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.
A baby boy delivered inside a toilet of a train by a woman slipped through the flush pipe and fell on railway track but survived miraculously in Rajasthan's Hanumangarh district, a railway police official said Monday.
The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti Monday demanded immediate withdrawal of the "objectionable" advertisement for an adhesive aired on various TV channels depicting an Indian jawan fixing the shoes of a Pakistani soldier and an apology from the manufacturer for the "extremely tasteless" ad.
Accepting full responsibility for the BJP's crushing defeat in the Delhi assembly elections, the party's chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi Monday said she opted for politics "not for position or power but for serving the city".
Couples smiling, walking hand-in-hand, holding bouquets of red roses or bags with gifts and wearing a smile were a common sight across cafes, eateries and streets across India on Valentine's Day, which was celebrated fervently by youngsters Saturday, despite strict warning from Hindu fringe groups.
Sounding more mature and pragmatic in his second innings, AAP leader and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Saturday pledged to make Delhi India's first corruption-free city and end "VIP culture" even as he warned his colleagues against "arrogance" after his party's thumping election win.
The first fallout of the Aam Admi Party's (AAP) spectacular victory in Delhi will be a renewed focus on sleaze in public life, as has been borne out by Arvind Kejriwal's commitment to make Delhi India's first corruption-free state in his inaugural address after being sworn in as chief minister for a second time.
