Pramod Thomas is a senior correspondent with Asian Media Group since 2020, bringing 19 years of journalism experience across business, politics, sports, communities, and international relations. His career spans both traditional and digital media platforms, with eight years specifically focused on digital journalism. This blend of experience positions him well to navigate the evolving media landscape and deliver content across various formats. He has worked with national and international media organisations, giving him a broad perspective on global news trends and reporting standards.
A US congresswoman has urged president Joe Biden to send more direct support to India which is battling a deadly Covid-19 second wave.
Haley Stevens has asked the White House to increase shipments of oxygen cylinders, Remdesivir, Tocilizumab and ventilators to Indian hospitals.
She also thanked Biden for providing more than $100 million in support to India.
India's daily coronavirus cases rose by 329,942, while deaths from the disease rose by 3,876, according to the health ministry. The total infections are now at 22.99 million, while total fatalities rose to 249,992.
India leads the world in the daily average number of new deaths reported, accounting for one in every three deaths reported worldwide each day.
The seven-day average of new cases is at a record high of 390,995.
“This past week India registered over 400,000 daily cases. On May 4, there were 3,786 deaths, bringing the total to 226,188 fatalities. The sharp increase in cases has severely strained the healthcare system, overwhelming hospitals, and depleting oxygen supplies. India is in great need of oxygen, therapeutics, and vaccines,” Stevens said in a letter to Biden on Monday (10).
“I urge you to provide the following items: Oxygen Cylinders, 10 liters and 45 liters Liquid Medical Oxygen Capacity; Oxygen Concentrator; Oxygen Generator Plants; Remdesivir; Tocilizumab, Ventilators/BiPAP.”
"As long as Covid persists in India, there is the potential for additional variants that could pose a serious threat to a vaccinated America. We must do our part to quell the virus everywhere it persists,” she urged.
Sewa International extends help
Non-profit organisation Sewa International said that it has spent over $6m to procure lifesaving equipment in the last two weeks as part of its ‘Help India Defeat Covid-19' campaign.
The equipment shipped to India from New York on May 7 included 260 oxygen concentrators, 1,000 oximeters and nine Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure machines, it said in a statement.
MedShare, a non-profit organisation that sources and delivers surplus medical supplies and equipment to communities in need, donated the concentrators.
The United Parcel Service Foundation partnered with Sewa International to ship them to New Delhi by air for free.
Sewa has so far raised $16m for the initiative to supply aid material to India. It raised $7.7m from over 104,000 donors from its Facebook campaign and $4.2m through its website.
So far, the organisation has spent over $3.5m to order 7,482 oxygen concentrators and procured 5,118 of them from various vendors in the US and elsewhere, it said.
The organisation is planning to ship more than 6,000 oxygen concentrators to India in the next two weeks.
“Shipping large quantities of medical equipment to another country from the US has a lot of logistical challenges. We are optimising our shipments so that they reach India fast,” Sewa's president Arun Kankani said.
“We have received phenomenal support from across the US for our ‘Help India Defeat Covid-19 Campaign'. Many corporates, hospitals and community organisations are calling us to offer help. Sewa volunteers are working hard to connect the dots.”
It has established a control room in Atlanta and it is managed by 10 volunteers.
Sewa's vice president for disaster recovery Swadesh Katoch, said: “It's very important to save every life and I am confident that the equipment we have sent to India will ease the shortage of emergency equipment and help Covid-19 patients recover and enable families to protect their loved ones."
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said Machado was honoured for her efforts to promote democratic rights and pursue a peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy in Venezuela.
Maria Corina Machado awarded 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for promoting democracy in Venezuela
The Nobel Committee praised her courage and fight for peaceful democratic transition
Machado has been in hiding for a year after being barred from contesting Venezuela’s 2024 election
US President Donald Trump had also hoped to win this year’s Peace Prize
VENEZUELA’s opposition leader and democracy activist Maria Corina Machado has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said she was honoured for her efforts to promote democratic rights and pursue a peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy in Venezuela.
Machado, who has been living in hiding for the past year, was recognised “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” said Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, in Oslo.
“I am in shock,” Machado said in a video message sent to AFP by her press team.
Frydnes said Venezuela has changed from a relatively democratic and prosperous country to “a brutal authoritarian state that is now suffering a humanitarian and economic crisis.”
“The violent machinery of the state is directed against the country's own citizens. Nearly eight million people have left the country,” he said.
The opposition has been systematically suppressed through “election rigging, legal prosecution and imprisonment,” Frydnes added.
Machado has been “a key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided,” the committee said. It described her as “one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times.”
“Despite serious threats against her life, she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions,” it said.
Machado had been the opposition’s presidential candidate ahead of Venezuela’s 2024 election, but her candidacy was blocked by the government. She then supported former diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as her replacement.
Her Nobel win came as a surprise, as her name had not featured among those speculated to receive the award before Friday’s announcement.
Trump’s hopes for prize
US President Donald Trump had expressed his desire to win this year’s Peace Prize. Since returning to the White House in January for a second term, he has repeatedly said he “deserves” the Nobel for his role in resolving several conflicts — a claim observers have disputed.
Experts in Oslo had said before the announcement that Trump was unlikely to win, noting that his “America First” policies run counter to the principles outlined in Alfred Nobel’s 1895 will establishing the prize.
Frydnes said the Norwegian Nobel Committee is not influenced by lobbying campaigns.
“In the long history of the Nobel Peace Prize, I think this committee has seen every type of campaign, media attention,” he said. “We receive thousands and thousands of letters every year of people wanting to say, what for them, leads to peace.” “We base our decision only on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel,” he added.
Last year, the prize went to the Japanese anti-nuclear group Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots organisation of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The Nobel Peace Prize includes a gold medal, a diploma, and a cash award of $1.2 million. It will be presented at a ceremony in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896.
The Peace Prize is the only Nobel awarded in Oslo. Other Nobel Prizes are presented in Stockholm.
On Thursday, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Hungarian author Laszlo Krasznahorkai. The 2025 Nobel season concludes Monday with the announcement of the economics prize.
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