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Over a week after a devastating fire in Kuwait killed 50 people, the Ministry of External Affairs said 17 injured Indians are still admitted in hospitals there and all are stable.

The Indian embassy is in touch with the local authorities, the patients and their kin to ensure their well-being, it said.

The massive fire had occurred at a seven-storey building in Kuwait’s Mangaf city in the southern Ahmadi Governorate on June 12 and at least 45 Indians died in the tragedy. The building was home to 196 migrant workers, mostly Indians.

The NBTC Group, where the victims of the fire tragedy were employed, recently issued a statement, extending its deepest condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims and injured.

In response to a query at a weekly media briefing here, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that on the part of the Kuwaiti government, the Emir has announced USD 15,000 as compensation for the families of the people who have died in the fire incident.

The company has announced payment of Rs 8 lakh to the next of kin of people who have died, he said.

“This fire tragedy happened on June 12 and 45 Indians died, their mortal remains were brought to India on June 14. There are still 17 Indians who are injured, they are in hospitals. But, they are all stable. The (Indian) Embassy is making daily rounds, the embassy is in touch with the local authorities, the hospital authorities and even the patients and their family members to ensure their well-being,” Jaiswal said.

He said as far as compensation is concerned, the prime minister had announced on June 13 an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the families of people who had died and Rs 50,000 for the injured people.

In addition, different state governments have also announced their compensation for those who have died in this tragedy, the MEA spokesperson said.

In addition, the insurance money will also come from the insurance company, he said.

The company is also providing a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to all the injured and their medical expenses are being covered by the company. It will also undertake rehabilitation of those who are injured, Jaiswal said.

A C-130J IAF aircraft carrying 45 bodies landed at the Kochi international airport on June 14 morning. Thirty-one bodies were received at the airport by Central and state ministers, including Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

The remaining 14 bodies were sent to Delhi in the same aircraft as a domestic flight from Kochi, and after being brought to Delhi were sent on to their forward journey. 

Expelled Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam on Tuesday claimed that attempts are being made within the Congress party to diminish Priyanka Gandhi's stature by giving her a ticket to Lok Sabha in the by-elections. 

His comment came a day after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announced that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest the bypoll from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat and Rahul Gandhi will retain Rae Bareli. 

"Priyanka Gandhi is the most popular face in Congress. She should have been made the Congress president... By giving her a ticket to Lok Sabha in by-elections, attempts are being made to diminish the stature of Priyanka Gandhi," he said. 

Krishnam further trained his guns at the Congress and claimed the grand old party has proven that it "does not trust Hindus" by fielding Priyanka from Wayanad. 

While wishing Priyanka good luck, Acharya Krishnam said, "But Congress has proven one thing by making Priyanka Gandhi contest from Wayanad, that Congress doesn't trust Hindus. Had they trusted Hindus, she would have been made to contest from elsewhere."

Not only Acharya Pramod Krishnam, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla also attacked the Congress over its decision to field Priyanka Gandhi from Wayanad, stating this decision proves that the Congress is not a party but a "family business."

Priyanka Gandhi on contesting from Wayanad

After Kharge's announcement that she will contest from Wayanad in the upcoming by-poll, Priyanka Gandhi said that she was happy to be able to represent Wayanad. She added that she would not let the people of Wayanad feel her brother's absence. 

"I will work hard and I will try my best to make everyone happy and be a good representative. I have a very old relationship with Raebareli and Amethi and it cannot be broken. I will also help my brother in Raebareli. We will both be present in Raebareli and Wayanad," she said. 

In the Lok Sabha elections 2024, Rahul Gandhi contested and won from both Raebareli and Wayanad Lok Sabha seats. Rahul Gandhi won the Raebareli Lol Sabha seat by a margin of more than 3.90 lakh votes whereas he clinched Wayanad by a margin of more than 3.64 lakh votes. 

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for maintaining "silence" on the NEET exam issue and asserted that his party is committed to strongly raising the voice of the youth from the streets to the Parliament for ensuring strong policies against paper leaks.

The former Congress president said the arrests made in Bihar, Gujarat and Haryana clearly show that there has been organised corruption in the examination in a planned manner and added these BJP-ruled states have become the "epicentre" of paper leaks.

"Narendra Modi, as usual, is maintaining silence on the tampering with the future of more than 24 lakh students in the NEET examination," Gandhi said in a post on X in Hindi.

"The arrests made in Bihar, Gujarat and Haryana clearly show that there has been organised corruption in the examination in a planned manner and these BJP ruled states have become the epicentre of paper leak," he claimed.

In the manifesto, the Congress had guaranteed to secure the future of the youth by making strict laws against paper leaks.

"While fulfilling the responsibility of the opposition, we are committed to formulate such tough policies by strongly raising the voice of the youth from the streets to the Parliament and putting pressure on the government," he said.

Gandhi's remarks came after the Supreme Court on Tuesday said even if there was "0.001 per cent negligence" on the part of anyone in the conduct of the NEET-UG 2024 examination, it should be thoroughly dealt with.

Observing that students have to labour hard while preparing for these examinations, the apex court said the litigation pertaining to the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate)-2024 examination ought not be treated as adversarial.

"Even if there is 0.001 per cent negligence on the part of anyone, it should be thoroughly dealt with," a vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and SVN Bhatti told the advocates appearing for the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA).

The NTA conducts the all India pre-medical entrance test.

The bench was hearing two separate petitions raising grievances, including on grace marks given to the students in the examination held on May 5.