Jubail chapter of Bearys Chamber of Commerce & Industry launched

Riyadh, Jan 28: The celebration of the 71st Republic Day was held on January 26th by the Central Committee of the Indian Social Forum Riyadh at the Ramada Hotel Auditorium in Riyadh. People from different Indian states and different religious backgrounds were present during the event.

The program was inaugurated with the unity song, Saleem Moulavi– Regional committee member India Fraternity Forum/Riyadh inaugurated the program.

Social Forum Central Committee president Janab Harris Mangaluru chaired the program and welcomed the guests. In his presidential speech he described and uncovered stories of freedom struggle and participants of Indian Muslims for the freedom fight. He urged everyone to fight against unconstitutional Citizenship Amendment Bill which passed by Centre government. He said that the We will continue its agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the NRC and would not relent unless the Union government withdrew the Act.

Indian Social Forum Karnataka State Committee member Janab Mohammed Naveed delivered the Republic Day message. He said India was formed based on concept of ‘unity in diversity’ and it becomes every Indians’ responsibility to safeguard it. He expressed concern over CAA, NRC and NPR. Across India, students at other universities are against the Citizenship Amendment Act passed by Centre government.  The law offers amnesty to undocumented migrants from three neighboring Muslim-majority countries but only if they are non-Muslim. Critics say that by excluding Muslims, the law establishes a religious test for Indian citizenship, in violation of the secularism enshrined in India's constitution. The Indians, irrespective of caste, creed, religion and region have firmly resolved to oppose the draconian laws and fascist moves to debar the poor. Constitution granted to every person and citizen of India who are not ready to put them on a test of ideology of RSS and programs of BJP to implement the Brahmanist mind-set. He said that the police atrocities against CAA/NRC/NPR protesters had increased only in BJP-ruled States and  there were several loose ends in the police story about the incidents leading to the firing.

Eng Shahul Hameed – Coordinator of Tamil Nadu Islamic Federation, Dr. Jahangeer Ahmed - Assistant professor/King Saud university, Mohammed Rafi – Gen Secretary of India Fraternity Forum Regional Committee, Mr. Abdul jaleel– Vice President of Indian Islahi Center, Mr. Basha –Member of IFT Executive Council , Mr. Ajmal Hussain – Member of Pravasi Forum central Committee, Younus Wallan – President Humanity Forum Riyadh. All delivered the message on the eve.

Basheer Karandur, General Secretary of Social Forum Central Committee, welcomed the gathering and Social Forum Riyadh Tamilnadu State Committee President Jabir presented the vote of thanks. Abdul Basheer was master of ceremony.

Mangaluru, May 22: An elderly cardiac patient from Dakshina Kannada, who was stranded in Saudi Arabia due to covid-19 lock-down, has finally reached his homeland thanks to the timely intervention by Humanity Forum Jubail and Indian Social Forum.

The elderly man hailing from Kadaba area of Dakshina Kannada was admitted to a hospital in Madinah. However, his condition continued to worsen due to lack of proper treatment. The efforts by his family members to bring him back home had not yielded results.

Meanwhile, one of the relatives of the patient, Ansari Suratkal, who happens to be a DKSC activist, brought the issue to the notice of the Karnataka unit of the Indian Social Forum in Dammam. ISF contacted Humanity Forum president Zakariya Jokatte, who helped the patient to speak directly union minister D V Sadananda Gowda in a video conference organised by coastaldigest.com.

Humanity Forum also persuaded the Indian Embassy to allow the stranded cardiac patient to fly back to India through Dammam-Bengaluru repatriation flight on May 20. 

However, it was not easy for the patient to travel from Madinah to Dammam International Airport due to lock-down and curfew. ISF not only obtained travel permission for him but also arranged vehicle. Jeddah and Riyadh units of ISF helped in obtaining permission letter in their respective places in spite of travel ban imposed by the police. Madinah unit of ISF arranged vehicle for transportation. Zakariya Jokatte bore the air ticket and other expenses of the patient.

Mangaluru, May 6: Amidst preparation for the paid evacuation of Indians stuck in Gulf countries amidst coronavirus lockdown, the central government has announced that it would only do a medical screening of the passengers before the flight and only asymptomatic persons would be allowed to travel.

Each passenger will have to fill a self-reporting form to be presented at the health and immigration counter at their destination.

The passengers are required to state whether they are suffering from fever, cough, diabetes or any respiratory disease. This form is similar to the one filled by passengers landing in India during the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak.

As per the announcement by the government, returnees would undergo COVID-19 once they complete 14-day quarantine in a hospital or government –arranged institution on a payment basis.

However, the form asks the applicants to keep themselves isolated at home for 28 days unless they develop any symptoms such as fever and cough.

During the journey, they will have to follow the protocols such as those issued by the Health Ministry and the Civil Aviation Ministry. Applicants from the UAE are yet to receive instructions on these.

On reaching the destination, passengers will have to register on the Arogya Setu app, India’s mobile application for COVID-19 surveillance.

No physical distancing!

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

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

While most of the UAE flights in the first week will be operated by the AIE, Air India will operate two of its Dreamliner aircraft with a seating capacity of 256 seats. These flights would also reserve some seats for isolation.

However, the plan has made it clear that the Indian government will not be following the rules of physical distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the repatriation flights.

Several people, including the Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan, expressed concern over flying passengers, who will not be tested for COVID-19, without observing physical distancing.