I’m still alive, don’t use my ‘death’ to incite communal violence: Hindu youth tells media

Mangaluru, June 21: The first ever repatriation flight from Saudi Arabia’s Dammam Karnataka’s Mangaluru under Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) today brought home around 165 stranded passengers. 

The IndiGo flight took off from Dammam International Airport at 11 a.m. (Saudi time) and landed at Mangaluru International Airport at 6:30 p.m.

The stranded passengers included pregnant women, senior citizens and those who are in need of emergency medical treatment are on board.

The passengers were screened at the Airport before being despatched for institutional quarantine in special buses. 

Even though a few charter flights arranged by a couple of NRI entrepreneurs have already repatriated hundreds of stranded people from Dammam to Mangaluru, the government of India had not operated any repatriation flight under VBM on this sector so far. 

Saudi Kannadigas Humanity Forum (SKHF), an NGO which came into existence to help the stranded Kannadigas in Saudi Arabia during covid-19 lockdown had been successful in persuading the government of India operate a flight on Dammam-Mangaluru sector under VBM. 

SKHF has also set up an online portal for those who were in need of emergency repatriation. In today’s flight around 100 passengers have obtained seats through SKHF.

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Bengaluru, Apr 5: Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Saturday said the state government will double down for 100% compliance to the lockdown in the next 10 days, warning action against those found roaming the streets.

Dismissing reports of a shortage of ventilators, he said the state was bringing in reinforcements over the next few days and expressed relief that none of the Covid-19 patients of the state has required a ventilator so far.

"None of the Covid-19 patients are on ventilators; two of them require oxygen," Yediyurappa told reporters after he met ministers and MLAs of Bengaluru and apprised them of steps taken to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The CM said the government had placed orders for 1,570 ventilators, of which 17 have been supplied and another 20 would arrive by next week. The government has also ordered 18.3 lakh N-95 masks, of which more than 4 lakh have been supplied. To ensure a steady supply of hand sanitiser, manufacturing licences have been issued to 36 pharma companies and 29 distilleries.

While the state readies the medical infrastructure, the CM urged the legislators, cutting across party lines, to ensure full compliance to the lockdown. "If people fail to cooperate with the government and respect the nationwide lockdown, there will be no option but to enforce it in a more stringent manner from Sunday," he said.

As people continue to crowd markets amid growing fears of a shortage of essentials, the CM reiterated that all measures have been put in place to get the supply chain moving. 

He also assured that food will be provided to migrant workers and the poor. "There is enough stock of foodgrains and medicine in the state. The government has set a taskforce of ministers, 17 committees under additional chief secretaries, several helplines and a war room to fight the pandemic and they are all working round the clock," he said. 

The government has also issued direction to authorities to provide rations to those who do not have BPL or APL cards. Since many people from other states have settled in Bengaluru and they don't have ration cards, we have taken this decision," Yediyurappa said.

On reports of many private hospitals being closed and refusing to treat patients, the CM said: "We have already warned private hospitals to remain open and provide treatment to patients failing which strict action will be initiated."

Kisan Nidhi, 2 months' pension by April 10
The CM said an installment of Rs 2,000 under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana and two months' pension under the various social security schemes will be credited to bank accounts of beneficiaries by April 10. 

The process of crediting subsidy to 15 lakh beneficiaries under Ujjwala Yojana is on, he said.

Jun 4: Belur Mutt, the global headquarters of Ramakrishna Mutt and Ramakrishna Mission, has decided to throw open its gates to the devotees from June 15 after putting in place all safety measures required to contain the spread of COVID-19.

The gates of the sprawling premises of the mutt set up by Swami Vivekananada at Belur near here was closed since the lockdown was announced in March by the Centre. The Mutt has devotees from across the globe.

The secretary of Belur Mutt Ramakrishna Mutt and Ramakrishna Mission, Swami Suvirananda said in a statement that as the easing down of lockdown measures announced by the Centre and the state did not indicate the threat caused by COVID-19 pandemic is over, the authorities thought it prudent to put in place all the measures required before opening the gates of the Mutt and all RKM centres in the country for the scores of devotees.

The statement was issued on June 1, the day religious places of worship were thrown open by the West Bengal government.

"We had to think about both aspects - the issue of public health and also the wish of our devotees for having a darshan of the shrines of Swami Vivekananda, Sri Sarada Maa and Ramamrishna Paramahansa. But we believe spirituality and sceintific temparament must go hand in hand," he told reporters on Thursday.

"Therefore it is imperative for us to consult experts and put in place adequate arrangement and infrastructure" before opening the (Belur Mutt) gates," he said.

The senior monk said the timing of the opening and closure of the shrine and all other details conforming the health protocol and guidelines will be announced before opening date.

The Mutt complex had become totally out of bound for visitors from March 24 when the lockdown was clamped. There was restricted entry to it since May 16.