Sushma Swaraj arrives Doha on four day visit to Gulf

Agencies
October 29, 2018

Doha, Oct 29: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived Doha in Qatar on Sunday beginning her two-nation visit to the Gulf region.

During her stay, Ms Swaraj will call on Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani and will hold delegation level talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

She will also interact with the Indian Diaspora. Qatar hosts about seven lakh Indians who form the largest expatriate community there.

"Qatar is a reliable energy partner, supplying more than 50 per cent of India’s natural gas imports. Our bilateral trade with Qatar in 2017-18 was US$ 9.9 billion," an MEA statement said.

Ms Swaraj will subsequently travel to Kuwait on Tuesday where she will meet Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and other dignitaries.

The External Affairs Ministry had said that the visit by External Affairs Minister is in pursuit of India's objective of enhanced engagement with the Gulf region, which is in India's extended neighbourhood.

The visit has gained importance especially in the wake of ongoing developments on oil import from Iran vis-a-vis US Sanctions.

An MEA statement issued here on Friday had described both Qatar and Kuwait as "reliable energy partners".

"For an enhanced engagement with India's extended neighbourhood. EAM Sushma Swaraj emplanes for the first leg of a four day visit to the Gulf region," MEA spokesman Raveesh Kumar tweeted on Sunday.

Ms Swaraj will visit Qatar and Kuwait "to take forward discussions and decisions for strengthening the bilateral relationships", he wrote.

The visit is expected to provide an opportunity to hold in-depth discussions with the political leadership on a wide range of global, regional and bilateral issues.

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News Network
January 22,2020

New Delhi, Jan 22: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has assets worth Rs 3.4 crore, an increase of Rs 1.3 crore from 2015, according to his election affidavit.

Kejriwal's total assets were worth Rs 2.1 crore in 2015.

The cash and fixed deposits of Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal increased from Rs 15 lakh in 2015 to Rs 57 lakh in 2020.

A party functionary said Rs 32 lakh worth cash and fixed deposits have been received by Sunita Kejriwal as voluntary retirement benefits while the rest are savings.

The cash and fixed deposits of the chief minister increased from Rs 2.26 lakh in 2015 to Rs 9.65 lakh in 2020.

There was no change in the value of immovable assets of his wife while Kejriwal's immovable assets' worth increased from Rs 92 lakh to Rs 177 lakh.

The party functionaries said increase in Kejriwal's immovable assets' worth is due to the increased valuation of the same asset as in 2015.

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News Network
January 28,2020

Kolkata, Jan 28: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee Tuesday said she is ready for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of Citizenship Amendment Act but the Centre has to first withdraw the contentious law.

Banerjee said protesting against the decisions of the centre doesn't make opposition parties anti-national and iterated that she will not implement CAA, NRC or NPR in the state.

"It is good that the prime minister is ready for talks but the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) must be revoked first. They (Centre) did not call an all-party meeting before taking a decision on Kashmir and CAA.

"We are ready for talks but first withdraw this Citizenship Amendment Act," Banerjee, a staunch critic of the BJP, said addressing a protest programme against CAA through paintings.

The West Bengal assembly had on Monday passed a resolution against the CAA to become the fourth state after Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan, to do so. The state assembly had on September 6, 2019, passed a resolution against the NRC.

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Agencies
May 30,2020

New Delhi, May 30: The COVID-19 pandemic has left the Indian private healthcare sector in acute financial distress, a new survey said on Friday adding that the healthcare facilities in the country have witnessed at least 80 per cent fall in average revenue.

Post the lockdown from March 24, Indian hospitals have seen a large impact, especially among small and medium-sized hospitals, which are now facing existential challenges.

The survey by healthcare industry body NATHEALTH was conducted in 251 healthcare facilities across nine states and 69 cities to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the domestic healthcare industry.

The findings showed that 90 per cent of the surveyed healthcare facilities are facing financial challenges with 21 per cent facilities facing an existential threat.

"There is a need for a stimulus package to revive the Indian healthcare industry which will be crucial to provide much-needed relief to the healthcare sector which is the frontline defence in this fight against COVID-19," said Dr Sudarshan Ballal, President NATHEALTH.

According to the survey, hospitals in tier 1 and tier 2 cities are experiencing a 78 per cent reduction in OPD footfalls, and a drop of 79 per cent in in-patient admissions.

The study found that 90 per cent of organisations require some form of financial assistance.

The findings indicated that even after the lockdown lift, the situation will remain difficult for the hospitals and nursing homes as patients will hesitate from visiting hospitals.

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