The Observer
An IIJNM publication
Vol. 21, Issue 21
Thursday, March 3, 2022
https://facebook.com/ iijnmbangalore https://twitter.com/ observer_weekly Epaper: https://issu.com/ theweeklyobserver/docs Website: http://www. theweeklyobserver.in
For youngsters, financial security has become a big priority; it makes them feel safe and secure | P 3
Shuchi scheme renewed, but Bengaluru’s govt schools are not receiving sanitary pads | P 2
Tension mounts, We are on the verge of a mental students leave breakdown, say Indian students parents are Ukraine’s Kharkiv ‘Ourliving in absolute terror’
By Swarali Bodas & Anwesha Singh
A Indian students stuck at basement of Kharkiv National Medical University’s hostel waiting for their rescue | Courtesy: Anushka Pant
They’re still awaiting evacuation By Saumyangi Yadav
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he sky in Kharkiv was blanketed with a thick black smog as the warstruck city shivered at a temperature of 1°C. There was an eerie silence on the roads. The only sound heard was air-raid sirens every two hours. Early Wednesday, a group of students made its way through glass shards and piles of rubble that remained on the streets from the previous night’s brutal bombing of Kharkiv by Russian forces. Their destination was the city’s railway station. Students of the Kharkiv National Medical University in Ukraine, stuck inside their hostel bunkers, decided to flee the city after waiting for over seven days for the Indian government to evacuate them. Anushka Pant, 22 year old, a first-year medical student, informed The Observer: “We got a notice from the Indian embassy that we needed to leave the city immediately; it did not matter
Ukraine’s Kherson city falls to Russian forces Russian forces have taken Kherson in Ukraine, local officials confirmed, first major urban centre to fall since Moscow invaded one week ago. IAF brings back 800 stranded in Ukraine Nearly 800 Indians stranded in Ukraine were brought back in four flights operated by the Indian Air Force. Flights from Bucharest, Budapest and Rzeszow landed at the Hindon Air base. if we had to do it on foot or by train. We walked to the railway station, which is almost 10 km from our hostel.” The advisory said: “Leave Kharkiv immediately, repeat immediately, in the light of the deteriorating situation.” It directed people to move to Pisochyn, Bezlyudivka or Babai by 9.30 pm IST (6 pm Ukrainian time). ►Continued on page 4
n Indian medical student studying in Vinnytsia, Ukraine, died following a stroke on Wednesday. It happened a day after another Indian medical student, Naveen S.G., from Karnataka, lost his life in the war torn nation. Sandra Bhavana Jayan, hailing from Kerala, now studying in Sumy, Ukraine, is terrified of the current situation. Sandra is in her hostel with almost 400 other students, awaiting evacuation. “We are waiting at the Russian border... which is the only way out for us,” she informed while talking to The Observer.
Indian students in Ukraine are waiting for their safe evacuation | Courtesy: Economic Times Sandra and many others like her are scared of going out to buy groceries as they know Naveen had stepped out to buy food. “Everyone is now afraid to go out now. Even our parents are scared for us. We just have enough food for two days, but after that we don’t know what to do,” Sandra added. An advisory from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) dated March 2 said all Indian nationals in Kharkiv must leave the city immediately in view of the deteriorating situation. Sandra said the MEA has asked them to be ready to leave
‘Russia had no right to invade Ukraine’
By Chhavi Vohra
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n an interview with The Observer, Rajesh Rajagopalan (in photo), professor of International Politics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said that Russia had no right to invade Ukraine. Nothing justifies one country invading another country. There may be security concerns, but there are other ways to address those issues. On Russia placing its nuclear weapons on a more elevated alert, he thinks it is simply a
move to warn the western countries against intervening in Ukraine. It has more to do with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s paranoia than anything else, he said. Rajagopalan spoke about how United Nations is limited in what it can do since Russia is a member of the UN Security Council.On Quad, he says that it won’t be affected much as Quad is not a military alliance. India should worry about the growing ChinaRussia relations. ►Full interview on page 4
any time. “As soon as the border opens, we could leave. We want to be evacuated as soon as possible.... It’s been 6-7 days already. All the students present are on the verge of a mental breakdown... We are praying for the best,” she said. Not only the students stuck in Ukraine, even their parents in India are equally afraid. “My parents are in absolute terror….They have not slept properly since the war started…. And we are very concerned about their health as well,” Sandra Bhavana Jayan added. The Observer contacted Himanshu Raj Maurya, resident of Madhya Pradesh and a medical student of Kharkiv Medical University who is stuck at city’s metro station. He said other medical students are scared after Naveen’s death and the situation here is very bad. ►Continued on page 4
News Briefs
Polling held in 57 UP assembly constituencies
Polling was held in 57 assembly constituencies for the sixth phase of UP elections on March 3. Districts are Gorakhpur, Ballia, Kushinagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar and Deoria. Final phase of voting will be held on March 7. Counting will be done on March 10.
Govt has no right to make law for 3 capitals: HC
The Andhra Pradesh High Court has ordered Amaravati’s development as the capital of Andhra Pradesh and ruled that the government has no right to approve fresh legislation for the three capitals. No office should be shifted from Amaravati to any other place.
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The Observer Thursday, March 3, 2022
WOMEN’S HEALTH
Re-implemented menstrual pads scheme still on paper
NGOs step in to distribute pads among girls By Saumyangi Yadav
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espite the re-implementation of the Shuchi scheme by the Karnataka government in 2021-22, government. schools in Bengaluru are still not receiving pads. The scheme aims at distributing sanitary pads among adolescent girls in government schools and PU colleges in the state. The Observer found out that no school has received sanitary pads recently; most schools have not obtained pads from the government in the past four years. Pushpa Lata, the headmistress of the Government Girls’ High School, Malleswaram, said: “I was not even aware that the government has re-implemented the scheme. We have not received any pads for three or four years. Even before the pandemic, we did not get the pads regularly.”
Quiz
1. Who established the Soviet Union’s Red Army? 2. Who was the first chairman of the USSR? 3. When was the Soviet Union dissolved formally? 4. What was the capital of the Soviet Union at the time of establishment? 5. How many republics were there in the USSR during its establishment? 6. The Ukrainian ‘Snake Island’ is also known by which name? 7. When did the Chernobyl disaster happen in Ukraine? 8. What does the color blue on Ukraine’s flag represent? 9. What was the first capital of Ukraine? 10. During which year did the USSR begin officially? 11. What kind of state was the USSR? 12. Who came to power as the head of the USSR after Lenin? 13. Which tragedy struck the USSR in the 1930s? 14. Who was the last leader of the Soviet Union? 15. When did the cold war end? ►Answers on page 3
Shuchi scheme was started to increase awareness about menstrual hygiene among adolescent girls | Credit: Saumyangi Yadav Last year, Dr Veena V, deputy director of the Shuchi scheme, had informed The Observer that the implementation has started, and the distribution of pads would begin by November 2021. This was after the government allocated Rs 47 crore for the scheme in FY 2021-22. However, months later, the schools have still not received any sanitary napkins. When The Observer contacted Dr Veena in February 2022, she said: “There has been a delay because the tender could not qualify. We are still pushing it, because if this time the tender fails again, the government might
give up on the scheme. But we are still fighting for it. I want the distribution to start very soon. I know a lot of girls get affected by this, we are trying our best.” The scheme has been getting funds from the state government since the year 2015. However, last year, the government reduced its budget by Rs 2 crore. As many as 19.29 lakh girls in the state are supposed to be benefited by the scheme. Most girls in government schools belong to low-income families or Below Poverty Line people who find it tough to buy pads. “I have a sister. We sometimes make our own sanitary
napkins with old clothes; on other times, we buy them,” said Rashmi, 14, a student of the Malleswaram school. Most girls in government high schools have never received pads under the scheme. However, some government schools have got pads from NGOs and other private organizations. “We get donations from P&G and NGOs. They provide goodquality pads, brands like Whisper and Stayfree. We have not received any pads from the government,” Reshma N, a teacher in a government school in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, shared. “I cannot recall the last time we received pads under the Shuchi scheme. Some girls are underprivileged and need aid from the government. It is only fair if a regular supply of pads is provided to them.” she added. The scheme was started to increase awareness about menstrual hygiene among adolsecent and young girls. It was halted in the year 2020. saumyangi.y@iijnm.org
Citizen’s Voice
War is not the way out, so choose diplomacy Russia may have security concerns if Ukraine joins the Europian Union or NATO, but it must respect the sovereignty of an independent country. It may be huge and mighty, but invading a sovereign country is condemnable and in very bad taste. It should adopt diplomacy and find a peaceful solution because war can never bring peace. Amit Vohra
Make studying in India affordable About 8,ooo Indian medical students are still stranded in Ukraine waiting to return home. Most students have to go abroad because of faulty medical education and lack of proper medical colleges in India. Medical education is very expensive in our country. The Indian government should ensure opening more medical schools and colleges. The college fees should be affordable to everyone in the country, especially middle-class people. Studying in India should be made cheaper than studying in foreign countries. Sita Ram Vohra
Rise in infertility rate becoming a concern for women in Karnataka
Stress, smoking, drinking among many reasons By Tina Freese
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man came in with swift steps with a box of sweets in his hands. The nurses smiled and congratulated him on having his first newborn. In contrast to him was a woman sitting across him, not more than 25 years of age, wiping her tearstained face with the crumpled end of her saree. Beside her was her husband trying console her. Rima Thappa was 25 years old and two years into her marriage when she decided to start a family. Her hopes were shattered when, after trying for several months, she could not conceive. She has had irregular and extremely painful periods since a very young age.
PCOS is one of the reasons for the declining fertility rate Courtesy: Pexels.com “They are supposed to be painful” is what she thought. Years later, her doctor informed her large cysts had blocked and
damaged her fallopian tube. The fertility rate in Karnataka has been falling as per the latest National Family and Health Survey(NFHS 5). The rate was found to be lower in urban women (1.5) than rural women (1.7). Women unable to conceive have to turn to artificial methods like in-vitro fertilization (IVF), intrauterine insemination (IUI), intracytoplasmic sperm injection and surrogacy. An official at the Jainistha fertility centre, Rajajinagar, informed The Observer that it records over 60 new patients on an average in a week. “The number has been increasing for a decade. The infertility rate among both men and women has been on the rise. This is why we have a lot of new patients every day. On an average in a day, we have at least 10 new patients and several continuing patients,” said Swetha A, a senior embryologist at the centre.
Rima Thappa, 29, a homemaker, remembering her treatment, said: “I had to use IUI method to conceive. It was a very long and painful procedure involving several visits to the hospital. The doctors told me the chances of me conceiving in the first try are negligible. Only if I had known that I had PCOS earlier all that could have been avoided.” She is now a mother of a five-year-old boy.” Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the major reasons for the declining fertility rate. As per a report in the Deccan Herald, PCOS has been on the rise in Karnataka for five years. PCOS is a metabolic disorder in which ovaries fail to release eggs regularly, leading to irregular, prolonged or no menstrual periods at all. tina.f@iijnm.org ►Read full report on www.theweeklyobserver.in
CITY
The Observer Thrusday, March 3, 2022
Financial security becomes a big priority for youngsters
Seeing present times, they want financial stability By Anwesha Singh
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fter getting a job as an interior designer, the first thing 24-year-old Supriya Singh did was to ask her father about ‘financial security’ so that she could start saving money. Supriya’s desire for financial security goes back to the time when one of her relatives faced financial issues. “My relative lost his job due to the pandemic and his family faced problems.” “For me, financial security is the most important thing. It’s not only about having money in your hand; it’s also about having mental peace. You cannot sleep peacefully if you don’t have any savings for emergencies.” Sunil Singh, Supriya’s father, agrees with her. He believes one should start saving as soon as one starts earning. “Earlier, people used to live in joint families and had their own houses. The bills were equally divided.
Weather
Max temperature: 30°C Min temperature: 17°C Precipitation: 0% Humidity: 19% Wind: 5 km/h UV index: Low
Quiz answers
1.Leon Trotsky 2.Vladimir Lenin 3.1988-1991 4.Moscow 5.15 6.Zmiyinyy 7.April 1986 8.The sky, rivers, and peace 9.Kharkiv 10.1922 11.Socialist 12.Stalin 13.Famine 14.Gorbachev 15.1989
Across the City
Planetarium Show, Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, 2nd March-31st March Pottery workshop, Lahe Lahe, Kodihalli, HAL 2nd stage, 2nd March-31st March SteppinOut Night Market, Exhibition, Jayamahal Palace Hotel, 5th March, Saturday
Youngsters feel that financial security gives them the confidence of trying something big in their life and career | Credit: Anwesha Singh But now, with an increase in salaries, expenditure has also increased especially if you live in another city. In such conditions, it is crucial to start saving and be financially secure.” Aviral Agarwal, 23, an engineering graduate who will begin working as a mechanical engineer in June, has started planning his finances. Asked about the importance of being financially secure, he informed The Observer: “It gives you a sense of security and not just in terms of money but mentally and as well as emotionally .”
Asked how he plans to save money, he shared: “The very first way is to stop the urge of spending needlessly. I talked to a finance expert who advised me to start a savings account and invest some amount… in mutual funds.” According to a survey conducted by the credit payment start-up Slice in 2021, Gen Z and millennials in India are prioritizing their health and financial security. The survey said young Indians focused on their financials in 2021 with “investing money” coming up as one of the important resolutions of the
year. While 57 per cent of the respondents between the ages of 18 to 30 said they would like to invest better, 21 per cent shared they believe in saving more. Abhishek Kumar, 28, the owner of a Cloud kitchen, believes financial security gives one the confidence risks. “I would not have initiated my startup if I didn’t have any financial security. For me, it allows me to be more aggressive with my career and do experiments.” Kumar, who earlier worked with Zara and Raymond, said it was his savings and investments that allowed him to start a cloud kitchen. Shikha Shipra, 23, who is woeking as a civil engineer, shared: “Financial security is important for youngsters so that they have enough money to support their lifestyle as well as work to move towards their financial goals. It is also essential to avoid future debt and bankruptcy.” She believes financial security gives one the confidence to try something big in life.. anwesha.s@iijnm.org Read the full report on: www.theweeklyobserver.in
3 This day That year
On this day in the year 1923, the famous American news magazine TIME’s first ever issue was published. It was America’s first weekly magazine. For around a decade TIME magazine was published weekly but in 2020 it transitioned into twice a month. TIME Magazine has been one of the most authoritative and informative guides for readers. It covers stories ranging from current affairs, politics, business, health, science and entertainment.
Quote of the day
“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.” — Mother Teresa
Crocheting being used to treat dementia patients By Swarali Bodas
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rocheting and knitting, considered a hobby by many, is now being used by psychologists in care centers for the treatment of dementia. Crocheting or knitting is a process in which you weave a yarn or thread by hooks in a certain pattern. These patterns can then be created into toys, clothes etc “Dementia is a neurological disorder in which one loses cognitive functioning. This means they cannot remember things or people or reason a lot,” explained Dr Joy Desai, a neuro-psychiatrist at KEM Hospital, Mumbai. Dr Desai also talked about the effectiveness of this therapy. “We call it crochet therapy in our centre. Therapy inherently is a treatment for physical/emotional well-being. This helps dementia patients in many ways. “How exercising helps and improves your body physically, crocheting or any other kind of
Although demetia cannot be cured, knitting helps to improve memory | Courtesy: Pexels.com goal- directed activity helps and improves your brain,” he added. According to a study by the American Counseling Association, crocheting helps older people struggling with dementia to improve memory. The study says that crocheting is basically making different patterns helping them in improving memory. Dr Deepa Patil, a practising psychiatrist, informed The Observer that it isn’t in the textbooks but several studies have shown that crocheting does help in memory building. “Dementia
doesn’t affect your intellect; it affects your conscious and cognitive abilities. Crocheting engages your mind,” she explained . “Dementia is not curable, but one can always try exercises that can delay the process. There is no harm in it,” she added. According to a survey by British Journal of Occupational Therapy, crocheting has psychological and social benefits. Sannidhi Damle (name changed), 68, a dementia patient, said,“The centre I am in started knitting as an exercise to build our memory. We do it five times a week.” She also spoke about how she used to knit sweaters after her retirement and never thought it would be useful as a means to treat her condition. “While knitting clothes for my grandchildren, I never thought I’d do this… to treat my illness. But, again, I never thought I’d get dementia, so life truly does surprise you,” Damle added. Niti Choudhary, Damle’s
daughter, said she was fascinated to hear about the technique. “I was interested to know more about it and its credibility.” The doctors told her that medicines, memory exercises and this therapy together might help her mother rebuild her memory faster. “There is no cure for dementia yet. But one always tries to help in memory building after this disease is diagnosed. Crocheting is another exercise added to this” Dr Desai explained. Devadutta Ghosalkar, whose aunt has dementia, spoke about how crocheting helped his aunt with her anxiety issues. “My aunt was diagnosed with dementia three years ago, and then was diagnosed with anxiety a year ago. She is at home and knits as her psychiatrist asked her to. It benefits her anxiety issues along with dementia,” he said. As per 2011 census, 20 percent of people aged 80 in India suffer from some form of dementia. swarali.b@iijnm.org
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UKRAINE CRISIS
The Observer Thursday, March 3, 2022
‘Hope sanctions deter paranoid Putin’
Ukraine isn’t a threat to Russia: Prof. Rajagopalan
India is in a tough position because it’s very dependent on Russia. India is right not to vote or to abstain from the vote condemning Russia. I can understand India’s original stand against condemning Russia, but in subsequent votes, India shouldn’t abstain. — Prof. Rajagopalan
By Chhavi Vohra
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n February 24, Russia launched full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It is the biggest attack in Europe since World War II. Eight days after the war began, several buildings have fallen and civilians killed. The horrors of the war are still unfolding as you read this. The first round of Ukraine-Russia talks, held at the Belarus border, has resulted in no immediate agreements.
Observer Interview
In an interview with The Observer, Rajesh Rajagopalan, professor of International Politics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said that security concerns do not give one country the right to invade another. What do you think of the current Ukraine-Russia issue? Russia has obviously no right to invade Ukraine. But it’s not a question of right or wrong. We have to basically look at it
Twitterati Talk
@TOIBengaluru PU timetable will be revised so as to avoid the clash between the exam and #JEE Mains, said department of PU education. JEE Mains session 1 will be held on April 16-21, 2022. II PU exams were scheduled from April 16 as well. (Sruthy Susan Ullas, TOI) @CricketNDTV England batter Jason Roy penned a heartfelt note for the GujaratTitans family, including skipper Hardik Pandya. #IPL2022
Team Observer Editor: Chhavi Vohra Reporters: Chhavi Vohra, Saumyangi Yadav, Swarali Bodas, Anwesha Singh, Tina Freese Copyeditors: Swarali Bodas, Anwesha Singh, Tina Freese, Saumyangi Yadav, Photo editors: Saumyangi Yadav, Swarali Bodas, Anwesha Singh, Tina Freese, Chhavi Vohra Page Layout: Saumyangi Yadav, Swarali Bodas, Anwesha Singh, Tina Freese
in terms of why it happened. I mean nothing justifies one country invading or conquering another country, so in that sense by legal norms and all other norms, Russia is in the wrong. Russia is wrong to invade Ukraine. But we also have to look at the larger reasons for why Russia did what it did and what the consequences are. You can have security concerns, but they do not give you the right to invade another country. I do not believe that Ukraine is a threat to Russia in any way. Russia’s president recently decided to place Russian nuclear weapons on a more elevated alert? What’s your stance on this? I think he is simply warning western countries against inter-
vening in Ukraine. Even though I don’t think anybody had any plans to intervene in Ukraine, but Putin is also a slightly paranoid person, so he may have thought that this is something that is very likely to happen. I think it is more his paranoia than anything else. Where does Belarus stand in all this considering its decision to reverse his country’s non-nuclear status.? Belarus is clearly under Russian control, and there’s a lot of Russian forces now in Belarus. The government has declared that it’ll also join the Russian invasion of Ukraine. So it’s basically now a party to the conflict. What do you think of the UN’s stance on the invasion?
The UN is very limited in what it can do. Unless everybody agrees, it’s very difficult for the UN to actually do anything. Since Russia is a member of the UN Security Council, no action can be taken against it. Security Council rules require a consensus; if there is no consensus between the five powers, then it’s not possible for the UN Security Council to act. But the fact that nobody else is supporting Russia in the Security Council, and it has very little support even in the General Assembly, should be signal to Russia that it’s wrong. Will imposing sanctions be enough to stop the war? Hopefully, they will lead Putin to re-examine his options and, maybe, prevent him from going too far. They can stop the war early, hopefully. That remains to be seen, though. How will things change now that Ukraine’s President has signed the EU membership? I don’t know whether they’ll admit Ukraine into the EU under the current conditions. Added to that are the legal complications. At this stage I don’t think that it’ll immediately happen. I cannot say for sure, but I don’t think
the EU will take that action right away. We’ve to wait and see. India abstained from voting at the UNSC, and is also expected to abstain at the UNGA? Your view on India’s neutral stand? India is in a tough position because it is very dependent on Russia. India is right not to vote or to abstain from the vote condemning Russia. I can understand India’s original stand against condemning Russia, but in the subsequent votes, India shouldn’t abstain. What will it mean for the Quad membership of India? No, I really don’t think tha it means very much because Quad is not a military alliance. It’s a very limited sort of coordinating mechanism between four countries on some actions. So I think India’s partners in the Quad are going to be disappointed…. Should India be worried about the growing closeness between China and Russia? Of course. The biggest consequence of this is that Russia has a junior partner beside it. That is potentially quite a dangerous development for India. chhavi.v@iijnm.org
Indian students weren’t let Indian Embassy in touch inside trains in Kharkiv with students, says MEA
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►Continued from page 1 e had planned to go to Lviv, near the Poland border but situation at the railway station was really bad. They weren’t letting Indians in the train as there wasn’t much space and they had to move the Ukrainians. Women were being pushed into train coaches. There were bombings and firings happening in front of our eyes. The metro station was also packed with students trying to evacuate. That is why we decided not to take the train.” Cheekapravan Harsha, a student from Sumy State University who had returned to India by a flight on February 23, said: “There are at least 500 Indian students in my hostel. Out of those, only 30 returned to India. The rest are still stuck.” Indian students have been facing a lot of difficulties while leaving Ukraine. The Hindustan Times reported on Thursday that Polish border guards had beaten
up around 100 Indian students and sent them back to Ukraine. Pant and around hundreds of other students walked about 25 km to reach the place that was recommended by the embassy. “There was bombing on our way. We were very scared. At times I thought we wouldn’t make it but we knew we had to keep going.” There are at least 500 Indian students in just one hostel block of the Kharkiv National Medical University, Pant said. All of them had been stuck in their hostel’s basement for a week with no sign of evacuation or any other aid being sent for them. “There are Ukrainian and Russian students as well. Including all the other hostel buildings, there are some 2,000 Indian students stuck here,” she added. For a week, these students have been living in dismal conditions inside cramped basements. saumyangi.y@iijnm.org ►Read the full report on www.theweeklyobserver.in
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►Continued from page 1 aveen, 21, a resident of Haveri district, was a first-year-student of the Kharkiv National Medical University. On Tuesday, he stepped out of a bunker to buy groceries and was caught in shelling by Russian armed forces. His father, Shekhargouda, has criticized the Indian education system. The Times of India quoted him as saying: “My son was very talented. He got 97% in class 10 and PUC. But he was still unable get a medical seat in a government college here.” An MEA official said Naveen’s body will be brought back to the country once the situation in Kharkiv becomes normal. Chandan Jindal, 22, an Indian student studying at Vinnytsia, Ukraine, died after he suffered a stroke on Wednesday.. Arindam Bagchi, the MEA’s official spokesperson, in response to media queries regarding Indian students being held hostage
Naveen, 21, belonged to the Haveri district in Bengaluru | Courtesy:KPN in Ukraine, has said the Indian embassy in Ukraine is in continuous touch with Indian nationals in Ukraine. With the help of authorities, many students left Kharkiv on Wednesday.. “We have not received any reports of any hostage situation regarding any student…. We have been coordinating effectively with the countries in the region including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova,” Bagchi added. swarali.b@iijnm.org and anwesha.s@iijnm.org