97-year-old first to get COVID-19 vaccine in Bengaluru in general category
Bengaluru, Mar 1: A 97-year old man became the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine here as the drive for inoculating the general public got underway in Karnataka on Monday.
After the vaccination drive since January 16 covered health workers and frontline workers, the next phase started from Monday for all people above 60 years of age and those over 45 with comorbidities.
Senior citizens sporting face masks queued up at private Manipal Hospitals here for getting the vaccine shot.
Some of the beneficiaries were wheelchair bound.
"Ramaswami Parthasarathy, 97-year-old, was the first to get vaccinated," Manipal Hospitals said in a statement.
The hospital appealed to the senior citizens and people above 45 years with comorbidities to register themselves for inoculation.
"We at Manipal Hospitals have started the vaccination drive today. The registrations for the vaccination can be competed online through the CoWIN app, and people in the age group of 60 plus can directly walk-in for the vaccination," it said in the statement.
The hospital was cooperating with the government and abiding by the standard procedures and protocols for the vaccination drive, it added.
Meanwhile, the government hospitals too started the preparations for vaccination.
"Today only we got direction from the government. We are starting the registration process from today and will begin the vaccination drive once the preparations are over," Director and Dean of Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Dr C R Jayanthi told PTI.
The state government has said vaccination will take place at all its taluk and district level hospitals and two identified private hospitals in each district.
According to the state health department, vaccination days will be Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays in government facilities and all working days in private hospitals.
The number of vaccinations would be limited to 200 per day per session site and would be on a first come first serve basis.
However, online registered beneficiaries would be allotted a specific time in a day.
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Kerala: Court imposes 41-year jail term on man for sexual assault of minor
Kozhikode (Kerala) (PTI): A Kerala court on Wednesday sentenced a man to 41 years in prison for sexually assaulting a minor boy near Valayam in 2021.
Nadapuram Fast Track Special Court judge K Naushad Ali sentenced 64-year-old Panchara Musa, also known as Ganapathiyat Musa, under various provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC), according to special public prosecutor Manoj Aroor.
As the sentences are to run concurrently, the convict will have to serve the highest term of 20 years’ imprisonment, SPP Aroor said. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 52,000 on Musa.
The incident took place in August 2021 when the accused allegedly took the 14-year-old boy to a bus stop in Valayam town and sexually assaulted him, the prosecutor said. The accused also gave Rs 50 to the boy, he added.
Following the incident, the boy and his father lodged a complaint at the Valayam police station.
A case under various provisions of the POCSO Act and the IPC was registered, and the accused was subsequently arrested, the SPP said.
The prosecution examined 16 witnesses and submitted 16 documents to substantiate its case against the accused, he added.
