Chinese doctor who first warned about coronavirus outbreak dies
Beijing, Feb 6: Chinese doctor Li Wenliang, one of the eight whistle-blowers who warned other medics of the coronavirus outbreak but were reprimanded by the police, died of the epidemic on Thursday, official media reported.
Li, a 34-year-old doctor who tried to warn other medics of the epidemic, died of coronavirus on Thursday in Wuhan, the state-run Global Times reported.
He was the first to report about the virus way back in December last year when it first emerged in Wuhan, the provincial capital of China's central Hubei province.
He dropped a bombshell in his medical school alumni group on the popular Chinese messaging app WeChat that seven patients from a local seafood market had been diagnosed with a SARS-like illness and quarantined in his hospital.
Li explained that, according to a test he had seen, the illness was a coronavirus a large family of viruses that includes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) which led to 800 death in China and the world in 2003.
Li told his friends to warn their loved ones privately. But within hours screenshots of his messages had gone viral - without his name being blurred.
"When I saw them circulating online, I realised that it was out of my control and I would probably be punished," Li was quoted as saying CNN recently.
Soon after he posted the message, Li was accused of rumour-mongering by the Wuhan police.
He was one of several medics targeted by the police for trying to blow the whistle on the deadly virus in the early weeks of the outbreak.
Overall 564 people have died in China due to the virus and 28,018 confirmed cases have been reported from 31 provincial-level regions, the National Health Commission reported on Thursday.
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Karnataka panel backs move to grant second official language status to Tulu
Mangaluru (PTI): A high-level committee constituted by the Karnataka government to study the framework adopted by Andhra Pradesh for recognising Urdu as a second official language has submitted its report, backing the state’s move to accord similar status to Tulu.
The six-member panel, headed by K M Gayatri, former Director of the Kannada and Culture Department, examined the procedures followed by the Andhra Pradesh government before granting second official language status to Urdu, officials said on Wednesday.
The committee undertook a field visit to the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat on January 19 and 20 and held consultations with senior officials to understand the legal provisions, administrative mechanisms, and implementation benchmarks involved, they said.
The panel also included Tharanatha Gatti Kapikad, president of the Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy, in an advisory capacity.
The report, along with a detailed note outlining Tulu’s historical, linguistic, and cultural significance, was submitted to J Manjunath, Secretary, Kannada and Culture Department, at Vikas Soudha here.
According to official sources, the study was aimed at gathering inputs to help Karnataka frame criteria and procedural guidelines if it decides to grant second official language status to Tulu.
Senior officials present at the submission included B S Manjunath Swami, Director of the Kannada and Culture Department; representatives of the Law Department and the Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department; and office-bearers of various state academies.
Tulu is predominantly spoken in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, and in parts of Kasaragod in neighbouring Kerala.
The demand to accord it second official language status in Karnataka has been raised by cultural organisations for several years.
