RSS chief Bhagwat to address World Hindu Cong

Agencies
September 4, 2018

Washington, Sept 4: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will be a keynote speaker at the World Hindu Congress, a gathering of Hindu leaders from across the globe in Chicago later this week, the organisers said.

More than 2,500 delegates from 80 countries are scheduled to participate in the three-day World Hindu Congress (WHC) in Chicago from September 7 to 9. Bhagwat in his keynote address is likely to focus on the theme of the conference Sumantrite Suvikrante or Think Collectively, Achieve Valiantly.

The RSS chief is expected to underscore the need of the Hindu community spread across the globe to unite and think alike for the good of the mankind, former IITan Swami Vigyananand, and the brain behind the mega event, said.

"The idea of the WHC is to unite and gain strengthen the Hindu society and with that look after the interest of the society as well as help other deprived, marginalised communities of the world," Swami Vigyananand told PTI in response to a question. He insisted that this is not a religious conference.

"The conference is neither religious nor philosophical. The conference is focused on community issues. It is focused on issues that are relevant to the progress of any community in the modern time," Vigyananand said.

Over three days, more than 250 speakers along with over 2,5000 delegates from over 80 countries would hold brainstorming sessions over seven parallel conferences: economic, education, media, organisational, political, and women and youth. These parallel conferences would also showcase the values, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit of the global Hindu community, he said.

The WHC is a global platform for Hindus to connect, share ideas, inspire one another, and impact the common good, said Abhaya Asthana, convener for the Congress. He is also the president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America

The congress offers Hindus an opportunity to introspect towards improvement and tap into our collective resources to seek tangible solutions to the most pressing issues of the 21st century, he said.

In addition to Bhagwat, other prominent speakers at the conference are likely to be the Dalai Lama, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Ashwin Adhin (Vice President of Suriname), RSS joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, MIT professor S P Kothari, Mohandas Pai, Anupam Kher, Raju Reddy, Swami Paramatmananda Saraswati, Chandrika Tandon, Prof Subhash Kak, and angel investor Raju Reddy.

Among top speakers at the economic conference are Mukesh Aghi, president of US India Strategic partnership Forum, former vice chair of NITI Aayog Arvind Panagariya, Mahindra group president Dilip Sundram, Daniel Bryant from Walmart, Rajesh Sundaram from Federal Express, and Ed Monser from Emerson Electric.

Other prominent speakers at the conference are Anupam Kher, Vivek Agnihotri, Madhur Bhandarkar, Amish Tripathi, and Francois Gautier. On the eve of the Congress, renowned classical musician wife-husband duo of Kavita Krishnamurti and Dr L Subramaniam would perform live for the delegates.

Meanwhile, the newly formed Coalition for the Defence of the Constitution and Democracy has announced that it will hold a press conference in New York on September 6 to lodge its protest against the WHC.

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News Network
April 16,2020

Islamabad, Apr 16: The number of coronavirus cases in Pakistan topped 6000 while the death toll due to the virus has reached 117, Dawn reported citing official data on Wednesday.

Over 1,446 people have recovered in the country from the deadly virus that has killed over 1.3 lakh people worldwide.

The total number of cases in the country has reached 6297 with Punjab being the worst affected province with 3,016 cases. Meanwhile, Sindh has 1,688 cases of the deadly virus.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has reported 47 new cases of the coronavirus, taking the provincial total to 912. Most of the new cases are of Tableeghi Jamaat members who have travel history.

Balochistan has reported four new cases of COVID-19, taking the provincial total to 281 according to provincial government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced the extension of the nationwide lockdown with relaxation to some sectors.

Addressing the media in Islamabad on Tuesday, Khan said, "We made the hard decision of imposing lockdown in the country which was very well implemented due to cooperation of the people."

The countrywide lockdown was imposed last month in a bid to stem the spread of coronavirus. Later, a two-week extension was announced in the restrictions until April 14.

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News Network
January 24,2020

Beijing, Jan 24: As China stepped up measures to control the spread of coronavirus, locking down Wuhan and Huanggang cities in the Hubei province where several Indians live, the Indian Embassy here has set up hotlines for their assistance.

Chinese officials assured all assistance, including food supply, to the Indians who stayed put in the province, the Indian Embassy here said in a press release on Thursday.

Wuhan and its surrounding area became the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak as the confirmed cases climbed to over 600 mostly from the city and the province with 17 deaths so far.

China has virtually sealed Wuhan and Huanggang cities, halting all public transport, including flight services, and advised people to stay at home and follow the precautions. The two cities put together have a population of over 17 million people.

Chinese officials said the measures have been taken to prevent the spread of the virus to other cities and the world.

Concerns arose for India too as about 700 Indian students, mostly studying medicine in different Chinese universities, resided in Wuhan and its neighbouring areas.

While many of them were believed to have left home for the Chinese New Year holidays, others remained in the city to complete their academic work. However, the exact number is not yet known.

“The Embassy of India has been receiving queries from Indians in Hubei province as well as their relatives in India in connection with the evolving situation of coronavirus infection in China,” the embassy press release said.

The embassy is in touch with relevant Chinese authorities in Beijing and Wuhan as well as Indians in Hubei Province, especially in Wuhan, it said.

“We are closely monitoring the evolving situation in China, including the advisories issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO),” the embassy said.

According to the embassy, Chinese authorities have assured all assistance to residents of Wuhan, including food supply.

“At present, it is reported that supermarkets (particularly those that are government-run) and e-commerce services, including food delivery, continue to remain operational in Wuhan,” it said.

The embassy has started two hotlines for those who wish to get in touch with the Mission in this regard in the following phone numbers:              +8618612083629 and +8618612083617.

“All are advised to also keep track of the embassy's social media accounts (Twitter:@EoIBeijing; Facebook: India in China) for updates on this evolving situation,” the release said.

Meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign ministry said all assistance would be provided to consular officials of the foreign missions to ensure the safety of the foreigners in the country.

Asked whether China would consider any request from the respective countries to move their citizens out of Wuhan, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, “We always help foreign consular officials in China in their official jobs, we offer them all the assistance and convenience necessary and we work to guarantee foreign citizens' legitimate rights and interest in China.”

He said while specific detailed would be provided by local officials, China in principle, has always handled issues according to domestic laws, international laws and bilateral consular agreements.

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News Network
February 22,2020

Johannesburg, Feb 22: To meet shortage of skilled nursing staff, private hospitals in South Africa are recruiting senior Indian nurses for their good work ethics and ability to become efficient trainers for the local staff, according to a media report.

A report at a 2018 jobs summit indicated that the country had a shortage of more than 47,000 nurses.

The shortage of the skilled nursing staff has been attributed to several factors, including preference of highly qualified nurses to emigrate or take up contract employment in countries such as the UK, the United Aarb Emirates, Saudi Arabia or New Zealand for want of higher salaries, a report in the weekly Business Times said.

Mediclinic, one of South Africa's largest private hospital groups, confirmed that it is recruiting 150 nurses from India this year.

“To supplement our training, as an internal strategy, we will continue to recruit senior registered nurses from India,” a Mediclinic spokesperson told the Business Times.

Mediclinic started recruiting nurses from India in 2005 but could not provide details about how many among the more than 8,800 nurses it employs at its hospitals are from India.

Another company, Life Healthcare SA, said it employed 135 Indian nurses between 2008 and 2014.

Top managements at the hospital groups lauded senior Indian nurses as being very efficient trainers for local staff.

“But we find that many of them prefer coming here on short-term contracts due to family commitments," a hospital executive said on the basis of anonymity.

The official said that the few who apply for long-term positions are usually young newly-qualified nurses, which is not the group in demand.

“They work hard, with a patient-oriented work ethic, and do not have the nine-to-five approach of many local nurses, especially those who are unionised," the official said.

“We would be very happy to take in more nursing staff from India," the official added.

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