Kerala: 8 close contacts of Nipah victim test -ve
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Eight samples from close contacts of a 12 -year-old boy who died of the Nipah virus on Sunday, tested negative on Tuesday, said state health minister Veena George in Kozhikode (north Kerala), adding that five results are expected by evening from National Institute of Virology (Pune).
“It is a great relief for us. Among the eight are the boy’s parents and medical officials. We will localise and contain the outbreak as we did in 2018,” said the minister.
Kozhikode has reported a Nipah infection for the second time in three years--in 2018 the virus claimed 17 lives in the district.
The minister said the health department is observing all 251 contacts of the boy who dies of the virus--54 among them are in the high risk category-closely.
The government had also suspended the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination drive in Kozhikode and its outskirts in view of the new threat.
“Efforts are on to trace the source of infection. Experts have recovered half-eaten rambutan fruits from the boy’s house. They also found a fruit bat habitat near their house,” the minister said, adding a team from the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases Laboratory from Bhopal will be in the city soon. Fruit bats are considered to be main carrier of the virus.
DEHRADUN: Cadets from Afghanistan undergoing precommission training at the Dehradun-based Indian Military Academy (IMA) “are worried for their families but will continue their training”, union minister of state for defence and tourism Ajay Bhatt said here on Tuesday.
Bhatt, however, added that any decision on their fate will depend upon India’s policy towards the new regime in Afghanistan.
Bhatt shared the information while interacting with media persons in Dehradun on the concluding day of his seven-day tour of his home state.
He had visited the army training institute on September 3.
“During the visit to IMA, I spoke to its officials about Afghan cadets in the academy. I was apprised that they are continuing their training as routine but are worried for their families back home.
“They all hail from good families. However, as their elected government has collapsed, any decision on them will depend upon the Indian government’s policy towards the new regime,” said Bhatt.
On questioned whether the IMA will continue training programme of Afghan cadets following the return of Taliban in power in the war-torn country, he said, “It will all depend on the Centre’s policy towards the new regime.”
HT earlier reported on August 16 that there are over 80 Afghan cadets undergoing training at IMA.
Lauds army’s “reply” to Chinese troops at LAC
The minister also spoke on border tension between India and China in Ladakh at the Line of
Actual Control (LAC) by lauding the “reply” given by the Indian army to Chinese troops after a clash between the two in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed.
“With the kind of reply our forces gave to them, they now very understood that this is not the old India but a new one which will give a befitting reply if poked unnecessarily. In that clash, the Chinese troops also lost their men of which you all (media) know the numbers very well than me,” said Bhatt.
“Due to the firm stance of our troops at the border, both have now moved back from the disputed region in a mutual understanding.
“However, we have not given up our claim on the actual border without losing any land. This was even confirmed by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leading a Parliamentary Action Committee (PAC) after visiting Pangong Lake in Ladakh which was part of the border tension.”
Lauding the “stamina” of Indian troops, the minister took a jibe at the Chinese troops saying, “The climatic conditions at the LAC are very tough with extreme cold. But our troops remained there with high morale while the enemy troops couldn’t tolerate them and moved back. This proved that there is much energy in our ‘roti’ than their noodle which they eat.”
No ordnance factory will be privatised
Bhatt also assured the employees of the existing 41 government-run ordnance factories that “they won’t be privatised and will remain under the government only”.
“For better management, the Centre is creating seven Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSU)s by merging the 41 factories. But some Opposition parties misled about 1.50 lakh employees of these factories that the move is to privatise the factories that is totally wrong.
All of them will remain under government with no change in their salaries and other monetary benefits of their jobs. Even after this if they have any doubts, and then they can come to defence minister Rajnath Singh or me for clarification,” said Bhatt.
He added that the Centre through a recently passed Act restricted the employees from going to strike to ensure that the supply of defence equipment to our troops at the frontline is not hindered amid the border tensions with the enemy countries.
“The Act is not to snatch their rights. The restriction is for only a year with a clear sunset clause in the Act which suggests that after completion of one year, it will be dissolved. The employees should not have any doubt in their minds that the government will take any step against their welfare,” said Bhatt.
“During the visit to IMA, I spoke to its officials about Afghan cadets in the academy. I was apprised that they are continuing their training as routine but are worried for their families back home AJAY BHATT , union minister of state for defence
Army saving ₹7cr per day due to Atal Tunnel During the event, he also hailed road construction projects of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in the higher reaches of the country.
“The BRO has been doing exemplary work in the construction of roads in the border areas. Recently they had made the highest motorable road in Ladakh’s Umling La at an altitude of 19,300ft. Similarly, the Centre has also constructed many tunnels to enable easy movement of troops in all weather conditions.
The recently inaugurated Atal Tunnel is saving ₹7cr per day for the army as it has cut short the route to Ladakh,” said Bhatt.