40 persons suspected of contracting anthrax in WB district
Bankura: Forty persons were suspected to have contracted anthrax in West Bengal’s Bankura villages following which teams of dermatologists were rushed there, official said on Monday. The Chief medical officer, health, Prasun Kumar Das, today said that forty persons were affected in Simplipal block of Bakura district and two teams of dermatologists were being sent to Bamunpal and Ramakunda villages of the block from where villagers have reported death of cattle. The teams will collect samples and send them to Kolkata for examination, he said. Meanwhile, Superintendent of Bankura Sammilani medical college hospital, Panchanan Kundu, dismissed media reports about anthrax that had claimed two lives in the state-run hospital. 40-year-old Lakshikanta Soren, who was admitted to the hospital on May 19, died of complications, arising out of convulsion after which he was admitted on the following day, he said. Another patient, Raghunath Soren, died of pneumonia and septicaemia on May 21, Kundu said. Anthrax is a bacterial disease that normally affects animals such as cattle and horses. It can be transmitted contracted by humans through the infected animal or products made from their body parts. (PTI)
SC stays execution of death sentence of couple who killed 7
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the execution of death sentence of a young woman and her lover convicted for killing seven members of her family, including a 10-month-old baby, in Uttar Pradesh in 2008. A bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and U U Lalit issued notice to UP government seeking its response and posted the matter for further hearing on May 27. The warrant for execution of the death sentence of Shabnam and her lover Saleem was issued on May 21. The Supreme Court on May 1 had upheld the conviction and death penalty of the couple and later on May 15 delivered a detailed judgement for dismissing the appeal filed by the convicts. Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for Shabnam, asked the court that the matter be heard before any final decision is taken for executing the death penalty. In 2013, Allahabad High Court had upheld the death sentence to the couple awarded by a sessions court in 2010. Saleem and Shabnam were having an affair and wanted to get married but their relationship met with stiff opposition from the woman’s family. On April 15, 2008, Shabnam’s entire family, including a 10-month-old baby, was murdered and the woman initially pretended that her house in Amroha district of UP was attacked by unidentified assailants. It came to light during investigation that she had abetted Saleem in the crime as she made her family members drink milk laced with sedatives before the attack and thereafter herself throttled her infant nephew. (PTI)
Man, nephew washed away while performing father’s last rites in Dehradun
Dehradun: A man who had come to perform the last rites of his father at the convergence of the Mandakini and Alaknanda in Rudraprayag district and his nephew were swept away by the strong currents of the two rivers. Soon after the incident occurred last evening a search operation was launched but so far they have not been recovered, police said. 35-year-old Vinod Kumar who hailed from Khal Bajetha village of Chamoli district had come along with his 18-year-old nephew Raja to perform the last rites of his father Chadralal Dutt at the convergence of the two rivers. When Vinod waded into the river for a bath after performing the last rites of his father he slipped and fell into it. As he began to flow down the river, his nephew Raja jumped into the river to save him but both of them were swept away by the swirling waters, they said. A search operation was launched by the police immediately after it was informed of the incident but they are yet to be found, the police control room here said. (PTI)
Jammu doctor suspended for negligence
Jammu: A doctor with a state-run hospital in Jammu was suspended on Monday for alleged negligence that led to the death of a patient, an official said.The resident doctors’ association, however, contested the suspension and alleged not the doctor’s negligence but reaction from the drip caused the patient’s death.The doctor, Sushil Pandita, was working with the Government Medical College at Jammu.Pandita was suspended by the college principal for negligence, a hospital official told IANS.Resident doctors association alleged that the suspension order was issued under pressure from the state health department to shield the culprits.The association, in a statement, said the patient died of drip reaction due to spurious glucose.”This is not the first time a patient has died of drip reaction in the hospital. The doctors had already brought this to the notice of hospital authorities that there was some problem with the drips procured,” said Neeraj Sharma, president of the Resident Doctors Association of the hospital.”We are surprised how a doctor was suspended without even conducting an inquiry into the episode,” he added. (IANS)