Kerala floods: 33,000 people rescued; 6.33 lakh people in relief camps

Agencies
August 19, 2018

New Delhi, Aug 19: The NDMA  on Sunday said there will be no heavy rains in the flood-hit Kerala for the next four days, giving a ray of hope to the distraught people of the state.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) also said more than 33,000 people have been rescued by different agencies from the flood-affected areas of the state. Over 6.33 lakh people are currently staying in relief camps, it added.

"Rainfall will further decrease during the next five days. Heavy rain at one or two places in Idukki, Konnur and Kozhikode districts likely today. No heavy rain from tomorrow for the next four days," the NDMA said quoting a bulletin of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

There is no red or amber colour code warning for any district of Kerala today. A yellow warning has been issued in three districts.

The IMD has four colour codes to signify the intensity of weather. Red means authorities need to take action and one could expect extreme weather conditions, amber means government agencies need to be prepared to handle exigencies. Yellow colour code means the situation needs to be watched, while green signals the weather would be normal.

The central government has also decided to give ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the family of those killed in the floods and Rs 50,000 to the injured.

The compensation will be provided from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund.

A total of 6,33,010 people are staying in 2,971 relief camps. As of now, 33,179 people have been evacuated in rescue operations, the NDMA said.

So far 129 metric tonnes of rice and 30 MT milk powder (20 MT to Idukki and 10 MT to Wayanad) have been dispatched to Kerala, it said.

The Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation has dispatched necessary medicines to the affected areas, which is in addition to more than 150 truckloads of relief materials from the civil society and NGOs.

Altogether 100 tonnes of food materials like biscuits, rusks and drinking water are being airlifted to Kerala from Jalandhar and Patiala in Punjab.

At least 197 people have been killed in Kerala in the last 10 days in the second spell of monsoon fury since August 8 as floods and landslides triggered by incessant rain have wreaked havoc in many parts of the state.

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SMR
 - 
Sunday, 19 Aug 2018

Kerala’s natural disaster has affected the collective conscience of a large group of people across the world with foreign countries such as Qatar and UAE coming forward to help the flood victims.

 

Humanity in Kerala floods is pouring in for all direction. Even 

Pakistanis give up one day wage for victims in UAE is in news.

Bollywood actors, certain politicians such as BJP MP Varun Gandhi, Congress party and Aam Aadmi Party have risen to the occasion to do their bit to help their fellow Indians in Kerala.

 

However, not everyone has been as generous towards the flood victims as some known right-wing bigots launched a vicious campaign to promote Hindutva and mock the plight of the victims.

One US-based NRI and a staunch proponent of vicious Hindutva agenda, Rajiv Malhotra wrote urging his Hindutva supporters to only donate for Hindus and not victims of other faith. His vile tweet read, “Please donate to help Kerala Hindus. Christians and Muslims worldwide raising lots of money to help mainly their own ppl & agendas.

Soon it emerged that Malhotra’s tweet was not in isolation as this was retweeted by Mohandas Pai, a known supporter of the BJP and the RSS. Pai is also an investor in Arnab Goswami’s Republic TV. Mohandas Pai is one of the advisors to the government of India on many areas.

Remember that a flood does not discriminate. It does not see religion, caste, gender.

Right-wing Hindutva bigots launching hate campaign amidst nature’s fury in Kerala is condemable. Personalities like Mohandas Pai joining this hate campaign is unacceptable.

 

Is our responsible media will wake up and teach this hate mongers what is the meaning of humanity?

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Agencies
May 5,2020

Jammu and Kashmir, May 5: Awarding the prestigious Pulitzer Prize to three Indian photographers, the Pulitzer Board at Columbia University claimed that it was for their work in Kashmir as "India revoked its independence".

The award to Channi Anand, Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin in the feature photography category for their pictures for the Associated Press was announced on Monday.

The prizes, considered the most prestigious for US journalism, are associated with the university's Graduate School of Journalism where the judging is done and is announced, although this year it was done remotely.

Besides a certificate, the prizes carry a cash award of $15,000, except the public service category for which a gold medal is awarded.

The public service prize went to The Anchorage Daily News for a series that dealt with policing in Alaska state.

In making the award to the three, the Board said on its website that it was "for striking images of life in the contested territory of Kashmir as India revoked its independence, executed through a communications blackout".

Besides making the false claim about "independence" of Kashmir being "revoked", the board that includes several leading journalists did not explain how their photographs could have reached the AP within hours of the incidents recorded "through a communication blackout".

India's Central government only revoked Article 370 of the Constitution that gave Jammu and Kashmir a special status and it was not independent.

Indian journalists were allowed to operate in Kashmir, while only non-Indian journalists were barred.

The wording of the award announcement calls into question the credibility of the Pulitzer Board that gives out what are considered prestigious journalism awards.

The portfolio of pictures by the three on the Pulitzer web site included one of a masked person attacking a police vehicle and another of masked people with variants of the Kashmir flag, besides photos of mourners and protesters.

One of the finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism was a reporter of Indian descent at The Los Angeles Times, Swetha Kannan, who was nominated for her work with two colleagues on the seas rising due to climate change.

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Agencies
July 13,2020

Kolkata, July 13: Debendra Nath Roy, a member of the West Bengal legislative assembly (MLA) from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was found dead near his house in north Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur district on Monday morning.

BJP leaders and his family members have alleged that he was murdered. 

BJP president JP Nadda has expressed “shock” at Roy’s “deplorable and suspected heinous killing” and condemned the incident.

He questioned the rise of “gunda raj” in West Bengal under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s watch amid the worsening law and order in the state, which is slated to hold assembly polls next year, where the BJP is seen to be the primary challenger to the CM’s citadel.

“The suspected heinous killing of Debendra Nath Ray, BJP MLA from Hemtabad in West Bengal, is extremely shocking and deplorable. This speaks volumes of the gunda raj and failure of law and order in the Mamata Banerjee-led government. People will not forgive such a government in the future. We strongly condemn the incident,” he tweeted.

The BJP has demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the lawmaker’s unnatural death.

His body was found in the balcony of a shop near his house at Bondol in Hemtabad, Uttar Dinajpur district, on Monday morning.

“The body has been sent for autopsy. We are investigating the case. No one has been detained for questioning or arrested so far,” said a police official from Uttar Dinajpur district, requesting anonymity.

“Roy was murdered. The way his body was found suggests that it was a premeditated murder and the accused tried to pass it off as a suicide. The ruling TMC (Trinamool Congress) is involved in his murder,” alleged Rahul Sinha, national secretary, BJP.

The TMC, however, refuted the BJP’s allegations.

“I heard that he (Roy) died by suicide. Police are investigating the case. Let the truth come out. If he has been murdered, then the culprits should be identified and punished as per law,” said Kanhaiyalal Agarwal, a TMC leader from Uttar Dinajpur district.

BJP leaders said some people had called Roy around 1 am on Monday and he went out of his home. His body was found on Monday morning.

Roy had won the Bengal assembly elections from Hemtabad on a Communist Party of India (Marxist) ticket in 2016, but joined the BJP last year.

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Agencies
March 14,2020

New Delhi, Mar 14: India on Friday was mulling over the option of deporting The Wall Street Journal's South Asia deputy bureau chief for misreporting Delhi riots in which over 50 people were killed last month. However, the government denied that it had made any such decision.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that a complaint was registered against Eric Bellman, the WSJ South Asia deputy bureau chief based in New Delhi, by a private individual on the government's online grievance redressal platform.

"Referring the complaint to the related office is a routine matter as per standard procedure. No such decision on deportation has been taken by the Ministry of External Affairs," Kumar said.

However, government-funded Prasar Bharati News Services had earlier tweeted screenshots of the complaint which was filed by an undersecretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, Vinesh K Kalra, saying that the ministry has asked the Indian embassy in the US to "look into the request for immediate deportation of Bellman for his "anti-India behaviour".

The official had complained to the embassy about Bellman's controversial reportage on the killing of an Intelligence Bureau staffer named Ankit Sharma.

The WSJ had reported that Ankit Sharma's brother had said that he was killed by a mob belonging to a particular religious community. Ankit's brother later told Indian media that he never spoke to the WSJ reporter.

After the Prasar Bharati tweet got circulated widely on social media, the government backtracked and said that no such decision has been taken.

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