World Health Organization ending hydroxychloroquine trial for COVID-19
Berlin: The World Health Organization says it is ending a trial into whether anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine helps patients hospitalised with COVID-19.
WHO said Saturday it has accepted the recommendation from the committee overseeing the trial to discontinue testing of hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir, a drug combination used to treat HIV/AIDS. The drugs were being compared with standard care for hospitalized patients.
WHO says a review of the interim results showed hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir produce little or no reduction in the mortality of hospitalized COVID-19 patients when compared to standard of care.
The agency adds that while there was no solid evidence of increased mortality for hospitalized patients given the drugs, there were some associated safety signals in the clinical laboratory findings of an associated trial.
WHO says the decision won't affect possible trials on patients who aren't hospitalized, or on those receiving the drugs before potential exposure to the coronavirus or shortly afterward.
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CM Siddaramaiah to present his record 17th Budget on Mar 6
Bengaluru (PTI): The Budget Session of the Karnataka Legislature will begin here on Friday, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah presenting the Budget for 2026-27, his record 17th as the state's finance minister.
This is another feat for Siddaramaiah, who recently surpassed D Devaraj Urs's record to become the longest-serving Chief Minister of Karnataka.
However, this has come amid speculation over a possible change of Chief Minister after the Budget session, citing a "power-sharing" arrangement between him and his deputy D K Shivakumar, at the time of the government formation in 2023.
According to official sources, Siddaramaiah as the finance minister, faces a "tightrope walk" as he must negotiate between containing the revenue deficit and funding his government's populist guarantee schemes ('Shakti', 'Gruha Lakshmi', 'Gruha Jyoti', 'Yuva Nidhi' and 'Anna Bhagya').
Faced with a revenue shortfall amid rising expenditure commitments, he has a task cut out to maneuver the state's finances while maintaining fiscal discipline.
As the CM is expected to look for resource mobilisation measures, speculations are rife that there may be an increase in taxes.
There are calls to trim the outlay on the 'guarantee' schemes, with annual spending for the five schemes exceeding Rs 50,000 crore. In 2025-26, the government allocated Rs 51,034 crore for the guarantee schemes.
Also to be factored in is an increase in the government's expenses like salaries, as it has decided to recruit for 56,432 vacant jobs.
The government expects a revenue shortfall of Rs 18,000 crore in the current fiscal (2025-26) due to factors like GST rate rationalisation among others, official sources said.
The total expenditure for 2025-26 was estimated to be Rs 4.09 lakh crore. However this may be lowered to about Rs 3.9 lakh crore, they said.
As per the 2025-26 Budget Estimates, the state's total liabilities by the end of March 2026 are projected at Rs 7,64,655 crore, which constitutes 24.91 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), the government has said.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka on Thursday took a dig at CM Siddaramaiah ahead of the state Budget presentation, claiming that the government is expected to borrow Rs 1.15 lakh crore and is likely to impose fresh taxes on the people.
He said the Budget would have nothing new, adding that its highlights would be criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and repeated mentions of the five guarantee schemes.
The opposition is also expected to corner the government during the session on a host of issues, including the implementation of internal reservation among SCs during the recruitment process it decided to undertake -- the issue on which there is a rift between SC (Right) and SC (Left) factions within the ruling Congress.
Alleged diversion of Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) funds to fund guarantee schemes, irregularities in the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) Mains examination and selection process, developmental issues, irrigation projects, and law and order are among the other issues on which the opposition is likely to target the government.
Several Bills, including an amendment to the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, 2020, aimed at allowing vehicles used for illegal transport of cattle to be released on an indemnity bond, and the Karnataka Crowd Control (Managing Crowd at Events and Place of Gathering) Bill, 2025, which was referred to a select committee, are likely to be tabled during the session.
