Vajpayee 'critical', on life support system: AIIMS
Vajpayee, 93, was admitted to AIIMS in New Delhi on June 11
New Delhi, Aug 15 : Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's condition has worsened over the last 24 hours and is on life support system, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) said on Wednesday.
"Atal Bihari Vajpayee has been admitted for the last nine weeks at AIIMS. Unfortunately, his condition has worsened over the last 24 hours. His condition is critical and he is on life support system," said a statement from AIIMS.
Earlier the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited AIIMS to enquire about the health condition of Vajpayee.
AIIMS authorities said that the Prime Minister visited the hospital around 7.18 p.m and was with Vajpayee for about 15 minutes.
Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal and Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani also visited AIIMS in the evening around 8.30 p.m and 6.00 p.m, respectively, to enquire about the health condition of the 93-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stalwart.
Vajpayee, a diabetic patient, is undergoing treatment at AIIMS since June 11. He was admitted to the hospital for what doctors described as a routine check-up.
The 1924-born leader is under the supervision of Dr Randeep Guleria, a pulmonologist and currently the Director of AIIMS. Guleria has served as personal physician to Vajpayee for over three decades.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP National President Amit Shah had visited Vajpayee on Saturday.
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.
Hampi temple bans bananas to prevent overfeeding of elephant
Hampi: A 7th-century shrine of Lord Shiva in Hampi has banned bananas in its premises, stating that devotees tend to overfeed the temple elephant as well as litter the place of worship with banana peels.
The management of Virupaksha temple said on Thursday that they decided on the ban for the good of the temple, the elephant as well as the devotees.
"We saw that the devotees get overzealous in their attempts to feed the elephant, which is not only harmful to the elephant concerned, but it also makes the place very dirty. The devotees leave behind banana peels and even the plastic bags that they bring the bananas in," said Hanaumantappa, temple endowment officer, to PTI.
The temple authorities also said ever since the reports of the ban came out, they have been getting a lot of calls asking about the ban.
Hanaumantappa appealed to people not to take the banana ban out of context and make it into a controversy.
"This is a local matter. We made the decision based purely on what was happening inside our temple premises," added Hanaumantappa.
Virupaksha temple is often referred to as 'Dakshin Kashi' and it sees at least 5,000 devotees every day. On special days and weekends, the crowd surges further, reaching even 50,000 a day, said sources from the temple.
