India dust storms: Nearly 100 killed in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan
May 3, 2018 by admin
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PTI
The storm affected three districts in Rajasthan state, as well as parts of Uttar Pradesh
At least 95 people have died and scores more injured in fierce dust storms that hit the northern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
The storms on Wednesday disrupted electricity, uprooted trees, destroyed houses and killed livestock.
Many of the dead were sleeping when their houses collapsed after being struck by intense bursts of lightning.
Dust storms are common in this part of India during summer but loss of life on this scale is unusual.
Sixty-four people died in Uttar Pradesh, 43 of them in Agra district which is home to the Taj Mahal monument. Officials say the death toll could increase.
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Falling trees and walls killed many people in the state.
The state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed officials to personally monitor relief operations.
Relief commissioner Sanjay Kumar told PTI that the state government has “sought a detailed report from the affected districts”.
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AFP
Hundreds of electricity poles were felled in towns across the two states
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AFP
Many of the dead were sleeping when their houses collapsed
Falling trees and walls killed many people in both states
The storms also affected three districts in neighbouring Rajasthan – Alwar, Bharatpur and Dholpur – where at least 31 people were killed. Officials say Alwar is worst affected. Schools in the district are closed.
The state government has also announced that families of the dead will receive 400,000 rupees (about $6,000; £4,400) as compensation.
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AFP
This man in Agra was one of many carried from the debris of their homes
“I’ve been in office for 20 years and this is the worst I’ve seen,” Hemant Gera, secretary for disaster management and relief in Rajasthan, told the BBC.
“We had a high intensity dust storm on 11 April – 19 people died then – but this time it struck during the night so many people sleeping and couldn’t get out of their houses when mud walls collapsed.”
He said teams were trying to restore electricity to homes after 200 to 300 electricity poles were felled in the storm.
The storm also hit the capital Delhi, more than 100km (62 miles) away, along with heavy rains late on Wednesday evening.
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Trump told to ‘take care’ with his language on immigrants
May 3, 2018 by admin
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The letter was one of 45 delivered to the president by National Teacher of the Year Mandy Manning, written by students at the Newcomer Center at Joel E. Ferris High School in Spokane, Wash. | AP Photo
The national teacher of the year on Wednesday handed President Donald Trump a letter from a Rwandan immigrant student that urged Trump to “take care” with his language about immigrant and refugee communities.
The letter was one of 45 delivered to the president by National Teacher of the Year Mandy Manning, written by students at the Newcomer Center at Joel E. Ferris High School in Spokane, Washington. Manning teaches English to refugees and immigrants.
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Manning, speaking to reporters on the phone after the national teacher of the year ceremony at the White House, said the letter referring to Trump’s language was written by a female student from Rwanda.
Trump earlier this year reportedly denounced immigrants from “shithole countries.” He later denied using that specific language.
The Rwandan student told Trump “that she hopes he would model for others positive messaging around our immigrant and refugee communities,” particularly communities of color, because he serves as “a role model“ and “his words have a lot of weight,“ Manning said. The student stressed that Trump should “take care of those words,” Manning said.
The president instructed an aide to place the letters on his desk, Manning said. Manning said she also invited Trump to her school.
Manning gave the letters to the president after the ceremony. At the White House, she wore several pins on her dress, advocating the Peace Corps — of which she is a former member — the National Education Association and the annual Women’s March. Another read, “Trans Equality Now.”
Manning said she stressed in her remarks during the ceremony that all students “are wanted, that they are enough and that they matter.” She also urged others in the room to challenge any preconceived notions that they might have about certain cultures or groups of people.
Prior to the ceremony, Manning and the finalists for national teacher of the year participated in a “listening session” with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Labor Secretary Alex Acosta.
Manning described her day as positive.
“The White House really made every effort to create an experience for us that honored us, and it was really wonderful to be there,” she said.
During the ceremony, Trump didn’t specifically mention Manning’s work with immigrant and refugee students. But, he said, “Teachers like Mandy play a vital role in the well-being of our children, the strength of our communities and the success of our nation.”
“The job of a teacher is not only to instruct the next generation of workers but the next generation of citizens to teach our children to care for others, to think for themselves, to love their country, to be proud of our history and to be true pillars of their families and their communities,” he said during remarks. “Such an important job. There is no more important job.“
Jonathan Juravich, the 2018 Ohio Teacher of the Year and a finalist for national teacher of the year, said he told Trump that he teaches his students “about respect and empathy and that we as adults need to model these behaviors for our students.“
“That’s great. I like that,” Trump said, according to Juravich.
When asked whether the president models those behaviors, Juravich said that it’s “really important” for all adults to think about their actions.