91 people from Karnataka stranded in Ukraine, CM Bommai speaks to External Affairs Minister
Bengaluru(PTI): The Karnataka government on Friday said 91 people from the state are stranded in Ukraine and all of them are students pursuing MBBS there.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai spoke to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar regarding the safety and evacuation of students from the war-torn country.
According to Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), as per the district wise information of stranded persons received by its control room till 6 AM today, all 91 reported are students (pursuing MBBS) in Ukraine.
All this information collected at the 24/7 control room has been shared with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Embassy of India, Kyiv, Ukraine to make all possible arrangements for the safe evacuation of stranded students hailing from Karnataka, it said.
Further, MEA officers in the countries bordering Ukraine are in strategic locations for safe evacuation from alternative routes, the KSDMA release said, adding that "we request to stay calm and face the situation with fortitude and be rest assured that the solution for safe evacuation is worked out on a mission mode."
Among the students stranded 28 are from Bengaluru, 10 from Mysuru, five each from Ballari and Hassan, followed by others.
KSDMA said as per the latest information from MEA, its teams have headed to land borders of Ukraine on February 24, and to assist in the evacuation of Indian nationals from Ukraine, MEA Teams are being sent to the land borders with Ukraine in Hungary, Poland, Slovak Republic and Romania.
The state government on Thursday issued a notification appointing senior IFS officer Manoj Rajan, Commissioner, Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority, Revenue Department (Disaster Management), as the Nodal Officer to facilitate safe movement of stranded people/students from Karnataka in Ukraine to their respective destinations, and has set up 24/7 Helpline for this purpose.
"Today morning I spoke to External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, he has gathered complete details. Several students who had gone to study medicine there from Karnataka are at a place called Kharkiv among others, they are all in touch, they are told to stay in a safe place," Chief Minister Bommai said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, Government of India is making all efforts to evacuate them, Russian speaking diplomats are being sent to Ukraine.
"Efforts are being made to bring them back through land route, using diplomatic channels, as air space is closed there. There is also a thinking that people stranded at Western Ukraine can be moved, but looking at the right time and security, the Indian Embassy will give instructions in this regard, they are in touch with all students," he added.
Further stating that he has requested the External Affairs Minister to make necessary arrangements like food for the stranded students, the Chief Minister said, the state government and the Government of India has created helplines.
"Jaishankar has instructed that until the war situation eases to an extent, every one (stranded there) needs to be cautious. There has been no reports of harm or trouble to anyone so far, but there are reports of bombing at some places like near Kharkiv, among others," he added.
KSDMA has also created a web portal 'http://ukraine.karnataka.tech', which can be operated on a mobile also, to collect relevant information of stranded people in Ukraine who hail from Karnataka.
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SGPC writes to Mann, seeks ban on 'Emergency' in Punjab a day before release
Amritsar, Jan 16 (PTI): The SGPC on Thursday wrote to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, seeking a ban on the release of Kangana Ranaut's movie 'Emergency' saying it "tarnishes" the image of Sikhs and "misrepresents" history.
Actor and BJP MP Ranaut's 'Emergency' is slated to release in cinemas on January 17.
In the letter to Mann, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Harjinder Singh Dhami expressed strong objection to Ranaut's film.
Dhami said that if the film is released in Punjab, it will spark "outrage and anger" in the Sikh community and therefore it is the responsibility of the government to ban its release in the state.
The SGPC, an apex gurdwara body, had earlier also protested the film.
"It has come to our attention that the movie 'Emergency' produced by BJP MP Kangana Ranaut is going to be released on 17th January 2025 in cinemas in different cities of Punjab and the tickets have also started to be booked," its letter to Mann read.
Dhami said the SGPC had also protested the release of the movie in a letter to the Punjab Chief Secretary on November 14 last year.
"But it is sad that the Punjab government has not taken any step till now. If this film is released on January 17, 2025, then it is natural to create outrage and anger in the Sikh world," the current letter read.
Dhami said the SGPC will submit a letter also to all the deputy commissioners in Punjab, seeking a ban on the film in the state.
The SGPC denounced the "character assassination" of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the Khalistani militant killed in 1984 in a military operation.
"If this film is released in Punjab, we will be forced to strongly oppose it at the state level," Dhami said.
In August last year, the SGPC sent a legal notice to the producers of the 'Emergency' film, alleging that it "misrepresented" the character and history of Sikhs, and asked them to remove the objectionable scenes depicting "anti-Sikh" sentiments.
In the notice, the producers of the film, including Kangana Ranaut, were asked to remove the trailer released on August 14 from all public and social media platforms and tender a written apology to the Sikh community.
The SGPC objected to film writing separate letters to the Minister of Information and Broadcasting and the Central Board of Film Certification.
