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EYE on INDIA MAY 21, 2021 | The Indian Eye 12

Cyclone yaas

Armed forces airlift

950 NDRF personnel

head of Cyclone Yaas, the Armed Forces have commenced
preparations to mitigate the impact of the anticipated di-
Asaster by airlifting 950 National Disaster Response Force
(NDRF) personnel across the country, with 26 helicopters in
standby for immediate deployment.
As per a statement from the Ministry of Defence, 70 tonnes of
load has also been airlifted from Jamnagar, Varanasi, Patna and
Arakonnam to Kolkata, Bhubaneswar and Port Blair in 15 Trans-
port Aircraft as of May 23. “A total of sixteen transport aircraft and
26 helicopters are on standby for immediate deployment while the Members of Sujanya Maharishi Seva Sanstha making art of
Indian Navy, fresh from Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster COVID19 virus with slogans to be safe and stay at home at Albert
Relief (HADR) and rescue operations on the Western Coast, has Ekka Chowk in Ranchi on Sunday. (ANI)
moved 10 HADR pallets to Bhubaneswar and Kolkata,” the state-
ment said. While five HADR pallets are ready at Port Blair, eight have to strain to be heard and they were able to communicate with
ships of Eastern Naval Command and Andaman and Nicobar Com- their patients effortlessly. Overall the feedback from users has been
mand have been embarked with HADR Bricks to provide succour positive,” he said.
to the people likely to be impacted. The young innovator is now looking for companies who will be
Four diving and 10 flood relief columns have been pre-positioned
at Kolkata, Bhubaneswar and Chilika for rendering assistance to able to take this to the next level of mass production.
civil administration at short notice.
Additionally, seven flood relief teams and two diving teams are Farmers protest
ready at different locations in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and
Naval Aircraft and helicopters in Vishakhapatnam and Port Blair are Punjab CM urges farmers to
on operational readiness to undertake search and rescue missions.
Eight flood relief columns and three Engineer Task Forces of the not hold dharna
Army are ready for immediate deployment on requisition by the civ-
il administration and the Armed Forces are in constant touch with unjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday
the civil administration of the affected states. urged the Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) not to go
Armed Forces teams are aware of the need to keep the road Pahead with their proposed dharna, fearing that it could turn
and rail links open to ensure an uninterrupted supply of life-saving into a COVID-19 super-spreader.
oxygen and drugs required for treatment at COVID-19 hospitals. As per a statement, the Chief Minister said his government had
fought hard to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and any event,
‘Masks with mics’ such as the proposed 3-day dharna of the BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) in
Patiala, had the potential to negate the gains made by his govern-
Student design to ease ment in tackling COVID in the state. Urging farmers’ group not to

act irresponsibly and jeopardise the lives of their own people with
communication such reckless behaviour amid the pandemic, he said: “Such a dharna
would draw people mainly from the villages, which were, in any case,
s wearing a mask to combat COVID-19 has proven to be going through a crisis during the second wave of the pandemic.”
a difficult task when it comes to communicating with oth- He also said that the group’s actions were completely unwar-
Aers, a first-year B Tech student - Kevin Jacob from Thrissur ranted, considering the “total support the state government had ex-
Government Engineering College has come up with an innovative tended all these months to the agitating farmers on the issue of the
solution by designing a mask with a mic and a speaker attached. Centre’s black Farm Laws.”
Speaking to ANI, Jacob, the son of two doctors, said that he came “It is time for the farmers now to reciprocate by supporting the
up with the idea after he saw his parents facing difficulties while in- state government in the fight against the pandemic,” he said, adding
teracting with their patients. “My parents are doctors and since the that just as the farmers’ interests were linked with that of Punjab,
beginning of the pandemic, they have been struggling to communi- so was Punjab’s interest dependent on the farmers’ support to his
cate with their patients. They found it very difficult to make them- government in the battle against the pandemic.
selves clear through multiple layers of masks and a face shield. This Asserting that state had been one of the best-performing so far
was when this idea came to my mind,” the student told ANI. as the management of the pandemic was concerned as there were no
He tested the first prototype with his parents - Dr Senoj KC and Dr widespread shortages of Oxygen in hospitals despite shortfall in sup-
Jyoti Mary Jose. He started to make many more once demand increased. ply, the Chief Minister said: “The only serious problem being faced
The gadget can be used continuously for four to six hours on a by Punjab was the shortage of vaccines, which was not due to any
thirty-minute charge. It is attached to the mask using a magnet. mismanagement of the state government but that of the Centre.”
“Doctors who have given feedback have said that they don’t Continued on next page... >>

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