Jammu flood tolls climbs up to 160, Rajnath assures help

September 6, 2014

Srinagar, Sep 6: The toll in the Jammu and Kashmir floods has risen to 160 as the floods, the worst the state has seen in 60 years, affected a staggering 2,500 villages, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Saturday said as he assured help to deal with the grim situation.jk flood

Rajnath Singh told the media at the Jammu airport that "160 people have lost their lives in these floods".

"Floods of this magnitude have hit Jammu and Kashmir after 60 years." He said 2,500 villages were affected, out of which 450 were completely submerged.

The union minister arrived in the state earlier in the day on a day's visit to take stock of the flood situation.

Rajnath Singh said in Srinagar that he had met Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and senior officials who briefed him about the severity of the situation.

"If there is so much devastation in the city, I wonder what would be the situation like in rural areas," said Singh, who had to cancel an aerial tour because of inclement weather.

"I want to assure the people and the government of Jammu and Kashmir that the central government stands besides you in your hour of crisis and we extend all necessary help to you," he said. The home minister was accompanied by Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Jitendra Singh.

The chief minister told him the state's top most concern was the safety of human lives and to evacuate those trapped in submerged areas.

But he also said that paddy, maize, vegetables and fruit crops over a large area have been destroyed. He said the public infrastructure and private property besides residential houses were damaged.

Commissioner Secretary Revenue and Relief Vinod Koul, earlier in the day, said that 390 villages were submerged in the Valley, while 1,225 were partially affected. He said in Jammu region alone, 1,000 villages were affected by the flood waters.

He said that 50 bridges, hundreds of kilometers of roads and power installations units were damaged and a final assessment could be made only after the flood waters receded. He added that the state urgently needs 25,000 tents and 40,000 blankets.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Noida, Jan 6: A fire broke out at the ESIC Hospital in Noida on Thursday morning and firefighting was underway, officials said.

The blaze broke out in the basement of the seven-storey hospital building located in Sector 24, a police official said.

Fire tenders were rushed to the spot after the Fire Department was alerted about it around 8 am, the official said.

After that, a search was done to see if anyone was trapped in the building, he said.

The cooling process is now underway.

He said the fire had engulfed the ground, first and second floors of the building, except the basement.

Police said they received information about fire at Kaveri printing press at 2:45 am, when the manager Yogesh called them. The press owners have been identified as Atul and Anuj Goyal, residents of Sukhdev Vihar, they said.

The man who died in the fire has been identified as Phool Dev, from Bihar, who used to work as a help there. Dev went inside the building in the night to sleep before the fire started and died due to suffocation, the fire department official said.

The body has been kept at Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital and the post-mortem will be done once the family reaches here, police said.

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News Network
February 1,2020

New Delhi, Feb 1: Air India's jumbo B747 plane, evacuating 324 Indian nationals from the novel coronavirus-hit Wuhan in China, landed here on Saturday morning, officials said.

The plane reached Delhi around 7.30 am, they said.

There were five doctors from Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital and one paramedical staff on board, said an Air India spokesperson.

The Indian Army has set up a quarantine facility in Manesar near Delhi to keep those evacuated from China's Hubei province.

Officials said they would be monitored for any signs of infection for a duration of two weeks by a qualified team of doctors and staff members.

"With 324 passengers, special flight has taken off for India from Wuhan. It may reach Delhi at 7.30am," said the Air India spokesperson at 1.19 am on Saturday.

The flight had departed from Delhi airport at 1.17 pm on Friday to evacuate Indian nationals from China, where more than 250 people - none of them Indian - have died due to novel coronavirus.

On Friday evening, the Air India spokesperson had stated that another special flight may take off from Delhi airport on Saturday to evacuate Indians from Wuhan.

The death toll from the novel coronavirus outbreak in China has risen to 259 with total confirmed cases surging to 11,791 amid stepped up efforts by a number of countries to evacuate their nationals from Hubei province, the epicentre of the virus, officials said on Saturday.

About Friday's flight, the spokesperson had said earlier during the day, "A team of five doctors from RML hospital, one paramedical staff from Air India, with prescribed medicines from doctors, masks, overcoats, packed food are in the aircraft. A team of engineers, security personnel are also there in this special aircraft. Whole rescue mission is being led by Captain Amitabh Singh, Director (Operations), Air India."

The spokesperson had added that there were five cockpit crew members and 15 cabin crew members on Friday's flight.

Before departure at Delhi airport, Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani had said, "No service will take place in the plane. Whatever food is there will be kept in seat pockets. As there will be no service, there will be no interaction (between cabin crew and passengers)."

"Masks have been arranged for the crew and passengers. For our crew, we have also arranged a complete protective gear," he had added.

"Total five doctors from the Health Ministry are also going... The plane will be there (at Wuhan airport) for 2-3 hours," Lohani had said.

Air India has done such evacuations earlier also from countries such as Libya, Iraq, Yemen, Kuwait and Nepal.

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News Network
February 1,2020

New Delhi, Feb 1: India on Friday banned the export of personal protection equipment such as masks and clothing amid a global coronavirus outbreak.

It did not give a reason for the ban but it reported its first case of the new coronavirus on Thursday, a woman in Kerala who was a student of Wuhan University in China.

The central Chinese city of Wuhan is the epicentre of the outbreak, and the virus has since spread to more than 9,800 people globally and killed 213 people in China.

Several Indian citizens living in Wuhan will arrive in India by plane on Saturday and be taken to a quarantine centre on the outskirts of the capital New Delhi.

India, the world’s second most heavily populated country after China, has taken measures to ensure that all people arriving from China report to health authorities.

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