30 kids die at hospital due to oxygen shortage in Yogi’s constituency

Agencies
August 11, 2017

Lucknow, Aug 11: Thirty children, mostly new born, died allegedly owing to shortage of oxygen at BRD Medical College Hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur town, the Lok Sabha constituency of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, about 275 kilometres from here.

According to the sources, the victims included ten children, who were admitted to the neonatal ward, and a similar number of children admitted to the Encephalitis ward in the hospital. The deaths had taken place in the past 36-hours, sources said adding that the figure could increase.

Sources said that the hospital had been facing shortage of oxygen after the company that supplied the cylinders stopped supplying them following alleged non-payment of its bills amounting to around rs. 70 lakh. 

The company had threatened to stop supply the oxygen cylinders if the bills were not paid immediately. A panicky hospital administration reportedly paid the bills on Friday morning and the supply resumed thereafter but by then the damage had been done. 

Chief medical superintendent of the hospital R.S.Shukla admitted that some children had died owing to the shortage of oxygen but he refused to specify the number of deaths.

''Some children...mostly new born have died in the hospital owing to various reasons, including lack of oxygen,'' Shukla told reporters on Friday.

''It is indeed a very serious issue and a through probe will be conducted into it to ascertain if there was laxity on the part of the hospital administration...we will take stern action,'' he added.

Eye witnesses said that chaos prevailed at the encephalitis and neonatal ward since Thursday night after the hospital ran out of oxygen cylinders. The hospital administration made some alternative arrangements but the supply came to a complete halt around midnight.

They said that around ten children had died on Thursday while ten others breathed their last on Friday.

Cries of wails of the grieving parents pierced the corridors of the BRD Medical College, which was the only centre for treatment of encephalitis in the entire Gorakhpur division. It catered to patients from the districts of Basti, Kushinagar, Deoria, Siddharth Nagar, Maharajganj, the bordering districts of Bihar and even from Nepal.

Sources said that as many as 100 children had died from encephalitis in the hospital since the beginning of this year. Around 200 children were still undergoing treatment there.

Ironically Adityanath had visited the hospital on Wednesday to have a first hand assessment of the arrangements there.

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Agencies
January 21,2020

New Delhi, Jan 21: With the IMF lowering India's economic growth estimate for the current fiscal to 4.8 per cent, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday claimed an attack on the world body and its chief economist Gita Gopinath by government ministers was imminent.

He also alleged that the growth figure of 4.8 per cent given by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is after some "window dressing" and he won't be surprised if it goes even lower.

"Reality check from IMF. Growth in 2019-20 will be BELOW 5 per cent at 4.8 per cent," Chidambaram said in a series of tweets.

"Even the 4.8 per cent is after some window dressing. I will not be surprised if it goes even lower," the former finance minister said.

IMF Chief Economist Gopinath was one of the first to denounce demonetisation, he noted.

"I suppose we must prepare ourselves for an attack by government ministers on the IMF and Dr Gita Gopinath," Chidambaram said.

The IMF lowered India's economic growth estimate for the current fiscal to 4.8 per cent and listed the country's much lower-than-expected GDP numbers as the single biggest drag on its global growth forecast for two years.

In October, the IMF had pegged India economic growth at 6.1 per cent for 2019.

Listing decline in rural demand growth and an overall credit sluggishness for lowering of India forecasts, Gopinath, however, had said the growth momentum should improve next year due to factors like positive impact of corporate tax rate reduction.

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News Network
January 13,2020

New Delhi, Jan 13: The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) has alleged that the varsity administration has blocked the registration of 300 students on the basis of 'fake Proctor inquiries'.

The union had on Saturday asked students of the university to pay their academic tuition fee but not the hiked hostel fee.

"Today the Vice Chancellor first blocked the fee payment portal and then blocked the payment of tuition fees. It is clear that the VC was lying through the teeth when he said students want to register but are not being allowed to by protesters," JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh said.

She said the VC has also blocked the registration of 300 students based on fake proctor enquiries which are not even completed.

"The truth is that it is the administration which does not want students to register and is blocking their registration," she said.

JNUSU vice president Saket Moon said that in the meetings held in HRD ministry, it was decided that the administration would take a lenient view on the students' protest and not take action against them.

He said many students, who opened the portal for registration found they had been academically suspended and could not register.

He said the JNUSU had softened its stand by saying that they would register by paying the old fees but that has been kept on hold.

On Sunday, the administration extended the date for the winter semester registration till January 15.

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News Network
February 1,2020

New Delhi, Feb 1: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday greeted the Indian Coast Guard on its raising day, appreciating its efforts to keep the country's coasts safe.

The Coast Guard came into being in 1977.

"Greetings to the Indian Coast Guard on their foundation day. Our Coast Guard has made a mark due to their remarkable efforts to keep our coasts safe," Modi tweeted.

The prime minister said the force's "concern towards the marine ecosystem is also noteworthy".

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