BC Road: Muslim youth stabbed during RSS activist’s funeral procession

Mangaluru, Jun 23: A charter flight carrying as many as 166 people including a child stranded in United Arab Emirates today reached Mangaluru. 

The flight was chartered by M Friends Charitable Trust, Mangaluru and My Community Foundation with the sole intention of helping the repatriation of stranded passengers such as pregnant women, elderly people and those who are in need of emergency medical care. 

The flydubia flight FZ4617 took off from Dubai at 2 p.m. and landed at Mangaluru International Airport at 7:22 p.m.

The passengers who arrived from UAE hail from different parts of coastal Karnataka and passengers themselves had borne the ticket fare for their travel.

M Friends president Haneef Haji Goltamajalu has thanked representatives of My Community Foundation and M Friends Trusty Ashraf Abbas Kunjattur, M Friends NRI leader Haneef Puttur, general secretary Rasheed Vittla for their efforts in chartering the flight.

In the last three weeks, 13 special flights with around 2150 passengers from various Gulf countries had landed at Mangaluru airport. 

Already, throat swab samples of 1814 passengers, who had arrived in Mangaluru, have been tested and 239 people with international travel history have tested positive and the samples of 1,575 passengers have tested negative so far.

Bengaluru, Jun 23: Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Tuesday demanded that Bengaluru should be put under lockdown for 20 days to contain the spread of coronavirus, the cases of which have risen sharply recently.

 “Stop playing with people's lives. There’s no use in sealing off only some areas. If the people of Bengaluru must live, then a lockdown of at least 20 days is needed. Otherwise, Bengaluru will become another Brazil,” Kumaraswamy said in a tweet. “People’s health is more important, not economy.”

The JD(S) leader was reacting to the BJP government's decision to impose an area-wide lockdown in Chickpet, KR Market, Kalasipalyam and Chamarajpet while streets will be sealed off in VV Puram, Siddapura, Yelahanka, Vidyaranyapura and Chickpet.

Bengaluru has witnessed a huge spike in its Covid-19 tally; the city currently has at least 919 active cases. This has sparked off fears that the contagion might have reached the community.

Kumaraswamy has also demanded welfare measures for the poor. “The poor and the labourers should be given ration immediately. The state’s 50 lakh working class should get ₹5,000 each. The aid already announced by the government hasn’t reached drivers, weavers, Madiwalas and other communities,” he said, adding that mere announcements of a package won’t be enough and “it has to be implemented.”

Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 12: At least 66 children have ended their lives in Kerala since the Covid-19 lockdown began on March 25 with youngsters facing stress unable to bear the unprecedented situation where schools are shut and friends are out of reach to share their woes.

According to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, there has been an increasing instance of suicidal tendencies among children in the state due to various reasons, including parents scolding them over mobile phone use and failure to attend online classes.

This has prompted the government to launch a teleconsultation facility for children facing stress and also cautioning parents against hurting their sentiments while being concerned about welfare of their wards. It has also ordered a study into the issue. "Among the children an increasing instance of suicidal tendency is being witnessed which will become an extremely serious social issue.

Since March 25, when the national lockdown was imposed, 66 children, below 18 years of age, have ended their lives due to various reasons", Vijayan said. A mother scolding her child for not attending the ongoing online classes, or a parent questioning a child for downloading a sleazy video on the smartphone or the constant rift between the parents were among the reasons which triggered the suicidal tendency, he said on Saturday.

As the schools have not yet re-opened due to the lockdown, the children are unable to meet their friends and share their problems. Vijayan said though the parents were intervening keeping in mind their child's welfare, it was essential to ensure that the young minds were not hurt in the process. To helpthe children facing issues relating to mental pressures, 'Chiri'atele-counselling initiative has been started by the government under its Our Responsibility to Children Programme (ORC), a planned community intervention that connects with people between the age of 12-18 years. The state health department has also launched "Ottakalla Oppamundu" (You are not alone,we are with you) programmeto help children facing any kind of mental distress and to prevent the suicidal tendencies among them.

Health Minister K K Shailaja said under the psychosocial support assistance, her department has so far reached out to 68,814 children and 10,890 children have been given counselling. The changes in the behaviour of their children should be noted by the family members and if they find something amiss, the district psychosocial help desk should be informed, she said. A 15-member team of Students Police Cadets will be constituted in each of the 14 districts to help the children needing any assistance,police sources said. Education should not be a competition, but a means to gain knowledge, Vijayan said.

A society's future lies with the children and it is the duty of the society and the government to ensure their physical and mental well being. Taking a serious view of the situation, the state government has constituteda committee headed byFire and Rescue Services DGP R Sreelekha to conduct a study on child suicides in the state. The aim of the ORC was also to create a multi collaborative platform for government and professional agencies, parents and teachers to equip youth with appropriate know-how to face challenges, officials said.