Jaipur, Feb 26 (IANS) The swine flu epidemic continued to rage in Rajasthan with six more deaths reported Thursday taking the total death toll over the 250 mark since the start of this year, an official said.
"Six more deaths were reported across the state on Thursday. Total deaths reported till Thursday touched 251 from Jan 1 in the state," a medical and health department official told IANS.
Total positive cases as of Thursday evening were 5,262, out of which 2,039 are from Jaipur alone, the official said.
Jaipur also accounted for the maximum deaths at 51 followed by Ajmer at 29 and Jodhpur at 28.
Meanwhile, state assembly witnessed uproarious scenes Thursday as the opposition parties including the Congress demanded resignation of Medical and Health Minister Rajendra Rathore.
Congress legislators, while raising the issue of swine flu, demanded compensation of Rs.5 lakh each to the families of those who died due to the H1N1 virus.
The opposition also staged a walk out over the issue in the assembly.
Rathore, while making a statement, said that the state government is concerned and is doing all it can to stop the spread of the disease.
"The mortality rate in the state due to swine flu is about 4.7 percent, which is much lower than other states," he said.
The state government has so far distributed 32 lakh Tamiflu tablets across the state, he said.
"Besides allopathy, we have also taken help of homeopathy, unani and ayurvedic system of medicine for controlling the disease. We are also conducting door to door surveys and have distributed Tamiflu tablets to persons showing symptoms like swine flu in nearby 50 houses where a swine flu patient has been found," he said adding that test for swine flu has been made free in six government medical colleges, the desert research centre in Jodhpur and three private labs.
A high level task force on swine flu has also been set up to monitor the situation on daily basis, he added.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Thursday said maximum security arrangements were being made for US President Barack Obama's visit to India later this month...
The incident, which took place around 4.20 a.m., was captured by a CCTV camera installed inside the premises of Our Lady Of Graces Church at Vikaspuri in west Delhi.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor Wednesday refused to comment on the controversy related to his wife Sunanda Pushkar's death but said he was pleased to escape from breaking news to reflect on heritage at a literary fest here.
BJP leader and union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi Wednesday got bail after a court sentenced him to a year in prison for violating the model code of conduct during the 2009 elections.
The Uttar Pradesh government Wednesday ordered a probe after 104 bodies were found in a channel of the Ganga in Unnao district, officials said. Six more bodies were later recovered from the Betwa river in Jhansi.
