Poonam Khetrapal re-elected in WHO
New Delhi, Sep 5 : Poonam Khetrapal Singh on Wednesday was elected as Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia for a second five-year term, World Health Organisation said.
Singh's candidature was unopposed, as the 11 member countries of WHO South-East Asia Region met at the ongoing Regional Committee session held here to elect the next Regional Director, the global health body said in a statement.
Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda who chaired the Regional Committee meeting said: "She will surely lead the region to greater heights. Her commitment to the public health agenda in the member states was reflected in all flagship priorities of the region."
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that she had brought a delivering results in countries -- a key theme of WHO's new General Programme of Work and of WHO's transformation project.
Thanking the member states for electing her, Singh said:"My vision is to consolidate, accelerate and innovate to further strengthen progress in the priority areas and translate vision into action."
Singh will commence her next five-year term on February 1, 2019.
She served in the health sector in various senior positions during her stint in the Indian Administrative Services and in the World Bank.
She also worked in WHO Director-General's cabinet in Geneva, as the Executive Director of Sustainable Development and Healthy Environments in WHO headquarters and was Deputy Regional Director WHO South-East Asia Region from 2000-2013.
As per WHO procedures, the WHO Executive Board, which next meets in Geneva in January 2019 is expected to confirm Khetrapal Singh's nomination and appoint her as the Regional Director.
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Noida student's death: Family cries foul, police says autopsy confirms drowning
Noida (PTI): The family of a 21-year-old university student, who drowned at an abandoned construction site in Noida, Thursday alleged foul play saying there were marks on his body even as the police confirmed drowning as the cause of death.
According to a police statement, sand and water were found in the lungs of the deceased, identified as Harshit Bhatt, while his viscera has been preserved for further examination.
Bhatt, a final-year Bachelor of Physical Education student of the private university and a resident of Indirapuram in Ghaziabad, had drowned on Wednesday in a water-filled area at the abandoned construction site in Sector 94, under Sector 126 police station limits.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Noida) Saad Miyan Khan said the student had gone to the site along with four friends to celebrate the end of their examinations.
"During the outing, Bhatt entered a nearby water-filled pit to bathe and suddenly drowned," the officer said, adding that the incident was reported to Dial-112 by one of his companions.
Police and PRV personnel rushed to the spot and, with the help of local divers, retrieved him from the water and rushed him to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
Khan said other students who had entered the water in an attempt to rescue him were safely pulled out and are stable.
Meanwhile, Bhatt's mother has alleged that there were black marks on his body, raising suspicion over the incident.
Police, however, said no formal complaint has been received from the family so far and action will be taken if any complaint is lodged.
An eyewitness, who assisted in the rescue, said he and others rushed to the spot after hearing cries for help and managed to pull out two students.
"They told us it was their last exam and they had come for a party. One of them went deeper into the water while bathing," the eyewitness said.
