Mazagon Dock rebuilding Kerala anganwadis
Thiruvalla (Kerala) Aug 26 : Officials from the Mumbai-based Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL) were working overtime to make sure that water-logged anganwadis in the worst affected Kerala districts were getting cleaned up, a company executive said here on Sunday.
Led by former naval captain Ramesh Babu, seven officials from MDSL, representatives of the 15th Kerala Battalion, NCC and volunteers of the Mar Thoma College have cleaned up more than a dozen anganwadis and a few schools in the state's central districts of Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta.
The Logistics Skill Council of India has provided the transportation arrangements of the MSDL team. MSDL had first started this initiative in Kozhikode. It donated Rs 1 lakh and over 200 kits comprising all the cleaning materials.
"But later we realised that it was the central districts that needed more attention. We arrived here on August 16 and have been engaged in the cleaning operations ever since," said Babu, presently a General Manager at MDSL.
He said their main aim was to clean up all the anganwadis but were flooded with calls from various organisations to clean up schools also.
"We have agreed that we will support them, but on condition that when these organisations clean up the schools, they should clean the nearest anganwadi too," added Babu.
The Gujarat and Nasik Malayalee Associations have sent the ration for these anganwadis. Ever since monsoon rains began lashing Kerala since May 29, a total of 417 people have died.
This month, unprecedented floods caused widespread destruction and forced more than a million people to flee their homes to take shelter in relief centres.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday evening said over 6.05 lakh people were still sheltered in 1,822 camps.
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.
2 Indians killed, 10 injured in drone attack on Oman's industrial hub of Sohar
New Delhi (PTI): Two Indian nationals were killed and 10 others injured in a drone strike in Oman's Sohar city on Friday that marked the first Indian fatalities on land since the Iran-US conflict erupted on February 28.
Joint secretary (Gulf) in the Ministry of External Affairs Aseem Mahajan confirmed the killing of the two Indians in Oman at an inter-ministerial media briefing on the crisis in West Asia.
He also said that 150,000 Indian nationals have returned to India from West Asia after the conflict began.
"I wish to share with you an incident that happened in Sohar city today. There was an attack and in this incident two Indian nationals have died," he said.
"We express our deepest condolences to their families. Of the 11 injured (in the attack), 10 are Indians. Out of them, five have been discharged after receiving treatment, and five others are receiving treatment in local hospitals," Mahajan said.
"None of them is reported to have serious injuries. Our mission is in close touch with the concerned company and local authorities and is rendering all assistance," he said.
While Mahajan did not provide specific details of the attack, the Oman News Agency (ONA) reported that two drones crashed in Sohar, with one hitting the Al Awhi Industrial Zone and claiming the lives of the two expatriate workers.
These latest casualties brought the total number of Indian fatalities in the West Asia conflict to five. While the strike in Oman marked the first deaths on land, three Indian sailors have previously been killed in attacks on merchant vessels since the conflict erupted on February 28.
In the last few days, India has ramped up its diplomatic efforts to ensure safety and security of 10 million Indian nationals living in West Asia.
India has also been making efforts to secure safe passage for over 20 Indian-flagged merchant vessels currently stationed on either side of the Strait of Hormuz.
In his remarks, Mahajan also said that 15 Indian crew members of the US-owned oil tanker Safesea Vishnu were safely evacuated to a hotel in Basra city.
The tanker came under attack near Basra in Iraq on Wednesday. An Indian crew member was killed in the attack.
Efforts were underway to transport the mortal remains of the deceased to India , he said.
Mahajan said the Indian mission in Basra is also trying to ensure safe repatriation of the 15 Indian crew members to India.
The senior official said 150,000 Indian nationals returned from West Asia.
Around 2,900 Indians returned from Qatar in Qatar Airways flights over the past few days, and 1,000 Indians who returned from Bahrain.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said 117 Indian nationals have crossed over to Armenia from Iran through land border crossings and several of them have returned to India already.
We told all sides to adopt the path of dioplomacy and dialogue to resolve it the conflict as soon as possible, he said at the briefing.
We are also talking to BRICS member states so that a consensus evolves on this issue, he said.
_vb_33.jpeg)
