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Dubai, May 6: The Indian nationals cleared by the UAE health authorities and found to be asymptomatic will only be allowed to fly back home in one of India's biggest ever repatriation exercises, the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi has said ahead of the first set of flights on Thursday.

On Monday, the Indian government announced plans to begin a phased repatriation of its citizens stranded abroad from May 7. Air India will operate 64 flights from May 7 to May 13 to bring back around 15,000 Indian nationals stranded abroad amid the COVID-19-induced lockdown, India's Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday.

The first two special flights that will operate from Thursday to evacuate Indians stranded in the UAE due to the coronavirus pandemic will begin with applicants from Kerala, who formed the majority of the expatriates who have registered to be repatriated from here, Indian Ambassador to the UAE Pavan Kapoor has said.

"All departing passengers will have to undergo medical screening and IGM/IGG test at the departure airport and only those cleared by the UAE health authorities and found to be asymptomatic will be allowed to board the plane,” the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi said on Tuesday.

According to the embassy, all passengers will be required to sign an undertaking to undergo compulsory quarantine at the destination of arrival and bear the cost of the same.

“Each passenger, at the time of boarding would be handed over a safety kit containing 2 three-layered face masks, 2 pairs of gloves and pouches/small bottles of hand sanitizers. While on board the flight, the health protocol of the Ministry of Civil Aviation of India will be strictly followed,” said the embassy.

The passenger lists for the two flights on May 7 have been finalised by the Embassy / Consulate and sent to Air India Express for issue of tickets.

The Embassy / Consulate will continue conveying the details of further special flights as and when they are announced by the Government of India, over the next few days.

Less than 2,000 Indians wishing to return home from the UAE will be flown to six Indian states in the first week of India’s biggest ever repatriation exercise named Vande Bharat Mission—sans social distancing and COVID-19 tests, the Gulf News reported.

Only those cleared by the UAE health authorities and found to be asymptomatic will be allowed to board the plane.

The short-listed applicants, who were contacted by the Indian missions on Tuesday to purchase tickets for the first two flights to Kerala on Thursday, told the Gulf News that the tickets are priced around Dh 725 to Dh 750 (over Rs 15,000).

Sharjah resident Rasheed Thayyil said his 70-year-old mother Nepheeza Thottungal, who came on a visit to the UAE in February, received an email from the Indian Consulate in Dubai which quoted an airfare of around Dh725 (approx Rs 15,000), the report said.

Another applicant from Abu Dhabi Ambily Babu said she purchased a ticket at Dh 750 from Air India Express for her Abu Dhabi-Kochi flight scheduled to fly on Thursday evening, it said.

Air India Express which is set to operate the first two flights to Kerala on Thursday will operate its Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with a seating capacity of 186 economy class seats, the report added.

With nine seats reserved for isolation, only 177 passengers would be flown, it said.

The Indian expatriate community of approximately 3.42 million is reportedly the largest ethnic community in the UAE constituting roughly about 30 per cent of the country's population, according to information available on the Indian Embassy website.

Dammam: President of Indian Social Forum, Eastern Province Mr.Wasim Rabbani urged immediate intervention of Indian government to help Non Residential Indians who are in trouble due to corona pandemic in Saudi Arabia.

He said in a press rease that expatriate Indians are in concern  as number of corona infected people and  deaths are increasing in danger level.

Hea said, "the Saudi health minister's statement a few days ago indicates that the situation in Saudi needs to be taken more seriously with precautionary methods. There are concerns among expatriates because the number of people infected with the coronavirus and the number of deaths reported in various provinces are increasing at an alarming rate."

"Saudi Government and Health Ministry are taking excellent precautionary measures, however, in the coming days expect to see the number of cases to increase in Saudi Arabia. The Indian government needs to take diplomatic and immediate intervention to ensure the treatment of Indian expatriates considering the number of effected people increasing", He said.

He also urged that the Embassy and the Government of India should ensure qaurantiane faculty for Indian expatriates and arrange special low cost flights to bring back expatriates who would like to return home country.

" Government of India and Indian embassy need to intervene immediately to ensure that the quarantine system is in place for Indian expatriates as the facilities in the rooms where the residents are staying together are very limited. There should also be a mechanism to organize low-cost flight services for expatriates who are ready to go home. The government system should also be able to accommodate the expatriates in special quarantine areas in hometown as soon they arrive in India", he urged.

Bantwal, Jun 16: Two unmarred siblings committed suicide by self-immolation at Sangabettu in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada last night.

Neelayya Shettogar (42) and his sister Kesari (39) poured petrol on themselves before torching themselves at around 11 p.m. on June 15 inside a room of their house, police sources said. The siblings were reportedly facing health problems.

Neelayya's brother and latter’s wife were sleeping in the other room of the same house when the incident took place. They came to know only when they heard the screams of the duo.

Even though the siblings were rushed to the government hospital at Bantwal with the help of locals, the doctors declared them dead.

Bantwal rural police sub-inspector, Prasanna and staff visited the spot as part of investigation.