Chennai to Dubai: 3 flights & via London

Chennai to Dubai: 3 flights & via London

Manju.V@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:  25.06.2020

After being stranded in Chennai for over three months, Satyan Iyer (name changed) was so determined to fly back to his family in UAE that he set aside geography and spent close to Rs2 lakh for a journey that will have three carriers fly him from Chennai to Hyderabad to Mumbai to London and finally to Dubai. He left Chennai at 2 pm on June 24 and is expected to land in Dubai on June 26, 7 am, local time.

Iyer arrived in Chennai on March 11 after a four-hour, 30-minute flight from Dubai. Then the pandemic struck. However, he decided he couldn’t afford to stay back any longer when he heard his wife cough on recent phone calls. “She claimed it was sinusitis and cold, but it freaked me out,” says Iyer. That’s when he decided to put his five-year UK visa to good use, pay Rs 1.60 lakh for the Indi-Go, Air India and Emirates fare and reach Dubai, after hopping across three cities.

But for thousands of UAE-bound Indians stranded in India since March, there are no viable options yet to fly back. Air India’s Vande Bharat Mission flights aren’t an option.

On Wednesday, Air India in a press statement quoted a June 23 UAE government guideline under which, “transportation of passengers (UAE nationals and non-UAE nationals) on the repatriation flights is not allowed.” Air India said passengers who hold a valid UAE residency permit or work permit will now need to get specific approval from the UAE embassy in Delhi and UAE ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation apart from fulfilling an earlier criteria of getting two other approvals from two UAE authorities (ICA and GDRFA) if they had to board the Vande Bharat Mission flight to UAE.

“But getting a letter from the UAE/Delhi embassy is close to impossible for thousands of UAE resident visa holders stranded in India. We know through social media platforms that people stranded in Pakistan, UK, Canada, US, Sri Lanka have managed to fly back to UAE with just an ICA and GDRFA permit,’’ said Kavita Kaur (name changed on request).

She is a member of ‘The Support Group’, a messaging platform formed on WhatsApp and Telegram Messenger, with about 1,100 UAE-bound people stranded in India as its members.

“By a conservative estimate, over 8,000 people are waiting to fly back to UAE, not including the blue-collar workers who are the worst hit,” Kaur said.

Another group member added, “We have been held hostage in our own country.”

Full report on www.toi.in

Patanjali took licence to make immunity booster: U’khand

Patanjali took licence to make immunity booster: U’khand

Ishita Mishra & Sheo S Jaiswal TNN

Dehradun/Haridwar: 25.06.2020

The Uttarakhand Ayush department on Wednesday sent a notice to yoga guru Ramdev’s Divya Pharmacy, a unit of Patanjali Yogpeeth, asking the firm to “desist from making misleading claims in media outlets regarding the products, ‘Divya Coronil tablet’ and ‘Divya Swasari Vati’ as being a cure for Covid-19.” The notice, a copy of which is with TOI, says that a complaint has been received by the department regarding ‘Divya Coronil tablet’ and ‘Divya Swasari Vati’ being packaged along with ‘Anu tel’ (oil), another Patanjali product, as a ‘Corona kit’ for the cure of Covid-19.

The notice goes on to say that the firm had been given permission by the Ayush department letter dated June 12, 2020 regarding production of Divya Swasari Vati for treatment of kasa (cough) and swasa (breathing order) and Divya Coronil tablet as an immunity booster, especially against respiratory tract infection and fever.

Speaking to TOI, Dr YS Rawat, licencing officer (Ayurvedic & Unani) of the state Ayush department, who is the signatory of the notice, said, “Divya Pharmacy has been asked to reply with their clarification within seven days and has also been asked to remove all misleading claims regarding the ‘Divya Coronil tablet’, ‘Divya Swasari Vati’ and ‘Corona kit’ from media outlets on immediate basis.”

Meanwhile, Dr Anurag Varshneya, vice-president of Patanjali Research Institute, the research wing of Patanjali Ayurved, said that they have sent “all requisite research documents and information to the Union Ayush ministry.” “After we received a letter from the ministry on Tuesday, all documents were sent to them on the same day itself,” he said adding that “the process prescribed by the ministry for research on coronavirus drugs in its gazette notification dated April 21, 2020 was strictly followed.”

Raj hosp under probe for corona drug trial

The Rajasthan health department on Wednesday served a show-cause notice on Jaipur’s state-run NIMS Hospital for allegedly running unauthorised clinical trials of Patanjali Ayurved’s professed cure for Covid-19 on patients who had tested positive for the virus. “We have initiated an investigation. If the hospital authorities have violated norms, we will take legal action against them in accordance with law,” director of health Dr KK Sharma said. The hospital has been asked to respond to the notice within three days. TNN

Use rapid antibody tests in hosps, offices, PSUs: ICMR

Use rapid antibody tests in hosps, offices, PSUs: ICMR

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:25.06.2020

To step up surveillance across the country and keep a close check on wider spread of Covid-19, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has expanded its testing strategy and advised use of rapid antibody tests beyond containment zones to cover all hospitals, offices and public sector units.

A comprehensive report of these tests will have to be shared with the ICMR on a regular basis. It will assess the evolving trends of the disease and accordingly advise policy interventions, a new advisory from the ICMR suggesting additional testing strategies said.

“It is advised to enable all hospitals, offices, public sector units etc to perform antibody-based testing. This will help in allaying the fear of healthcare workers, office staff etc,” the ICMR said.

While rapid antibody testing has been recommended only for surveillance and not diagnosis, the ICMR’s new norms also suggest use of the rapid antigen test as point-ofcare tests for early detection, including at all hospitals and labs for diagnosis in combination with RT-PCR test.

The council also asked state governments to deploy a combination of various tests, including CB-NAAT, TrueNat, rapid antigen, antibody and RT-PCR, to prevent spread of the infection.

“Since test, track and treat is the only way to prevent spread of infection and save lives, it is imperative that testing should be made widely available to all symptomatic individuals across the country and contact tracing mechanisms for containment of infection are further strengthened,” the ICMR said.

“ICMR advises all states, public and private institutions to take required steps to scale up testing for Covid-19 by deploying combination of various tests as advised above,” it added.

In a significant ramping up of testing facilities across the country, India tested over 2.15 lakh samples on Tuesday, the highest in a day. The total number of samples tested so far is 73.52 lakh. There are 1,000 labs spread across the country to test for Covid-19.

Recently, the ICMR validated rapid antigen tests, after which they were deployed in Delhi and have been hailed by experts for expediting the testing and isolating process, helping improve the situation in the capital. Rapid antigen test can be carried out onsite and provides results within 30 minutes.

“ICMR recommends deployment of the rapid antigen PoC (point-of-care) test in the following settings: all containment zones identified by states, all government medical colleges and hospitals, all private hospitals, all private labs approved by ICMR as Covid-19 testing labs,” the council said.

Full report on www.toi.in

Health workers collect a swab sample to test for the Covid-19 in Amritsar on Wednesday

Open book exams: DU to wait for UGC’s word

MISSION ADMISSION

Open book exams: DU to wait for UGC’s word

Shradha.Chettri@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:25.06.2020

Following reports about University Grants Commission (UGC) recommending against holding the examination for final-year students, teachers and students of Delhi University are hopeful that the scheduled online open book examination won’t be held. However, a university official said the decision would be taken only after receiving an official communication from UGC.

The teachers and students protesting against OBE have made representations to the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). OBE for the finalyear undergraduate and postgraduate students of regular and distance learning programmes are to begin on July 1.

“We have just heard media reports about this. The university will only take a decision after receiving an official letter. Moreover, we will have to see if the UGC communication is a guideline, an advisory or a recommendation,” the official said. Till then the preparations will continue, with colleges starting the scheduled mock examinations from Thursday.

Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) president Rajib Ray, however, claimed it to be a victory for the protesting students and teachers. DUTA has been objecting to OBE as “it is discriminatory towards a large section of students and erodes the sanctity of the examination process. DUTA hopes that good sense will now prevail upon the DU vice-chancellor,” he said.

‘UGC panel for cancellation of final-yr exams’

‘UGC panel for cancellation of final-yr exams’

New Delhi: 25.06.2020

In view of the surge in Covid-19 infections, exams of even final year students in higher educational institutions, scheduled to be held in July, are likely to be cancelled and commencement of the new academic session deferred to October, government sources said on Wednesday, reports Manash Gohain.

The CBSE Board exams, which were scheduled to be held between July 1 and 15, are also likely to be cancelled. The decision is likely on Thursday when the Supreme Court hears the issue, sources said, adding engineering and medical entrance tests like JEE (Main) and NEETUG are also to be deferred.

Final-yr students may be evaluated on earlier tests

Reviewing the prevailing situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic on Wednesday, the UGC’s panel of experts, headed by Haryana University vice-chancellor RC Kuhad, recommended cancellation of the final-year examinations in universities.

“An expert panel has observed that the final examinations cannot be held in July as scheduled due to the risk of exposure to lakhs of students.The new guidelines are likely to be issued in a couple of days,” said a senior UGC official. The UGC will announce the guidelines after getting approval from the HRD ministry.

HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal tweeted, “I have advised UGC to revisit the guidelines issued earlier for intermediate and terminal semester examinations and academic calendar. The foundation for revisited guidelines shall be health and safety (of) students, teachers and staff.”

As per the new suggested guidelines, final-year students will now be evaluated based on the previous semester examinations and internal assessments, sources in MHRD said.

The April 29 guidelines for assessment of final-year students had suggested universities to conduct examinations in offline or online mode, while it was recommended that first and second-year students be promoted on the basis of internal evaluation and performance in the previous semester/year.

Full report on www.toi.in

No passengers on Vande flights to Dubai: UAE

No passengers on Vande flights to Dubai: UAE

Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:25.06.2020

The United Arab Emirates has told Air India that transporting passengers, whether UAE nationals or not, to the emirates on repatriation Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) flights is not allowed.

The UAE said that if anyone wishes to fly on a VBM flight from India to Dubai, he or she will require “specific approval from the embassy of UAE in New Delhi and UAE ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation”, an Air India spokesperson said on Wednesday after getting a response from the UAE on the issue.

A UAE carrier on Wednesday sought India’s nod to operate charters — where its planes will fly with only crew to India and pick up passengers from here — as Dubai has allowed foreign nationals holding residency visas issued in Dubai to return to the emirate from June 22. International tourists are conditionally allowed to go to Dubai from July 7.

AI seeks nod to fly passengers to Dubai

Just like AI is allowed to fly passengers one way (UAE-India) on its repatriation VBM flights, this airline wants to fly passengers one-way (India-UAE),” said a person in the know.

Following UAE’s announcement, AI had sought permission from Dubai to fly people on the India-Dubai legs of its VBM flights given the massive demand for travel from people here who wish to return to their jobs, homes and families there. The AI spokesperson said the airline is currently operating repatriation flights between India and the UAE under the Vande Bharat Mission. “All foreign airline operators to UAE have to adhere to the conditions and restrictions mentioned during repatriation clearances. As per guidelines transportation of passengers to UAE on repatriation flights is not allowed.” Full report on www.toi.in

Police bust e-pass racket, arrest five

Police bust e-pass racket, arrest five

Chennai:  25.06.2020

Central Crime Branch sleuths busted an epass racket in the city and arrested five people, including two government employees. Police said the arrested issued more than 100 e-passes for travel within the state and to other states without verification.

The accused were identified as M Udayakumar, 34, a junior assistant at the collectorate, E Kumaran, 35, a senior revenue inspector who is incharge of approving e-pass applications and drivers A Manojkumar, 31, R Vinothkumar, 32, and M Devendran, 33.

Customers were charged Rs 2,000 for a pass plus travel fare. Investigations are on to check if more officials were involved in the racket. TNN