Wayanad (Kerala) (PTI): Another incident of suspected food poisoning was reported in Kerala, one of several in the past few days in the state, with 18 members of a tourist group suffering health problems after eating food from three separate restaurants here.
An officer from Kambalakkad police station, where one of the eateries in question is located, said the tourist group comprising 23 people had come from Thiruvananthapuram to Wayanad and taken food from three different places in the district on Monday.
Therefore, it cannot be said right now as to what food from which restaurant was the cause of the suspected food poisoning, he said.
It was after having dinner from an eatery at Kalpetta on Monday night that they started experiencing problems and discomfort, the officer said and added that teams of police and health officials have gone to inspect all three establishments.
Police also said the health of all 18 persons was stable.
The latest incident comes just a couple of days after a 16-year-old girl died and 18 others were hospitalised due to suspected food poisoning after they ate 'shawarma' from an eatery in Kasaragod.
Shawarma is thinly sliced pieces of marinated meat, like lamb, chicken or beef rolled into a flat bread.
Thereafter, incidents of suspected food poisoning were also reported from Malappuram and Kollam on Monday, though in both incidents none were seriously affected, according to police.
The suspected food poisoning incident in Kasaragod also prompted the health department to issue directions to ensure the Levantine dish was prepared in a manner that was safe for consumption.
State Health Minister Veena George on Monday had said directions have been issued to the Food Safety Commissioner to ensure neat and clean preparation of the dish for the customers.
She had also said the state government will provide free medical treatment for all those who were affected after eating the dish from the eatery in question, at government hospitals.
Devananda, the 16-year-old girl from Karivallor near Kasaragod, died at the Kanhangad district hospital on Sunday, while undergoing treatment for food poisoning.
Eighteen others, who were admitted to the district hospital after they fell sick, are undergoing treatment.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
