COVID-19 Death toll breaches 7k mark in Karnataka, 9,464 cases
Bengaluru: The COVID-19 death toll in Karnataka breached the 7,000 mark on Friday as the state reported 130 fatalities, while 9,464 new cases took the total infection count to 4,40,411.
Recoveries outnumbered the number of new cases, with a record of 12,545 patients getting discharged, taking the overall recoveries to 3,34,999.
The day also saw the state testing 64,699 samples, including 28,350 using rapid antigen kits as the cumulative number of specimens examined crossed the 36.5 lakh mark.
The state's cumulative positive cases stood at 4,40,411, including 7,067 deaths and 3,34,999 discharges, the health department said in its bulletin.
It said there were 98,326 active cases, of whom 97,556 are in isolation at designated hospitals and stable, while 770 are in Intensive Care Units.
Bengaluru Urban accounted for the maximum of 32 of the 130 deaths reported on Friday, followed by Mysuru (13), Belagavi and Dharwad (9), Ballari and Shivamogga (8), Dakshina Kannada (7), Koppal (5), among others.
Most of those who succumbed had a history of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) or Influenza-like illness (ILI).
Bengaluru Urban continued to be on top in the number of new cases reported, accounting for 3,426 of the total number of infections, the health department said in its bulletin
Among the districts where new cases were reported, Bengaluru urban accounted for 3,426, Mysuru 676, Dakshina Kannada 446, Tumakuru 395, Ballari 382, Shivamogga 349, Hassan 305, Davangere 297, Kalaburagi 261, followed by others.
Bengaluru urban continued to top the districts in the number of positive cases, with a total of 1,63,631 infections, followed by Ballari 25,786 and Mysuru 24,449.
Among discharges too, Bengaluru urban recorded the most with 1,20,324 discharges, followed by Ballari 20,975 and Mysuru 16,925.
A total of 36,50,819 samples have been tested so far.
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Defamation case: Application filed in court for voice sample of Rahul Gandhi
Sultanpur (UP) (PTI): An application for obtaining a voice sample of Rahul Gandhi was filed in an MP-MLA court here on Saturday during a hearing in a defamation case against the Congress leader over his alleged objectionable remarks against then BJP president Amit Shah in 2018.
The plaintiff Vijay Mishra's advocate, Santosh Kumar Pandey, said he filed the application requesting that a voice sample of Gandhi be collected and sent to a forensic science laboratory for comparison with a CD that has already been submitted to the court.
Rahul Gandhi's lawyers registered their objections to this demand. The next hearing in the matter is fixed for April 6, Pandey said.
On February 20, Gandhi, the Lok Sabha MP from Raebareli, had appeared before the court and recorded his statement, claiming the case was filed against him due to political vendetta.
He had also told the court that the audio and video evidence submitted by the complainant was incorrect and said he would present his own evidence.
In December 2023, the court issued a warrant against Gandhi after he failed to appear before it. He later surrendered before the court in February 2024 and was granted bail on two surety bonds of Rs 25,000 each.
The hearing was deferred on Friday due to a holiday on Ram Navami.
Pandey said that during the previous hearing, the complainant's side had filed an application seeking verification of audio and video evidence of the alleged statements made by Gandhi by matching them with his original voice.
The case stems from Gandhi's alleged objectionable remarks against Shah during the 2018 Karnataka election campaign. Following the remarks, Vijay Mishra, a resident of Hanumanganj under Kotwali Dehat police station area in Sultanpur, filed the defamation complaint.
