Karnataka Health Minister's mother passes away after recovering from covid-19

Two persons narrowly escaped after their car fell into a river while driving through a forest in Kasaragod district of Kerala on June 27 morning.

Thashreef (36) of Pullur and his friend Abdur Rasheed (35) from 7th Mile were travelling from Ambalathara, Kanhangad, to Uppinangadi in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada when the accident occurred on the Palanji old bridge on the forest road connecting Kuttikol and Pandi at around 6 a.m.

Rashid was behind the wheels following the directions shown on Google Maps.

As they drove onto a bridge over the Pallanchi River, which lacked barricades and was submerged due to heavy rainfall, they mistook it as a road. It was dark outside and the path was not visible leading to the accident.

The car drifted about 150 meters before getting stuck in some plants. The duo managed to escape by lowering the side windows. Soon they informed their relatives about the accident via phone, who subsequently alerted fire force officials.

Fire force along with local residents rescued Rashid and Thashreef, who sustained minor injuries in the accident. Efforts to retrieve the car from the river are ongoing. 

Notably, a new, taller bridge was constructed 500 meters from the accident spot four years ago, but Google Maps still shows the old bridge.

Mangaluru: The dreams of a young girl in Dakshina Kannada district have been tragically cut short. Seventeen-year-old Anita, a first-year PU student from a private college in Beltangady, ended her life, unable to bear the fear that her cherished dream of becoming a doctor might never come true.

Anita, a resident of Bolmanaru in Puduvettu village, passed away after ingesting rat poison. Despite the desperate efforts to save her life at a private hospital in Mangaluru, she succumbed to the poison on July 3. 

She had taken the poison late on the night of June 29, and was initially rushed to a hospital in Ujire on the morning of June 30 before being transferred to Mangaluru for more advanced care.

In a heart-wrenching two-page suicide note, Anita poured out her anguish and hopelessness: "I could not score well in the 10th grade. I dreamt of becoming a doctor and took science in PU, but I am struggling with the subjects. I am responsible for my own death. No one else is to blame."

Anita's story is a sobering reminder of the immense pressure and emotional turmoil that young students can face. Her untimely death leaves behind a community in mourning and raises urgent questions about the support and guidance we offer to our youth.

Mangaluru: The Karnataka Development Programme (KDP) meeting chaired by district minister Dinesh Gundu Rao here on Friday, debated why Dakshina Kannada had not been sanctioned houses for the poor under various government schemes after the 2021-2022 period.

Puttur MLA Ashok Kumar Rai, raising the issue, said that although housing schemes had been sanctioned for all districts across the state, Dakshina Kannada had not been considered after 2021-22.

“It has been brought to my notice during a discussion with the housing minister, that the district has not submitted a demand for houses between 2021-22 and 2024-25,” Rai said.

When an official cited a technical reason, the minister stated that it was a serious lapse on the part of the officials. 

“There is a need for the initiation of disciplinary action against the concerned officials, because the district failed to sanction houses in the past four years, despite having government land. We cannot tolerate negligence in the implementation of the housing scheme for the poor,” the minister said. Officials informed that in the 10 years between 2010 and 2020, the district was sanctioned 64,123 houses. While 48,252 houses have been built, work on 4,898 is in progress, and the remaining are yet to be started.

Dakshina Kannada ZP CEO Anandh K said that as per a survey conducted in 2018, the district has a demand for 49,715 houses. However, no houses were sanctioned after 2022, he said.