BSY govt is safe as BJP wins 12 out of 15 seats in Karnataka bypolls

New Delhi, Apr 26: The Centre will bring back the Indian citizens stranded abroad due to the ban on arrival of international passenger aircraft, only if the respective states they belong to agree to allow them to come back home and make necessary arrangements to quarantine them after their return.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has started consultations with the State Governments on bringing back the Indians, who got stranded in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada and many other foreign countries due to the ban on arrival of international passenger aircraft to any airport in the country. The decision on facilitating their return to the country would be taken after getting feedback on preparedness of the States and the Union Territory to receive them following all required health precautions, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba said.

Gauba on Saturday had a video-conference with the Chief Secretaries of all States and Union Territories to review the implementation of the restrictions on travel and transport as well as the lockdown imposed across the country to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

Though the Government earlier either evacuated or facilitated the return of nearly 28000 Indians from a number of foreign countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, it almost stopped doing so after the ban on arrival of international passenger aircraft was enforced on March 23 in the wake of the spurt in the number of COVID-19 cases in India.

Thousands of Indian students, tourists, professionals and others are stranded around the world, including in the countries, where respective governments had imposed lockdowns to contain the pandemic. They have been desperately requesting the government on social media to evacuate them.

Mangaluru, Mar 25: Fishing boats returned to the old Port in Mangaluru after the government prohibited deep-sea fishing till further orders on Wednesday to prevent the assembly of a large gathering here in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic. 

According to officials, deep-sea fishing activities result in the gathering of a large number of people and is much against the government's direction on maintaining social distancing. 

According to the Department, the 42-Km coastline in Dakshina Kannada hass 57 purse seine boats, 1,270 trawl boats, 1,483 gillnet boats, 549 other mechanised boats.

Bengaluru, Feb 19: Congress MLA UT Khader on Wednesday slammed the Central government over the enactment of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and said it violates the Constitution.

"The new citizenship amendment bill is unconstitutional. The citizenship cannot be given on cast and creed basis. Because of these things we are fighting against it," he said while speaking to media in Bengaluru.

Opposition along with several non-BJP state governments, including Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan have refused to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed NRC in their respective states.

The CAA grants citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist and Christian refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.