Modi conferred Saudi Arabia's highest civilian honour

Bengaluru, May 20: Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) had to confront an unprecedented situation as there was a commotion at bus stands in various parts of the state due to the mad rush of passengers.

Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi, who is in charge of the transport department, admitted that there were some shortcomings in the arrangements. He, however, was confident that things would improve from Wednesday.

As against the dearth of passengers in the bus stands in Bengaluru a day ago, Wednesday witnessed an overwhelming crowd blaming BMTC authorities for not providing enough buses for all the destinations on time.

Some of the employees who were asked to report to duty before certain time were facing difficulty in reaching the office in the absence of bus despite having daily pass and arriving at the stand well in advance.

Authorities were finding it difficult to convince the public as a bus could ferry only 35 passengers at a time which was way less than the demand.

Mangaluru, May 28: A pregnant woman who returned from Dubai in a repatriation flight suffered miscarriage after she was allegedly denied entry to her apartment flat and also refused proper treatment in the institutional quarantine.

Fathima was put in a paid quarantine facility after she returned on May 12 flight for her first delivery.

On the second day of her return, she tested negative for Covid-19 in the first test. As per SOP (Standard operating procedures) for pregnant women, she was ready to shift to her apartment, Shivdeep Residency, located at Shivbhag in the city for home quarantine.

However, the members of the Resident Welfare Association of the apartment who got a whiff of her arrival, called an emergency meeting the previous night and reportedly informed the pregnant woman that her entry to the flat would put other residents in trouble and suggested that she stay away.

Sources said the RWA consists of some serving and retired police officials.

With no other go, the woman continued in the paid quarantine.

Treatment for a pregnant woman?

Fathima's father-in-law Azeez Bastikar said the doctors who attended her during the quarantine did not provide proper healthcare required for a pregnant woman and also refused to touch her, out of fear.

Many a time, they did not even check her BP, saying that they ‘forgot to bring the kit’. When her situation worsened, the family members contacted several hospitals in the city but all of them allegedly refused to admit her, fearing the sealing down of the hospital in case she tests positive on the 14th day COVID test.

Finally, the six and half months pregnant woman was shifted to a clinic on Wednesday after her 14th day test had turned negative.

The doctors who checked her found out that she had suffered a miscarriage and operated on her to remove the stillborn. The doctors said further delay would have costed the woman her life.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Azeez Bastikar approached Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh, seeking action against the doctors and hospitals who denied treatment and the RWA who refused her entry to the apartment.

Stating that the ill-treatment meted out to her daughter-in-law by doctors and others added to her trauma resulting in the miscarriage, he appealed to the authorities to ensure that no one else is treated in a similar manner.

He said that Fathima and her husband live in Dubai and that she came to India for a safe delivery as the situation was critical in Dubai.

The paid quarantine facility where she had to continue after RWA denied her access, charged her Rs 60,000 for her stay.

Meanwhile, the MCC commissioner Ajith Kumar Hegde on Thursday issued a notice to Shivdeep Apartment for refusing Fathima's entry.

The apartment has to respond within three days, failing which legal action will be initiated against it.

New Delhi, Jan 27: Non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will have to provide proofs of their religious beliefs while applying for Indian citizenship under the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAA), officials said on Monday.

The applicants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Buddhist, Jain or Parsi faiths will also have to furnish documents to prove that they entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

Those who will seek Indian citizenship under the CAA will have to provide proofs of their religious beliefs and this will be mentioned in the rules to be issued under the CAA, a government official said.

According to the CAA, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants and will be given Indian citizenship.

The central government is also likely to give a relatively smaller window of just three months to those who want to apply for Indian citizenship in Assam under the CAA, another official said.

Some Assam-specific provisions are expected to be incorporated in the rules to be issued for the implementation of the CAA.

Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and his finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had made a request about a fortnight ago to keep a limited period window for applying under the CAA and also incorporate some other Assam-specific provisions in the CAA rules.

The move comes in view of continuing protests against the CAA in Assam that have been going on since the legislation was passed by Parliament in December last year.

There has been a growing feeling among the indigenous people of Assam that the newly enacted legislation will hurt their interests politically, culturally as well as socially.

The Assam Accord provides for detection and deportation of all illegal immigrants who have entered the country after 1971 and are living in the state, irrespective of their religion.

The protesters in Assam say that the CAA violates the provisions of the Assam Accord.