MP calls for intensification of saffronisation in schools

Mangaluru, Jun 23: A charter flight carrying as many as 166 people including a child stranded in United Arab Emirates today reached Mangaluru. 

The flight was chartered by M Friends Charitable Trust, Mangaluru and My Community Foundation with the sole intention of helping the repatriation of stranded passengers such as pregnant women, elderly people and those who are in need of emergency medical care. 

The flydubia flight FZ4617 took off from Dubai at 2 p.m. and landed at Mangaluru International Airport at 7:22 p.m.

The passengers who arrived from UAE hail from different parts of coastal Karnataka and passengers themselves had borne the ticket fare for their travel.

M Friends president Haneef Haji Goltamajalu has thanked representatives of My Community Foundation and M Friends Trusty Ashraf Abbas Kunjattur, M Friends NRI leader Haneef Puttur, general secretary Rasheed Vittla for their efforts in chartering the flight.

In the last three weeks, 13 special flights with around 2150 passengers from various Gulf countries had landed at Mangaluru airport. 

Already, throat swab samples of 1814 passengers, who had arrived in Mangaluru, have been tested and 239 people with international travel history have tested positive and the samples of 1,575 passengers have tested negative so far.

Bengaluru, Feb 27: Chief minister BS Yediyurappa has again kindled hope for several ministerial aspirants by suggesting he will expand his council of ministers in April. A dozen senior BJP legislators are aspiring for ministerial berths, but there are only six vacancies in Yediyurappa’s cabinet.

However, Yediyurappa suggested on Tuesday he will fill only three spots, one of which would go to Hukkeri legislator Umesh Katti. With this, lobbying has intensified for the two remaining berths as the expansion exercise is expected soon after the budget session that ends on March 29.

The aspirants include Murugesh Nirani, S Angara, Appachhu Ranjan, SA Ramdas, Aravind Limbavali, Narasimha Nayak and GH Thippareddy besides others.

Yediyurappa, it is being said, is keen on inducting Katti and Limbavali since they are close to him. He will leave the decision on choosing legislators for the remaining two berths to the party’s central leadership.

On more than one occasion in the past, Yediyurappa has publicly stated that his wish is to induct Katti, a former minister, into the cabinet. In fact, the CM had wanted to induct Katti in the previous expansion that took place last month, but dropped the idea at the last minute due to pressure from party bosses.

The CM is also under pressure to induct Athani legislator Mahesh Kumatalli, who was among 17 Congress-JD(S) MLAs who resigned to help the saffron party form the government. Several BJP MLAs and Lingayat seers have been piling pressure on Yediyurappa to make Kumatalli a minister as promised.

Kumatalli was denied a cabinet berth only to accommodate Katti. Both are Lingayats and from Belagavi district. As the Lingayat community already has a lion’s share in cabinet berths, the CM cannot afford to induct both.

Nirani, who has been leaving no stone unturned to secure a spot, reiterated his wish to become minister, but insisted he will not lobby for the post.

Yediyurappa has been upset with Nirani for lobbying for a berth through Panchamasali Mutt seer Vachananand Swami. The former minister was also part of the team of alleged disgruntled MLAs which met Jagadish Shettar at his residence to put pressure on the CM for cabinet berths.

However, while expressing confidence of being made minister when Yediyurappa’s expands his cabinet next, Nirani said, “Yediyurappa is not upset with me. My relationship with him is that of father and son. He knows me and what I am.”