First African-American woman Nobel laureate Toni Morrison dies at 88
New York: Toni Morrison, the first African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature and one of America's best loved writers, has died following a brief illness, her family said in a statement Tuesday. She was 88.
"It is with profound sadness we share that, following a short illness, our adored mother and grandmother, Toni Morrison, passed away peacefully last night surrounded by family and friends," they said.
"Although her passing represents a tremendous loss, we are grateful she had a long, well lived life," the statement added, describing her as "the consummate writer who treasured the written word."
Morrison wrote 11 novels, many of them touching on life as a black American, in a glittering literary and award-laden career that lasted over six decades.
She also penned numerous essays, poems and speeches and was often referred to as America's "conscience" for her poignant takes on race and human rights, never afraid of commenting on the day's weightiest political issues.
She won the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award in 1988 for her 1987 novel "Beloved." Set after the American Civil War in the 1860s, the story centered on a slave who escaped Kentucky to the free state of Ohio.
The book was later turned into a film starring Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey. Morrison received numerous other accolades including the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993.
In 1996, she was honored with the National Book Foundation's Medal of Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
In 2012, Barack Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and in 2016 she received the PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction.
"She was a great woman and a great writer, and I don't know which I will miss more," Robert Gottlieb, Morrison's longtime editor at Knopf publishers, said in a statement sent to AFP.
Sonny Mehta, chairman of Knopf, said he could "think of few writers in American letters who wrote with more humanity or with more love for language than Toni."
"Her narratives and mesmerizing prose have made an indelible mark on our culture. Her novels command and demand our attention. They are canonical works, and more importantly, they are books that remain beloved by readers," he said.
Morrison was born in Ohio on February 18, 1931. "The Bluest Eye," her first novel, was published in 1970 when she was almost 40 years old.
She followed up with "Sula" in 1973, going on to publish another nine novels, including the acclaimed "Song of Solomon" in 1977 which won the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Her writings touched many, including Obama who recalled reading "Song of Solomon" as a child "and not just trying to figure out how to write, but also how to be and how to think." Morrison's life was also touched by tragedy. In 2010 her son Slade died of pancreatic cancer aged just 45.
She spent time as an editor at Random House and taught at Princeton University. Morrison died at the Montefiore Medical Center in New York on Monday.
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13 lakh litres of 'Rail Neer' supplied to train passengers daily: Government
New Delhi (PTI): Approximately 13 lakh litres of packaged drinking water -- 'Rail Neer' -- are being supplied to train passengers across the railway network daily, the government informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Wednesday.
Apprising the Lower House about the Indian Railways' endeavour to provide safe and potable drinking water facilities at all stations, the government also provided zone-wise details of the water vending machines (WVMs) installed there.
"To ensure the quality of drinking water being made available at the railway stations, instructions exist for periodical checking and required corrective action to be taken.
"Regular inspection and maintenance of drinking water facilities is carried out and complaints are attended to promptly," Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said while responding to a question raised by BJP MP Anup Sanjay Dhotre seeking to know the supply of drinking water at railway stations across the country
"Complaints regarding deficiency in services, including water supply, are received through various channels such as public complaints, web portals, social media, etc. These complaints are received at various levels, including the Railway Board, zonal railways, division office, etc.," Vaishnaw said.
"The complaints so received are forwarded to the concerned wings of Railways and necessary action is taken to check and address them. As receipt of such complaints and action taken thereon is a continuous and dynamic process, a centralised compendium of these is not maintained," he added.
Providing zone-wise details of water vending machines, the minister said 954 such machines have been installed across railway stations.
"The Indian Railways also provides safe and affordable packaged drinking water bottles -- Rail Neer -- approved by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in trains and at stations," Vaishnaw said.
"Approximately, 13 lakh litres of Rail Neer are being supplied per day to the travelling passengers in trains and at stations across the Indian Railways network," he added.
