Karnataka to set up makeshift hospitals to tide over COVID demand
Bengaluru: Amid explosion of COVID-19 cases in Karnataka, the state government has decided to set up makeshift hospitals with ICU and ventilator here and elsewhere in a fortnight and ordered the private facilities to reserve 80 per cent of the beds for coronavirus patients.
Addressing reporters here on Saturday, state Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said, "Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa took an important decision on Friday to set up 2,000-bed makeshift ICU with ventilators within the campus of the tertiary care hospitals in Bengaluru."
Besides, makeshift hospitals with modular ICU with a capacity of about 250 beds will be established in Mysuru, Hubballi, Bidar, Belagavi and Shivamogga.
"We have decided to set up these hospitals in a fortnight. You all know that we may have to import various equipment including ventilators..," the Minister said.
According to him, a decision has been taken to increase the number of government beds for COVID from the existing 50 per cent to 80 per cent.
"Most probably, the order will be issued by the end of the day," Sudhakar said.
On the current wave of COVID, he said the trends have baffled the medical world and the rising coronavirus cases in India shows that a new variant has emerged in the country.
"Other countries too faced the second wave, but the one in India is neither the UK, Brazil nor any other variant.
In fact, the foreign countries are calling it the second wave of Indian strain and are doing genomic sequencing."
Last year the demand for oxygen was not so high, but now people are suddenly complaining about breathing problems and demanding the life-saving gas.
"Last time when our cases were at the peak, we used only 300 to 350 tonnes of oxygen. This time we have already utilised 500 tonnes of oxygen.
You can understand if this goes up, how the oxygen can become deficient," he added.
He recalled Yediyurappa asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to supply around 1,500 tonnes of oxygen for the next month.
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.
Fascism will not be allowed to enter through the back door of vote rigging: CM Siddaramaiah
New Delhi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday asserted that fascism would not be allowed to enter India “through the back door of vote rigging” and called upon citizens to collectively defend the country’s democratic foundations.
Speaking after participating in an anti–vote rigging protest organised in New Delhi, Siddaramaiah said the gathering was not merely a political demonstration but a stand to protect Indian democracy. “We have come to the heart of our republic not as Congress workers or voters, but as protectors of Indian democracy,” he said.
Emphasising the importance of the right to vote, Siddaramaiah said it was the most sacred right guaranteed by the Constitution and the very foundation of democracy.
“Through voting, a farmer shapes the future of his children, a worker safeguards his dignity, a youth realises dreams, and a nation expresses its collective will,” he said.
He accused the BJP-led Union government of attempting to undermine this right through what he termed systematic vote rigging, including the alleged misuse of the special revision of electoral rolls. “This power is being stolen repeatedly,” he alleged.
ALSO READ: Bantwal police arrest two men for illegal sale of narcotics, seize two vehicles, 810 gm ganja
Warning against authoritarian tendencies, Siddaramaiah said history had shown that dictatorship does not begin with violence but with the misuse of institutions and manipulation of democratic systems.
“Across the world, authoritarian regimes pretend to protect democracy while quietly subverting it. This is what the BJP is doing today,” he charged.
He alleged that the ruling party was controlling institutions, intimidating electoral machinery, distorting voter lists, suppressing voter turnout in opposition strongholds, and misusing money and power. “This is not mere maladministration. Vote rigging is an attack on the very idea of India,” he said.
Siddaramaiah further claimed that governments formed through “stolen votes” could not be considered democratic.
“Such regimes survive through fear, fraud and distortion of the people’s mandate,” he said, adding that vote rigging posed the biggest threat to the republic since Independence.
Praising Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah said he had shown exceptional courage in exposing alleged irregularities in voter lists, booth-level manipulation and “systematic, organised vote rigging” across several states, including Karnataka, Haryana and Bihar.
Referring to Karnataka, Siddaramaiah cited Mahadevpura and Aland constituencies as examples highlighted by Gandhi. In Mahadevpura, he said, thousands of allegedly fake and fraudulent voter entries and discrepancies in electoral rolls pointed to a narrow BJP victory. In Aland, he said, attempts were made to remove the names of legitimate voters ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections.
ALSO READ: Chamrajnagar: Woman arrested for selling ganja atop Male Mahadeshwara Hills
He noted that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had recently filed a chargesheet accusing seven persons, including a former BJP MLA and his son, of attempting to delete the names of around 6,000 voters in Aland.
“This is a significant legal step in the fight against vote rigging,” he said.
Siddaramaiah concluded by stating that the fight against vote rigging was rooted in constitutional morality, Ambedkarite thought and the core principle of democracy. “Sovereignty belongs to the people, not to any party, regime or those who seek to steal elections,” he said.
