New Delhi, June 3: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday dialled the Chief Ministers of Assam and Sikkim, as well as Manipur Governor Ajay Bhalla, to take stock of the flood situation in the northeastern states and offered all possible assistance in dealing with the flood menace.

The northeastern states, including Assam, Sikkim, Tripura, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, have been battered by heavy rains in the past few days, thereby bringing life to a standstill and cutting off the key supply chain to remote locations in these states.

PM Modi assured Assam and Sikkim CMs, as well as the Manipur Governor, of all possible assistance from the Centre in the ongoing relief and rehabilitation efforts.

The incessant rains in the northeast states, including Assam, Sikkim and Manipur and other adjoining regions, have caused water levels in rivers to swell to menacing levels. Major rivers of the region, including Brahmaputra, Pachnoi, and Kushiyara, are said to be flowing at alarming levels. Lakhs of hectares of land have been inundated, confining people to their homes and forcing those living in low-lying areas to move to safer locations.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma also took to X to inform that PM Modi called him to inquire about the flood situation in the state.

“I briefed the Prime Minister on how continuous rainfall in Assam and adjoining states has led to flooding and impacted many lives. I also apprised him of the relief operation undertaken by the state government,” he informed on X.

“The Prime Minister expressed concern and assured full support from the Central Government for our relief and rehabilitation efforts. Grateful for his guidance and unwavering support to the people of Assam,” he further said.

Sikkim CM Prem Singh Tamang, taking to X, thanked the Prime Minister for extending support regarding the landslide and flood situation in the state.

He also reiterated that the state administration remains fully committed to managing the situation and providing all necessary assistance to those affected.

In Manipur, the Army and Assam Rifles personnel are collectively carrying out the relief operation. They have so far rescued over 1,000 flood-hit people in Imphal East and Imphal West districts, grappling with a serious flood situation.

A flood bulletin issued by the Manipur administration on Monday informed that more than 56,000 people remained affected in at least 174 villages.

Chennai, June 3: A major reshuffle in the Tamil Nadu Prison Department has triggered widespread resentment among prison staff, who allege that the transfers were arbitrary and in violation of established government norms.

Several affected personnel are now considering legal action.

On May 27, DIG of Prisons Maheswar Dayal issued a sweeping order transferring 176 chief head warders across the state. The order includes long-distance reassignments, such as moving staff from Palayamkottai Central Prison to Vellore, nearly 600 kilometres apart, and vice versa.

Similar transfers were recorded from sub-jails in Nagapattinam and Ooty to Coimbatore and Palayamkottai, covering distances between 350 and 450 kilometres.

The move is part of a larger reshuffle underway over the past two months, involving assistant jailers, warders, and head warders.

While those posted over 400 kilometres away have been granted eight days to report for duty, others must report within six days.

Adding to the pressure, many have been verbally instructed to vacate their official quarters immediately.

A prison official based in Coimbatore expressed anguish: “My two children are in high school, and I’ve already paid their annual fees. How can I relocate my family overnight?”

Since April, nearly 250 personnel have been transferred, and insiders warn the move could damage morale and disrupt daily operations.

“This scale of reshuffling without consultation or consideration is unprecedented and could seriously impact the smooth functioning of prison administration,” said a senior official on condition of anonymity.

“Earlier, transfers were done through counselling and usually within a 60-100 km radius, keeping families in mind,” an officer said.

According to government rules, transfers are permitted once every three years.

A key government order issued by the Personnel and Administrative Reforms (Personnel M) Department in 1977 mandates that, when both spouses are in government service, efforts must be made to post them in the same station to support family welfare and children’s education. Already, one assistant jailer has secured a stay order from the court, while many others are reportedly preparing to file petitions challenging the transfer orders.

“If someone is facing proven corruption charges, a transfer — even to distant locations — is understandable. But these general transfers should factor in personal circumstances,” said a staffer from the southern zone.

In response, a senior prison department official defended the move, stating that many of the transferred employees had served in the same facility for over five years.

“The decision was made to break long-standing networks and eliminate potential corruption rings within prisons and sub-jails,” the official said, without offering further details.

As dissatisfaction continues to rise among the affected staff, legal battles and administrative scrutiny appear inevitable.

Islamabad, June 2: Pakistan has confirmed its 11th case of wild poliovirus this year after the virus was detected in a child from the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination said in a statement on Monday.

According to the ministry, the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad confirmed the presence of the virus in stool samples collected from a child in Diamer district.

The detection came shortly after the conclusion of the third nationwide polio vaccination campaign of the year, which took place from May 26 to June 1. The campaign reached more than 45 million children under the age of five across 159 districts, including high-risk areas, according to health officials.

Health officials have urged parents and caregivers to ensure their children receive multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine, calling the current campaign a vital opportunity to shield children from the crippling virus, Xinhua news agency reported.

Pakistan reported 74 polio cases in 2024, according to official data.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where wild poliovirus remains endemic. Polio workers have frequently been targeted in attacks, particularly in the northwest and southwest regions.

One of the reasons for the presence of the virus is the refusal of the majority of people to have their children vaccinated. Polio health workers have been victims of targeted killings and attacks by militant groups, who have opposed anti-polio campaigns in the country.

According to the World Health Organization, Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that largely affects children under 5 years of age. The virus is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (e.g. contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis.

In 1988, the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution for the worldwide eradication of polio, marking the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, spearheaded by national governments, WHO, Rotary International, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), UNICEF, and later joined by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Wild poliovirus cases have decreased by over 99 per cent since 1988, from an estimated 350,000 cases in more than 125 endemic countries to 6 reported cases in 2021. Of the 3 strains of wild poliovirus (type 1, type 2 and type 3), wild poliovirus type 2 was eradicated in 1999, and wild poliovirus type 3 was eradicated in 2020. As of 2022, endemic wild poliovirus type 1 remains in two countries: Pakistan and Afghanistan.