In a sudden jump, Tamil Nadu detects 33 new Omicron cases

News Network
December 23, 2021

Chennai, Dec 23: Tamil Nadu on Thursday reported a massive spike in the number of people infected with Omicron variant of Covid-19 with genomic sequencing of samples collected from 33 patients confirming that they have been infected with the “variant of concern.”

With this, the number of Covid-19 patients infected with the Omicron variant has gone up to 34, making Tamil Nadu the state with the third-highest number of cases.

Health Minister Ma Subramanian announced that 33 persons, including contacts of those who returned from high risk and non-risk countries, are found to be infected with the Omicron variant. The new cases include the contacts of the state’s first Omicron patient who returned from Nigeria via Doha.

Of the 34 patients, 26 are admitted at the King Institute in Chennai, Madurai (4), Tiruvannamalai (2), and Salem (1). One person is admitted in a hospital in Kerala.

“The sequencing results from Pune came last night. Results of 23 samples are awaited. There is no need to panic. All the Omicron patients are asymptomatic, and they are doing fine,” Subramanian said.
 
Principal Secretary (Health) J Radhakrishnan asked people to continue wearing face masks and wash their hands.

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News Network
March 18,2024

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Mangaluru, Mar 18: The rising temperature has become a growing concern for residents of coastal district of Dakshina Kannada, as the issue of drinking water shortage continues to worsen in several parts. 

Though the water supply of Mangaluru city has not been affected much, nearby urban local bodies, including Ullal, Kotekar, Bajpe and other parts on the outskirts of Mangaluru have been facing an acute shortage of drinking water.

Though the water level in the Thumbe vented dam across Nethravati River has started going down in the last few days, officials have ruled out possibility of rationing the water supply in the city.

According to officials, the water level at Thumbe dam of the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) stood at 5.8 m as against the maximum storage capacity of 6m height on March 16. The water level at the dam during the same period last year was 5.3 metres. The water level reduced from 5.9 m on March 15 to 5.8 m on March 16 due to the scorching heat, causing evaporation.

The MCC has been drawing 160 MLD of water from the Thumbe vented dam. According to officials, without inflow, the maximum water stored in the dam will be sufficient for only 50 days. Meanwhile, the MCC has already started pumping backwater from downstream of the Thumbe vented dam back to the dam using pumpsets. Water from Thumbe dam can be drawn only if it has more than 1.5m of water in it.

DC Mullai Muhilan MP said that the district administration is closely monitoring water levels in all the dams that supply water.

The AMR dam located upstream of Thumbe dam has 18 m of water from sea level. If the water level in the Thumbe vented dam recedes, then water from the AMR dam will be released into the Thumbe dam. There is water in a dam at Biliyoor, which is located upstream of the AMR dam, the DC said.

“Drawing water for irrigation purposes from Thumbe and AMR dams has been banned,” the deputy commissioner said, adding that an order in this regard has already been issued. Some of the pockets in rural areas too have started facing water crisis.

“We have made arrangements to supply water through tankers in Ullal, Kotekar and Bajpe areas. We will not introduce water supply rationing in MCC limits for the time being,” he said and appealed to citizens to use water judiciously.

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News Network
March 7,2024

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A senior official of the Hamas resistance group says the US and Israel are pursuing a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in a bid to “buy time” to prolong their genocidal war on the Palestinian territory.

Osama Hamdan, a Lebanon-based Hamas official, made the remarks in an interview with Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen news channel, as Gaza truce negotiations, mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar, have failed to achieve a breakthrough.

"From the first day [of the Gaza ceasefire talks], it was clear that all the Americans and Israelis wanted was a temporary truce and they refused to cease hostilities permanently,” he said.

“Both the United States and Israel are maneuvering and trying to buy some time.”

The official also warned that Hamas will not continue aimless negotiations, adding that the resistance group seeks a written agreement and that it cannot settle for less.

Any information about the Israeli captives "comes with a price… If there are no clear answers, we cannot continue to go around in circles," he said.

Hamdan further said that the occupying regime actually wants to "catch its breath and worsen the humanitarian crisis" in the besieged Gaza. 

Israel waged its brutal US-backed war on the Gaza Strip on October 7 after Hamas carried out its historic operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for the regime's intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

So far, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 30,717 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 72,156 others.

Israel is intentionally starving the Palestinian people by blocking the passage of relief supplies into Gaza in what is considered a war crime under the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute.

Instead of halting the flow of its weapons to Gaza, the US has recently embarked on a public relations campaign and airdropped aid on the blockaded territory.

Hamdan said that the amount of the airdropped aid did not exceed two truckloads, noting that the US is a complicit in the regime's inhumane siege on Gaza.

“Those who want to come to Gaza to contribute to the liberation project are welcomed, while those who want to side with the Israeli occupation will be treated as an occupier," he said.

The Hamas official also warned that the more Israel escalates its aggression against Gaza, the more the resistance front will be pushed towards higher levels of the battle against the regime.

The course of developments in the current Gaza war shows that the Palestinian people will emerge victorious, he predicted.

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News Network
March 8,2024

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As the world marks International Women's Day, the government media office in Gaza has mourned 8,900 Palestinian women killed by Israel since October amid the silence of the international community.

In a statement issued on Friday, the media office said Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which began in October, has so far killed 8,900 Palestinian women and injured more than 23,000 others, with 2,100 still missing.

“On March 8, the world celebrates International Women's Day, honoring women for their achievements and struggle. However, Palestinian women continue to pay a heavy price for freedom and dignity.”

The statement said Israel kills Palestinian women “in cold blood”, while “the world stands idly by, witnessing this grave violation against Palestinian women without lifting a finger.”

The office noted that Israel’s war has also left over half a million Palestinian women displaced and living under “extreme difficulties”, with no access to basic necessities such as food and medicine.

According to the statement, the war has also “made 60,000 pregnant women live a harsh and extremely difficult life, lacking the most basic healthcare and medical requirements”. The office said hundreds of them “have lost their sons, newborns, or unborn children due to bombing, fear, and ‘Israeli’ killing.”

The statement also referred to the plight of female Palestinian detainees, saying dozens are “facing physical and psychological torture, poor treatment, and humiliation.”

The media office hailed the “steadfastness” of Palestinian women, stressing that they are “in dire need to defend their rights and life requirements rather than being killed, shot at, detained, and forced into displacement and migration, as the occupation army has been doing for over five continuous months.”

The office also held the US, the international community, and all relevant international organizations “fully responsible” for the genocide in Gaza and the harsh conditions forced upon Palestinian women there, slamming those who take part in the war and those who remain silent on the Israeli crimes.

The statement also urged “all the countries of the free world and the international community” to work towards ending the ‘Israeli’ occupation, and to take action to save Palestinian women from the ongoing Israeli crimes, “including killing, shooting, arresting, humiliating, torturing, and forcing them to leave their homes, cities, and residential areas.”

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

The Tel Aviv regime has also imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians and injured over 72,000 others.

Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble in Gaza.

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