Saudi exempts Indian pilgrims from quarantine

Saudi exempts Indian pilgrims from quarantine

Mumbai:  09.12.2021

With Saudi Arabia exempting Umrah pilgrims from India from the requirement of five-day quarantine on reaching there, pilgrims and tour operators are ecstatic, reports Mohammed Wajihuddin.

While Haj is performed annually, Umrah or minor pilgrimage can be performed throughout the year. Though Saudi permitted visits of Umrah pilgrims to Haram Sharief in Mecca with some restrictions weeks ago, the 15-day quarantine requirement in a third country — UAE, Russia and Kazakhstan among others — or the five-day quarantine in Saudi Arabia discouraged them. “It is a relief to both the tour operators and pilgrims. We would get a number of enquiries daily about Umrah visas, but were helpless because of the quarantine requirement. Now, the number of Indian pilgrims Umrah will rise,” said Yusuf Ahmed Khereda of Al Khalid Tours and Travels.“I am so excited that I have got a Umrah visa and will soon travel to Saudi Arabia to pray at the holy mosques in Mecca and Medina and be at the mausoleum of the holy Prophet,” said Imtiyaz Vilatra, country head of corporate house Posterscope OOH.

Raj principal, 14 staffers booked over ‘gang rape’

Raj principal, 14 staffers booked over ‘gang rape’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Alwar/Jaipur:  09.12.2021

The principal of a government school at Bhiwadi in Rajasthan’s Alwar and his entire staff of 14 has been named in three FIRs alleging gangrape and molestation of schoolgirls on campus.

Bhiwadi SP Ram Murti Joshi said the FIRs were registered on Tuesday under the Pocso Act, based on complaints of sexual assault lodged by the families of five schoolgirls against the staff. The alleged incidents allegedly took place before offline classes were suspended last year. “We are also probing the role of an exteacher of the same school who was jailed in 2020 for sexually assaulting a minor. All staff members mentioned in FIRs were witnesses in that case,” the SP said. “We need to confirm if the FIRs were filed at the behest of the former teacher.”

UP school owner accused of sedating and molesting 17 minors arrested

The owner of the school, where 17 girls of class 10 were allegedly sedated and molested, was arrested on Tuesday. While assistant SP (Sadar) Krishna Kumar claimed that the special operations group arrested the accused, sources said that he surrendered at Purkazi police station in Uttar Pradesh. He was produced in court on Wednesday and has been remanded in judicial custody for 14 days till December 21. TNN

Night temp drops to 12.5°, Bhopal may get colder

Night temp drops to 12.5°, Bhopal may get colder

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bhopal:  09.12.2021

The night temperature dipped by three degrees to settle at 12.5 degrees Celsius in Bhopal on Wednesday. The previous night was a bit warmer at 15.6 degrees. Officials of the meteorological department, Bhopal circle said, the temperatures are set to dip further across the state in the days to come.

There is no system or moisture incursion over the state and as such, dry weather would prevail. This may intensify the winter in the state, the officials said. They also issued a warning of fog for a few places in the state.

The day temperature in Bhopal on Wednesday was recorded at 25.2 degree Celsius, two degrees less than normal mark, while night temperature (12.5 degrees), was still a degree above the normal mark. Wind direction was north-easterly with an average speed of 14 kmph. A day earlier, maximum and minimum temperature in Bhopal was respectively at 24.7 degrees Celsius and 15.6 degrees Celsius.

The places in the state that recorded fog in the morning were Chhatarpur, Niwari and Tikamgarh. In the forecast for Bhopal on Thursday, the meteorological officials said, there would be clear sky and dry weather. Day and night temperature would be 25 and 12 degrees respectively with an average wind speed of 14 kmph.

In the forecast for other parts of the state, the officials said the weather would be dry over remaining places in the state, the officials added.

‘Poor visibility, not technical fault, likely crash cause’

‘Poor visibility, not technical fault, likely crash cause’

U Tejonmayam & V Ayappan TNN

Chennai:  09.12.2021

Foggy conditions and poor visibility could be factors that caused the Mi-17 V5 carrying CDS Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and several others to crash in Coonoor, aviation experts said, though official word on the reason for Wednesday’s fatal accident is awaited.

They said chances of technical faults are remote because it was a planned flight with VIP passengers. “The chopper is capable of flying in bad weather, but the terrain was hilly and it appears to have fallen from a low altitude,” an expert said.

Visibility may have dropped considerably because of foggy conditions or low clouds over Coonoor around 11.30am on Wednesday. According to the IMD, Coonoor reported 4mm rainfall till 8.30am on Wednesday and the maximum temperature during the day was 19o C.

“We had forecast light to moderate rainfall in hill stations. Only for the plains we had forecast mist or fog. It is difficult to forecast fog for valleys and hilly terrain because both satellite and radar cannot capture that. Fog conditions can be reported only by seeing it. Even then it is difficult to differentiate between fog and low clouds,” said N Puviarasan, director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, IMD Chennai.

Experts said fog appears as a cloud near ground level, reducing visibility. Fog usually forms at a relative humidity of about 100% that may occur when there is increased moisture in the air or when the temperature is decreasing.

IMD officials said they were not asked for local weather conditions during VIP movement to Wellington and the IAF has its own facility to track it. “They don’t share weather conditions or forecasts from their area either,” an official said.

Skymet Weather chief meteorologist Mahesh Palawat said Coonoor had shallow fog and cloudy weather on Wednesday morning (8.30am) and dense fog with nearly no visibility at 5.30pm. “There could be shallow fog or low clouds during the day,” he said.

No May Day call before crash, says Coimbatore ATC

In contact with destination control.” That was the last message from the pilot of the Mi-17V5 to Coimbatore ATC before the aircraft changed over to the defence ATC around five minutes from landing at the Wellington base on Wednesday. The changeover happened at around 4,000 ft, before it crashed, reports V Ayappan.

Coimbatore ATC sources said there was no May Day call, which is usually transmitted on open VHF frequency for all to hear. Only rarely do they transmit such calls for help on an exclusive emergency frequency, said an official. “The helicopter was supposed to return within 10 minutes of dropping off the passengers,” the official said. The chopper’s movement was not tracked on radar because Coimbatore does not have one that can map low-altitude flights.

AI cameras at KSR station will see through your mask

AI cameras at KSR station will see through your mask

Full-Fledged Launch From Next Month

Christin.MathewPhilip@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru: 09.12.2021

Last month, a 41-year-old mentally disturbed woman went missing from east Bengaluru. The Railway Protection Force (RPF)’s control room in Bengaluru division received an alert and photograph of the woman at 11.35pm from a group of citizens. At 11.47pm, RPF personnel managed to trace the woman who was wearing a fullmask at KSR Bengaluru City railway station. The swift tracking happened with the help of AI-enabled face-recognition cameras.

“We could trace her in just 12 minutes. In fact, relatives of the woman were also surprised that we could find her in such a short time,” said a RPF official.

For the past nine months, a trial run of recognition cameras was on at the station. South Western Railway (SWR) officials said a fullfledged launch of the Rs 2.4-crore project will be held from next month.

“We have installed 120 of the 150 AI-enabled cameras. We could identify 43 criminals in the last nine months through this system. We’ll install them at 18 more stations in Bengaluru division,” said a senior SWR official.

A TOI report, ‘KSR, Yeshwantpur railway stations to get face-recognition cameras’ (May 6, 2019), had highlighted the plan. While facemasks are mandatory in public places after Covid-19, SWR officials said these cameras will detect people with masks too. Face-recognition cameras will recognise the face of a repeat offender/wanted persons involved in human trafficking, child kidnapping, smuggling, terrorist activities and other cases, then alert in cases of overcrowding stations, unclaimed baggage/ objects, keep track of those who frequent ticket counters, including touts. “We never anticipated that all will have to wear face-masks. But we had thought of people entering the station covering their faces, using sunglasses or hats and other scenarios, so it has come handy now,” said an official.

Asked about privacy concerns, another official said: “We’re not storing any data. We’re just matching faces in the database to records. In fact, most airports also have face-recognition cameras. Only criminals need to worry about this.”

UNDER SCANNER: RPF Bengaluru division’s command control centre where inputs from the cameras are monitored

HOW DOES THE SYSTEM WORK

These hi-tech cameras capture facial images at the railway station. The system has a database of criminal offenders from Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS) and state police. If a blacklisted repeat offender match is found in CCTV feed, alerts will be given to the command-and-control room which is being monitored by a team of RPF staff round-theclock as well as 25 mobile phones of senior officials.

Live CCTV feeds are also displayed on multiple screens at the 16X10 feet video-wall at the control room.

These cameras will help us trace wanted persons, especially those involved in child trafficking. It will also ensure safety of women passengers. We’ll be able to track people with criminal backgrounds without delay

Shyam Singh | BENGALURU DIVISIONAL RAILWAY MANAGER

As part of protest, resident docs sport black badges

As part of protest, resident docs sport black badges

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru: 09.12.2021

Resident doctors and interns from across the state sported black badges in a symbolic protest as part of their indefinite strike called by Karnataka Association of Resident Doctors (KARD).

Junior resident doctors and interns had launched an indefinite strike on November 29 over, among other demands, unpaid Covid allowances, and had boycotted outpatient department (OPD) duties and elective services. They returned to work in OPDs on December 3. However, patients have not been put to hardship. One doctor said since they have not received a convincing response from the government, they decided to launch the symbolic protest beginning Wednesday, while continuing to keep OPD and other services functioning. 

In a press release, KARD said that they will observe ‘Placard Day’ on Thursday and on Friday they will hold a candlelight vigil. Among their demands are payment of Covid allowance (Rs 10,000 per month) announced by the government from April 2021, roll back of fee hike, and expediting the NEET-PG 2021 admission process.

Airline staff at KIA force 4-yr-old to undergo test

Airline staff at KIA force 4-yr-old to undergo test

Petlee.Peter@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:  09.12.2021

A four-year-old boy, a citizen of the United States, was forced to take the Covid-19 test at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) after ground staff of a domestic airline refused to allow him to accompany his parents on a holiday to Port Blair without a negative report.

This is in clear violation of guidelines issued by the Union ministry of health and family welfare, which states those under five years of age are exempted from pre-departure and post-arrival tests and shows a lack of awareness about Covid-19 protocols among airline staff.

Rajdeep Ganguly, a top IT engineer with a major computer chipmaker, his wife and their four-year-old son, all US passport holders and residents of Koramangala, decided to go on a holiday to Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He booked tickets on Go First Airways (previously Go Air) and they were scheduled to fly out from KIA on flight G8 1802 on November 27.

The family arrived at the airport at 8am and were in for a rude shock when Go First’s ground staff at the check-in counter demanded an RTPCR negative report for their son. Ganguly and his wife are fully vaccinated and, as per rules, don’t need a negative test report.

“I explained to the airline staffer that protocol issued by the Union health ministry specifically exempts children below the age of five from RTPCR tests, but he refused to listen. He rudely replied that ‘if the boy tests negative, he flies with you’,” Ganguly said. The parents demanded that they be shown the clause in the rule book which mandates the test, but airline staff refused to listen.

Ganguly also contacted Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation Ltd to doubly ascertain if his son needs a negative report. When they landed in Port Blair later that day, they were told the test was “unnecessary”.

With Go First ground staff refusing to budge and time running out, the 43-yearold father rushed with the boy to the Auriga Research Covid testing centre outside the airport. Taking pity on their plight, some flyers allowed them to jump the queue and the child took the rapid PCR test. The duo then dashed back into the airport to collect a printout of the negative report.

The family was in for another shock when they handed in the result to the ground staff. “The Go First manager didn’t even bother looking at the result but checked the test payment receipt for Rs 3,000 and directed us towards boarding. There was another family at the time with an unwell child, but the airline staff didn’t spare them as well,” added the IT engineer.

TOI contacted Go First for its reaction, but there was no response despite emails, messages and phone calls.