Pejawar seer injured during Mantralayam trip, brought back to Udupi

Kottayam, Mar 31: A 91-year-old and 88-year-old senior citizen couple were discharged from the isolation ward of government medical college after getting treated from COVID-19 on Monday.

"It is a testimony to the dedication and expertise of the medical staff as well as the strength of the Kerala public health system. We shall overcome," Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Issac tweeted as he praised the healthcare services for treating the elderly couple considered as highly vulnerable to the contagious virus.

Apart from the two senior citizens, five others suffering from COVID-19 have also been treated and discharged from the hospital.
Thomas, 91, and his wife Mariyamma, 88, who were under treatment at the Kottayam Medical College were already suffering from various age-related problems. The 91-year-old had a heart attack and severe breathing trouble when he was under treatment.

"The aged couple based in Ranni in Pathanamthitta district had got infected with the virus after coming into contact with their son, wife and grandson who had arrived from Italy. COVID-19 was confirmed in them on March 8. They were admitted to Pathanamthitta hospital. However, they were shifted to the Medical College in Kottayam the very next day as their condition was critical," the Kerala government said.

The family will have to remain in home-quarantine for 14 more days.

The Union Health Ministry said the death toll due to COVID-19 has risen to 32 and the number of total coronavirus cases to 1,251 as on Monday. 

There are 1117 active cases in the country with the state of Kerala contributing the highest number of cases which stands at 202.

Mangaluru, May 26: Days after the government of India approved the use of chartered flights for the repatriation of Indians stranded across the world amidst covid-19 lockdown, two NRI entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia have offer to bear the cost of repatriation if they get formal green signal to repatriate stranded Indians from Dammam to Mangaluru International Airport before June 5.

Althaf Ullal and Basheer Sagar, the two Kannadiga Directors of Al Khobar-based Saqco, have made this offer in a letter written to Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

The duo have assured that their company will bear the cost of the first chartered flight from Dammam to Mangaluru if the government paves way for its operation by June 5. 

It is learnt that many private airliners have come forward to operate chartered flight and are waiting for final clearance from the government. It will cost approximately Rs 45 lakh to hire chartered flight with 180 capacity from Dammam to Mangaluru. 

Pregnant women, medical emergency cases, senior citizens on visit visas, those who lost jobs due to lockdown among other stranded Indians will be given priority in this flight, they said.

"Our company will completely bear this cost. Passengers only need to bear the cost of institutional quarantine after reaching Mangaluru," they have clarified. 

Bengaluru, Jan 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday slammed states, which have not enrolled with the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Yojana (PMKSY), saying that such petty politics has done great damage to the farming community.

"I expect that in the new year, those states which are not associated with the Kisan Samman Yojana will at least become a part of it this year," the Prime Minister said at a function in Tumakuru where he disbursed Rs 12,000 crore to six crore beneficiaries under the government scheme in one-go.

Also, he gave away the Krishi Karman Award to the selected farmers and distributed fishing equipment to the chosen ones on the occasion. Modi said political considerations by the state governments in implementing the PMKSY has caused severe loss to the poor farmers.

"Such politics has never strengthened the farmers. Our government understood your (farmers') needs, requirements and your aspirations and accordingly tried to implement the schemes," said Modi.

He further said his government never saw agriculture in fragments but in its totality. Claiming his government has ensured that the entire money reached the poor beneficiaries, Prime Minister hit out at the previous governments, when middlemen ruled the roost.

"There was a time when a rupee was rolled out (by the government) for the poor person, only 15 paise would reach him. The middlemen would pocket the remaining 85 paise. "Today, whatever money is dispatched from Delhi, the entire amount directly reaches the bank account of the beneficiary," he said.

He told the gathering about the various initiatives taken by his government to improve the agriculture sector such as completing the pending irrigation schemes, soil health card and 100 per cent neem-coating in urea.

Due to the initiatives of the government, agriculture production has gone up, he said. Speaking about measures in the fisheries sector, the Prime Minister said the sector has been promoted in the villages, financial help given to fishermen, modernisation of boats and building fisheries-related infrastructure have been done.