A P Musliyar exhorts religious leaders of Dakshina Kannada to promote peace

Newsroom, May 5: Following the union government's nod, preparations are afoot to bring back Indian nationals stranded abroad from May 7 onwards.

According to sources, in the first phase from May 7- 14, the government would allow more than 60 “non-scheduled, commercial” flights to operate from about 12 countries to India to bring back 15,000 citizens. At least half of those flights will be from the Gulf region, including UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman, while the rest would bring passengers from the U.S., the U.K., Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and Bangladesh.

The flights would be spread over 10 States identified as having the largest numbers to return, with Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Delhi (NCR) receiving the maximum number of flights.

A meeting held at the Ministry of Civil Aviation looked specifically at flights, mainly operated by Air India, while it awaits a final plan from countries where Indians need to be airlifted from. The first flights planned at present are from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh and Doha, flying directly to Kozhikode and Kochi.

While the full estimate of Indians needing to return home could cross ten lakhs (a million), with more than two lakhs having registered to return from the UAE alone, officials said their return would be “prioritised and staggered”.

Flight plan for return of Indian nationals stranded abroad:

Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) Chaiman Dr Sam Pitroda held video conference with senior IOC office bearers across Middle Eastern countries on 14th April 2020 to review the impact of COVID-19 pandemic among Indians residing in the region. Almost all speakers appreciated the efforts initiated and  implemented by  respective governments to contain spread of the deadly virus as well as measures taken towards welfare of the people affected by the lockdown. 

IOC Presidents, Mohammed Mansour - Bahrain, Abdullah Manjeri - Saudi Arabia, Dr J Ratan kunar - Oman and Girish kumar - Qatar, highlighted the quality treatment of patients and finacial aid provided by governments and other authorities. Bahrain IOC president Mansour , also  apprised about the 'Food for Needy' drive in Association with KHK Heroes foundation, initiated by HH Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Khalifa and quality treatments as well as financial aid to local and expat residents.

Anura Mathai, IOC  Global Event Coordinator, spoke about certain problems of Indians in the UAE. IOC Middle East Convener, Mansoor Palloor, emphasised and requested IOC Chairman to urge Indian government to arrange immediate repatriation of indians stranded in Gulf countries. AICC Secretary, Himanshu Vyas, IOC Secretary Dr Arathi Krishna, Dr Arshi Malik (Abha), Mohiuddin Sirajudeen (Jeddah), Advocate Joseph Palathara (Dammam) Prasad Kodru, Jayati Maitra Ziyad Ahmed (Qatar) and Khursheed Alam (Gen Secretary- Bahrain) also apprised the participants about various issues relevant to the pandemic and suggested further initiatives to be undertaken. 

Dr Sam Pitroda briefed about sustained and consolidated efforts by all IOC members  during this unprecedented situation facing the world and assured that he would convey IOC  concerns to the government and try his best to ensure all possible help is made available to all needy Indians.

Bengaluru, Mar 6: At least 13 persons, including women and children, were killed and five critically wounded when an SUV collided with a car that had crashed against a road divider moments ago near Kunigal in Tumakuru district of Karnataka in the early hours of Friday, police said.

Of the victims, while 12 died on the spot, a child breathed his last in a hospital, they added.

The injured were admitted to the hospital, the police said.

Among the dead, 10 were from Tamil Nadu and three from Bengaluru. All of them were pilgrims who were on their way to Dharmasthala in Karnataka.

There were five women and two children among the dead, the police said.

"Thirteen persons have died. The incident occurred post midnight. A car crashed against the road divider and another car collided with it," Tumakuru Superintendent of Police (SP) K Vamsi Krishna said.

The police had to struggle to pull the bodies out from the mangled vehicles.

On learning about the incident, relatives of the victims rushed to the spot.