Muammar Gaddafi: Charming but cruel, recalls Kasargod doctor

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October 21, 2011

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Kasargod, October 21: The world knew him as an impulsive tyrant but Dr Mundol Abdulla's first impression of Gadaffi was of a friendly, charming man and cooperative patient.

The 70-year-old doctor from Kasargod, Kerala, revised his opinion only after seeing the bodies of dissidents and students hanging in public places.

In 1973, Dr Abdulla was appointed by Tripoli to run a clinic at Abu Hadhi near Sirte. Two months later, Gaddafi visited the clinic, complaining of a headache. Dr Abdulla prescribed Aspirin tablets, which apparently worked since Gadaffi praised him to his wife, saying the Indian doctor had solved his problem. Col was a gracious host, says Indian doc

Dr Mundol Abdulla, a doctor from Kerala who was among the 17 physicians appointed by the Libyan government, says Muammar Gaddafi would visit his clinic in Sirte regularly, though the exact date and time of his visit would never be revealed in advance due to security reasons.

On several occasions, he also invited Dr Abdulla and his wife to his residence in Sirte. "He was a gracious host, personally serving tea and snacks," recalls Dr Abdulla.

However, Gaddafi always feared assassination and never hesitated to take brutal action against any perceived threat, recalls the doctor. "Once, bodies of university students were kept hanging on the campus for a week as an example to others," he recalls with a shudder. Of course, Dr Abdulla made sure to not reveal his opinion to his unpredictable patient.

Eventually, Gadaffi's growing paranoia brought an end to his visits and the Abdulla lost touch with him. They returned to India in 1980, but almost 30 years on, pictures of a bloodied corpse on TV revived old memories for the family.

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May 19,2020

Mangaluru/Mysuru, May 19: Though the Karnataka government permitted the private buses, operators in Dakshina Kannada district have decided not to operate buses until May end. In Mysuru district too the private buses remained off the roads.

Dakshina Kannada Bus Owners’ Association President Dilraj Alva said “Technically, private bus operators are not able to operate services as all of us have surrendered our permits. If we start services we will have to pay the tax for entire month. Hence, we have decided to resume bus services from June 1.”

The private buses had suspended their services since March 24.

In addition, bus owners also have two more demands which the state government needs to consider on priority, he said.

“We have requested the government to exempt private buses from paying tax for the next six months. We were not plying buses during lockdown and it will be tough for us in the next three months to operate as per new conditions.”

“The government has allowed only 30 persons in each bus to maintain social distancing. In addition, we have been urging the state government for bus fare revision since 2013. The government has revised the bus fares of KSRTC twice after that,” Alva said adding that bus owners will be meeting Mangaluru RTO on Tuesday.

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April 14,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 14: Karnataka Labour Department has issued an order instructing public and private establishments not to cut salaries or lay off employees during the lockdown imposed to counter Coronavirus.

In view of Covid-19, there may be incidents where services of employees or workers may be dispensed with on the pretext of the disease or employees may be forced to go on leave without pay, the Ministry of Labour and Employment said.

Legal action will be initiated if any establishment violates this advisory, Labour Department Secretary P Manivannan said in a statement issued here on Tuesday.

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April 16,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 16: The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday has identified eight districts from Karnataka as COVID-19 hotspots.

Districts that have reported a higher number of cases are classified as hotspots, the districts where cases have been reported as non-hotspots, and green zones where no cases have been reported.

Bangalore Urban, Mysuru, Belagavi, Dakshina Kannada, Bidar, Kalaburgi, Bagalokote and Dharwad have been identified as Covid-19 hotspots by Union Health Ministry, tweeted the state health department on Wednesday.

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