Facebook donates Rs 1.75 crore for Kerala flood victims
New Delhi, Aug 20: Social networking giant Facebook is donating $250,000 (nearly Rs 1.75 crore) for relief work in Kerala, which has been battered by torrential rains, floods and landslides, leaving over 300 dead amid massive destruction, the company said on Monday.
Facebook will donate the money through the Community Resilience Fund for GOONJ -- a Delhi-based non-profit organisation that is leading the relief and recovery efforts in the impacted localities.
"In the last few days, Facebook along with the power of the community, has helped reach out to people through features such as Live, creating Page, joining community and raising funds," a Facebook spokesperson told IANS.
"The smallest of all things we have done is that our global community has contributed $250,000 for Goonj fund," she added.
Kerala has seen unabated rains since August 8, causing one of the worst floods in its history that has until now claimed over 300 lives and rendered thousands homeless.
People across Facebook have created "Groups", "Live Videos" and "Pages" to raise funds to mobilise support and help the worst affected.
The groups created include those facilitating communication and relief to victims, such as coordinating transportation and medical attention; IT professionals gathering information about people who need to be rescued and sharing it with emergency officials and doctors who are offering medical tips to those affected by the floods.
On August 9, the Facebook community activated its feature "Safety Check", allowing people to let their friends and family know that they were safe.
The "Help and the Crisis Donate Button" on the platform has garnered more than 1,300 posts from the affected areas. The posts were asking for help and also for offering things like shelter, food, water, transportation and volunteer work.
So far, nearly 500 people have donated using the Crisis Donate Button.
Importantly, several people who were left stranded used Facebook Live to ask for rescue after being unable to reach authorities.
More than 1,200 people have used Facebook's "Community Help" to ask for and request help, including food, water, transportation and shelter.
The disaster maps on Facebook have helped National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and relevant NGOs to mobilise rescue and support efforts.
These Maps track people's movement and demarcate between the affected (flood-hit) and safe zones. This has also helped the government to identify places, where rescue and relief is required.
"Facebook is the largest community of volunteers, donors, and activists coming together to make the world a better place. We will continue to monitor and assess needs in the region. Together, the Facebook community is championing humanity and helping those in distress," the networking giant said in a statement.
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Bengaluru: Four arrested in prostitution racket; four women rescued
Bengaluru (PTI): Four people, among them two women, were arrested for running a prostitution racket from rented houses in parts of the city, police said on Monday.
With their arrest, police also rescued four women who were allegedly forced into prostitution, they said.
The arrests were made following tip-offs received by the Central Crime Branch’s Women Protection Unit on different dates, indicating that prostitution activities were being carried out in rented houses located in Padmanabhanagar, RK Layout, Sundarnagar, and NGF Layout, police said.
Based on information provided by informants, raids were conducted at these locations on different dates, they said.
“During the operations, four women involved in prostitution were rescued. In connection with the case, a total of four individuals, among them two women who were allegedly forcing others into prostitution, were taken into custody,” a statement issued by the office of Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh said.
Upon interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed that they contacted men seeking prostitution services over the phone and arranged for them to visit rented houses, where illegal activities were carried out for monetary gain, it said.
Cases have been registered against the accused at Subramanyapura, Jalahalli, and Jnanabharathi police stations, and further investigation is in progress, police added.
