Here are the big stories from Karnataka today

Karnataka Today newsletter: Now, terminally-ill patients can choose to die with dignity in State

In a historic move, the Karnataka Health Department on January 30, 2025, issued an order to implement the Supreme Court’s ruling allowing terminally-ill patients to die with dignity. Karnataka is the second State after Kerala to implement this Supreme Court directive. This will immensely benefit those with no hope of recovery or those who are in a persistent vegetative state and where the patient no longer benefits from life-sustaining treatment, said Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao.

On January 24, 2023, the Supreme Court in its judgement said that the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution encompassed the right to die with dignity. The Supreme Court had stated that it would be appropriate to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment for terminally-ill patients, undergoing prolonged medical treatment with no hope of recovery and cure of the ailment.

Following the recent outbreak of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare neurological condition in Pune, the Health Department has included Intravenous Immunoglobulin therapy for the treatment of GBS under Ayushman Bharat - Arogya Karnataka scheme. It has been approved as an add-on procedure code under 2B category in the benefit package of AB-ArK subject to a limit of ₹10 crore annually. 

According to a government order (GO), Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST), the nodal agency implementing the health schemes of Karnataka, has been directed to specify the rates of the above-mentioned newly added code as per the guidance document regarding Health Benefit Package (HBP) 2022 after getting the same approved through the expert committee.

Minister for Industries and Infrastructure Development M.B. Patil has said that the Karnataka government is considering the pros and cons of handing over Shivamogga airport to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for maintenance. The Minister said that the AAI had approached the State Government in connection with handling the operations at the airport.

“We are contemplating handing it over on lease for a fixed period. Then the ownership of the land will remain with the State Government,” the Minister stated. He said the Karnataka government had earlier handed over Kalaburagi airport to the AAI. Around ₹1,500 crore was spent on that airport.

Lokayukta officials conducted an early morning raid on some officials in Belagavi on January 31. They include Sachin Munded, Sub-Registrar of Anagol in Belagavi district, and Sanjay Durgannanavar, veterinary officer.