111-year-old Shivakumara Swamiji hospitalised

Mangaluru, May 20: The Third Vande Bharat Mission flight carrying 63 repatriates from Muscat landed at Mangaluru International Airport at 8.35 pm on Wednesday. It was piloted by Mangalurean captain Michael Saldanha.

More than half of the passengers from Muscat alighted in Bengaluru where the flight landed first. Remaining 63 passengers came to Mangaluru. 

After landing, all the passengers were given health kits, food and mobile SIMs, and arrangements were made to change their currency at the airport. 

A health department team screened each passenger, after which emigration formalities were completed. Their throat swab samples will be tested for Covid-19 on Thursday.

Union fertiliser minister D V Sadananda Gowda tweeted on Wednesday that the next Vande Bharat Mission flight is scheduled on Friday from Doha to Mangaluru. The flight will land at Mangaluru at 9.55 pm. 

The third repatriation flight from Dubai to Mangaluru is scheduled on Saturday. It will first land at Bengaluru and later fly to Mangaluru. However, there are no flights from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to Mangaluru.

Mangaluru, Mar 21: The management of Ibrahim Khaleel mosque here on Saturday has decided to temporarily suspend all the prayers inside the mosque premises as a precautionary measure in view of Corona Virus which is spreading like wildfire in the State.

In an official note, the management urged people to remain safe and to pray at home adding that Jumuah, daily prayers and all the other events at the mosques were cancelled temporarily until further notice.

“This is an unavoidable move to save the lives from the infections of deadly Coronavirus” the note added on Saturday.

Dubai, Mar 3: Abu Dhabi-based Indian retail tycoon MA Yusuff Ali has become the first Indian to receive Saudi Arabia's premium residency, his office said in a statement on Monday.

Yusuff Ali, 64, is the chairman of the LuLu Group, who was ranked the richest expat in the UAE by the Forbes magazine last year.

The permit, informally known as Saudi Green Card, grants expatriates the right to live, work and own business and property in the Kingdom without need for a sponsor, the LULU group said in a statement.

The introduction of the Premium Residency comes as a part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 reform plan, which was announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to boost the Saudi economy, the statement said.

Yusuff Ali said "obviously a very proud and humbling moment in my life. This is a great honour not only for me but for the entire Indian expat community and I sincerely thank the HM the King Salman, HRH Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman and the government of Saudi Arabia."

"@Yusuffali_MA , an investor from India, after obtaining Premium Residency in Saudi Arabia: ''The Kingdom became an attractive investment destination due to the remarkable growth in economy," Premium Residency tweeted on Monday.

Yusuff Ali said he was sure that this new permanent residency initiative will further boost Saudi Arabia's image as one of the key investments and business hubs of the region as well as attract and retain new investors.

This initiative is targeting key investors and prominent personalities from various fields, including sports, arts & culture, who have played a defining role in the nation building process.

The Lulu Group owns and operates more than 35 hypermarkets and supermarkets in Saudi Arabia, which includes ARAMCO Commissaries and National Guards super stores.