Karnataka govt to build Rs 200 crore pilgrim complexes at Tirumala

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.

Bengaluru, Feb 16: Radhakrishnan V Nair embarked on a journey of exploring complex subjects and opening up the cocoon of existence that puts people in a zone of comfort. One sole mission of the book is to encourage the readers to break out of that comfort zone.

The architect by profession has a novel to his credit, 'The Cave of Freedom' that had earned him critical acclaim from Jnanpith Awardee UR Ananthamurthy. On February 13, a discussion and the reading of his book had the audience riveted to their seats.

The launch of the book on February 13 at Bangalore International Centre was presided over by Bhaskar Rao, Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru, along with Vasudev Murthy, Technology Management Consultant, leadership trainer and author and Ramessh RK, an industrial designer and choir singer who read out passages from the book.

'Radhakrishnan is trying to inspire you to discover the pleasure of breaking the glass barrier along with the protagonist Dr Prateek. The story 'burst out'", said Radhakrishnan when it could not be contained any longer.

The glass ceiling saw a lot of interest from the audience present. The book includes Dr Prateek who is obsessed with saving lives in the Emergency Room (ER) as the world slept. Then on an eerie rainy night, he is kidnapped.

He struggles to come to terms with the improbability of waking up somewhere in Europe and making his serendipitous escape and being back at work the next morning - all physically impossible from the point of view of time and locality.

The glass ceiling challenges you to see tragedies and their impact on a person's mental well-being from a different perspective.

Radhakrishnan V Nair is an architect by profession and runs his Bengaluru-based firm - Archaid, the tagline of which is 'Architecture in Collaboration with Nature'.

Mangaluru, Jul 11: Under the fourth phase of Vande Bharat Mission, the government of India has announced as many as 42 repatriation flights from Saudi Arabia to various Indian destinations including four flights to Karnataka. 

On July 25 an Air India flight will fly from Dammam International Airport to Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru.

On July 26 another Air India flight will take off from Dammam and land in Bengaluru and then again it will continue its journey till Mangaluru International Airport. 

On July 27, Air India will operate a flight from Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport to Bengaluru. 

On July 28, Air India will operate another flight from Jeddah to Mangaluru. It will be the last flight from Saudi to Karnataka under the fourth phase of Vande Bharat Mission.