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Mangaluru, May 29: Even as the thousands of Indian expatriates in Saudi Arabia are waiting for repatriation flights to return to India, a few NRI entrepreneurs are sending home their employees through chartered flights. 

The government of India on May 21 had formally approved the repatriation of stranded Indian expatriate workers through chartered flights arranged by their employing companies particularly in Gulf region and elsewhere. 

Expertise Contracting Co. Ltd headed by K S Sheik and Al-Muzain Est. headed by Zakaria Jokatte are among those who have hired charter flights to repatriate hundreds of employees to India amidst corona lockdown. 

Mr Sheik said that his firm had applied for nine charter flights. "Two of the charter flights will carry 360 people to Mangaluru. Seven other flights will repatriate employees to Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai and Hyderabad," he said, adding that the company will bear complete expense of their repatriation and quarantine facility after India. 

Mr Jokatte three charter flights will fly from Dammam to Mangaluru International Airport on June 2, 5 and 8 carrying their employees.

Bengaluru, Jul 21: Students who are Covid-19 positive but are asymptomatic will be allowed to write the Common Entrance Test (CET) scheduled on July 30 and 31 for entrance into professional courses in Karnataka.

According to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued by the Department of Health and Family Welfare for CET, space should be allotted for students who have tested positive. Such students will have to be transported to and from the exam centre in an ambulance.

According to the SOP issued yesterday, candidates with COVID-19 “shall provide a risk consent certificate for taking up the exam.” The SOP also says “they shall inform about their status to the authorities concerned in advance to make the necessary arrangements.”

Bengaluru, Jun 27: Announcing Karnataka’s ambitious plan to install a 108-ft-tall statue of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda outside the airport, deputy chief minister Ashwath Narayan said the government will bear the project cost — approximately Rs 78 crore.

Work on the project will formally commence with the chief minister laying foundation stone for installation of the statue and development of a 23-acre park where it will come up, on Saturday.

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An artist’s impression of the 108-ft-tall statue, which is proposed to come up in a 23-acre park outside KIA. The chief minister will perform bhoomi puja on Saturday.

KPCC president DK Shivakumar on Thursday suggested the cost be borne by Kempegowda International Airport and not the government. He wrote to the CM welcoming the decision to erect a statue of the chieftain at KIA, but asked why should the govenment spend on it. “When huge concessions have been provided to KIA, why not use its services to construct the statue,” he asked. Narayan, who is chairman of Kempegowda Development Authority, said it is the government’s duty to bear the cost.

The government has released sketches of the statue and a blueprint of the park. Noted sculptor Ram Sutar, who designed the Gandhi statue located between Vidhana Soudha and Vikasa Soudha and the Statue of Unity in Gujarat, will be part of this project as well.

Narayan said the government was not competing with any other state on having a tallest/largest statue while emphasising that Kempegowda ensured the city had tanks, markets and drainage system when it was founded. He added the government won’t invite many guests to Saturday’s ceremony. “Most legislators will be given a virtual link to view the event,” he said.