Kathmandu: India has donated 28 ICU ventilators to Nepal to support its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the Indian Embassy here said on Sunday.

Nepal has so far reported 194,453 cases of coronavirus and 1,108 deaths related to it.

Government of India has donated 28 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) ventilators to Nepal government to support in its fight against COVID - 19, the embassy said in a statement.

The ventilators were handed over by Indian Ambassador Vinay M Kwatra to Nepal's Minister for Health Bhanubhakta Dhakal, the statement said. Earlier also India had gifted COVID - 19 test kits, ventilators and medicines to Nepal government to help in its efforts to control the infection.

During the handing over ceremony, Ambassador Kwatra reiterated India's solidarity with the Government and the people of Nepal in their fight to contain the pandemic, and reaffirmed India's commitment to provide all necessary help in this regard, the statement said.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Jabalpur (PTI): The body of a child was retrieved on Saturday evening from Bargi Dam in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy that took place two days ago to ten, while search continued for three missing tourists.

The boat, operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening with some of the survivors alleging negligence and safety lapses such as life jackets not being distributed in time. 

The body recovered on Saturday evening was possibly that of six-year-old Viraj Soni, said Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra. 

"The identity will be confirmed after family members identify the body," he told PTI. 

Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory at Khamaria, his five-year-old son Tamil, and another child Mayuram (5) who had come from southern India were still missing. 

Authorities have arranged equipment to search deep waters of the dam and are getting a generator to facilitate diving operations, Mishra added. 

Divers and disaster response teams have expanded the search radius to five km, he said.

Of the 41 identified passengers on board the ill-fated vessel, 28 were rescued, police said. 

More than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, joined the search operation that resumed at 5 on Saturday morning. The operation, involving the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, was briefly affected at around 9 am due to strong winds, officials said.

Post-mortem examinations of nine deceased persons have been completed, Mishra said. 

"Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will also register a First Information Report in the case soon," he said. 

Police said CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat while the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far.

The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the tragedy and dismissed three crew members. It also banned operation of similar vessels in the state.