Dubai: Karnataka Cultural Foundation’s Sneha Milana to mark I-Day

On the occasion of 71st Republic Day of India, Qatar Indian Social Forum (QISF), Karnataka State organized a blood donation camp in Doha Qatar, in association with Hamad Medical Corporation on 31st January 2020, Friday.

At first, QISF Karnataka State Vice President, Ziaul Huq welcomed the guests, dignitaries and blood donors.

The Blood Donation Camp was inaugurated by ICC President Mr. Manikantan A P who was the Chief guest. In his inaugural speech, he emphasized that, Service to humanity is service to God. By donating the blood, not only we save the lives, but we get blessings also. He also said that punctuality is the key factor in these type of events and should be incorporated by all of us.

QISF Central Committee President, Sayeed Komachi highlighted the necessity and importance of donating the blood and assured QISF a socio cultural organization will always be ready for this noble cause.

Dr. Vishwantha Kini, a well known Radiologist in HMC motivated the donors.

The camp was started at    7.00 A M and ended at 5.30 PM in which 146 people donated the blood out of 185 people registered.

SKMWA President Abdul Majeed and Dr. Haroon from Asian Medical Centre, who were also the Guests in the programme praised the initiative and efforts of QISF. 

QISF Central Committee Vice President Salam Kunnamal, General Secretary Basheer Ahmed, Northern States President Fasiuddin, QISF State and Branch Committee members Lathif Madikeri, Zakariya Pandeshwar, Saleem Bangadi, Mujeebulla Khan, Nayeem Belapu, Ibrahim UB, Toufeeq, Anwar Angargundy, Rizwan Kalladka, Asif Bannur, Imtiyaz Karnad, Jaleel Kalladka, Haneef Montepadav, Rafiq Uppinangady and other members were present during the programme.

The program was presided and concluded by QISF Karnataka State President Nazeer Pasha.

The Overseas Indian Cultural Congress (OICC), Bahrain, has charted aircrafts to repatriate stranded expatriates to India. 

Boby Parayil, General Secretary, OICC National Committee, Bahrain has thanked all those who supported in this cause.

“The aircrafts were not licensed and were in crisis until the last minute. Finally, Mohammed Mansoor, president of Bahrain chapter of Indian Overseas Congress approached IOC Middle East in charge Dr Arathi Krishna, who helped get permission to operate flight to Kozhikode,” he said in a release. 

All mandatory approvals from the Foreign Ministry of Affairs and other government officials were accomplished by Dr Arathi Krishna. OICC has expressed gratitude to her for her timely support, he said. 

OICC is also grateful to former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy for doing necessary arrangements to get all the approvals for flight landing in Kerala, he added.

In a humanitarian gesture to help fellow citizens in distress, the first in the series of chartered 
flights arranged by Thumbay Group, UAE and the Bearys Cultural Forum (BCF) Trust, 
Mangalore to repatriate stranded Kannadigas in the UAE took off from Ras Al Khaimah 
International Airport in the wee hours of 21st July 2020. The flight was fully occupied, with 186 passengers, all of them desperate to fly back to India for various reasons.

The initiative was conceived and implemented under the leadership of Dr. Thumbay Moideen - Founder President of Thumbay Group & Founder Patron of BCF and Dr. B K Yusuf, the 
President of BCF. The flight was organized on a purely charitable basis, with all necessary 
steps and precautions in place to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers. Thumbay Group assigned its fleet of buses to transport the passengers free of charge from their residences in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman to the airport. The organizers also provided free meals and refreshments to the passengers, in addition to PPE kits and face-shields distributed free of 
charges.

The passengers on the first flight included many elderly individuals, people with serious 
illnesses like heart-related health issues and diabetes, pregnant ladies and little children as well as people who had lost their jobs and those with expired visas. Dr. B K Yusuf – BCF President, Dr. Kaup Mohammed - BCF General Secretary, other office bearers of BCF, as well as Thumbay Group’s representatives Mr. Farhad C – Director of the Hospitality Division of 
Thumbay Group and Engr. Farwaz P. C. – COO of the Construction Division were present at 
the airport to see off the first group of passengers.

Commenting on the initiative, Dr. Thumbay Moideen said, “This joint initiative of Thumbay 
Group and BCF is to support our fellow Kannadigas desperate to fly back home. We are happy that we have been able to reach out to many of them, to help them fly home to their families. We thank the Governments of the UAE and India, and the Indian Consulate, Dubai, for their support in making this happen. In the coming days, many more stranded Kannadigas would be repatriated under this joint initiative.”
Dr. B K Yusuf thanked Dr. Thumbay Moideen and the office-bearers and members of BCF for 
their efforts to make the initiative a success.

“We are proud that this initiative has brought relief to many Kannadigas and their families today. BCF is grateful to Thumbay Group for its support and partnership for all our humanitarian programs for the support of the needy.”

Dr. Kaup Mohammed said that it was a matter of pride that the much-awaited Thumbay-BCF 
repatriation flight had been carried out successfully. “Measures have been taken to ensure the safety of the flight and its passengers throughout the journey,” he said. He also thanked all the social organizations including Bhatkal Jamath, BCCI, BWF, KCF, DKSC, Kodagu Kannadigas, 
Kannadiga Help Line, Dubai Konkans and KSS, for their support. He specially thanked Mr. 
Syed Hassan Razeen, the owner of ARISTOCRAT Travels for his support in the ticketing, 
boarding and related processes. On behalf of Milano Optics Group and Maxcare, free gift 
hampers were distributed to selected passengers.

The passengers were received at Mangalore airport under the leadership of Mr. Mumtaz Ali - patron of BCF and other distinguished personalities of Mangalore including Mr. Moidin Bava - former MLA, Mr U. T. Ifthikhar, Mr. S. M. R Rashid - President of BCCI central committee and many others. The passengers were transferred to the hotels where they had registered for the mandatory quarantine.

The second flight under this joint initiative is scheduled to take-off from Ras Al Khaimah airport to Mangalore on 24th July 2020. A few more similar repatriation flights are to soon follow, in the coming weeks.