KSA: ‘Expertise’ seeks PM Modi’s permission to fly back India expats on chartered flights
Saudi Arabia based leading company, Expertise Contracting Co. which mainly has workforce that belongs to Karnataka has sought permission from PM Narendra Modi to land chartered flights at Bengaluru/Mangaluru International Airports. The company said it will carry Indian expatriates working for the company who are stranded in Saudi Arabia on chartered flights. It added that at least 500 of its workmen are stranded in the Kingdom due to the lockdown and suspension of flights between the two countries amidst growing number of cases of Corona Virus.
In a letter written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Joint Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, the company has added that the it is looking forward to send 500 of its employees back to the country adding that at least 250 of them need to visit India on emergencies on various grounds viz., to get medical assistance for protracted illness like diabetes, hypertension etc.; to attend to ailing parents/ family members on emergency; to attend to pressing legal matters etc.
It also added that another 250 people who according to the company’s norms were to be demobilized by the end of April month were also stranded in the kingdom.
“Due to our nature of business we need to hire workers on short term visit visas as well, during the early part of each year mainly from India. We usually demobilize them by the month of April every year since after April the summer months set in and business becomes dull. So keeping these workmen further does not work out to be economical at all.
“We wish to bring to your attention that because of the ongoing flight disruption between the two nation’s viz., India and Saudi Arabia that commenced suddenly due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we have not been able to demobilize our workmen on visit visas. They are nearly 250 in numbers” the letter added.
The letter further confirmed that the Saudi government had assured assistance to the company by providing charter flights and that it would require permission from the Indian government to land these flights at Bengaluru/Mangaluru Airports.
The letter assured the Indian authorities that the company will ensure that all workmen will carry with them Health Certificates from authorized medical centres that would testify them as COVID-19 negative, adding that the certificates shall be generated not earlier than 48 hours before the date of boarding. It also added that all workmen shall wear gloves, masks and shall carry hand sanitizers while travelling.
The company also assured that the workmen will be quarantined by them in India as per the Indian government norms in areas that shall be identified beforehand and that the company will bear necessary expenses.
“We sincerely request you to look into this and grant the necessary permission at the earliest since most of these workmen are getting jittery day by day and situation is likely to get out of control very soon. We look forward to receiving your favorable response on above at the earliest. Undersigned will be the focal point for further communication on this” the letter added.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
