Canada to provide 10 mn dollars to India to support fight against COVID-19: PM Trudeau
Ottawa: Canada will provide 10 million dollars to India to support the country in its fight against the unprecedented second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced.
Addressing a press conference, Trudeau said that Minister of Foreign Affairs Marc Garneau had direct conversations with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar about how Canada can best help, including the donation of extra medical supplies.
We are also ready to provide 10 million dollars through the Canadian Red Cross to the Indian Red Cross, the Prime Minister said.
This will support everything from ambulant services to buying more Personal Protective Equipment locally, he said.
If you want to donate to the emergency efforts on the ground, go to redcross.ca As a world, we are in this fight together, Trudeau said.
About the talks between the Foreign Affairs Ministers of both the countries, he said: We are there to support in any ways we can, and those conversations are very much ongoing .
It's something that Canadians are extremely concerned about as we see the terrible and tragic images coming out of India.
We know that we need to be there for our friends. And indeed, we need to be there for everyone around the world because we don't get through this pandemic anywhere until we get through it everywhere, Trudeau said.
Earlier, Foreign Affairs Minister Garneau said on Twitter that he spoke to his Indian counterpart Jaishankar about the COVID-19 situation in the country and conveyed Canada's solidarity with the people of India.
This morning, I spoke with @DrSJaishankar to convey Canada's solidarity with the people of India as they face this deadly wave of #Covid19. Canada is exploring all options to support India's urgent needs. We are ready to assist, he said in a tweet.
India is struggling with a second wave of the pandemic with more than 3,00,000 daily new coronavirus cases being reported in the past few days, and hospitals in several states are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds.
India saw a record single-day rise of 3,60,960 coronavirus cases, which pushed the total tally to 1,79,97,267, while the death toll crossed two lakh following 3,293 fresh fatalities, the health ministry said on Wednesday.
The death toll stands at 2,01,187, it said.
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Karnataka village switches off TVs, mobiles for two hours daily to help students study
Belagavi: Every evening at 7 pm, a siren rings out in Halaga, a village near Belagavi, signalling residents to switch off all screens including televisions, mobile phones, laptops and tablets for the next two hours.
The community has voluntarily adopted this “digital-free time” to help students focus on studies and to encourage families to spend more time talking to each other. The 'digital detox' initiative, 'No TV, no mobile, just study and conversation', is said to be the first such to be adopted by a Karnataka village, Deccan Herald reported on Monday.
According to the report, Halaga, which has a population of about 12,000 and is located close to the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, launched the initiative on December 17. A siren installed at the gram panchayat office marks the start of the no-screen period at 7 pm, and another siren at 9 pm signals its end.
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Gram panchayat authorities are reaching out to those residents who are yet to comply and are urging them to stay away from screen during the two hours.
Authorities are also visiting households that have not fully adopted the practice and are encouraging parents to follow the routine strictly. Teachers and panchayat members plan to continue meeting families to ensure more participation.
The Halaga village exercise is said to be inspired by a similar experiment in Agran Dhulgaon near Sangli in Maharashtra which had a positive response on students' learning habits.
