India sends mobile field hospital, over 70 medical personnel to cyclone-hit Sri Lanka
Colombo (PTI): India has sent a mobile field hospital and over 70 medical personnel to Sri Lanka as part of its continuing humanitarian assistance following the devastating floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone Ditwah, the Indian mission here said on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka has been grappling with widespread flooding, landslides and severe infrastructure collapse, leaving several districts isolated and severely straining the country's disaster-response capacity.
As of Tuesday, 465 people have been killed, with 366 missing, in catastrophic floods and landslides caused by extreme weather conditions since November 16.
The Indian High Commission in a social media post said India has sent a "rapidly deployable field hospital" along with over 70 medical personnel to provide urgently required healthcare support in disaster-affected areas.
Citing a social media post by PRO Defence Jammu, it said an Indian Air Force C-17 Globemaster aircraft airlifted the para field hospital, along with equipment and 73 medical personnel from Agra, and landed in Colombo on Tuesday evening to augment ongoing relief efforts.
IAF Mi-17 helicopters have also been operating continuously, airlifting more than eight tonnes of relief material and evacuating 65 survivors, including foreign nationals, critically ill patients and a pregnant woman.
Indian rescue teams are also conducting operations across multiple sites, the mission said.
In Badulla on Tuesday, a National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team recovered another body in an “exceptionally difficult” operation, with remains located beneath layers of compacted debris.
Search efforts at the site are continuing with “determination and compassion,” it said.
NDRF teams deployed in the Sedawatta and Nadeegama areas near Colombo have rescued more than 43 people so far, and continue to save those trapped in floodwaters ranging between 8 and 10 feet, the High Commission said in a social media post on Tuesday.
Under ‘Operation Sagar Bandhu’, Indian teams are prioritising the evacuation of the most vulnerable to ensure every life is brought to safety, it said.
India launched 'Operation Sagar Bandhu' last month, a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) initiative, to aid Sri Lanka in its recovery from the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
