Wayanad landslide figures in RS discussions
New Delhi (PTI): The landslides in hills of Wayanad in Kerala that killed many and injured scores figured in the Rajya Sabha discussions on Tuesday with the Left and the Congress demanding that the Centre extend financial and other assistance to the state.
Leader of the House and Union Health Minister J P Nadda said it is a very big tragedy and the central government, in coordination with the state government, is pro-actively working to provide relief and carry out rescue operations.
He said the first task is to remove the bodies and save those injured.
Responding to concerns raised by Opposition members, Nadda said all efforts will be put in place to deal with the natural tragedy.
"If there is any suggestion... that we have to improve something in our action, please do that. We are together," he said.
John Brittas of Kerala CPI (M), Abdul Wahab (IUML), Jose K Mani of Kerala Congress (M), and A A Rahim of CPI (M) were among the MPs who expressed concerns and made suggestions to deal with the suggestion.
Earlier, soon after the listed papers were laid on the table of the House, opposition MPs were up on their feet, seeking to raise the issue.
Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, who rejected notices under rule 267 given by some opposition MPs, seeking suspension of the listed business to take up a discussion on the issue, said all attempts are being made by the state government and the Centre and the Prime Minister has already spoken to the chief minister and some ex-gratia has been announced.
But the Opposition MPs wanted permission to raise their concerns and place demands.
"Every member is concerned. Our country is one," Dhankhar said as the MPs persisted with their demand.
As the Congress and the Left MPs rose in their places, he asked, "What will you discuss?"
"Right now all you want to do is express concern," he told the MPs.
He stated before the start of the proceedings, four MPs had come to him seeking time to raise the Kerala tragedy in the House.
"At the moment, all that can be done is we can express solidarity," he said as he disallowed MPs from raising the issue.
Leader of the Opposition and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the landslide that happened around 2.30 am is "a very painful situation" and agencies are acting in tandem for relief and rescue efforts.
He wanted an MP hailing from the region to be allowed to speak on the issue.
As MPs continued to insist, Dhankhar relented and allowed MPs to briefly speak on the tragedy.
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.
Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
