Declare Kerala floods a national disaster, demands Congress

Agencies
August 18, 2018

New Delhi, Aug 18: The Congress on Saturday demanded the Centre to declare Kerala floods a national disaster.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "Dear PM, Please declare #Kerala floods a National Disaster without any delay. The lives, livelihood and future of millions of our people is at stake."

His statement comes an hour after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Rs 500 crore interim relief to the state following a review meeting with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Union Minister KJ Alphons. This is in addition to Rs. 100 crore announced by Home Minister Rajnath Singh on August 12.

Meanwhile, other Congress leaders also demanded more help from the Centre and other states for flood-hit state. Speaking to ANI, Congress leader PC Chacko said that "Thousands of people are marooned and facing a very severe, critical situation and more emergency evacuation operation is needed. What is being done is appreciable but we need more help from the Centre and other states as Kerala is in distress".

Resonating similar views, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala reasoned out that the state could get more resources from the Centre if the calamity was declared a national disaster. "Kerala flood is a heart rending sight to see. If the calamity is declared a national disaster, it may help the state to access more resources from the Centre such as defence apparatus for rescue operations, money for rehabilitation works, and more food grains," Surjewala told ANI.

However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rejected the idea of such classification as national disaster for Kerala floods. Speaking to ANI, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy asserted, "Kerala floods is a serious matter. It is sad to see the pictures and the images. They are shocking. But floods do happen, not just in India but in other countries too. I think the central government is doing its best in all possible ways. Now it is the municipality level officials who have to work on further orders."

On Friday, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh announced Rs 10 crore worth of immediate relief. Besides him, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have also announced immediate financial help for the relief works.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a two-day visit to Kerala, conducted an aerial survey of the damages caused due to flash floods and took stock of the situation.

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News Network
June 5,2020

New Delhi, Jun 5: Around 20 staff members of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) have tested positive for COVID-19, all of them are asymptomatic and are doing well, said DMRC officials.

In a statement, the DMRC said, "Along with the rest of the country, DMRC is also fighting the battle against COVID-19. Delhi Metro's employees have shown exemplary resilience in reporting back to their duties to keep the Metro system in all readiness for the eventual resumption of services."

"Some employees, scattered across the NCR have unfortunately been infected by the virus as well. They are all safe and recovering gradually. However, in this hour of crisis as well, the spirit of Delhi Metro continues to be high," the DMRC stated.

DMRC Managing Director, Dr Mangu Singh, in a message today asked all employees to adhere to social distancing norms and wished those afflicted with the virus a speedy recovery.

"This indomitable spirit will surely help the Delhi Metro, whenever we resume our services in the days ahead," said DMRC.

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News Network
May 8,2020

Aurangabad, May 8: At least 15 migrant workers, who were sleeping on the railway tracks while going back to their native places, were run over by a goods train between Maharashtra's Jalna and Aurangabad, officials said on Friday.

A senior railway official confirmed that 15 migrant labourers were run over by a goods train between Jalna and Aurangabad of Nanded Divison of South Central Railway.

The official said that the incident happened around 5.30 am on Friday when the migrant workers, who were on way back to their homes and sleeping on the railway tracks.

However, it is yet not clear from where this group hailed and where they were going.

Amid the nationwide lockdown, thousands of migrant workers stranded in several other cities have started their journey to return to their native places on foot.

The interstate bus service, passenger, mail and express train services have been suspended since March 24.

The railways has started running Shramik Special trains to transport the stranded migrants to their native places since May 1.

Till Thursday railways has run 201 Shramik Special trains.

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News Network
March 3,2020

New Delhi, Mar 3: A day after two new cases of novel coronavirus that included one from Delhi were reported, the Health Ministry on Tuesday said six cases with "high-viral load" were detected during sample testing in Agra and these people have been kept in isolation. The six people had come in contact with a 45-year-old patient from Delhi, whose case came to light on Monday, and they include his family members.

According to government sources, the man, who is a resident of Mayur Vihar, had visited them in Agra.

The six have been kept in isolation at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi and their samples are being sent to NIV, Pune for confirmation.

Contact tracing of the people who came in contact with the six is simultaneously being done through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP) network, the ministry said in a statement.

Sources said the patient from Mayur Vihar was shifted to a quarantine ward at Safdarjung Hospital on Sunday night.

His other family members have been asked to stay alert and look out for symptoms. One accountant, who came in contact with the man and some of his family members, was also quarantined, they said.

India on Monday reported two new cases of the novel coronavirus, one from Delhi and another one from Hyderabad. The government has stepped up its efforts to detect and check the infection which has killed 2,912 people in China.

On Monday, Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma had said that an Italian tourist tested positive for coronavirus in Jaipur.

The first sample collected from him on February 29 tested negative but his condition deteriorated, so a second sample was collected which tested positive on Monday, the minister said, adding, "Since there is a variation in the reports, the samples have been sent to the NIV, Pune for testing".

India had earlier reported three cases from Kerala, including two medical students from Wuhan in China, the epicentre of the deadly novel coronavirus. They had self-reported on their return to the country and tested positive for the infection. They were discharged from hospitals last month following recovery.

The infected person from Delhi had travelled to Italy, while the other patient who tested positive for the COVID-19 infection is from Telangana and had recently travelled to Dubai.

Both the patients had self-reported after they developed symptoms.

"They tested positive. They are stable and being closely monitored," ministry said on Monday.

The government has asked people to avoid non-essential travel to Iran, Italy, South Korea and Singapore and said India was in discussions with authorities in Iran and Italy, two countries badly affected by the infection, to evacuate Indians there.

The novel coronavirus or COVID-19, which originated in China, has spread to over 60 countries.

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