Punjab CM defends state officials' meeting with Kejriwal
Chandigarh(PTI): Facing criticism over a meeting of Punjab officials with AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday said it is he who is calling the shots in the state and rejected the accusations that his government is being run through "remote control" from Delhi.
Mann said it was he who sent officials for the meeting with Delhi CM Kejriwal and will continue to send them to other states to learn anything that can be implemented in his state.
Newly elected AAP government in Punjab had come under fire from opposition parties, who had described the meeting as an interference in the state affairs and the breach of federalism.
The Punjab CM was called a "rubber stamp" by former chief minister Amarinder Singh.
"I am taking all decisions," Mann told reporters in Jalandhar while defending the meeting.
When asked that he was not present in the meeting held by Kejriwal with state officials in Delhi, Mann said, "I had sent them. For training, the same officers had gone to Gujarat and for training they had gone to Tamil Nadu. If we have to send them to Israel for Punjab's benefit, I will send them there too."
"In coming days, I will send my officers to Delhi, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu," he said.
"If I find something good in West Bengal, then I will send my officers there. If I find something good in Gujarat, I will send them there too," added Mann.
He said the "good news" about which he had indicated earlier will be announced on April 16.
"Then you will say keep sending them," he said, asking the opposition parties not to criticise just for the sake of criticism.
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5-year-old girl in Kerala dies of infection caused by brain-eating amoeba
Malappuram (Kerala): A five-year-old girl afflicted by amoebic meningoencephalitis, a rare brain infection caused by a free-living amoeba found in contaminated waters, in Malappuram district of Kerala died, official sources said on Tuesday.
The child hailing from Moonniyur panchayat here died on Monday night at the Kozhikode Medical College's Institute of Maternal and Child Health, where she was undergoing treatment for over a week, they said.
According to medical experts, the infection is caused when free-living, non-parasitic amoebae bacteria enter the body through the nose from contaminated water.
The girl had taken bath in a nearby pond on May 1 and by May 10, and showed symptoms of fever, headache and vomiting, the sources said.
The child was on a ventilator and unresponsive to medication. Other children who also took bath along with the girl in the same pond were under observation. However, they were discharged after being found to be free of infection, sources added.
The disease was earlier reported in coastal Alappuzha district in the state in 2023 and 2017.
The main symptoms of the disease are fever, headache, vomiting, and seizures.
