Jakarta, May 24: The Indonesian Transport Ministry has issued a warning to airliners alerting them about volcanic ash from the country's most active Merapi volcano in Java island, ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan said on Thursday.

The warning was issued at 3.56 a.m. on Thursday by the AirNav Indonesia, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the spokesman as saying. "The airliners are advised to be cautious about the volcanic ash," he said.

A further evaluation would be undertaken after the issuance of the advice, said Bambang.

Mount Merapi, located at the borders of Central Java province and Yogyakarta province, erupted earlier on Thursday with an ash column spewed as high as 6,000 metres into the sky.

Residents in the affected areas have been advised to use masks, the National Volcanology Agency said. Mount Merapi, the most active one of Indonesia's 129 active volcanoes, has regularly erupted since 1948.

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.



Belagavi: Medical Education Minister Dr. Sharanaparakash Rudrappa Patil on Tuesday said the State government plans to establish day-care chemotherapy centres in all district hospitals across Karnataka to make cancer treatment more accessible.

Replying to a question raised by BJP MLC M.P. Kushalappa during the Question Hour in the Legislative Council, the minister said it was not feasible for cancer patients from various districts to travel repeatedly to Kidwai Memorial Institute in Bengaluru. To address this issue, the government is taking steps to establish cancer care centers in other districts in collaboration with the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology.

Providing details of cancer treatment at Kidwai, Dr. Patil said that over the past three years, 41,512 cancer patients have received treatment at the institute. Treatment included surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of these, depending on the type and stage of cancer.

Between 2022 and 2024, a total of 12,781 patients underwent surgery, 14,423 patients received radiation therapy, and over 28,370 patients were administered chemotherapy, he said.

The minister further noted that more than 110 patients were provided bone marrow transplants, an otherwise expensive procedure, free of cost at the institute during the same period.

The proposed day-care chemotherapy centers, he said, would significantly reduce the burden on patients and improve access to timely cancer treatment at the district level.