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Air India gives Gulf-bound passengers a harrowing time

[email protected] (PTI)
September 23, 2012
AIR-INDIA_

Thiruvananthapuram, September 23: Passengers from Kerala to Middle-East destinations are going through a harrowing time with Air India announcing cancellation of many of its flights since last week.

Passengers created unruly scenes at the airport here yesterday when a Sharjah-bound flight was cancelled at the last minute. Though the reason for cancellation was cited as "technical," the flight was learnt to have been diverted for Haj operations to other states.

Airport sources said though many flights would have to be diverted for Haj pilgrimage, only the Air India management was to be blamed for last-minute cancellations as the Haj operations are all pre-planned.

Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy and KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala protested the frequent cancellations and charged AI with levying "exorbitant fares" from Gulf-bound passengers. They wanted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene in the matter and prevail upon the authorities concerned to make alternative arrangements.

Chandy, in a statement here, said he had brought the matter to the Prime Minister's notice at the recent 'Emerging Kerala' event in Kochi. Chennithala sent a letter to Singh, seeking his immediate intervention to find a solution to the problem.

Shashi Tharoor, MP, representing the capital in the Lok Sabha, also criticised AirIndia, saying, "The goodwill of the national carrier is at stake" by ignoring the plight of passengers, some of whom faced the prospect of losing jobs.

Travel agents say it is incomprehensible why AirIndia cancels flights in busy and profit-making sectors like the Kerala-Gulf region, leaving out lean sectors in other parts of the country where even fuel cost was not being recovered from flight operations.

Most flights cancelled are AirIndia Express flights, 90 per cent of which were being operated from Kerala.

AirIndia had cancelled 168 flights from three international airports in Kerala -- Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode -- to Gulf destinations from September 17, Kerala State Travel Agents Association president K V Muraleedharan said.

Scores of passengers, including those who had to report for duty and join new postings in time, are now running from pillar to post to find other flights. Seizing on the chance, private airlines have begun increasing fares to the Gulf steeply, he said.


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coastaldigest.com news network
June 2,2020

Udupi, Jun 2: As many as 150 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in Udupi district on Tuesday. This is the highest spike in COVID-19 cases in a single day in the district.

According to the district administration, all the 150 persons have travel history from Maharashtra. The number of COVID-19 cases has more than doubled when compared to June 1, when the district recorded 73 cases.

Deputy Commissioner G. Jagadeesha said here that of the 150 persons who tested positive, 120 were male and 30 female. This also included nine children aged less than 10. All these persons had been shifted to the designated hospitals for treatment.

He said that since 2,000 persons were tested in the last two days, 150 persons were found positive. Earlier, about 200 to 300 persons were being tested daily and about 10 to 15 used to be found positive. Nearly 10 % of persons coming from Mumbai/Maharashtra tested positive for COVID-19.

“We have 1,120 beds to treat COVID-19 positive cases in the district. Even after including these 150 persons, we still have 800 beds left. Hence, people need not panic. We will provide treatment for all affected persons,” Mr. Jagadeesha said.

With 150 cases on Tuesday, the total number of persons who have tested positive in the district since March has touched 410. There are 345 active cases.

As many as 63 persons who had recovered had been discharged from hospitals. There was one death due to the disease on May 14. The test reports of nearly 5,400 persons are still awaited.

The district had recorded only three COVID-19 cases from March 29 to May 14. But the number of COVID-19 cases started increasing from May 15.

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News Network
April 19,2020

Belagavi, Apr 19: Veteran writer and Translator Chandrakanth Kusnoor passed away in his house on Sunday due to age-related disease.

He was 90.

He was survived by wife, four sons and one daughter.

According to family sources, the last rites were held in the wee hours of Sunday.

Mr Kushnoor, a multi-faceted personality, maybe the one of the few who had won the Karnataka Nataka Academy, Karnataka Lalitha Kala Academy and Karnataka Sahitya Academy awards for his works as writer, translator, novelist, poet, playwright, painter, art critic and institution builder.

He had translated many books from Kannada (late U R Ananthmurthy and Srikrishna Alanahalli) into Hindi, and other books into Marathi and Urdu.

He was among the pioneering abstract writers in Kannada. His plays like Dindi, Vidushaka, Ratto Ratto Rayara Magale and Ani Bantu Ondu Ani, were widely performed.

His biographical novel Gohar Jan chronicles the growth of professional theatre music tradition.

He had converted his home in Channamma Nagar into a mini art gallery and used to paint till recently. He hailed from Kalaburagi where he worked as a college professor for some years. He had settled in Belagavi after his retirement as the Deputy Director of Kannada and culture.

He had won the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award.

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News Network
July 29,2020

Bengaluru Jul 29: There will be a centralised system in place in Karnataka to classify asymptomatic, symptomatic and mild symptomatic persons and recommend treatment based on the severity of the cases, said Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Tuesday here.

"Various existing apps related to COVID-19 will be brought under one platform to get real-time information which will assist in strategising allocation of hospitals/beds to the needy. This will probably remove the delay in bed allocation and treatment which is being faced now. The patients will get all information in one phone call," Dr Sudhakar said.

Sudhakar spoke with a team of experts from the government and Infosys.

Referring to a company by name Step 1, which is providing such services in Delhi and Madhya Pradesh, the Minister said that a similar system will be implemented in the state as well.

"This company is having a team of doctors and nurses which is guiding the people whether they need hospital treatment or home isolation after they are tested positive for COVID-19. More than 70 per cent of the positive cases are being asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic and are advised to go for home isolation," the minister said.

"The load on the hospitals is reduced and severe cases can be administered proper treatment. Infosys co-ordinates with the government to provide technical support for this system," Dr Sudhakar added.

Earlier during the day, the minister held a video conference with the heads of private medical colleges to review COVID preparedness.
The government has already passed guidelines to allocate 50 per cent of hospital beds for COVID patients.

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