36.61% voter turnout reported till 1 pm in Karnataka
Bengaluru: Karnataka registered 36.61 per cent voter turnout during the first half of second phase of polling for the remaining 14 out of total 28 Lok Sabha constituencies Tuesday.
The highest turnout was recorded in Shimogga with 41.66 per cent and the lowest in Gulbarga with 30.48 per cent till 1PM, poll officials said.
Interestingly, both Shimogga and Gulbarga are high profile constituencies.
In Shimogga, former Chief Minister and state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa's son B Y Raghavendra is pitted against another former Chief Minister S Bangarappa's son Madhu of JD(S).
Raghavendra had defeated Madhu during the bypolls held in November last year, and is seeking re-election. Madhu is the joint candidate of the ruling Congress-JD(S) alliance.
In Gulbarga, the battle is between Congress leader inLok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge and BJP's Umesh Jadhav.
Jadhav against whom the Congress had moved the assembly speaker seeking his disqualification had quit as Congress MLA ahead of polls and joined the BJP.
This election is said to be a tough one for Kharge, a nine-time MLA and two-term Lok Sabha member who has never tasted electoral defeat.
Voting began at 7 AM in 28,022 polling stations thatare mostly in the northern belt of the state, covering theentire Hyderabad-Karnataka and Mumbai-Karnataka regions, acouple of central districts and coastal Uttara Kannada.
As many as 2,43,03,279 voters are eligible to choosefrom among 237 candidates in the fray in the second phase.
Of the 14 constituencies in the second phase, BJP is contesting all the seats while Congress and JD(S), who have an alliance, have fielded their candidates in 12 and 2 constituencies respectively as per the seat sharing arrangement.
The Congress currently has its hold on only 4 out of 14 seats - Chikkodi, Gulbarga, Bellary, Raichur- while the BJP has its sitting MPs in 10 seats.
The 14 constituencies in southern part of the state covering old Mysuru region and couple of coastal districts hadgone to polls on April 18, recording an overall voter turnoutof 68.81 per cent.
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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.
