Indian Coast Guard carried out mid-night evacuation operation in Lakshadweep
Kochi (PTI): The Indian Coast Guard became a lifesaver for a 75-year-old by carrying out an urgent medical evacuation from Lakshadweep to Kochi, officials said on Sunday.
A statement by the Coast Guard said that the patient diagnosed with acute sabacute subdural hematoma on oxygen support was airlifted from Agatti in Lakshadweep and shifted to a private hospital in Kochi in an operation that started late Saturday night and was completed by Sunday early morning.
The urgent request, received post-closure of runaway operations at Agatti airfield, activated the ICG distress and HADR response mechanism, the Coast Guard said.
“To facilitate the medical evacuation, ICG launched a Dornier aircraft from ICG Air Enclave at Kochi Airport at 10 pm".
The aircraft landed at Agatti island at 11.20 pm, where the patient, along with the medical support team and spouse, was embarked swiftly considering the urgency of distress,” the statement said.
According to the Coast Guard, the aircraft took off within 25 minutes and landed safely at Kochi airport at about 1.10 am on Sunday.
Subsequently, the patient was shifted to Amrita Hospital and is receiving advanced medical care and support, it said.
“The entire operation was executed within three hours of receipt of the request from the Island administration and executed post closure of Agatti airfield in pitch dark conditions. The ICG pilots demonstrated exceptional skills while safely executing the operation under challenging conditions,” the statement said.
ICG’s night-landing SOPs for the Agatti runway during dark hours have provided immense support in the execution of such medical evacuations from the Lakshadweep islands, the Coast Guard said.
This operation was the seventh successful medical evacuation conducted by ICG using Dornier aircraft this year, it added.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
'Vote chori' an attack on very idea of India: Siddaramaiah
New Delhi/Bengaluru (PTI): Targeting the ruling BJP at the Centre for the alleged 'vote chori' (vote theft), Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said, fascism does not begin with guns on the streets, it begins with the quiet theft of institutions, the slow manipulation of systems, and finally, the theft of elections.
Terming vote chori as an attack on the very idea of India, he said, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) filing a charge sheet naming a former BJP MLA, his son, and others in Aland constituency in Karnataka, for alleged attempt to delete nearly 6,000 voters' names, makes a significant legal step.
The chief minister was speaking at the Congress' mega rally at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, against the vote chori.
ALSO READ: Rally against "vote chori" to protect every citizen's right, says D K Shivakumar
"History teaches us that fascism does not begin with guns on the streets, it begins with the quiet theft of institutions, the slow manipulation of systems, and finally, the theft of elections," Siddaramaiah said.
Authoritarian regimes around the world use one core tactic, which is rigging the democratic process while pretending to protect it. This is exactly what the BJP is doing today, he alleged.
"They capture institutions. They intimidate election machinery. They distort voter lists. They suppress turnout in Opposition areas. They violate the level playing field through money and power," he said, adding that "this is not just malpractice. This is vote chori which is an attack on the very idea of India."
Stating that a government born out of "stolen votes" is not a democratic government, the CM said, it is a government that fears the people, manipulates the mandate, and survives only through deceit.
"This is precisely how democracies decline into electoral autocracies. Today BJP's vote chori is the biggest threat to the republic since independence," he said.
Noting that, in these dark times, one leader has stood up with extraordinary courage, and that is Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah said the Congress leader investigated and exposed mismatched voter lists, booth-level manipulation, and patterns that pointed to systematic, organised vote chori.
"In constituency after constituency, from Mahadevapura to Aland, from Haryana to Bihar, he revealed how votes were suppressed, shifted, or diluted, especially in areas that stood with the Congress and INDIA bloc," he said.
The CM pointed out that in Karnataka itself, in the Mahadevapura and Aland assembly segments, serious irregularities were raised by Rahul Gandhi as examples of how vote chori is not an abstract allegation but a lived reality on the ground.
In Mahadevapura, evidence was presented showing thousands of duplicate or fraudulent voter entries and discrepancies in the electoral rolls that correlated with the BJP's narrow edge in the constituency, he said.
In Aland, thousands of attempted deletions of legitimate voters were recorded ahead of the 2023 Assembly polls, including an alleged 6,018 applications for deletions, prompting an FIR and SIT investigation, Siddaramaiah further pointed out.
"A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has filed a charge sheet naming seven individuals, including a former BJP MLA and his son, for allegedly attempting to delete nearly 6,000 voters' names from the rolls in Aland constituency, marking a significant legal step in the fight against vote chori," he added.
Highlighting that these exposes shows that Rahul Gandhi has become the moral compass of this republic and a crusader against the vote chori, the CM said, his fight is rooted in constitutional morality, Ambedkarite thought, and the foundational democratic principle that sovereignty belongs to the people, not to a party, not to a regime, and certainly not to those who are willing to steal elections.
"When a young woman waits in line for hours to vote and later finds that her vote has been deleted, she feels cheated. When an elderly farmer wakes up at dawn to cast his vote but finds his name missing, he feels betrayed," he added.
ALSO READ: Party over: Goa cracks down on illegal nightclubs ahead of festive season
According to Siddaramaiah, the vote chori is not just about numbers, it is about dignity, it is about equality, and it is about the soul of our republic.
"We must demand: transparent electoral rolls, accountability of election authorities, independent institutions, a voting system people can trust, and a political culture rooted in constitutional values, and we must declare together that -- We will not allow fascism to enter India through the backdoor of vote chori," he said.
Let us rise as one nation, one people, one democracy. Let history record that when the vote chori threatened India, the people stood up, and the people won, he added.
