I had been saying all 39 others were dead: Lone survivor Harjit Masih

Agencies
March 20, 2018

Chandigarh, Mar 20: Harjit Masih, the lone survivor who had managed to flee from ISIS captivity in Iraq in June 2014 following his abduction along with 39 other Indians there, today said he had been maintaining for the last three years that all others had been killed.

"I had been saying for the last three years that all 39 Indians had been killed (by ISIS militants)," Masih today said.

"I had spoken the truth," asserted Masih, resident of village Kala Afghana in Gurdaspur district of Punjab.

Masih was one of the 40 Indian workers abducted by ISIS militant outfit.

His statement came after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today informed the Parliament that all the 39 Indian workers, abducted by ISIS in Iraq nearly three years ago, were killed and their bodies have been recovered.

Masih said they were killed in front of my eyes and I had been saying all these years, wondering why the government was not accepting what he had said earlier.

Giving details of the incident, Masih said that Indians were working at a factory in Iraq in 2014.

"But we were kidnapped by militants and kept hostage for some days," he said.

On the fateful day, they were made to sit on their knees and the militants then opened fire upon them.

"I was fortunate to have survived though a bullet hit my thigh and I fell unconscious," he said.

He, however, managed to return to India after giving a slip to the ISIS militants suffering gun wound.

As many as 39 Indians, who had gone to Iraq to earn their livelihood, had been missing since 2014.

Among them, several were from Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Jalandhar in Punjab.

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News Network
April 9,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 9: Kerala, which was among the first state in the country to report a Corona positive case, has turned its entire public healthcare system into a single interconnected grid to generate uninterrupted information and provide flawless services, thanks to the daily zoom or video conferences of top health authorities for chalking out a dynamic strategy to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

The daily zoom or remote conferences held by Health Minister K K Shailaja and top health sector officials with the medical and paramedical personnel on the ground have lent a cutting edge to the state government’s all out efforts in monitoring the situation on the ground and formulating effective responses to address the various needs and concerns of the people, an official release said on Thursday.

The Minister is joined in this meticulous exercise by top administrators and planners, including Dr Rajan N Khobragade, Principal Secretary, Health; Dr. Rathan U Kelker, State Mission Director, National Health Mission, Dr Saritha, Director of Health Services, Dr Ramla Beevi, Director of Medical Education and other senior officials.

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News Network
January 22,2020

New Delhi, Jan 22: The BJP on Wednesday cited statements of several opposition leaders to accuse them of "abusing" Hindus for their appeasement politics and referred to the Congress as "Muslim League Congress".

Seeking apologies from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said leaders of these parties have used the ongoing protests against the amended citizenship law to "abuse" Hindus.

Chavan has said in a public meeting that the Congress decided to join hands with the Shiv Sena to form government in Maharashtra as Muslims wanted the party to stop the BJP, Patra stated, claiming that it shows the opposition party has nothing to do with people belonging to other religions, including Hindus.

Patra also referred to a statement from an NCP leader to attack the opposition.

Asked about Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge's reported jibe at the RSS for its "non-participation" in the freedom movement, the BJP leader shot back, asking if parents of Sonia Gandhi, who is of Italian origin, had fought in India's independence struggle.

The Indian National Congress, he said referring to the opposition party's full name, should be called "Muslim League Congress".

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Keshu
 - 
Thursday, 23 Jan 2020

LOL...this is a waste body

This guy cannot even debate with Kanaiah kumar.

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News Network
May 6,2020

New Delhi, May 6: Around 39 crore people have received financial assistance of Rs 34,800 crore amid the COVID-19 lockdown under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) as on May 5, the government said in a statement.

These people received the assistance, which was announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on March 26 to protect them from the impact of the lockdown due to COVID 19, via digital payment infrastructure.

The swift implementation of the free food grain and cash payment package under PMGKP is being continuously monitored by Central and state governments. Also, Fintech and digital technology have been employed for swift and efficient transfer to the beneficiary.

As per the data provided by the government, Rs 16,394 crore front-loaded towards payment of the first installment of PM-KISAN was provided to 8.19 crore beneficiaries.

Rs 10,025 crore credited to 20.05 crore (98.33 per cent) women Jan Dhan account holders as first installment and Rs 2,785 crore credited to 5.57 crore women in the second installment.

Further, Rs 1,405 crore was disbursed to about 2.82 crore old age persons, widows and disabled persons and Rs 3,492.57 crore financial support was given to 2.20 crore building and construction workers.

Moreover, foodgrain has been distributed, covering 60.33 crore beneficiaries in all 36 Union Territories and states till April and 12.39 crore beneficiaries by 22 states/UTs for May. Pulses have been distributed so far to 5.21 crore household beneficiaries out of 19.4 crore such beneficiaries.

Over 5 crore cylinders have been booked under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) and 4.82 crore free cylinders already delivered to beneficiaries.

While 9.6 lakh members of Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has taken benefit of online withdrawal of non-refundable advance from EPFO account amounting to Rs 2,985 crore, 24 per cent EPF contribution transferred to 44.97 lakh employees account amounting to Rs 698 crore.

In the current financial year, 5.97 crore person's man-days of work generated under MNREGA scheme and Rs 21,032 crore were released to states to liquidate pending dues of both wage and material.

Insurance scheme for health workers in government hospitals and health care centres has been operationalised by New India Assurance covering 22.12 lakh health workers.

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