Latest news with #ManjushaKulkarni
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Health
- Hindustan Times
City hospitals seek urgent meeting with PMC over ₹25 crore pending dues
Association of Hospitals (AOH), Pune, has decided to raise the issue of long delays in receiving payments for treating patients under the Urban Poor Health Scheme (UPHS) and Contributory Health Scheme (CHS) with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The association has written to the additional municipal commissioner on Tuesday requesting an urgent meeting to discuss the pending dues issue. One of the key demands is the revision of package rates for various medical procedures under the civic schemes. The body demands that the nursing home charges should not be revised as per the Maharashtra Nursing Homes Registration (Amendment) Rules 2021, representatives of the association said. The AOH is an association of big hospitals in the city, including Ruby Hall Clinic, KEM, Noble Hospital, Jehangir Hospital, Poona Hospital, KEM Hospital and Inlaks and Budhrani Hospital. The civic body has 140 hospitals empanelled under the scheme, and owes dues amounting to ₹25 crores, they said. Dr HK Sale, executive director, Noble Hospital and chairman of AOH, Pune, said, 'The rates at which the procedures are conducted under the PMC-run health schemes are old. We want the civic body to revise the rates, so that hospitals on the panel don't suffer losses. The hospitals have to pay vendors on monthly basis, and the mounting unpaid bills have placed it under immense financial pressure.' Manjusha Kulkarni, legal advisor, Ruby Hall Clinic and secretary of the association, said, 'There has been a rate revision in the nursing home charges as per the Maharashtra Nursing Homes Registration (Amendment) Rules 2021. We don't want PMC to increase the charges. Besides, the civic body should reconsider biomedical waste charges, which are exorbitant.' Dr. Sanjeev Wavare, assistant health officer, PMC, stated that approximately ₹20 crore in dues are yet to be cleared by PMC. 'The delay occurs due to time required for scrutiny of bills. While the payment process is ongoing, some hospitals receive their payments while bills from other hospitals continue to accumulate. The rates for empanelled hospitals are based on the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) rates, but they are outdated,' he said.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Group finds anti-Asian hate surging following Trump election
Anti-Asian hate surged online following President Trump's November victory, with South Asian communities targeted the most, according to new data from Stop AAPI Hate. In a report released Thursday, the organization found that January 2025 marked the highest number of anti-Asian American incidents since the organization began monitoring anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander posts in August 2022. Anti-South Asian slurs increased 75 percent from November 2024 to January 2025, rising from 36,136 to 63,258. Anti-East Asian slurs jumped by 51 percent during the same period, rising from 15,476 to 23,287. 'We are extremely alarmed by the latest spikes of hate that Asian communities are facing today, both in online spaces and in-person — which Trump is fueling with xenophobic rhetoric and policies,' said Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and executive director of AAPI Equity Alliance. Threats against the AAPI community also increased immediately following the election. Between November 2024 and January 2025, threats against members of the APPI community jumped by 50 percent, with South Asians bearing the brunt of such threats. Stop AAPI Hate's report found that the surge in anti-Asian hate was in part due to the debate around H-1B visas. The temporary visa, which Trump voiced support for, are primarily by the tech industry. Trump's support divided Republicans on the topic of immigration. The report also found that some of the anti-AAPI hate was directed at Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, who is of Indian descent. Vivek Ramaswamy was also the target of the hate. The report identified some of the hateful rhetoric included users falsely claiming that people of Chinese descent in the U.S., including Asian American elected officials, are spies. The organization also argued that Trump's own rhetoric and policy has spurred the increase in online posts and in-person interactions. According to the report, individuals reported that some of the hateful rhetoric they encountered included Trump supporters referring to the president's immigration plans. One Taiwanese man in California reported that while out at a restaurant, another man rolls him to 'enjoy your last meal. You are getting deported.' In another instance, a Chinese man from the South reported that he was told Trump was 'going to have me arrested and thrown in jail.' 'Trump and his loyalists have stoked the flames of anti-Asian scapegoating and bigotry for years,' said Kulkarni. 'And today, they continue to embolden racists to commit acts of hate. Their goal is to build a climate of fear in our communities, but we will not be silenced.' In response to the report, the White House said Trump was elected in part because of his efforts to make the nation a safer country for all Americans. 'President Trump received resounding support from more than 77 million Americans, including a historic number of Asian Americans, due in part to his commitment to Make America Safe Again. His dedication to empowering the police, deporting criminal illegal aliens, and standing for law and order will protect every American—a change from the previous administration,' White House Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields said in the statement. This story was updated at 9:58 a.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
20-02-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Group finds anti-Asian hate surging following Trump election
Anti-Asian hate surged online following President Trump's November victory, with South Asian communities targeted the most, according to new data from Stop AAPI Hate. In a report released Thursday, the organization found that January 2025 marked the highest number of anti-Asian American incidents since the organization began monitoring anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander posts in August 2022. Anti-South Asian slurs increased 75 percent from November 2024 to January 2025, rising from 36,136 to 63,258. Anti-East Asian slurs jumped by 51 percent during the same period, rising from 15,476 to 23,287. 'We are extremely alarmed by the latest spikes of hate that Asian communities are facing today, both in online spaces and in-person — which Trump is fueling with xenophobic rhetoric and policies,' said Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and executive director of AAPI Equity Alliance. Threats against the AAPI community also increased immediately following the election. Between November 2024 and January 2025, threats against members of the APPI community jumped by 50 percent, with South Asians bearing the brunt of such threats. Stop AAPI Hate's report found that the surge in anti-Asian hate was in part due to the debate around H-1B visas. The temporary visa, which Trump voiced support for, are primarily by the tech industry. Trump's support divided Republicans on the topic of immigration. The report also found that some of the anti-AAPI hate was directed at Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, who is of Indian descent. Vivek Ramaswamy was also the target of the hate. The report identified some of the hateful rhetoric included users falsely claiming that people of Chinese descent in the U.S., including Asian American elected officials, are spies. The organization also argued that Trump's own rhetoric and policy has spurred the increase in online posts and in-person interactions. According to the report, individuals reported that some of the hateful rhetoric they encountered included Trump supporters referring to the president's immigration plans. One Taiwanese man in California reported that while out at a restaurant, another man rolls him to 'enjoy your last meal. You are getting deported.' In another instance, a Chinese man from the South reported that he was told Trump was 'going to have me arrested and thrown in jail.' 'Trump and his loyalists have stoked the flames of anti-Asian scapegoating and bigotry for years,' said Kulkarni. 'And today, they continue to embolden racists to commit acts of hate. Their goal is to build a climate of fear in our communities, but we will not be silenced.'
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Asian communities faced language barriers during L.A. wildfires, UCLA study says
A new UCLA study published this week found Asian communities affected by the recent fires in Los Angeles County had difficulty accessing information about emergency evacuations and recovery efforts because of language barriers. The study, which is part of a research series examining the impact wildfires have had on the county's different racial and ethnic groups, found that more than 12,000 of the 50,000 Asian immigrants and their descendants living within four evacuation zones need language assistance. The fire zones are: Palisades, Eaton, Hurst and Hughes. The group makes up 15% of the total population of these four areas, but researchers say the data point to a dearth in multilingual communication alerts about fire warnings, evacuation procedures and relief services. 'These language needs are part of a broader challenge in Los Angeles County, where over half a million Asian Americans are classified as Limited English Proficiency,' the study read in part. Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director of Asian American and Pacific Islanders Equity Alliance, a coalition of 50 community-based organizations, said among the complaints they've heard from residents is that fire alerts were sent only in English and Spanish. She said some residents avoided evacuation centers because there were no interpreters to assist them, while others complained they could not find online information about the fires in their native language. 'We put together a resource guide that was in multiple languages on our own because we saw nobody else was doing it,' Kulkarni said. 'It's available in English, in traditional and simplified Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese and it includes information on shelter, housing, child care … the whole gamut.' The resource guide is available on the AAPI Equity Alliance's website. In a written statement to The Times, L.A. County's Coordinated Joint Information Center, which is tasked with releasing public information during an emergency, said the alerts are limited to English and Spanish due to system limitations of the Integrated Alert and Warning System that is maintained by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 'These alerts are only one of several means of notifying residents to evacuate their homes during an emergency,' county officials said. 'Our response also includes usage of the Alert LA County messaging platform, door knocks or first responders with loudspeakers driving up and down streets.' County officials said its Disaster Resource Centers also include multilingual staff and county material that has been translated in multiple languages including Chinese, Korean, Tagalog and Vietnamese. 'Many social media messages from L.A. County accounts are regularly posted in multiple languages, including Korean and Chinese,' the statement read. Here's how to apply for @fema assistance if you've been impacted by the #PalisadesFire, #EatonFire, #KennethFire or other have 3 options: 💻 Use the FEMA App📱 Call 800-621-3362 — Los Angeles County (@CountyofLA) January 10, 2025 This coming Wednesday, county officials said, the Board of Supervisors' weekly news conferences will be available in more than 60 languages through real-time language translation services. While researchers and Asian American advocates applaud the efforts, they're still urging county officials to assess the language needs of the Asian communities as they are made up of various ethnic groups who speak their own languages. As part of the study, researchers looked closer at the diversity of these communities in the four evacuation zones by using U.S. census and elementary school data to develop a profile of the people living there. The study's findings show that the commonly spoken Asian languages in the four areas are Chinese, Korean, Tagalog and Vietnamese. But there are also dozens of other languages including Cantonese, Thai, Punjabi and Hindi. Researchers found that older people, ages 45 and over, were more likely to have higher rates of limited English proficiency, or LEP, which the U.S. census defines as someone who speaks English less than 'very well.' The study shows that the Palisades fire area has the highest proportion of LEP Asians, followed by those living in the Eaton evacuation zone, where a large segment of the Asian population is located. Chhandara Pech, researcher and deputy director at UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, the study's findings underscore why government officials need to be more precise on the information they are distributing to neighborhoods. "Government agencies should not only focus on reaching the largest population that's affected by the wildfires, but it should also prioritize supporting the most vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities," Pech said. The study, the fourth in the series, is yet another reminder of the ongoing effort to tailor emergency preparedness and response plans to the needs of vulnerable groups such as immigrants, the poor, the elderly and people with disabilities. Two years after the firestorms of 2017, California took a more serious approach in addressing these issues by launching a state program dubbed Listos California. The program, which played a vital role in distributing information during the pandemic, has helped prepare vulnerable communities for major disasters by partnering with community groups and local governments. Kulkarni hopes county officials will do the same, especially in addressing the language barriers she believes exist in the county's emergency response plans. 'Language is a critical component of providing resources and services,' Kulkarni said. 'And a number of those responsibilities are governmental, but [it] can and it should partner with local community groups because we know the needs.' 'Let's do this right,' she said, continuing. 'Let's partner and make sure we're meeting the needs of these folks.' Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
09-02-2025
- General
- Los Angeles Times
Asian communities faced language barriers during L.A. wildfires, UCLA study says
A new UCLA study published this week found Asian communities affected by the recent fires in Los Angeles County had difficulty accessing information about emergency evacuations and recovery efforts because of language barriers. The study, which is part of a research series examining the impact wildfires have had on the county's different racial and ethnic groups, found that more than 12,000 of the 50,000 Asian immigrants and their descendants living within four evacuation zones need language assistance. The fire zones are: Palisades, Eaton, Hurst and Hughes. The group makes up 15% of the total population of these four areas, but researchers say the data point to a dearth in multilingual communication alerts about fire warnings, evacuation procedures and relief services. 'These language needs are part of a broader challenge in Los Angeles County, where over half a million Asian Americans are classified as Limited English Proficiency,' the study read in part. Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director of Asian American and Pacific Islanders Equity Alliance, a coalition of 50 community-based organizations, said among the complaints they've heard from residents is that fire alerts were sent only in English and Spanish. She said some residents avoided evacuation centers because there were no interpreters to assist them, while others complained they could not find online information about the fires in their native language. 'We put together a resource guide that was in multiple languages on our own because we saw nobody else was doing it,' Kulkarni said. 'It's available in English, in traditional and simplified Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese and it includes information on shelter, housing, child care … the whole gamut.' The resource guide is available on the AAPI Equity Alliance's website. In a written statement to The Times, L.A. County's Coordinated Joint Information Center, which is tasked with releasing public information during an emergency, said the alerts are limited to English and Spanish due to system limitations of the Integrated Alert and Warning System that is maintained by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 'These alerts are only one of several means of notifying residents to evacuate their homes during an emergency,' county officials said. 'Our response also includes usage of the Alert LA County messaging platform, door knocks or first responders with loudspeakers driving up and down streets.' County officials said its Disaster Resource Centers also include multilingual staff and county material that has been translated in multiple languages including Chinese, Korean, Tagalog and Vietnamese. 'Many social media messages from L.A. County accounts are regularly posted in multiple languages, including Korean and Chinese,' the statement read. This coming Wednesday, county officials said, the Board of Supervisors' weekly news conferences will be available in more than 60 languages through real-time language translation services. While researchers and Asian American advocates applaud the efforts, they're still urging county officials to assess the language needs of the Asian communities as they are made up of various ethnic groups who speak their own languages. As part of the study, researchers looked closer at the diversity of these communities in the four evacuation zones by using U.S. census and elementary school data to develop a profile of the people living there. The study's findings show that the commonly spoken Asian languages in the four areas are Chinese, Korean, Tagalog and Vietnamese. But there are also dozens of other languages including Cantonese, Thai, Punjabi and Hindi. Researchers found that older people, ages 45 and over, were more likely to have higher rates of limited English proficiency, or LEP, which the U.S. census defines as someone who speaks English less than 'very well.' The study shows that the Palisades fire area has the highest proportion of LEP Asians, followed by those living in the Eaton evacuation zone, where a large segment of the Asian population is located. Chhandara Pech, researcher and deputy director at UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge, the study's findings underscore why government officials need to be more precise on the information they are distributing to neighborhoods. 'Government agencies should not only focus on reaching the largest population that's affected by the wildfires, but it should also prioritize supporting the most vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities,' Pech said. The study, the fourth in the series, is yet another reminder of the ongoing effort to tailor emergency preparedness and response plans to the needs of vulnerable groups such as immigrants, the poor, the elderly and people with disabilities. Two years after the firestorms of 2017, California took a more serious approach in addressing these issues by launching a state program dubbed Listos California. The program, which played a vital role in distributing information during the pandemic, has helped prepare vulnerable communities for major disasters by partnering with community groups and local governments. Kulkarni hopes county officials will do the same, especially in addressing the language barriers she believes exist in the county's emergency response plans. 'Language is a critical component of providing resources and services,' Kulkarni said. 'And a number of those responsibilities are governmental, but [it] can and it should partner with local community groups because we know the needs.' 'Let's do this right,' she said, continuing. 'Let's partner and make sure we're meeting the needs of these folks.'
