Dr Arun Mandepanda Thimmiah, a GP at the Abbey Road Surgery in Barrow, gives advice on health issues in his weekly column. This week, he addresses concerns people may have over whether their invite to receive a Covid-19 vaccine jab is genuine.
Unfortunately some people are using the Covid-19 vaccination programme in order to commit fraud.
The types of scams vary – some are trying to extract money, others are collecting personal information – so it’s really important to make sure you’re speaking to the right people.
In the UK, coronavirus vaccines are only made available via the National Health Services of England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland.
You can be contacted by the NHS, your employer, a GP surgery or a pharmacy local to you to receive your vaccine.
Remember, the vaccine is free of charge.
At no point will you be asked to pay.
n The NHS will never ask you for your bank account or card details.
n The NHS will never ask you for your PIN or banking password.
n The NHS will never arrive unannounced at your home to administer the vaccine.
n The NHS will never ask you to prove your identity by sending copies of personal documents such as your passport, driving licence, bills or pay slips.
n Occasionally your local vaccine centre may ring you from a list provided by your GP surgery if you are in the group being invited to receive the vaccine at the end of the session in order to avoid wastage of vaccines.
If you have any doubts as to the caller’s authenticity, ask which organisation they are calling from, then hang up the phone and dial the official number for that organisation.
You will not miss out on your vaccine by doing so.
Please be aware that fraudsters do ‘spoof’ numbers – the number you see on your screen may not be the number that is calling you – and NHS call handlers will NOT ask you to check the number that appears on your screen; this is a common way for fraudsters to appear as legitimate callers.
source: http://www.nwemail.co.uk / The Mail / Home> News / by Dan Taylor, Senior Reporter / February 20th, 2021
Last Sunday, 31st January 2021, I went to Madikeri on a bore-breaking trip with my wife and two friends. It was a two-and-a-half-hour journey by car via Kushalnagar. The road being good travelling was comfortable.
Kushalnagar is the Gateway to Kodagu, with River Cauvery flowing quietly as a boundary between Mysuru and Kodagu districts. The two districts were connected with a bridge. It was a surprise for me to find the town growing enormously. It has become a huge tourist hub. There is Harangi Dam and a Garden a few kilometres away and in the city outskirts you have the famous and very popular Nisargadhama — riverside forest safari and boating with huge shopping arcades spread over a very large area on Madikeri road.
Another tourist attraction is the Buddhist Golden Temple on the other side of the river at Bylakuppe, a Tibetan Colony. There is a Sainik School, Engineering College and many more. It is going to be a boom city of Kodagu beforelong.
We reached Madikeri rather late at 3.30 pm keeping our schedule to just three places — Gen. K.S. Thimayya Museum, Medical College and Kodava Heritage Centre. Our President Ram Nath Kovind would inaugurate the Museum tomorrow (6.2.2021) and it was as it should be. Our President, under the Constitution, is the Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces.
Our first visit was to the Gen. Thimayya Museum and those in charge of arranging the artefacts, photographs, videos, audios etc., have indeed taken much time, trouble and care. Special compliments and commendation should go for this great effort to Air Marshal Kodandera C. Nanda Cariappa (retd.), Maj. Biddanda A. Nanda Nanjappa (retd.) and Col. (retd.) Kandrathanda C. Subbaiah. All residents of Kodagu.
As we were sauntering around the place, with a few Army personnel and local labourers working to get the Museum ready to receive the President, there came the most talkative man I have ever met in my life, Maj. Nanda Nanjappa. Indeed a live-wire man bursting at the seams with a zeal and enthusiasm for the work on his hand — getting the Museum ready in all aspects for the big day. I listened to him about how the Museum happened and the herculean efforts he and his friends-in-arms have made to get the place ready for the VVIP arrival.
I am familiar with this house called “Sunnyside” where Gen. K.S. Thimayya’s mother lived. She was a very famous lady known for her riches and celebrity status. The house is on the main road, as you enter Mercara from Mysuru, on a slope. I remember, as a student in Madikeri in the 1950s, going for evening walk with fellow students and friends on this road and occasionally talk about the lady of the house with awe. There was a fountain visible from the gate with an angel perched on top. The house being at the bottom of the slope was not visible to the road.
According to my information this house was sold by Gen. Thimayya’s wife to the Government of Karnataka in the year 1972 and the RTO Office took over this house, with about 2.5 acres of land, for its use. Wonder it took over 50 years to reclaim the house for the Museum under the Kannada and Culture Department of the State Government. Thanks to the efforts of Field Marshal Cariappa – General Thimayya Forum comprising about 22 members to get the State Government to vacate the RTO and set up this Museum. However, the theme, concept and the vision of the Museum came mainly from two Army and one Air Force Veterans who are also members of the Forum — Air Marshal K.C. Nanda Cariappa, Col. K.C. Subbaiah and Maj. B.A. Nanjappa — that I mentioned earlier. A good job well done. Sure, the Supreme Commander of Indian Armed Forces, Ram Nath Kovind, will have many good words to say about the Museum and give a big Shabash for the Forum.
I do not want to be presumptuous but I guess there is a need for a small library with books on Gen. K.S. Thimayya and other top brass in the Army, which is also a reading room for reference-seekers and book-worms.
Our next visit was to the Medical College, about five kilometres from downtown or 11 kilometres via Abbey Falls. It is located atop a hill in a village known as Karnageri. A number of high-rise buildings, washed in light pink, are visible from a distance as we manoeuvred the never-ending, serpentine, well-laid out concrete road. The construction of the road itself must have cost a fortune. A clear case of penny wise, pound foolish.
Access to city for students and staff must be a very time-consuming and tiring exercise. Specially during monsoon. In Kodagu, specially Madikeri, climate is of two kinds — monsoon and winter veiled in mist. Summer is, no doubt, severe but short.
I left the place wondering if the Government officials or the politicians could not find another place, plain land in Virajpet, Gonikoppal or Kushalnagar considering the importance of the logistics and environment for locating such an important institution. Let it be.
My next visit was to my mad obsession, the Kodava Heritage Centre at Vidyanagar in Madikeri. About this Centre I have written enough and more and our reporters of Star of Mysore and Mysooru Mithra too have published many pictorial reports. All in vain.
The idea of a Kodava Heritage Centre may be well-meaning and also much-needed for a Vanishing Tribe, Kodavas. But, the way it was held to ransom in the past 15 years is tragic and an insult to “Kodavame”. As I saw it, I do not think it will be completed at all and seems to be in danger of being abandoned as unviable. Is it jinxed? If it is so, so be it. What cannot be cured must be endured till the end comes. There is no medicine for fate !
That way the fruition of Gen. Thimayya Museum is a miracle. Unless such miracles happen, this Heritage Centre will not come to fruition.
Pictorial journey of Madikeri By K.B. Ganapathy
A photo of Gen. K.S. ThimayyaSunnyside: Gen. K.S. Thimayya Museum building with a portico.The RTO had ruined the building without maintenance and it was restored. The picture shows the cast-iron ornate dwarf pillars on an open veranda which were fully buried in a protective wall by the RTO. Only when the wall was demolished, these pillars emerged.Gen. K.S. Thimayya with the VIPs — Jawaharlal Nehru and V.K. Krishna Menon.A cement sculpture in the open yard of the Museum.… and the well as old as the building.Medical College at Karnageri village in Madikeri.A view of Kodava Heritage Centre in Vidyanagar, Madikeri, from the main road.
e-mail: voice@starofmysore.com
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Abracadabra> Columns / by K.B. Ganapathy / February 05th, 2021
Motorbikes have become part of life in India where roads of different types and make pass through different terrains. A mechanic here, who loves motorbikes, has utilised the time he got due to coronavirus break, to invent a self-start for motorbikes without requiring any motor. Venkatesh from Kushalnagar here is the inventor of this device.
People now-a-days are not willing to kick-start their vehicles. Many bikes marketed in the recent past have self-start facilities. But those made a few years back do not have this facility, and repeated kicking is unavoidable. There are people who are attached to their old bikes and hence do not want to sell them. Venkatesh’s invention will help them.
Venkatesh’s alternate generating system kit (AGS) works by using winding copper wires. For this self-start, no machine or motor is needed. This is made by just using copper wire and magnet. It can be fitted to bikes without damaging any part. The price of the kit may be between Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000. Venkatesh has uploaded video of its working in YouTube and several have already booked for the kits.
His other invention, fixing of double engines, has also become a hit.
source: http://www.daijiworld.com / Daijiworld.com / Home> Top Stories / by Daijiworld Media Network – Madikeri (SP) / January 21st, 2021
Dr. M.R. Udaykumar, Divisional Joint Director, Department of Health and Family Welfare, has said that the anaemic level is little high in Udupi and Kodagu districts in Mysuru Division whereas it was normal in other districts.
He was speaking after inaugurating two-day Divisional-level ‘Anaemia Free India’ programme for officials of Child Development and Health organised by the Department of Health and Family Welfare here on Tuesday.
Udaykumar said around 1.9 billion people all over the world are anaemic. This would impact on physical strength of people as well as cause slow learning and other health issues. Anaemia hits mainly pregnant and lactating mothers as well as hinders child’s physical growth. There was a need to protect children from anaemia, he added.
Prasad, Divisional Deputy Director, Department of Health and Family Welfare, said that the Government of India, in a bid to protect children from anaemia, distribute de-worming capsules twice a year and also give them iron and folic acid tablets to protect them from malnutrition. Health staff had to watch the haemoglobin level in pregnant women especially during 7th month to 9th month and injection is given if the level was less than eight.
K. Padma, Deputy Director, Department of Women and Child Development, regretted that ladies have failed to understand the seriousness of anaemia. They will go to doctor only if they are ill. However, women would not take doctor’s suggestion on haemoglobin deficiency. Around 3 percent to 4 percent of pregnant and lactating women suffer from anaemia mainly due to not eating nutritious food and lack of knowledge. Need of the hour was to educate women in this regard in order to save them from anaemia, she added.
Dr. T. Amarnath, DHO, Dr. H.K. Ramachandra, Divisional Joint Deputy Director, Dr. Mahendra from Regional Health and Family Welfare Training Centre, Advisors Dr. Shankarappa and Abid Ahmed, Resource Persons K. Vishwanath and Manoj Sebastian, were present.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / January 07th, 2021
Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy inspects the dry run for the vaccination in the district hospital in Madikeri, on Friday.
Covid warriors were administered with mock vaccination as a part of the Covid-19 vaccination dry run held in the district hospital in Madikeri and across various health centres in Kushalnagar and Virajpet, on Friday.
Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy inspected the vaccination and enrollment centres and monitored the preparations towards software registration process, storage of vaccines, transportation, de-freezing processes and other mock exercises as a part of the dry run.
She said that the dry run was held in six centres in the district, namely, district hospital in Madikeri, taluk hospital in Somwarpet, Community Health Centre in Kushalnagar, Primary Health Centre in Kakotuparambu village, Institute of Dental Sciences in Virajpet and Urban Health Centre in Madikeri.
Kodagu Institute of Medical Sciences (KoIMS) Director Dr Cariappa, District Health and Family Welfare Officer Dr K Mohan and others were present.
During the dry run held at PHC, Kakotuparambu, medical officer Dr Shrishaini said that 25 health workers were selected for administering the mock Covid-19 vaccination. Those who received vaccination were required to enrol their names by providing Aadhaar card number. Before obtaining vaccination, they were made to wait in a room.
Later, the documents were scrutinised online and the vaccination was administered. The details of the persons getting the vaccination were uploaded online. After vaccination, the person has to take rest in the observation unit for 30 minutes, she said.
If the person experienced any side effects, he/she will be provided with treatment as per the necessary precautionary measures. If there are no side effects, the person will be sent home, she added.
Taluk Medical Officer Dr Yatiraju said that the actual Covid-19 vaccination programme is likely to begin from next week.
The health centres were completely sanitised for the mock vaccination programme.
District Health and Family Welfare Officer Dr Mohan inspected the dry run held at the Community Health Centre in Kushalnagar.
Speaking on the occasion, he said that health workers, Asha and anganwadi workers will be administered with Covid-19 vaccination in the first phase.
District Surveillance Officer Dr S Gopinath was present.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Mangaluru / by DHNS, Madikeri / January 09th, 2021
Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy speaks at a preliminary meeting on pulse polio programme at her office in Madikeri on Wednesday.
All children within five years of age will be administered with pulse polio drops in the district on January 17, said Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy.
She directed the departments of Panchayat Raj, Public Instructions, Women and Child Welfare and Regional Transport to provide necessary cooperation to the Health and Family Welfare Department in making the pulse polio drive a successful one.
The booths will be opened at schools, bus stands and other public places. Vehicle arrangements will be made by the regions transport department, for the staff.
Annies also insisted that the departments concerned should ensure uninterrupted power supply on the day of the pulse polio drive.
District Health Officer Dr K Mohan said that all necessary precautionary measures will be taken by the department while conducting the pulse polio drive, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He further said, “There are 39,820 children within five years of age in the district. As many as 4,400 children are from urban areas and 35,420 are from rural areas. There are 10,463 children from migrating families, who will also be included in the in the programme.”
As many as 464 booths will be set up for the drive and 48 transit teams and six mobile teams have been formed towards the same, while 1,964 staff members and 86 supervisors have been deployed.
As many as 928 staff members will carry out door-to-door visits to administer pulse polio drops to children.
The DHO requested the public to get their children to the pulse polio booths.
The health workers will wear face masks and hand gloves while administering drops, apart from taking other precautionary measures towards checking the spread of Covid-19, he added.
District RCH officer Dr Gopinath said that the pulse polio drive will be held on January 17 at booth level. On January 18, 19 and 20, the health department staff will visit houses in urban areas and on January 18 and 19 in rural areas to administer pulse polio drops to children who are left out during the drive on January 17.
Family Welfare Officer Dr Anand, World Health Organisation representatives Sudhir Nayak, DDPI P S Machado, Women and Child Welfare Department Deputy Director Ningaraju and Madikeri City Municipal Council Commissioner S V Ramdas were present during the meeting.
‘Dry run prior to Covid-19 vaccination’
A dry run will be conducted in the district on January 8, as preparation for the Covid-19 vaccination drive, said Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy.
She has issued necessary directions to the DHO and officials of the medical education department in this matter. The officials were told to disseminate necessary information to the health workers in this regard.
The district officials should coordinate with the tahsildars to conduct the practice sessions of Covid-19 vaccination. “There should be no room for any ambiguity,” said the deputy commissioner.
DHO Dr K Mohan said that the dry run will be conducted at the District Government Hospital, Community Health Centres in Kushalnagar and Virajpet and at the Primary Health Centre in Kakotuparambu in Virajpet taluk.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Mangaluru / by DHNS, Madikeri / January 07th, 2021
Even as the country’s vaccination programme is gearing up for the roll out, a COVID-19 vaccine dry run has been arranged in Kodagu on January 8. This is akin to the dry run conducted in Mysuru and other select cities recently in the first phase. The mock drill for vaccination preparedness at three centres in Mysuru district was successful.
In this connection, Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy held a meeting with the officials from the Department of Health and Family Welfare and other key departments on making the dry run in Kodagu a success. She gave necessary directions on the preparations to be made assessing the preparedness of the district in carrying out the immunisation.
The health professionals and workers had been sensitised on the dry run and the guidelines on preparedness had to be followed, with coordination. The tahsildar in each taluk had been told to coordinate and support the initiative.
District Health Officer K. Mohan said the dry run would be held at the district hospital in Madikeri, community health centre in Kushalnagar and at the primary health center at Katooru in Virajpet taluk.
As many as 34,000 healthcare workers, including doctors, nursing staff, Group D employees from government and private hospitals, ASHA workers and others from the healthcare sector in Mysuru district had been registered for the vaccination. The healthcare professionals and workers had been trained for vaccination ahead of the dry run as per the Health Ministry’s guidelines.
Chamarajanagar
In Chamarajnagar too, the COVID-19 vaccine dry run has been arranged on January 8. The district hospital and JSS Hospital in Chamarajnagar town; Taluk Hospital in Gundlupet; and Primary Health Centre in Hanur are the centres identified for carrying out the dry run.
A total of 25 healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses and other healthcare staff will participate in the work in each centre. As many as 6,350 healthcare professionals had been registered for receiving the vaccine in the first phase.
“All arrangements are in place for vaccine delivery and vaccination in hospitals and PHCs,” said Deputy Commissioner M.R. Ravi.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> State> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / January 07th, 2021
Sanjana Kattera, a corona warrior who was part of the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine trial team, is ‘Coorg Person of the Year, 2020’, according to a release.
Kodagu-born Dr. Sanjana was involved in treating COVID-affected children. A paediatrician, she was part of the vaccine trial team at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom. The release said Dr. Sanjana served patients selflessly by risking her life, especially when PPE suits were in short supply initially.
Dr. Sanjana was selected ‘Coorg Person of the Year’ in a poll conducted by www.coorgtourisminfo.com, Kodagu’s first news portal, promoted by senior journalist P.T. Bopanna.
She worked with phase I/II of the trial with the age group 18-55 years by initially screening and recruiting patients as part of the eligibility criteria.
Dr. Sanjana, daughter of Suresh Kattera and Smitha Suresh, did her schooling in the United World College South East Asia (UWCSEA) in Singapore.
She studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh in the U.K. After completing her medicine, she specialised in paediatrics in a hospital in the U.K, and is currently training in NHS, Liverpool. She will be completing her Membership of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (MRCPCH) early next year.
The corona warrior had a tough competition for the ‘Coorg Person of the Year’ title from M.A. Ganapathy, IPS, director-general of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the release added.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mysuru – December 21st, 2020
Coronavirus infection has created so much scare among the people that initially even the doctors were wary of treating these patients. Many doctors and nurses who treated such patients have lost their lives.
Observing these things, an engineering student from Virajpet here has invented a robot to solve the problem. Manikantha from Hubballi, is the son of Amaresh, working in the court at Ponnampet in the district. Amaresh has been living in Virajpet since the last 15 years. Manikantha is a fifth semester student of electronics engineering department at the engineering college at Mandya.
IEEE India Council had invited students to send in their plans about projects relating to COVID treatment. The council which observed the report sent by Manikantha, asked him to prepare the project and paid Rs 12,000 as expenses. Manikantha by using C programming, created this robot.
This robot can be controlled with the help of a mobile phone. It can go near the COVID patients and dispense medicines and tablets. It can give instructions to patients, and check the heartbeat and body temperature. It also greets the patients. When returning, it scans its entire body and protects itself. IJWMT too has got a research article authored by the student and published. It also issued him a citation.
Manikantha’s parents are happy. He happens to be the first to invent a medical robot for the treatment of COVID patients.
source: http://www.daijiworld.com / Daijiworld.com / Home> Top Stories / by Daijiworld Media Network, Madikeri (SP) / December 12th, 2020
Karthamada Ganapathy Nanjappa has been appointed as the Additional Director of Factories and Boilers, Department of Factories, Boilers, Industrial Safety and Health, Government of Karnataka.
Profile: After studying in Government Primary School, Napoklu, St. Michael’s Higher Primary School, Madikeri, Government Junior College, Madikeri, Nanjappa completed his PU at MGM College, Udupi. He took up B.E. in Mechanical Engineering at PES College of Engineering, Mandya under Mysore University.
On completion of under-graduate studies in Engineering, Nanjappa worked for sometime as a Quality Engineer at Krishna Fabrications, Peenya, Bengaluru and Design Engineer at Promac Engineering, Bengaluru. He joined the Government of Karnataka State Civil Service as Gazetted Probationer during the year 1995 as Inspector of Factories and served at Bengaluru.
He was promoted as Senior Inspector of Factories in 2001. He was later posted as Deputy Special Officer in the Child Labour Cell of the Government of Karnataka and then served as Senior Inspector of Factories at Mysuru and Bengaluru.
Nanjappa was promoted to the cadre of Deputy Director of Factories in the year 2012 and posted at Mangaluru and Bengaluru. In the year 2019, he was promoted to the post of the Joint Director of Factories. Now he has been posted as Additional Director of Factories and Boilers in the year 2020 on promotion and is working at Bengaluru.
Nanjappa has had special training in the field of Industrial Safety and Health at: Director-General Factory Advice Service and Labour Institute, Mumbai; Regional Labour Institute, Chennai; Regional Labour Institute, Kolkata; Incident Response System (IRS) in the management of disasters from the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), Bhopal.
He is the son of Karthamada Nanjappa Ganapathy and Ponnamma (Kanathanda), both of whom were teachers at Napoklu and Madikeri and presently residents of Birunani in South Kodagu. He is married to Kalengada Bojamma and blessed with a son Adith studying in 10th std
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / by November 23rd, 2020
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