'Parents of missing Indian toddler want other child back from authorities'

Manila, Apr 13: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday tripled the size of its response to novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic to 20 billion dollars and approved measures to streamline its operations for quicker and more flexible delivery of assistance.

The package expands ADB's 6.5 billion dollars initial response announced on March 18, adding 13.5 billion dollars in resources to help ADB's developing member countries counter the severe macroeconomic and health impacts caused by COVID-19.

The 20 billion dollar package includes about 2.5 billion dollars in concessional and grant resources.

"This pandemic threatens to severely set back economic, social, and development gains in Asia and the Pacific, reverse progress on poverty reduction and throw economies into recession," said ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa.

"Our expanded and comprehensive package of assistance, made possible with the strong support of our board, will be delivered more quickly, flexibly and forcefully to the governments and the private sector in our developing member countries to help them address the urgent challenges in tackling the pandemic and economic downturn," he said in a statement.

ADB's most recent assessment released on April 3 estimates the global impact of the pandemic at between 2.3 and 4.8 per cent of gross domestic product. Regional growth is forecast to decline from 5.2 per cent last year to 2.2 per cent in 2020.

The new package includes the establishment of a COVID-19 pandemic response option under ADB's countercyclical support facility.

Up to 13 billion dollars will be provided through this new option to help governments of developing member countries implement effective countercyclical expenditure programs to mitigate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular focus on the poor and the vulnerable.

Grant resources will continue to be deployed quickly for providing medical and personal protective equipment and supplies from expanded procurement sources.

Some 2 billion dollars from the 20 billion dollar package will be made available for the private sector. Loans and guarantees will be provided to financial institutions to rejuvenate trade and supply chains.

Enhanced microfinance loan and guarantee support and a facility to help liquidity-starved small and medium-sized enterprises, including those run by female entrepreneurs, will be implemented alongside direct financing of companies responding to or impacted by COVID-19.

The response package includes a number of adjustments to policies and business processes that will allow ADB to respond more rapidly and flexibly to the crisis. These include measures to streamline internal business processes, widen the eligibility and scope of various support facilities and make the terms and conditions of lending more tailored.

All support under the expanded package will be provided in close collaboration with international organisations, including the International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Health Organisation, UNICEF, other UN agencies and the broader global community.

Washington, Mar 26: Indian-American hoteliers have come forward to rescue the stranded Indian students in the US following implementation of lockdown measures in the country in response to the rapidly-spreading coronavirus pandemic, offering them free accommodation and free meals.

With the students scrambling for a roof over their heads after being asked to vacate their hostels and India banning international flights for a week from March 22 due to the coronavirus pandemic, more than 6,000 rooms in nearly 700 hotels were offered to them by Wednesday following a call from the Indian Embassy.

The Indian Embassy have been running a round-the-clock helpline since last week for the students in the US, who number over 2,50,000.

Most of these hotels offered are in and around universities and colleges, but the hotel owners from across the country have come up in large numbers to the call given by community leaders, who have roped in Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) for the purpose.

India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu said in a tweet, "It is heartening to see that Indian; Indian-American and other hotel owners are coming forward to help people with accommodation in these testing times. Together we can overcome the fight against COVID19!"

"The Indian community has come together to help the student and many hotel owners have offered their rooms free of cost to them. Many of them are also offering free meals to these students," Chicago-based community leader Nirav Patel told PTI.

Indian-American hotelier couple K K Mehta and Chandra Mehta have offered more than 100 rooms to Indian students at their two prime properties each near the Times Square and Barclays Center in New York City, said Jaipur Foot USA chairman Prem Bhandari on behalf of the hotels.

The Indian Consulate in New York had contacted them about this 10 days ago, he said.

"These students are the future of both India and the United States. All the top Indian-American CEOs, scientists and doctors came to this country as a student. It's our moral duty to help them with our resources," Bhandari said.

Regional director of AAHOA Upper Midwest Kalpesh Joshi said they had created a master list of the availability hotel rooms, which was being constantly updated.

Free accommodation would be allocated in coordination with the Indian Embassy and its consulates, he said.

"The Indian Embassy and its consulates are working tirelessly to get these students rooms," he added.

Joshi has also sent out a video message to his hotelier colleagues: "Because of the coronavirus outbreak, our Indian students in the US are out of shelter. Let's work together. As a hotelier, I would like to request all my hotelier friends to come forward... let's provide some rooms to the students."

Boston-based Computer Society of India (North America) has collaborated with AAHOA to help students and Indian IT professionals searching for emergency accommodation due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

Anyone who is having financial hardship will be given hotel accommodation either free of cost or the rates will not be more than USD 50, said the Computer Society of India (North America).

Minesh Patel, the chairman of Virginia Asian American Store Association, said between Richmond, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach, Indian-American hotel owners can help in arranging accommodation for over 500 Indian students.

Florida-based Vipul Patel, the national president of Asian American Store Owners Association, said support for the Indian students have been pouring in from the Indian-American hoteliers.

"I have not come across any hotel owner who said no to us," Patel said.

Rooms would be allocated to students on the recommendation of the Indian Embassy and its consulates in Houston, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco and New York.

The Indian Consulate in New York was the first to take a lead in this regard. It has worked with Hammock Worldwide Hotels and Resorts to provide temporary accommodation for the students at a flat rate of USD 50 per night.

Joshi said that initially there was a suggestion to charge a convenience fee of USD 20-25 per day from the students.

"But when a few of them offered free rooms and free meals, everyone agreed to it," he said.

According to Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker, the number of deaths caused by the novel coronavirus in the US rose to 1,031 with 68,572 confirmed cases. The US has the third highest number of confirmed cases behind China and Italy.

London, Apr 22: The toll from coronavirus in the United Kingdom has jumped above 18,000 after 759 more deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, the Department of Health and Social Care announced in a statistical bulletin on Wednesday.

In total, 18,100 people have died in the UK hospitals after contracting COVID-19 as of 16:00 GMT on Tuesday.

A further 4,451 new cases of the disease were reported over the preceding 24 hours up to 08:00 GMT on Wednesday, the ministry said. The total number of cases reported since the start of the outbreak now stands at 1,33,495.

On Tuesday, the Office of National Statistics published a report stating that the coronavirus disease death toll as of April 10, when accounting for deaths in care homes and private residences, was 41 per cent higher than the government's figures.

In parliament on Wednesday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock stated that the United Kingdom has reached the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak, praising the social distancing measures enforced in the country.