Ravi Shastri visits Karvalu Vishnumurthy temple in Karkala
Udupi (Karnataka), Mar 18 (PTI): Former Indian cricketer and coach Ravi Shastri on Tuesday visited the Erlapadi Karvalu Vishnumurthy temple in Karkala taluk, Udupi district with his family.
During the visit, rituals including Panchamrita Abhisheka, Kalapokta Puja, and Nagatambila Seva were performed for the temple’s presiding deity, the original Naga deity, followed by a grand Mahapooja to Lord Vishnumurthy.
Between 2007 and 2025, Shastri visited the Karvalu Temple 13 times, offering special prayers to the Naga deity. Every time, he was escorted by his distant cousin and a former journalist, the late Manohar Prasad, but Prasad was no more, and Shastri remembered his commitment to the growth of the temple.
Shastri’s ancestors hail from Erlapadi Karvalu of Karkala taluk in Udupi district.
His grandfather, M V Shastri, was a noted doctor in Mangaluru during the 1950s, while his father, Jayadratha Shastri, pursued his education in Madras before becoming a doctor and settling in Mumbai. Though there are not many from Shastri's clan living in Karvalu, the temple devotees, elders and leaders still remember the family, said an elder of the village.
Born and raised in Mumbai, Shastri completed his education there before joining the Indian cricket team. Since the birth of his daughter, Alika, he has made it a tradition to visit the temple annually and offer prayers.
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4 children test HIV positive in MP govt hospital; contaminated blood transfusion suspected
Satna/Bhopal (PTI): Four children suffering from thalassemia have tested HIV positive at Satna District Hospital in Madhya Pradesh allegedly due to contaminated blood transfusions, officials said on Tuesday.
The case is four months old and an investigation is underway into it, an official said.
Officials suspect the use of contaminated needles or blood transfusions for the spread of infection to the children.
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MP Health Minister Rajendra Shukla told reporters in Bhopal that he has ordered a probe into the matter and sought a report.
“It is also being investigated whether the blood transfusion took place in other hospitals also or only in the government hospital,” he said.
The affected children, aged between 12 and 15 years, received blood transfusions from the hospital's blood bank, as per an official.
Devendra Patel, in-charge of the blood bank at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel District Hospital in Satna, said four children have tested HIV positive and an investigation is underway to determine how they got infected.
"Either an infected needle was used or a blood transfusion occurred. These are the two main reasons I believe. Blood transfusion seems to be the most likely cause," he told PTI Videos.
All these children suffer from thalassemia, and some have received 80 or 100 blood transfusions, he said.
A family member of one of the affected children said that their child was found to be HIV positive during a routine checkup about four months back, and he has been receiving medication, but it had proven to be of no use.
After taking the medication for HIV, the child starts vomiting, feels low and becomes ill, he said.
After the four children were detected with HIV infection, their family members were also tested and the results came out negative, he added.
The Opposition Congress targeted the government over the matter and demanded the resignation of Health Minister Shukla.
Speaking to reporters in Bhopal, Congress MLA and former minister Sachin Yadav claimed such incidents were continuously occurring in Madhya Pradesh.
Earlier, a case of toxic cough syrup came to light in Chhindwara, followed by incidents of rat bites at hospitals in Indore and Satna, and now children have been given HIV-infected blood, he said.
"The health minister is unable to manage the department. He should resign. A murder case should be filed against those responsible for the Satna incident," Yadav said.
Senior Congress leader Sajjan Singh Verma termed it a failure of the government. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav's government has no connection with ground realities, he charged.
"Somewhere rats are roaming in hospitals, somewhere children are being given HIV-infected blood. Instead of preventing HIV, you are spreading it. Mohan Yadav should wake up from his slumber. Children are the nation's heritage and should be taken care of," he added.
