secure from the contagion for such a long time. Today, the cases have spiked there too and have crossed the 50-mark, forcing the administration to bring in various measures to contain the infection rate.

Tests per million in other districts are: Yadgir 2,889; Ramanagaram 2,715; Davangere 2,704; Chikkamagaluru 1,837; Dakshina Kannada 1,740;, Ballari 1,228; Mandya 1,141 and Hassan 897.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mysuru – July 02nd, 2020

Somashekhar assures financial support to Asha workers

Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All
Cooperation Minister S T Somashekhar distributes the cheques to Asha workers during a programme held at the Zilla Panchayat auditorium in Kodagu on Thursday. DH Photo
Cooperation Minister S T Somashekhar distributes the cheques to Asha workers during a programme held at the Zilla Panchayat auditorium in Kodagu on Thursday. DH Photo

A scheme will be launched by the government to provide financial stability to Asha workers in the state, Cooperation Minister S T Somashekhar said.

He was speaking after distributing financial assistance of Rs 3,000 each to Asha workers, provided by the Department of Cooperation, in the district during a programme held at Zilla Panchayat Bhavan on Thursday.

“Meetings have been held at the government level for providing loans to the Asha workers on the lines of self help groups and Stree Shakti groups. The decision will be taken soon. Around 42,000 Asha workers are working in the district and 21,000 of them have been given financial assistance,” he said.

Lauding the efforts of the Asha workers in collecting the details from people with international travel history, Somashekhar said that the workers had played a big role in containing novel coronavirus.

Rs 20,000 crore loans

The minister said there was a target to provide Rs 20,000 crore loans to the farmers in the state next year. A whopping Rs 13,500 crore loans were provided to the farmers during last year. Loans to the tune of Rs 14,500 crore will be provided to the farmers this year, he said.

Somashekhar said, “A letter has been written to the Department of Finance to extend the date of repayment of farmer’s loans till December this year. A discussion in this regard was held with the chief minister as well.”

Minister S T Somashekhar called on veteran politician M C Nanaiah, at the residence of the latter in Kodagu on Thursday. DH Photos
Minister S T Somashekhar called on veteran politician M C Nanaiah, at the residence of the latter in Kodagu on Thursday. DH Photos

Services lauded

MLA K G Bopaiah, MLA Appachu Ranjan and MLC Sunil Subramani too appreciated the valuable service of the Asha workers.

Relief fund

Two ventilators will be purchased with an amount of Rs 8 lakh. Various cooperative societies have raised an amount of Rs 33 lakh and have handed it over to the relief fund, he added.

Kodagu Zilla Panchayat Vice President Lokeshwari Gopal, DCC Bank Vice President Ketolira Harish Poovaiah and Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy were present on the occasion.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Top Karnataka Stories / DHNS / July 04th, 2020

For that cup of comfort…

Coffee News

So what if the cozy coffee bar is a thing of the past? With little imagination and lots of enthusiasm, coffee outings can be replicated at home.

TribuneKF31jul2020

“A cup of coffee shared with a friend is happiness tasted and time well spent.”

Coffee dates in a cozy cafeteria with background music are what youngsters of Ludhiana are missing the most during this pandemic.

With the graph of Covid-19 cases rising, city’s coffee lovers are avoiding going out. They are making their own coffee corners and coffee stations at their homes instead.

Friends are the ones with whom we love to enjoy our sip. Meet, Jasmeen and Harleen, an engineering and medical student, who are back to their hometown as colleges are shut.

“Harleen is attending a medical college and I am an engineering student and we both study in Patiala. Best pals since childhood, though we study at different colleges, we often met in the evenings over coffee. We both used to share our college life, exciting projects, hostel life over a cup of coffee and the evening would just pass away in a blink. Now, coffee evenings are what we are missing the most since the outbreak of the pandemic,” says Jasmeen.

So, the idea of creating their own coffee corner came to their mind. And now, both the girls have resumed their coffee evenings. Since they live just a couple of houses away, coffee evenings have become a regular affair with these two.

Coffee dates in a cozy cafeteria with background music are what youngsters of Ludhiana are missing the most during this pandemic.

With the graph of Covid-19 cases rising, city’s coffee lovers are avoiding going out. They are making their own coffee corners and coffee stations at their homes instead.

Friends are the ones with whom we love to enjoy our sip. Meet, Jasmeen and Harleen, an engineering and medical student, who are back to their hometown as colleges are shut.

“Harleen is attending a medical college and I am an engineering student and we both study in Patiala. Best pals since childhood, though we study at different colleges, we often met in the evenings over coffee. We both used to share our college life, exciting projects, hostel life over a cup of coffee and the evening would just pass away in a blink. Now, coffee evenings are what we are missing the most since the outbreak of the pandemic,” says Jasmeen.

So, the idea of creating their own coffee corner came to their mind. And now, both the girls have resumed their coffee evenings. Since they live just a couple of houses away, coffee evenings have become a regular affair with these two.

“Cozy chairs, few books, background music, candles for the aesthetics and voila, here we are! With our very own coffee corner! The weather decides the place and the flavour of the coffee. If the weather is pleasant, we sit outside, otherwise we have a small corner near the window in our rooms. Coffee date means we both get dressed up and catch up, which has actually added zing to the otherwise boring routine. We decided not to meet in our casual comfy pyjamas but get ready for the evening,” says Harleen.

Whether the brew will be hot or cold also depends on the weather. Both of them have numerous flavours to add to their coffee. Apart from regular Nescafe, they relish the hazelnut, vanilla, cappuccino, caramel flavours and sometimes South Indian filter coffee brought specially from Coorg. Both of them know the art and craft of making coffee and are well versed with the flavours.

Their discussion over coffee ranges from college to friends to Netflix, movies to books. Both the girls love collecting coffee mugs as well and buy them as souvenirs whenever they visit a new place. They both have an interesting collection. But then, that’s another story.

source: http://www.tribuneindia.com / The Tribune / Home> Lifestyle / by Manav Mander / July 03rd, 2020

After Almost Five Months Of Forced Break, Joshna Seeks Access To Squash Court

Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Sports

India’s highest-ranked squash player Joshna Chinappa is hoping to get access to courts sooner than later after almost five months away from the game.
JosnaKF31jul2020

India’s highest-ranked squash player Joshna Chinappa is hoping to get access to courts sooner than later after almost five months away from the game even though the sport’s national body has ruled out any activity till September due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, Squash Racquet Federation of India (SRFI) secretary and former national coach Cyrus Poncha had told PTI that he does not see any tournament being conducted before September. According to him, chances of resumption of training at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai were also very low.

Joshna seeks access to squash court

” Joshna is, however, keen to get back to the courts.

“It is not easy, not being able to get back on court. It is soon going to be five months since I have not been on a court. I personally love training at the academy (ISA). Just hope that as top athletes, we do get to train before September.

“It is important because we are preparing for something really big eventually (2022 CWG and Asian Games). It is important to be able to be to connected to the game. Hope we are allowed to play in a controlled atmosphere, an hour a day or something like that,” said Joshna, who broke back into the world’s top-10 earlier this month. ”

The coronavirus case count continues to rise rapidly in the country but a lot of top athletes have resumed training under strict safety protocols set by the Sports Authority of India. Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai have been badly hit by the virus and all three are major squash centres. Following the central government guidelines on the resumption of training, the Tamil Nadu government too allowed the reopening of stadiums and sports complexes without spectators. However, most sporting facilities in Chennai, including the ISA, remain shut. Joshna, who entered the world’s top 10 for the first time in 2016, is back in the group following the unexpected retirement of world number one Raneem El Welily last month.

” It is my hardwork and a bit of luck that has got me here but I want to prove it on court, beating the top players consistently,” said the 33-year-old, who has been on a strict fitness regime since the began lockdown in March.

Image credits: Twitter / PTI

source: http://www.republicworld.com / RepublicWorld.com / Home> Sports News / by Press Trust of India / July 18th, 2020

Rashmika’s Kannada Pickup Line To Woo Mahesh Babu

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg
Rashmika Mandanna, Mahesh Babu
Rashmika Mandanna, Mahesh Babu

Tollywood actress Rashmika Mandanna may he a household name in Telugu right now. But essentially, she’s a Kannadiga. This coorgis beauty made her debut in Kannada with Rakshit Shetty who she later got engaged to and broke up too. But that’s a story for another day.

Rashmika was seen in hit Telugu movies like Vijay Deverakonda’s Geetha Govindam and Dear Comrade, Nithiin’s Bheeshma and recently in Mahesh Babu’s Sarileru Neekevvaru. While the movie hit upon soldier sentiment, another parallel plot was a love story even though it was one-sided.

Rashmika plays a girl who falls head over heels with Mahesh and tries several means to win his heart. Those who watched the movie must be familiar with Rashmika’s song for Mahesh ‘He’s so sweet, hot and handsome’.

Now, what if we told you Rashmika was even heard using a Kannada pick up line to woo Mahesh?

source: http://www.thehansindia.com / The Hans India / Home> Entertainment> Sandalwood / by Manjula / Hans News Service / July 25th, 2020

Bringing back the old charm of Kodagu oranges

Agriculture, Records, All

Horticulture Department has produced over 54,000 saplings for distribution among growers this year.

Kodagu is known for its oranges besides coffee and spices. But, the last two years of devastation triggered by floods and landslides affected the crop, causing losses to growers. Over the years, the crop area has not expanded much with issues over falling prices and pest attacks.

In a bid to expand the crop which is primarily cultivated amidst coffee plantations, the Department of Horticulture has produced over 54,000 orange saplings for distribution among the growers for planting them in their plantations this year. These saplings had been produced at State-run horticulture farms across Kodagu.

“We have set a target of increasing the crop size by at least 10 per cent a year. The department has eight farms where the saplings of Kodagu oranges were carefully produced to expand its area of cultivation. Kodagu’s climatic condition is unique and the oranges grown here come with a lot of pulp and also taste good,” said Shashidhar, Deputy Director of Horticulture, Madikeri.

The area of cultivation has come down over the years to less than 5,000 hectares and the yield has also been falling because of climate change. Subsidy is offered to growers to boost cultivation of the fruit, also called Coorg Mandarin

Appanna, a progressive farmer from Gonikoppal, has over 100 orange trees and was harvesting over two to three tonnes a year. “I suffered loss because of excessive rains. I used to harvest 30-40 kg from each tree but the yield fell to less than 10 kg and the fruit quality had also dropped,” he explained.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Shankar Bennur / Mysurue – July 30th, 2020

Tiger headcount in Karnataka highest in Bandipur, Nagarahole

Agriculture, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Records, All
Other forests and sanctuaries where tiger presence has been found in significant numbers include MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and Madikeri Wildlife Division.
Other forests and sanctuaries where tiger presence has been found in significant numbers include MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and Madikeri Wildlife Division.

In terms of density, Nagarahole has 11.82 big cats per 100 sq.km and Bandipur has 7.7

Bandipur and Nagarahole lead in tiger numbers in the State followed by BRT Tiger Sanctuary, Bhadra and Kali tiger reserves, as per the ‘Status of Tigers, Co-predators, and Prey in India’ released on Tuesday.

In terms of density, Nagarahole has 11.82 tigers per 100 sq.km, while Bandipur has 7.7 tigers per 100 sq.km. BRT has 4.96 tigers per 100 sq.km and Bhadra has a relatively low tiger density pegged at 2.86 in the same area.

Other forests and sanctuaries where tiger presence has been found in significant numbers include M.M. Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, Madikeri Wildlife Division, Madikeri Territorial Division, Virajpet Territorial Division, Koppa Wildlife Division, and Haliyal Forest Division which is part of Joida taluk of Uttara Karnataka district, among others.

Based on the camera trap images, 127 individual tigers were identified in Nagarahole followed by 126 tigers in Bandipur, 52 in BRT, 30 in Bhadra, and four in Kali (Anshi-Dandeli) tiger reserve. Officials in the Forest Department, however, said these refer to the minimum numbers only as a sizeable number of tigers from the adjoining habitats utilise the reserve too.

Based on the 2018 tiger enumeration exercise, the summary of which was released last year, the new report released by Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi ahead of the International Tiger Day to be observed on Wednesday, also evaluates vulnerable areas that require conservation attention.

While the summary of the Status of Tigers in India-2018 released last July pegged the number of tigers in Karnataka at 524 (with a minimum of 474 and maximum of 573), the new report analyses the status of habitat corridors connecting major tiger populations apart from providing information about the prey base and their density.

The density of prey animals including chital, sambar gaur, wild boar, and barking deer were also analysed and were found to be high enough to sustain the predator population in good numbers. The chital density was pegged at 51 per sq.km in Bandipur where 36 other species of ungulates, carnivores, omnivores, and even domestic animals were photo captured. Pangolin was the rarest species photo captured, followed by leopard cat, as per the report.

Giridhar Kulkarni, wildlife activist, said the increase in tiger numbers both within and outside the reserves augurs well for conservation. But such habitats and corridors are under serious threat due to linear projects like railways, highways, transmission lines etc. and called for notifying potential wildlife habitats as sanctuaries or national parks in Shivamogga, Uttara Kannada, Belagavi, and other districts.

A case in point is the analysis pertaining to the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, where the report airs apprehension of the proposed Mekedatu dam and calls for critical re-examination as the project threatens to inundate a sizeable portion of the sanctuary.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by R Krishna Kumar, Mysuru / July 28th, 2020

Retain Architectural Design During Renovation Of Madikeri Fort: MLA

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All

MadikeriFortKF29jul2020

Madikeri:

With the State Cabinet on Thursday sanctioning Rs. 8 crore for the renovation of the historical Madikeri Fort, the works on which has been taken up by the Archaeology Department, Madikeri MLA Appachu Ranjan has batted for retention of old architecture and heritage characterisitics of the structure, while also giving a modern touch to it.

Speaking to presspersons after inspecting the ongoing renovation works of the Fort located in the heart of Madikeri City, Appachu Ranjan, who is also a former Minister, said that as an MLA earlier too, he had raised the Fort renovation and development issue a number of times in the Assembly..

Pointing out that the renovation works has been taken up following a High Court order, he said that now the State Government has sanctioned Rs. 8 crore for the works and it is satisfactory to note that the works have been taken up at last.

MadikeriFort02KF29jul2020

Asserting that Madikeri Fort and the associated Palace is symbolic of Kodava tribe, he said that it was important to develop the Fort as a Museum, while retaining the original architectural characteristics of the structure.Underlining the need for installation of Sound and Light system in the Fort premises once the renovation works are completed, he said that the richness and uniqueness of Kodava culture, customs and traditions must be portrayed through this system, just as being done in the case of freedom fighters such as Veer Savarkar and Bhagat Singh at Andaman Jail.

Earlier, Appachu Ranjan received inputs on the progress of works from the Department Engineer, who said that 5mm metal sheet has been cemented to the roof of the Fort. Expressing displeasure at the quality of the sheet, he asked the authorities to ensure quality of tiles, wood and other construction materials being used for renovation.

Earlier, Appachu Ranjan received inputs on the progress of works from the Department Engineer, who said that 5mm metal sheet has been cemented to the roof of the Fort. Expressing displeasure at the quality of the sheet, he asked the authorities to ensure quality of tiles, wood and other construction materials being used for renovation.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / July 28th, 2020