Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Twitter donates $15m to India for Covid-19 relief

Twitter donates $15m to India for Covid-19 relief

TWITTER has donated $ 15 million as COVID-19 relief fund to India. While India is battling with the unprecedented second wave of the deadly pandemic the microblogging giant has come forward to help address the coronavirus crisis in the country.

Jack Patrick Dorsey CEO of Twitter tweeted on Monday that the amount has been donated to three non-governmental organisations - Care, Aid India and Sewa International USA.


Twitter said the grant of $ 10 million will support CARE's urgent action to help address the deadly second wave of COVID-19 infections devastating India.

While CARE has been given $ 10 million, Aid India and Sewa International USA have received $ 2.5 million each.

Sewa International will support the procurement of lifesaving equipment such as oxygen concentrators, ventilators, BiPAP (Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure) and CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machines as part of Sewa International's Help India Defeat COVID-19' campaign, the San Francisco-based company said in a statement.

Reacting to the announcement, Sewa International's vice president for Marketing and Fund Development Sandeep Khadkekar thanked Dorsey for his generous donation, saying it is gratifying that Sewa's work has been recognised. We are a volunteer-driven non-profit organisation, and we believe in serving all, following the sacred Hindu benediction, 'Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah' -- 'May all be happy', Khadkekar told PTI.

Our administrative costs are about five per cent, meaning that every dollar a donor offers, we spend 95 cents of it on the work that it is earmarked for. In these past two weeks, we have seen how overwhelmed India's healthcare system is, and we want to do as much as we can to come to the aid of people who are deeply affected. Twitter's generosity will go a long way in helping us do the work we want to do, and that we need to do," he said.

Houston-headquartered Sewa USA has so far raised $ 17.5 million towards its India COVID-19 relief efforts.

CARE, a leading humanitarian organisation fighting global poverty said,  "Funds will be used to supplement government efforts by setting up temporary COVID-19 care centers; providing oxygen, PPE kits and other critically needed emergency supplies for frontline health workers; and addressing vaccine hesitancy and helping ensure that people get vaccinated, particularly in remote, marginalised communities in India."

Association for India's Development (AID) is a volunteer movement promoting sustainable, equitable and just development.

Twitter said, “This grant will help under-resourced communities identify COVID symptoms, prevent spread, access care and treatment, benefit from medical equipment including oxygen, oximeters, thermometers, protective gear and vaccination, survive lockdowns, regain livelihoods and will strengthen hospitals and NGOs that serve rural and low-income communities."

India has been severely affected by the unprecedented second wave of the coronavirus and hospitals in several states are reeling under the shortage of health workers, vaccines, oxygen, drugs and beds.

After recording over four lakh fresh cases for four consecutive days, India witnessed a single-day rise of 3,66,161 COVID-19 cases on Monday, which pushed its tally to 2,26,62,575, according to the health ministry.

The death toll due to the viral disease climbed to 2,46,116 with 3,754 more people succumbing to it, the ministry's data showed.

More For You

High-stakes India–EU trade talks in New Delhi aim to break deadlock

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen with Narendra Modi during a meeting in New Delhi in February

High-stakes India–EU trade talks in New Delhi aim to break deadlock

INDIA and the European Union are holding potentially decisive trade negotiations in New Delhi this week, seeking to resolve differences over agriculture, dairy and non-tariff barriers to meet an ambitious end of year deadline for a deal, Indian government and EU sources said.

New Delhi is seeking to deepen global partnerships after US president Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent last month over India’s Russian oil purchases, hitting exports such as textiles, leather and chemicals.

Keep ReadingShow less
Charlie Kirk

Kirk co-founded Turning Point USA in 2012 at the age of 18, building it into the largest conservative youth organisation in the country. (Photo: Getty Images)

Trump ally Charlie Kirk shot dead: The key details

Highlights:

  • Conservative activist Charlie Kirk fatally shot at Utah Valley University
  • Shooter fired from a rooftop in what police called a “targeted attack”
  • Federal, state and local agencies involved in ongoing manhunt
  • Political leaders across parties condemn the killing

A MANHUNT was underway Thursday after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot at Utah Valley University, an attack that has sparked concerns of rising political violence in the United States.

Keep ReadingShow less
Shabana Mahmood

Shabana Mahmood (Photo: Getty Images)

Calls grow for Shabana Mahmood to toughen settlement rules

HOME SECRETARY Shabana Mahmood is under pressure to immediately enforce stricter immigration rules as large numbers of migrants approach the point at which they can settle permanently in Britain.

Government figures revealed that from next year about 270,000 migrants will qualify for indefinite leave to remain (ILR), the legal right to stay in the UK. The number is expected to rise sharply, reaching more than 600,000 by 2028, reported the Times.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kamala Harris calls Biden’s 2024 run ‘recklessness’ in new memoir

Former US vice president Kamala Harris speaks at the Emerge 20th Anniversary Gala in San Francisco, California, on April 30, 2025. (Photo by CAMILLE COHEN/AFP via Getty Images)

Kamala Harris calls Biden’s 2024 run ‘recklessness’ in new memoir

FORMER US vice president Kamala Harris said it was "recklessness" to let Joe Biden run for a second term as president, in an excerpt released on Wednesday (10) from her upcoming memoir.

Harris -- who replaced Biden as the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate but lost to Donald Trump -- admitted that the then-81-year-old got "tired" and was prone to stumbles that showed his age.

Keep ReadingShow less
Tejasvi Manoj

Manoj, from Frisco, Texas, created an innovation called ‘Shield Seniors’, a website designed to help people over 60 identify and report fraudulent messages and emails. (Photo credit: LinkedIn/Tejasvi Manoj)

Indian-American teen Tejasvi Manoj named Time’s ‘Kid of the Year’ 2025

SEVENTEEN-year-old Indian-American Tejasvi Manoj has been named Time magazine’s ‘Kid of the Year’ for 2025 for her work on protecting senior citizens from online scams.

Manoj, from Frisco, Texas, created an innovation called ‘Shield Seniors’, a website designed to help people over 60 identify and report fraudulent messages and emails.

Keep ReadingShow less