Terror case: Mumbai police produce two youths in Mangaluru court

Mangaluru, May 29: Several non-resident Kannadigas from various Gulf countries including Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Thursday, May 28, interacted with Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel through a video conference and urged him to allow the Kannadigas stranded in the Middle East to return by facilitating the operation of repatriation flights.

The development comes amidst reports that lack of preparedness on parts of the local authorities in Karnataka compelling the Centre to delay the operation of flights from Middle East to Mangaluru and Bengaluru airports.

“We have never forgotten you. We will take necessary steps for your safe return to the homeland as soon as possible,” assured Mr Kateel after paying heed to the complaints of non-resident Kannadigas.

The video conference was organised by Ravi Shetty, ex president of Kannada Sangha Qatar.

Praveen Kumar Shetty, president, Karnataka NRI Forum of UAE, Sarvottam Shetty of UAE Karnataka Sangha, Avikshit Rai, Ravi Shetty, former president of Qatar Kannada Sangha, Santosh Shetty of Riyadh Karnataka NRI Forum, Zakariya Jokatte, president of Dammam Karnataka NRI Forum, Mohammad Mansoor, president of Bahrain Indian Overseas Congress, NS Shetty Kuwait, Pradeep Shetty of Kannada Sangha Bahrain, Karunakar Rao, Shashidhar Shetty Oman, Rajesh of Kuwait Kannada Sangha, Ramesh Bhandari, M E Muloor and Sunil Kulkarni among others participated in the video conference.

Jul 6: At least 8 lakh Indians may be forced to leave Kuwait as the country's legal and legislative committee has approved a draft expat quota Bill, reported.

The Bill, which states that Indians should not exceed 15 percent of the population, was determined as constitutional by the National Assembly, local media reported.

It will soon be transferred to the respective committee so that a comprehensive plan is created.

Expats account for 30 lakh of Kuwait's 43 lakh population. Indian community constitutes the largest expat community in Kuwait, totalling 14.5 lakh.

The move comes as the number of Covid-19 cases has spiked in the country, with 49,000 cases being reported so far.

New Delhi, Jul 3: Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) in Karnataka have emerged as a "crucial pillar in the state's success" in combating Covid-19, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday.

Acknowledging and praising their work, the ministry said they have been actively participating in household surveys in the state, screening inter-state passengers, migrant workers and others in the community for symptoms of the infection,

“Around 42,000 ASHAs have emerged as a crucial pillar in the state's success” in combating Covid-19, the ministry said.

"Recognizing the increased vulnerability of certain population groups to Covid-19, in a one-time survey to identify households with the elderly, persons with co-morbidities, and immune-compromised individuals, about 1.59 crore households were covered," the ministry said in a statement.

ASHAs regularly monitor such high-risk groups in their area with a periodicity of follow-up visits varying from once a day in the containment zones to once every 15 days in other areas, it said.

They also visit the houses of persons complaining influenza-like-illness (ILI) symptoms and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI), besides high-risk individuals who have called the state health department helpline numbers, the ministry said.

ASHAs are a part of the Rural Task Force, headed by Panchayat Development Officer (PDO) at the Gram Panchayat level, for addressing public grievances on both Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 related services.

ASHAs are trained female community health activists selected from the village itself and accountable to it. They are trained to work as an interface between the community and the public health system.

In the urban areas too, they have been at the forefront of dissemination of various awareness activities in fever clinics and swab collection centres in urban areas.

They have also actively screened cases of ILI and SARI in urban areas. They are also part of the screening teams at international and interstate check-posts.

Karnataka has reported 272 Covid-19 deaths and 18,016 cases, according to the health ministry data updated at 8 AM.