Flagship rice programme made a good impact on the poor: CM

New Delhi, Jul 21: A 42-year-old contractual doctor, who was working with Delhi government's National Health Mission, passed away yesterday due to covid-19.

Dr Javed Ali had been on the frontline in the fight against the highly contagious illness since March. He tested positive for coronavirus on June 24 and was hospitalised for treatment over the next three weeks.

For the last 10 days, he was on a ventilator. Yesterday morning, Dr Ali breathed his last at the AIIMS trauma centre. He is survived by his wife and two children - a six-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter.

"I am proud of my husband. He kept working till the end and he is a martyr. He did not take even one day off since March. He worked even on Eid," Dr Heena Kausar, his wife, told media persons.

The cost for the initial treatment at the private hospital was also borne by the family. "No treatment cost was covered when he was at a private hospital initially. We spent around Rs 6 lakh from our own pockets," she said.

Bengaluru, Jul 18: Bringing a major change in the  administration of Bengaluru, which has emerged as a Covid-19 hotspot, the state government on Saturday transferred B H Anil Kumar out of the BBMP and brought N Manjunath Prasad to take his place. 

Manjunath Prasad, who headed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) before being replaced by Kumar, will take over with immediate effect. The government has also placed him in concurrent charge of the Revenue Department as well as the Disaster Management, Bhoomi and UPOR.

Kumar, an Additional Chief Secretary, has been put in a place where earlier a secretary was posted. He now heads the Department of Public Enterprises. The posting would have brought him two spots down had it not been for the government upgrading it to the level of additional chief secretary. 

Anil Kumar, who was earlier praised for his work to contain the coronavirus pandemic, had faced criticism by the High Court of Karnataka for the BBMP's failure to help people in containment zones as well as other issues on the spread of the pandemic. 

Sources in the government said, pressure has been building up against Anil Kumar over the last two months after most of the Bengaluru MLAs complained to the chief minister's office.

"No MLA backed him. Everyone had a problem," a source said. 

Things came to the head with regard to a Rs 436 crore project given to KRIDL. "The issue reached the chief minister's office as all the MLAs took an issue with the way the project was awarded," a source said. 

Another source said that Kumar came under fire after a central team flagged the issue of failing Covid-19 surveillance measures in Bengaluru. The central team's criticism, it is widely believed in the government, came as the last straw. 

Dubai, Jan 10: Indian expats in Dubai and the northern Emirates will now be able to get passports issued on the same day under certain conditions, including a higher fee, the Consulate here has announced.

Consul General of India in Dubai Vipul on Thursday announced that the Consulate will start issuing tatkal passports (issued in emergency cases) on the same day, the Gulf News said in a report.

Vipul made the announcement during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Non Resident Indian-NRI Day) celebrations at the consulate.

He said the same day issuance service for tatkal passports can be availed only if the application is submitted before noon at the office of BLS International, the outsourced service provider for Indian passport and visa applications, in Al Khaleej Centre, Bur Dubai.

"We already issue tatkal passports in 24 hours. We are going one step beyond that. We are going to issue tatkal passport on the same day if it is applied for before 12 noon. By evening, we can issue the tatkal passport," the Consul General added.

The mission receives about 850 passport applications daily.

Last year, the consulate issued more than 200,000 passports, over 2500 emergency certificates (one-way travel document), over 2,800 police clearance certificates and provided 72,000 attestation services including registration of births and deaths, according to Vipul.