Shantanu Gupta’s book on BJP to become part of curriculum in Indonesia’s Islamic University

Bengaluru, Mar 31: Venkara Raghava, a software engineer from Bengaluru, who was infected with the coronavirus has recovered and is currently "doing perfectly well".

"I am doing perfectly well now. I had travelled to Los Angeles via Heathrow airport and that is when I came in contact with many travellers. I might have picked up the infection there," Raghava told news agency.

It was in Los Angeles when he started getting a 'low-grade fever' which led him to prepone his flight to Bengaluru. "When I landed back in Bengaluru on March 8, I had a fever and I isolated myself. The same day I went to a hospital where my travel history was taken and I tested positive for COVID-19", he said.

The next day, he was admitted to the isolation centre. His entire family was also tested but the results came back negative.

When asked about what does suffering from COVID-19 feel like, he responded that it was a like a regular viral fever and was "nothing to be scared of". "The fever is very grinding, and since my childhood, I never had a fever. I had a fever for almost 15 days consistently 100 degrees (F)," he said.

About his experience at the isolation centre, he said that it was an experience unlike that of a hospital. "At the isolation centre, one has to take care of themselves, unlike a hospital where doctors and nurses take care of the patient. I had to put a wet cloth on myself and you cannot overdose yourself with Calpol or Paracetamol," he said.

For him, "The tough times are now over" and now he has fully recovered but in the process, he ended up losing about five kilograms. "After the fifteenth day when I woke up with no fever, they took a test for the nose and the throat and it came back negative," he recalled, and on March 22, he was set free.

For one week, he has been in self-quarantine at home "being completely watchful" that the symptoms do not reoccur.

The number of total coronavirus cases reached 1,251 on Monday. There are 1117 active cases in the country, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Mysuru, Mar 27: A 35-year old man from Mysuru, Karnataka was tested positive for coronavirus infection on Thursday, taking the state-wide count to 52 altogether.

This new case could be an indication that Covid-19 has entered into the third stage of community transmission in Karnataka, as the infected person neither has any travel history nor have been in contact with Covid-affected persons.

The patient works in the quality assurance section of a pharmaceutical company in Nanjangud in Mysuru district, and has been in continuous contact with medical care professionals.

Mysuru DC Mr Abhiram G Shankar informs that detailed investigation is under process.

He is currently undergoing treatment at an isolation ward in a designated hospital in Mysuru. So far his seven primary contacts have been traced and they are under home quarantine, Mr Abhiram Shankar said.

A 35 year old Mysurean, and another 46 year old Keralite, both who had come from Dubai, were the first and second cases tested positive for Covid-19 in Mysuru. They are also currently kept under isolation.

Mysuru district administration has identified 898 international passengers in Mysuru district including 152 in the taluks. Among them, while 149 persons have completed home quarantine period by now, the rest are still in isolation.

Is it highly impossible to have flights to Mangaluru under Vande Bharat Mission to repatriate the stranded Mangalureans in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries? The present mood of the govt seems so are more politics and less actions are seen. 

Amidst covid-19 lockdown, thousands of people from Mangaluru and surrounding areas are stranded in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries. They include visitors, job redundants, people who need immediate medical attention, senior citizens, pregnant women, students and people who are eager to visit their ailing family members, especially aged parents back at home. They are all stuck over there seemingly with hopelessness.

It's reported that around Karnataka NRIs (KNRIs) have registered their names under the Mission in the Indian Embassy in Riyadh alone. A majority among them are apparently from coastal districts of Karnataka who are eagerly waiting for the flights to Mangaluru. 

The promises of elected representatives including MLAs, MPs, state and central ministers have remained unfulfilled so far. Now, things are being thrown from politicians to politicians and from politicians to the district authorities and vice versa. It's said that without proper quarantine facility in the district, the repatriation flights can't be approved to Mangaluru. 

Rumours are doing rounds that the hotels in Mangaluru are not ready to facilitate for the KNRIs quarantines; the hoteliers collectively snubbed the instruction of the district authorities. Now, they are, as informed, persuading the hoteliers to allow for the quarantine facility. 

If the hoteliers are stubborn to follow the instructions of the district administration, then why the authorities are not taking action against them under relevant statutory procedure including the revocation/cancellation of their licenses? Are they above the law or govt? For whom the authorities are waiting for? These questions are now being asked by the KNRIs and others. 

Considering this condition, the central ministers and MPs are simply giving evasive answers without any forward thinking. Each one is simply uttering the same dialogue "no quarantine; no flights to Mangaluru". 

A few KNRI businessmen in Saudi Arabia have already chartered flights to transport their stranded employees and others to Mangaluru with the approval of the govt of India. But, the inconsolable thing is that the govt didn't arrange this simple thing that too with the expense of the travellers. 

The people-especially then distressed NRIs still remember late prime minister V P Singh and then external affairs minister I K Gujral for the repatriation of the NRIs during 1990s Gulf war. Everything was free of cost and immediate special flights were arranged to airlift the NRIs in the affected countries. 

Now both Karnataka and India are ruled by the BJP. Then why the non resident Kannadigas, especially those in Saudi Arabia, are direly neglected at this point in time?. Why it's highly impossible for the govts to do this simple job for the KNRIs?  The NRIs are always big assets to the govt. Also, the KNRIs remit billions of rupees to the state in the form of foreign exchange. But, they are now simply ignored. The state govt should immediately look into this dire situation of the Kannadigas in Saudi Arabia and act immediately to schedule special flights to Mangaluru from Saudi Arabia.