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India for effective relief distribution system
UN fears diversion of aid from other disasters |
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Fraudsters pose as tsunami victims on Net Monk puts temple for sale to Pak panel to study religion column in passport Twin car bombs leave 25 dead in Iraq
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India for effective relief distribution system Jakarta, January 6 Addressing a summit of tsunami-hit nations and aid donors here, External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh said India could deal with challenges affecting it with its own resources and asserted that it would be “appropriate” that international relief was directed where it was most needed. In case India required any specialised needs it would be in touch with “our friends”, he said during the day-long conference of 26 countries, attended among others by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. He said India whole-heartedly supported the efforts of the United Nations and the “presence of the UN Secretary General here today is a testimony to the UN’s important role in coordinating international relief and in finding ways and means to address the gaps in the relief process.” “Equally important are steps to ensure a long-term coordinated and sustained response and an effective relief distribution mechanism which is transparent and sustained.” The minister said as the world addressed current disaster relief priorities “it is also time to look at medium to long-term objectives. An evaluation is needed of the various long-term warning systems for different disasters that we need to put in place.” “Even more important will be mechanisms to be able to disseminate early warning signals obtained from these systems to the public,” he said. Natwar Singh said India was committed to providing trained search and rescue teams, setting up web-based disaster management information systems and human resources development for disaster management. The minister talked about the steps taken by the Indian Government in dealing with the crisis caused in southern India and Andaman and Nicobar islands. He also spoke about the immediate help provided
by India to the tsunami-hit countries. “We have placed a hospital ship off the coast of Aceh. This ship is providing emergency rations, medicines, tents and first aid kits. Another naval ship has brought relief and emergency medical supplies.” The minister also referred to the relief provided by India to Sri Lanka and Maldives. He also pointed out that India’s focus now was on establishing the communications network, preventing outbreak of epidemics and stepping up relief and rescue operations in the Nicobar islands. He said till January 4, the government of India had incurred an expenditure of $ 250 million on the relief and rehabilitation effort within India. Eight battalions of paramilitary forces had been equipped as specialist search and rescue teams. Kofi Annan, in his address, urged nations to channel $ 1.7 billion of the funds of the UN for relief, including $ 977 million for emergency aid. He said the number killed across Asia and Africa in the tragedy exceeded 1,50,000 but the exact
figure would never be known. Annan called for the establishment of a tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono termed the tragedy as the “most destructive natural disaster in living memory.”
— PTI |
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An
effort by the USA, Japan, India and Australia to coordinate tsunami relief will be disbanded and folded into the broader UN-led operations, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said today. The group’s creation was announced by US President George W. Bush just eight days ago as he tried to dispel criticism that the initial US response to the catastrophe was slow. But US officials said the group had already served its purpose by jump-starting aid efforts to devastated regions.
— Reuters |
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UN fears diversion of aid from other disasters
United Nations, January 6 Though some nations have categorically said the aid they announced was only for tsunami victims, officials said position of several nations was ambiguous and that it would be a tragedy if money was shifted from other equally compelling humanitarian needs. If the world was taking funds for tsunami victims from its usual “purse” for humanitarian relief then it would spell disaster for programmes in Africa, top UN relief official Jan Egeland said, adding if, however, the world was using additional funding for the tsunami then this year would be different and Africa would also see more generosity. Asked about various countries’ position, he said for some it was additional money, for others it was not and many had not yet decided. “The year started with unprecedented generosity and could end with unprecedented stinginess, if there were no additional monies. If it is a ‘zero sum game’, it would be very bad news for Guinea, Congo and Sudan. All major emergencies produced a lot of orphans and vulnerable children,” he said. Egeland had called the rich nations’ response to several humanitarian emergencies “stingy” to which Washington had objected even though he had not named any country. He has maintained that position despite outpouring of aid for the tsunami victims. “We are recording pledges of between three and four billion dollars which shows that indeed the world is coming together in a manner we have never ever seen before,” he said yesterday. Egeland also said some 30,000 people were dying of starvation and disease on other parts of the world each day and since the tsunami struck, some 3,00,000 would have died elsewhere. He also appealed to the warring parties in the tsunami-stricken areas to cease fire. Durban: South Africa today said it would provide 10 million rand as aid to Maldives, one of the countries affected by the disaster. This was announced by chief director of disaster management at the Department of Provincial and Local Government Louis Buys. “The mission is the South African government’s official financial contribution to the disaster aid,” he said. South Africa has already sent a freighter with helicopter and crew to assess the extent of damage caused by the tsunami, he said adding that emergency supplies had also been sent to the island nation. “The Maldives government asked South Africa for help as the main focus of the international community was with the community in south-eastern Asia,” he said. Meanwhile, South African ministers and officials attending the emergency summit on tsunami in Indonesia have indicated that they will seek assistance for African countries such as Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania, which have also been hit by the disaster.
— PTI |
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Fraudsters pose as tsunami victims on Net
Washington, January 6 ''It's only a matter of time before... we have fully fledged websites that spoof well-known charities, for example,'' Paul Wood, chief information security analyst at MessageLabs, an Internet security company said yesterday. Aid organisations have collected millions of dollars through the Internet since a tsunami claimed an estimated 1,50,000 lives from Indonesia to Africa on December 26. Online retailer
Amazon.com alone has collected $ 14.4 million for the American Red Cross through its
website. — Reuters |
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Bush donates $ 10,000
Washington, January 6 |
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Monk puts temple for sale to raise aid
Vancouver, January 6 “This is the least I could do to provide some comfort to the victims who are suffering unbearably. Their need is urgent and greater than our own,” said the abbot as he touted the temple in a Vancouver suburb. Buddhists who meet at the building, many of whom fled Vietnam in boats as refugees in the late 1970s, were at first stunned by the monk’s announcement, but are now with him. They were moved by his argument that the pledge was an expression of gratitude to the people of Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia who provided refuge to the abbot and congregation when they fled Vietnam.
— AFP |
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Pak panel to study religion column in passport Islamabad, January 6 The Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, decided to observe a day of prayers to express solidarity with the people of several Asian countries devastated by tsunami. All government employees of Grade 18 and above, including Ministers, will donate their one-day salary to the president's tsunami relief fund. The Cabinet decided that Pakistan would float "Islamic bonds" on December 10 this year, in the capital market of Asia, Europe and the Middle East. It decided to fight hepatitis on a war footing through comprehensive programme, including clean drinking water to the people. Briefing newsmen, Federal Minister for Information Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the five-member committee on religion column in the passport, is headed by senior minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal. Mr Amanullah Khan Jadoon (NWFP), Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind (Balochistan), Ghaus Bakhsh Mehr (Sindh) and Lt-Gen. Javed Ashraf Qazi (Punjab) are its members. Sheikh Rashid Ahmed will also be part of the committee. Till a decision is taken on the issue, the minister said, the 80,000 MRPs so far issued will remain valid and more passports as need be will continue to be issued without the religion column. He said Minister for Religious Affairs Ijazul Haq and Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao had been excluded from the committee owing to their public statements in favour of and against the column. In reply to a question with regard to a recent PML meeting and its President Chaudhry Shujaat Husain's statement on the issue, the minister said, the party president's views would be given due weight. While reviewing the crop position, the Cabinet was informed that the cotton crop had surpassed the target by three million bales and wheat had been sown on 3 per cent more land. |
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Twin car bombs leave 25 dead in Iraq Baghdad, January 6 Yesterday's car bomb explosion outside a gate of the police academy in Hillah, about 100 kms south of Baghdad, was just one of many in a series of recent attacks against the Iraqi security forces. Iraqi police Captain Hady Hatef said from Hillah that the blast, which occurred during a police academy graduation ceremony, killed at least 20 persons, including civilians, and wounded an unspecified number. Polish Lieut-Col Artur Domanski, a spokesman for the multinational forces in Hillah, said at least 10 policemen were killed and that 41 were injured in the suicide attack. In the restive city of Baqouba, north-east of Baghdad, a suicide attacker rammed his car into a joint police and Iraqi National Guards checkpoint, killing five policemen and wounding eight other Iraqis, US military spokesman Major Neal O'Brien said. The driver of the vehicle was also killed. Major O'Brien portrayed the attack as a retaliation for police playing a larger role in Baqouba. "The Iraqi police and Iraqi National Guard have exerted more control over security in Baqouba, making them an obstacle to the anti-Iraqi forces' attempts to disrupt the upcoming elections," he said. The number of Iraqi policemen killed in the last four months of 2004 was over 1300, according to the Iraqi Interior Ministry figures released yesterday. — AP
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