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UK minister Priti Patel receives Pravasi Bharatiya Samman

[email protected] (Agencies)
March 28, 2017

London, Mar 28: Priti Patel, Britain's senior-most Indian-origin minister, has vowed to champion the interests of the Indian Diaspora and work for strengthening the Indo-UK ties as she received her 'Pravasi Bharatiya Samman' at a ceremony here.

priti

The minister for international development had been conferred the honour by President Pranab Mukherjee in January.

The award is the highest honour conferred on overseas Indians and Patel has been awarded for her "exceptional contribution to national and international politics, her role in strengthening UK-India relations, and for supporting the Indian Diaspora in the UK".

"It is a tremendous honour and privilege to be given the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award. This is one of the highest honours a member of the Indian Diaspora can receive and I am humbled and grateful to have been given this award," Patel said while receiving the award from Indian High Commissioner to the UK Y K Sinha at the Indian High Commission here.

"I have had the pleasure of working closely with so many members of the diaspora here in the UK and with the Indian government over a number of years. The relationship between our two great countries is getting stronger by the day as we trade more and share more cultural ties," the 44-year-old Conservative leader said.

"The Indian Diaspora in the UK are fantastic at keeping this relationship strong and work hard every day to support the UK and India reach our potential," she noted.

Patel expressed her "personal gratitude" to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, describing her as a "remarkable lady" who is very supportive of the Diaspora.

"This great award serves as an inspiration to me to carry on standing up and championing the interests of the Diaspora and working to strengthen the UK's relationship with India," said Patel, who also credited former British Prime Minister David Cameron for appointing her as the first-ever Indian Diaspora Champion in the previous UK Cabinet.

The Indian high commissioner described the Conservative party MP as an "important friend" of India.

"We are very proud that someone of Indian-origin has achieved the eminence that she has in the UK," Sinha said.

The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman is presented annually at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, held in Bengaluru this year.

Other 2017 awardees included Nisha Desai Biswal, the former US Assistant Secretary of State, and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Luis Santos da Costa.

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Agencies
March 15,2020

Tehran, Mar 15: Two hundred and thirty-four Indians stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran have arrived in India, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday.

The batch comprises 131 students and 103 pilgrims, he said.

“234 Indians stranded in Iran have arrived in India; including 131 students and 103 pilgrims. Thank you Ambassador Dhamu Gaddam and @India_in_Iran team for your efforts. Thank Iranian authorities,” Jaishankar tweeted.

The third batch of Indians from Iran arrived early Sunday. A second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims had arrived from Iran on Friday.

Iran is one of the worst-affected countries by the coronavirus outbreak and the government has been working on plans to bring back Indians stranded there.

The first batch of 58 Indian pilgrims were brought back from Iran on Tuesday.

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Agencies
August 5,2020

Paris, Aug 5: French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday said France will deploy a civil security detachment and several tonnes of medical equipment to Lebanon, whose capital was hit by an explosion that left over 70 people dead and thousands injured.

"Emergency doctors will also reach Beirut as soon as possible to strengthen hospitals. France is already engaged," the French President said in a tweet.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, also extended his deepest condolences to all those affected by the "massive explosion at the port of Beirut."

"We are closely monitoring and stand ready to assist the people of Lebanon as they recover from this tragedy. Our team in Beirut has reported to me the extensive damage to a city and a people that I hold dear, an additional challenge in a time of already deep crisis. 

We understand that the Government of Lebanon continues to investigate its cause and look forward to the outcome of those efforts," he said in a statement.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his country is ready to provide support in any way it can.

"The pictures and videos from Beirut tonight are shocking. All of my thoughts and prayers are with those caught up in this terrible incident. The UK is ready to provide support in any way we can, including to those British nationals affected," Johnson said.

Israeli people share the pain of their Lebanese neighbours after a devastating blast in the port of Beirut and reach out to offer their aid, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said on Tuesday.

"We share the pain of the Lebanese people and sincerely reach out to offer our aid at this difficult time," Rivlin said on Twitter.

Over 70 people have been killed while thousands of others were wounded in the massive explosion on Tuesday in Beirut which shattered buildings and caused widespread damage.

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News Network
May 15,2020

May 15: Global deaths linked to the novel coronavirus passed 300,000 on Thursday, while reported cases of the virus are approaching 4.5 million, according to a news agency tally.

About half of the fatalities have been reported by the United States, the United Kingdom and Italy.

The first death linked to the disease was reported on January 10 in Wuhan, China. It took 91 days for the death toll to pass 100,000 and a further 16 days to reach 200,000, according to the Reuters tally of official reports from governments. It took 19 days to go from 200,000 to 300,000 deaths.

By comparison, an estimated 400,000 people die annually from malaria, one of the world’s most deadly infectious diseases.

The United States had reported more than 85,000 deaths from the new coronavirus, while the United Kingdom and Italy have reported over 30,000 fatalities each.

While the current trajectory of COVID-19 falls far short of the 1918 Spanish flu, which infected an estimated 500 million people, killing at least 10% of patients, public health experts worry the available data is underplaying the true impact of the pandemic.

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