US provides nearly USD 5.9 million in health assistance to India on COVID-19
Washington: The US has provided nearly USD 5.9 million in health assistance to India to contain the spread of COVID-19, the State Department has said.
The amount is being used to help India hinder the spread of the disease by providing care for the affected, disseminating essential public health messages to communities and strengthen case-finding and surveillance, it said on Thursday.
The assistance is also being used to mobilize innovative financing mechanisms for emergency preparedness and response to this pandemic.
"This builds on a foundation of nearly USD2.8 billion in total assistance, which includes more than USD1.4 billion in health assistance, the United States has provided to India over the last 20 years," it said in a update of the US efforts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The State Department and the US Agency for International Development have now committed nearly USD 508 million in emergency health, humanitarian, and economic assistance.
This is on top of the funding the US has already provide to multilateral and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that are helping communities around the world deal with the pandemic.
Coronavirus cases in India on Thursday crossed 13,000, while 420 people have died of the disease in the country.
In South Asia, America's COVID-19 assistance has gone to Afghanistan (USD18 million), Bangladesh (USD9.6 million), Bhutan (USD500,000), Nepal (USD1.8 million), Pakistan (USD9.4 million) and Sri Lanka (USD1.3 million).
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
