Kerala floods: Death toll rises to 167; 15,000 people rescued in 9 days

Agencies
August 17, 2018

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 17: As per the latest reports on Friday, the death toll in Kerala floods has risen to 167.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced the same during a press conference here.

Around 15,000 people have been rescued from the flood-hit state in the last nine days.

The numbers have been given by Army Karnataka and Kerala (K&K) Sub-Area, headquartered at Bengaluru, under the name, 'Operation Sahayog'. It were carried out by the Pangode military station, Pangode and Defence security cops, Kannur.

Operation 'Karuna', carried out by the Indian Air Force, has rescued almost 170 people through airlifting and winching.

The ongoing situation led the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation to cancel 8,415 tickets. They refunded Rs. 52,78,126 to the passengers from August 9 to August 17.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that he will be visiting the state in the evening to review the situation.

"Had a telephone conversation with Kerala CM Shri Pinarayi Vijayan just now. We discussed the flood situation across the state and reviewed rescue operations. Later this evening, I will be heading to Kerala to take stock of the unfortunate situation due to flooding," Prime Minister Modi tweeted.

Meanwhile, a red alert was sounded in 13 districts of Kerala, except Kasaragod today.

The Indian Coast Guard's rescue and relief team from Vandiperiyar has been shifted to the flood-affected Manjumala village in Kerala's Idukki district.

So far, the team has rescued 16 stranded people from the village. Food and dry ration have been distributed among them.

Five units of NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) reached Thiruvananthapuram and were deployed for rescue operations. 35 teams are expected to reach there today.

Kerala has been witnessing incessant rain since past few days, causing flooding and landslide in the state.

The Centre has launched massive rescue and relief operations in the state owing to the flood situation which is worsening by the day.

Yesterday, in view of the prevailing floods situation in Kerala, a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) was held to scale up assistance and ensured continued relief and rescue operations.

Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been tasked to mobilise additional manpower, boats, and helicopters to scale up the rescue and relief operations.

The Chief Minister had earlier said that the state is facing the worst flood situation since 1924.

Earlier on Thursday, NDRF teams evacuated 926 people to a safer place at Pathanamthitta, Kozhikode, Ernakulam, Thrissur, and Alappuzha. Moreover, the Army also built a 35-feet long bridge and rescued around 100 people including children and senior citizens from Malampuzha's Valiyakadu village.

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News Network
February 4,2020

New Delhi, Feb 4: The investigation into the incident of violence at Jamia Millia Islamia during an anti-citizenship law protest was at a crucial stage, the Centre told the Delhi High Court on Tuesday.

The submission before a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar was made by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta while seeking more time to file a report regarding the probe.

Taking note of the submission, the bench granted the Centre time till April 29 to file a reply.

During the hearing, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for some students of Jamia, said 93 students and teachers filed complaints about alleged attacks on them by police but no FIR has been filed against the agency till date.

The other lawyers for the petitioners alleged that the government has not complied with the court order to file a response within four weeks of the last date of hearing on December 19.

The bench, however, declined to pass any interim order and granted time till April 29 to the government to file a reply.

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News Network
March 25,2020

Mumbai, Mar 25: Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday confirmed that five people from a family in Sangli and four others from Mumbai tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total count to 116, which is the highest in any state of the country.
"The current count of COVID19 patients in the state of Maharashtra is 116. In Sangli, 5 people from one family are identified as positive due to contacts and 4 people from Mumbai are identified as positive due to travel history or contacts," Tope tweeted.
The state Health Minister informed that out of 116 people, 14 people have recovered and are in the process of being discharged from the hospitals.
"14 people from these have been recovered and are in the process of being discharged from the hospitals," he said in another tweet.
Meanwhile, the Sangli district administration in Maharashtra has released contact numbers for citizens to get home delivery of essential items during the 21-day lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The police personnel and district administration will be in charge of facilitating delivery for the essential commodities during the lockdown.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Wednesday confirmed 539 positive cases of coronavirus in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Tuesday announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country effective from midnight to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease, which spreads rapidly.

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News Network
June 20,2020

Bhopal, Jun 20: A senior BJP MLA in Madhya Pradesh tested COVID-19 positive hours after he cast his vote for the Rajya Sabha polls in the state and attended party meetings, an official said on Saturday. The legislator's wife has also tested positive for the infection, he said.

Voting for three Rajya Sabha seats in the state took place on Friday.

The couple's test reports came on Friday night and the news of the MLA's infection triggered panic among other MLAs with some of them reaching hospitals to get themselves tested.

"The MLA and his wife were found infected with COVID- 19 in the tests conducted by a private laboratory. We are examining their condition and making a decision whether they need to be hospitalised or home quarantined," a health department official told.

He said that the MLA's contact tracing has been initiated.

"Further tests are also being conducted," he said.

He is the second legislator in Madhya Pradesh, who was tested coronavirus positive.

Earlier, a Congress MLA was found infected. He had voted for the Rajya Sabha polls on Friday after reaching the state assembly complex wearing a PPE suit.

Talking to , a member of the BJP MLA's family said that the medical team was called on Friday afternoon for the COVID-19 test after the legislator's wife complained of uneasiness.

"The MLA and his wife gave the samples to the medical team for the COVID-19 tests on Friday afternoon and they were told at night that both of them have tested positive for the infection," he said.

After the news of BJP MLA testing positive spread, a senior BJP MLA from Mandsaur, Yashpal Singh Sisodiya, reached government-run J P Hospital here along with two other party MLAs.

Talking to reporters, Sisodiya said, "I came here along with two other MLAs from our division- Dilip Makwana (Ratlam Rural) and Devilal Dhakad (Garoth)- after we came to know through media and social media that one of the MLAs from our division has tested positive for COVID-19."

"We don't have any symptoms, but came to test for COVID-19 as a precautionary measure," he said.

Dhakad said that he came for testing as he had dined with the MLA two days back.

Talking to , Madhya Pradesh State Assembly's Principal Secretary A P Singh said that all the precautionary measures were taken during the Rajya Sabha polling.

"All employees were in safety gears during the Rajya Sabha election process. The assembly campus was being sanitised every 15-20 minutes during the polling process...We are now going through the CCTV footage to trace those who had come in his contact," he said.

Congress MLA and former minister P C Sharma said that those who came in contact with the BJP legislator should be traced and quarantined.

"The employees and MLAs who came in contact with him during the voting process should be tested," Sharma said.

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