Centre not providing adequate aid to Kerala: Rahul

Agencies
August 29, 2018

Kochi, Aug 29: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused the Centre of not providing adequate assistance to flood-hit Kerala, saying he was "sad" about the BJP-led NDA government's approach on the issue.

Gandhi also said that he was in favour of accepting foreign aid from countries like the UAE for rebuilding the flood-ravaged southern state.

"Central government support is the right of the flood-affected people of Kerala... but I am sad that the Centre hasn't given as much aid to the state," Gandhi told reporters here.

When asked about the central government's stand of refusing aid offer from foreign nations, he said, "If somebody is giving unconditional money to reduce the pain of the people of Kerala, I myself will take it".

He said it was his take on the matter.

Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to flood-affected regions of Kerala, said he was not here for "politicising the situation."

He said he had spoken to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday on the flood situation in the state.

Gandhi said the sense he had got from the relief camps he visited in various districts in the state on Tuesday was that the assistance promised by the state government should be delivered speedily.

"I think it is very important that the government gives the sense to the people that it is going to build houses, give a sense of the potential timeline for doing that, I think there is a need for counselling.

"I also think that the compensation that has been promised, Rs 10,000 should be given speedily. There is a feeling in the camps that that has not been done yet," he said.

Noting that Kerala has suffered a "tremendous tragedy," the Congress president said his role was to be with the people of the state. Gandhi cancelled his visit to rain-hit Wayanad in view of bad weather and left for Idukki district to visit the flood-affected areas there.

He had assured the flood-affected people yesterday that his party would bring pressure on the central and state governments to provide compensation which they 'owe' to the affected people. Visiting the flood-ravaged areas of Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts yesterday, he had also urged party workers to actively participate in relief and rehabilitation operations and help the people to make their ravaged houses livable.

Arriving in Kerala yesterday morning, Gandhi spoke to people at relief camps, days after the deadliest deluge in the last 100 years left a trail of destruction and claimed 474 lives in rain-related incidents since May 29 when the monsoon set in over the state.

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News Network
June 22,2020

Geneva, Jun 22: The global count of coronavirus cases has surpassed 8.7 million, with 183,020 new cases recorded on Sunday, the World Health Organisation said in its daily situation report.

Over the last 24 hours, 4,743 people died from COVID-19 worldwide, taking the death toll to 461,715 fatalities, according to the report.

The cumulative global toll of confirmed cases has now reached 8,708,008, as stated in the report.

The WHO Regional Director for Europe, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, shared that Europe accounts for 31 per cent of COVID-19 cases and 43 per cent of COVID-19 deaths globally.

Dr Kluge highlighted that several countries continue to face increasing disease incidence and that "preparing for the autumn is a priority now at the WHO Regional Office for Europe"

The United States continues to be worst affected by the contagion with the highest count of cases and fatalities -- 2.2 million and 118,895, respectively.

The novel coronavirus was declared a pandemic by WHO on March 11.

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News Network
April 2,2020

Chandigarh, April 2: A 59-year-old woman and her 10-month-old granddaughter have tested positive for novel coronavirus in Chandigarh on Thursday.

According to the Chandigarh Health Department, they are family contacts of the NRI couple that tested positive for COVID-19 earlier.
With this, the total cases in the Union Territory rose to 18.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country climbed to 1,965 on Thursday, after as many as 328 new cases were reported, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. So far, at least 50 people have lost their lives due to the virus.

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News Network
March 5,2020

New Delhi, Mar 5: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan assuring that the government has the coronavirus crisis under control, is like the Titanic captain telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday.

Gandhi's remarks came after Vardhan's assurance in Parliament that the government is taking all necessary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) in India.

“The health minister saying that the Indian government has the coronavirus crisis under control, is like the Captain of the Titanic telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable,” Gandhi said in a tweet.

“It's time the government made public an action plan backed by solid resources to tackle this crisis,” he said.

RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York.

Gandhi has been raising concerns over the coronavirus infection since long. In a February 12 tweet, he had said coronavirus is an extremely serious threat to “our people and our economy”.

“My sense is the government is not taking this threat seriously. Timely action is critical,” he had said.

Earlier this week, Gandhi had hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the detection of fresh coronavirus cases in the country, saying he should quit wasting India's time “playing the clown” with his social media accounts when India is facing an emergency.

With the message of “Here's how it's done”, Gandhi had also tweeted a video of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong addressing Singaporeans on how to deal with the coronavirus.

The number of coronavirus cases in India is 29, including 16 Italians, the government had said on Wednesday, adding all international passengers will now be screened at airports, amid growing concern over the spread of the respiratory infection.

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