First flight with NRIs to land in Kannur today

12/05/2020, STAFF REPORTER,KANNUR

The first flight to the Kannur International Airport with expatriates will arrive from Dubai on Tuesday. The Air India Express flight, which will take off from Kannur at 10.30 a.m., will return with around 180 passengers from Dubai at 7.10 p.m.

In addition to the 109 passengers from Kannur, 47 from Kasaragod, 12 from Kozhikode, seven from Malappuram, three from Mahe, and one each from Wayanad and Thrissur will return.

V. Thulasidas, managing director, Kannur International Airport Limited (KIAL), said the district administration in association with the police and Health workers had put in place a comprehensive system for receiving, inspecting, and quarantining the passengers. Pregnant women, their partners, children below the age of 14, and those above 75 years of age will be sent to their homes, while those with symptoms will be shifted to hospitals and COVID Care Centres.

The passengers will be released in groups of 20. Health officials will then conduct a medical examination. Five special counters have been opened at the airport for the purpose. Those with COVID-19 symptoms will be shifted to a special observatory.

Three special trains to run in SCR jurisdiction

Three special trains to run in SCR jurisdiction

Rajdhani fare to be charged, passengers told to carry own food

12/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,HYDERABAD

One pair of 15 special trains to be run by the Ministry of Railways is Secunderabad-New Delhi one which will originate on South Central Railway while two pairs of other special trains — KSR Bengaluru – New Delhi and Chennai Central – New Delhi will pass through as per the following schedule:

Train No. 02437 Secunderabad-New Delhi AC Superfast Special Train will depart Secunderabad on Wednesdays commencing from May 20 at 1.15 p.m. and arrive New Delhi at 10.40 a.m. on the next day. In the opposite direction, Train No. 02438 New Delhi-Secunderabad AC Superfast Special Train will depart New Delhi on Sundays commencing from May 17 at 4 p.m. and arrive Secunderabad at 2 p.m. on the next day. Enroute, the train will stop at Nagpur, Bhopal and Jhansi stations in both directions.

Train No. 02691 KSR Bengaluru–New Delhi AC Superfast Special Train will depart KSR Bengaluru commencing from May 12 at 8.30 p.m. arrive / depart Secunderabad at 7.55/08.05 a.m. on the next day and arrive New Delhi at 5.55 a.m. on the second day. In the opposite direction, Train No. 02692 New Delhi- KSR Bengaluru AC Superfast Special Train will depart New Delhi commencing from May 12 at 9.15 p.m. arrive/depart Secunderabad at 6.20/6.30 p.m. on the next day and arrive KSR Bengaluru at 6.40 a.m. on the second day. It will stop at Anantapur, Guntakal, Secunderabad, Nagpur, Bhopal and Jhansi stations in both directions.

Train No. 02433 Chennai Central-New Delhi AC Superfast Special Train will depart Chennai Central on Friday and Sunday commencing from May 15 at 6.35 a.m. and arrive New Delhi at 10.30 a.m. on the second day. In the opposite direction, Train No. 02434 New Delhi- Chennai Central AC Superfast Special Train will depart New Delhi on Wednesday and Friday commencing from May 13 at 4 p.m. and arrive Chennai Central at 8.40 p.m. on the second day. Enroute, the train will stop at Vijayawada, Warangal, Nagpur, Bhopal, Jhansi and Agra stations in both directions.

These special trains will have only AC coaches — first, second and third AC — with Rajdhani fares. Passengers are encouraged to carry their own food and drinking water. Dry, ready to eat food and bottled water will be provided on demand inside on payment basis. No stalls on the platforms will be open and no train side vending is permitted.

Tickets can be booked only online (www.irctc.co.in) or through mobile app.

Students stuck in Delhi pay ₹2 lakh to travel to Hyderabad

Students stuck in Delhi pay ₹2 lakh to travel to Hyderabad

Coordinate among themselves to return home by road

12/05/2020, RAVI REDDY,HYDERABAD

Some of the students who managed to travel in an SUV from New Delhi. By ArrangementBy Arrangement

Fortyseven days of endless waiting with no relief in sight due to lockdown amid COVD-19 pandemic, desperate students and UPSC civil services aspirants were forced to shell out anywhere between ₹ 8,000 to ₹ 10,000 per head to move out of Delhi and reach their native places in Telangana.

Close to 200 students from Telangana studying in various educational institutions and some others preparing for civils made a last ditch effort to hire buses and cabs to get out of the containment zones in the National Capital Region.

One such air conditioned sleeper bus left Karolbagh on Saturday evening with 27 students. They paid a whopping ₹2.06 lakh to hire the bus. The 53-seater bus was allowed to carry half of its capacity duly following the Centre’s direction on social distancing and other precautions. The 1600 km journey would take close to 40-hours. Two more buses are bound for Hyderabad from Noida.

Nightmarish days

Ranadeep Reddy, a civil’s aspirant and native of Mancherial district said: “We decided on road travel after we, nearly 200 students, were told it was not possible to arrange special trains. We found a travel bus ready to take us to Hyderabad and we informed the Toll Free number of the Telangana government the bus number and other details and got vehicle pass.”

B. Shravya, another civil’s aspirant, who is travelling in one of the bus said the Whatsapp group created by the TS students helped them to coordinate and plan their travel to Hyderabad. “Although the thought of road journey is scary, but we have no other option,” she said.

Lucky students

Ashfaq and 12 other students were lucky as they managed to get seats in an Innova and a Tempo Traveller which came to New Delhi to drop teachers from different Kendriya Vidyalayas working in Hyderabad. “All 13 of us paid ₹10,000 each to get a seat in the two vehicles,” Ashfaq said adding that they had to take the risk of travelling such long distance to reach their families in Hyderabad. The students had a tough time finding food. Mercifully, a dhaba owner near Nagpur pitied them and cooked food after the cooks were given mask, sanitiser and gloves.

For D. Venu, driver of the SUV it was a memorable experience on his maiden trip to Delhi. “I had driven long distance carrying the Ayyappa devotees umpteen number of times. But, this was altogether different experience. We did not get even a cup of tea for almost 200 kms after crossing Nagpur. We managed with biscuits and fruits,” he said expressing satisfaction at ensuring safe journey for the passengers.

Awaiting vehicle

Atram Sayudha of Utnoor in K.B Asifabad district, who is still stuck in New Delhi said they were in all six students from Old Adilabad district. “We are confident of hiring a four-wheeler in the next two days to reach our native places,” he added. All those entering Telangana at Adilabad border check post had to undergo thermal screening. Medical teams put home quarantine stamp for 14 days.

Dialysis wards are latest source of COVID-19 spread

Dialysis wards are latest source of COVID-19 spread

Primary source for at least 40 patients in L.B. Nagar zone are the wards of two corporate hospitals in city

12/05/2020, SWATHI VADLAMUDI,HYDERABAD

Kidney patients need dialysis at regular intervals for blood purification, for which they need to visit hospitals even during COVID-19 lockdown. Representational photo

Dialysis patients getting treated at two renowned corporate hospitals in the city have been the latest source of COVID-19 infection in the L.B. Nagar zone, which has of late become the hotspot for the virus spread in city and Telangana.

The primary source of infection for at least 40 COVID-19 patients in LB Nagar zone are dialysis wards of the two hospitals, one located in Malakpet and another in Musheerabad.

Kidney patients need dialysis at regular intervals for blood purification, for which they need to visit hospitals even during COVID-19 lockdown.

Officials under the condition of anonymity informed that over 10 persons undergoing dialysis at the two hospitals have tested positive for COVID-19 and one of them died of the complications.

The patients are all from Kapra and Saroornagar circles. Thirty of their family members and close contacts contracted the infection, which was revealed only during aggressive testing, a circle level official informed. Though the patients were diagnosed a while ago, the primary contacts were not tested immediately, as they did not show any symptoms. The decision to test all primary contacts was taken recently, following which there was a spurt in the number of positive cases.

“The elderly dialysis patient, who died recently, had 13 members in his family, of whom 10 tested positive. We have exhausted all primary contacts, and hopefully, there won’t be any spurt in the coming days,” said the official.

The number of cases from L.B. Nagar has spiralled recently, even as the cases from almost all the other areas in the city are showing downward trend. Total cases from five circles of the zone — L.B. Nagar, Saroornagar, Hayatnagar, Uppal and Kapra — stand at 74 as on Monday, of which 61 are active cases. Seven persons died and six have been discharged.

Before the spurt caused by the dialysis units of the corporate hospitals, the source of infection was a single person — a groundnut trader in Malakpet. He is surmised to have contracted it from a Suryapet contact. The trader got himself admitted in a private hospital near Vanasthalipuram with complaints of bodyache and fever, but was offered wrong treatment for dengue.

Many visitors

“While he was in hospital, several members of his family and extended family visited him, which resulted in the disease spreading far and wide,” an official informed. The hospital has now been closed, and all the staff have been quarantined.

When a few members of the trader’s extended family attended a birthday party, the infection spread even wider.

As per official information, the number of his primary and secondary contacts who contracted the infection stood at 22.

The trader’s aged father, and his brother with other co-morbidities, died of the COVID-19 complications. The trader, however, is on the path to recovery and may soon be discharged.

HC issues advisory to staff of all courts; says breach will amount to ‘misconduct’

HC issues advisory to staff of all courts; says breach will amount to ‘misconduct’

It also contains precautions to follow on reaching home from court

12/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,BENGALURU

In an effort to keep staff of all courts in the State attentive and adhere to COVID-19 precautions, the Karnataka High Court has not only issued basic protective advisories to the staff but has also said that its breach would be treated as “misconduct” leading to initiation of action as per the service rules. The advisory also includes what the staff need to do on going home from office.

Also, the High Court has made it clear that all the officers/officials who have been on any kind of leave and have left the headquarters on or before March 24 shall get examined in High Court Dispensary on reporting to duty for the first time, and as per the medical advice they must be ready to undergo compulsory home quarantine for 14 days, if necessary. Apart from the staff, every person entering the court precincts, including the police, personal security staff of judges, advocates, clerks of advocates, and others shall be scanned at the entry point by the health workers to ascertain symptoms of COVID-19 and body temperature. Entry would be denied if any person shows symptoms.

Wearing of mask is compulsory and no one will be allowed to enter court precincts without it, the notification states while asking staff to avoid close contact with anyone on the court premises. After entering the offices, the staff will have to wash their hands with liquid soaps or use sanitisers and should use gloves while dealing with office files/case files.

High Court Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice B.V. Nagarathna, the seniormost judge of the High Court, have issued video messages reminding the staff of the importance of following the advisory not only for their safety but also for the safety of their family members and colleagues.

On going home

The advisory has asked the staff to ring up home before leaving the office so that those at home can keep the front door open to ensure the staff need not touch the doors or calling bell switch.

They are advised to wash their hands and feet with soap water before entering the house. Also, the staff are advised to keep their keys, mobile phones in a box at the entrance and take them inside after wiping with issue papers with sanitiser.

Tears of joy as flight lands in city

Tears of joy as flight lands in city

12/05/2020, STAFF REPORTER,BENGALURU

It was an emotional moment for passengers of the repatriation Air India flight from London that landed in Bengaluru on Monday. There was sighs of relief and tears of joy.

Soundarya, one of the passengers in the flight, told The Hindu that when the flight made its scheduled landing at New Delhi before arriving at Bengaluru, passengers were thrilled and clapped loudly as the pilot made the announcement that the flight is about to land.

“I was in tears when the flight landed. ” she said. Ms. Soundarya, daughter of actor-politician Jayamala, was stranded in the UK for close to 50 days after the Indian government banned commercial flights from various countries. This was her second attempt to come back home after the COVID-19 outbreak.

“On March 22, I had boarded a flight to India via Dubai. When the flight landed at Dubai, passengers were asked to alight as India had imposed a ban. We were stranded in the airport for more than 17 hours and finally authorities permitted us to go back to U.K. I had to undergo 14 days quarantine after reaching London. Meanwhile, the number of cases continued to rise. It was tough. I wanted to return India no matter what,” she said.

She had gone to U.K. to pursue B.Sc. honours in Zoology. She said two of her faculty members and a student were infected too. She booked a ticket for the second time to Bengaluru after the Union government announced the evacuation flight for stranded Indians in the U.K.

“There were children, pregnant women and aged people on the flight. Each one had their stories. Some passengers had lost their family members back home during the lockdown,” she said.

An economy class ticket on the flight reportedly cost around ₹50,000.

‘No renaming of Allahabad University’

‘No renaming of Allahabad University’

12/05/2020, PRESS TRUST OF INDIA,ALLAHABAD

The Allahabad University’s executive council has decided against changing the name of the Centre-run institution following renaming of the district to Prayagraj, officials said on Monday.

A university spokesperson said the executive council could not meet because of the coronavirus lockdown. So the opinion of its 15 members was sought through email.

Three members did not respond, while the remaining 12 responded in the negative and a resolution has been passed against changing the name, the spokesperson said.

The members wanted the name retained, he added. The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh had renamed the district to Prayagraj in 2018, a decision later approved by the Centre.

The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development and the university, founded in 1887, then corresponded over the suggestion to rename the institution as well, officials said.