Nearly 45,000 Indians in Ebola-hit countries, may bring virus home

August 7, 2014

New Delhi, Aug 7: A total of 44,700 Indians are living in different countries affected by Ebola, a deadly virus that has claimed 932 lives so far. Of this, 300 are CRPF personnel deployed in Liberia for UN peacekeeping operations. Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said this on Wednesday in a written statement to Parliament.

Vardhan said 500 Indians were in the Republic of Guinea, 3,000 in Liberia and 1,200 in Sierra Leone, from where the maximum cases have been reported. Nigeria has a much larger presence of nearly 40,000 Indian citizens. "If the situation worsens, there is a possibility of these people returning home," Vardhan said.

To prevent the disease from spreading to India, the government is taking several precautionary measures — like obtaining details of travellers originating from or transiting through affected countries and tracking them after their arrival, up to their final destination.

Health ministry sources said director general of health services (DGHS) Jagdish Prasad held two meetings on August 1 and 2 to review the situation. Advisories have been issued to the state disease surveillance units to be on alert.

On Tuesday, the health minister held another meeting that was attended by immigration, external affairs ministry, civil aviation, armed forces and World Health Organization (WHO) officials to assess the threat perception to India.

"With many of their personnel deployed in Ebola-hit countries, the armed forces would be suitably advising their staff for appropriate precautions. Soldiers returning to India on leave or otherwise would be tracked and monitored for symptoms," said a senior health ministry official. He said there was no confirmation of any Indian being infected with the virus yet. As a precaution, the government has asked people to defer non-essential travel to that region.

WHO has reported 1,603 cases and 887 deaths till August 4 in four countries — Guinea (485 and 358), Liberia (468 and 255), Sierra Leone (646 and 273) and Nigeria (4 and 1).

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Over 58 lakh names dropped from draft voter list in Bengal ahead of polls

News Network

December 16,2025

The deletion of over 58 lakh names from West Bengal’s draft electoral rolls following a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has sparked widespread concern and is likely to deepen political tensions in the poll-bound state.

According to the Election Commission, the revision exercise has identified 24 lakh voters as deceased, 19 lakh as relocated, 12 lakh as missing, and 1.3 lakh as duplicate entries. The draft list, published after the completion of the first phase of SIR, aims to remove errors and duplication from the electoral rolls.

However, the scale of deletions has raised fears that a large number of eligible voters may have been wrongly excluded. The Election Commission has said that individuals whose names are missing can file objections and seek corrections. The final voter list is scheduled to be published in February next year, after which the Assembly election announcement is expected. Notably, the last Special Intensive Revision in Bengal was conducted in 2002.

The development has intensified the political row over the SIR process. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress have strongly opposed the exercise, accusing the Centre and the Election Commission of attempting to disenfranchise lakhs of voters ahead of the elections.

Addressing a rally in Krishnanagar earlier this month, Banerjee urged people to protest if their names were removed from the voter list, alleging intimidation during elections and warning of serious consequences if voting rights were taken away.

The BJP, meanwhile, has defended the revision and accused the Trinamool Congress of politicising the issue to protect what it claims is an illegal voter base. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the ruling party fears losing power due to the removal of deceased, fake, and illegal voters.

The controversy comes amid earlier allegations by the Trinamool Congress that excessive work pressure during the SIR led to the deaths by suicide of some Booth Level Officers (BLOs), for which the party blamed the Election Commission. With the draft list now out, another round of political confrontation appears imminent.

As objections begin to be filed, the focus will be on whether the correction mechanism is accessible, transparent, and timely—critical factors in ensuring that no eligible voter is denied their democratic right ahead of a crucial election.

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