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100 more doctors mobilised for tsunami relief

     New Delhi: The Union Secretary for Health and Family Welfare, P.K. Hota has said that about 106 doctors (consisting of 33 physicians including 6 psychiatrists and 25 public health specialists have been mobilized by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in the wake of the Tsunami. Addressing a press conference jointly with the Union Secretary for Information and Broadcasting, Navin Chawla, P K Hota said that these doctors have been deployed mostly in Andaman and Nicobar islands (62) but also in other parts of the country which were affected by tsunami. In addition 20 staff nurses and 73 paramedics have been sent to the islands. These doctors are in addition to the Army Medical Corps and the local health specialists.

     According to a press release, the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss and the Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Smt. Panabaka Lakshmi have both visited the affected areas in the south and are monitoring the dispatch of manpower and medicines to the Andaman and Nicobar islands. The control room in the Nirman Bhavan is continuing to function round the clock and coordinating the relief activities. Rs. one crore worth of emergency medicines have been supplied to Pondicherry, Andaman and Nicobar islands and Kerala. About Rs. 80 lakhs worth of medicines have been dispatched to Andaman and Nicobar islands. Rs. one crore has been placed at the disposal of Government of Tamilnadu to procure emergency medicines. A few cases of measles have been reported from 29.12.2004 in Cuddalore and Puduchattiram village, which appears to be not a result of Tsunami as per information available. The occurrence suggests that the incubation period is prior to Tsunami. A central team stationed at Pondicherry including members from ICMR is at the site to investigate the incidence. Immunization against measles is going on in the affected areas with the assistance of UNICEF, WHO.

Sting's special gig for tsunami victims (Go To Top)

      Sydney: British singer Sting is staging a special performance at Western Australia's Leeuwin Estate next month to raise funds for the tsunami victims. According to the News.com, Sting has agreed to perform for free during the two-hour concert at the renowned Margaret River winery venue on February 10 and all proceeds, which are expected to cross over one million dollars, will go towards the South-East Asian relief effort. "We made an invitation to (Sting) to come down and perform here in lieu of Sri Lanka; a charity concert for the benefit of people who have lost everything up there and I got an immediate response from his tour manager with the thumbs up," Leeuwin Estate owner Tricia Horgan , was quoted as saying. She added that the money raised from the concert will be divided among the major aid agencies working in devastated areas, with a large chunk being directed to UNICEF, for whom Sting's wife, Trudie Styler, is an ambassador.

Angelina Jolie vows to visit Tsunami-hit areas  (Go To Top)

     London: Angelina Jolie has reportedly vowed to visit the tsunami hit South East Asia during the UK premiere of Oliver Stone's epic 'Alexander'. The actress who is also the UN goodwill ambassador said that she would visit Sri Lanka as soon as it is possible for her. "I'm hoping to go to Sri Lanka in the next two or three months, whenever I can," she was quoted by Anannova as saying.

Tsunami relief matches to get official ODI status, says ICC (Go To Top)

     Sydney: The ICC has decided to award official ODI status to the two tsunami relief cricket matches between the World XI and the Asia XI, the international cricket body chief Ehsan Mani announced. Mani said that the decision was confirmed by a vote of the ICC Executive Board due to the exceptional nature of the matches in which players from all ICC full member countries are available to play. While the first match is scheduled to be played on January 10 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), the second is to be played in Asia, venue of which is still to be finalised.

Indonesian official tsunami death toll jumps to 113,000 (Go To Top)

     Jakarta: Indonesia's official earthquake and tsunami death toll jumped by nearly 20,000 people Friday to 113,306, the citing government sources a foreign news agency reported. According to The News, the Ministry of Social Affairs increased its count from the previous estimate of 94,200. More than 10,000 are still missing in the Aceh province of Sumatra island, which was devastated by a huge Dec. 26 earthquake and the waves it triggered, the ministry said. It said 1,443 people were hospitalized and 21,659 houses had been destroyed and 544,927 people were displaced, up from the previous estimate of 517,226.