Saudi Arabia stops medical treatment programmes in Canada
Riyadh, Aug 8 : Saudi Arabia has stopped all medical treatment programmes in Canada and is coordinating for the transfer of Saudi patients to medical facilities outside the country, Saudi press agency reported on Wednesday.
The agency cited Dr Fahd bin Ibrahim Al Tamimi, Saudi Health Attache in the US and Canada, as saying that "the mission seeks to ensure the safety of Saudi patients who receive treatment in Canada with their companions, and to complete their treatment elsewhere".
The move came amid an intensifying spat over human rights between the two countries, after Saudi Arabia expelled Canada's Ambassador in Riyadh, recalled its own Ambassador from Ottawa and froze "all new business" with Canada.
The Middle East country also decided to suspend all training and scholarship programmes in Canada by the end of the Islamic calendar year in September, the Cultural Bureau of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Education announced on Monday.
The abrupt diplomatic row broke out as Ottawa urged Riyadh to release civil society and women's rights activists in Saudi Arabia, according to a statement issued by Canada's Foreign Office.
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Kerala govt to declare as ''dead'' people missing in Wayanad landslide
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 15 (PTI): The Kerala government has decided to declare as ‘deceased’ the people who went missing in the devastating landslide in Wayanad last year which will help provide compensation to their families.
The decision comes as a huge relief to the kin of people who were reported missing in the disaster.
As per a government order issued on Tuesday, local, district and state level committees will be formed including revenue department officials to examine the list of missing people.
The local level committee includes the panchayat secretary, village officer and station house officer of respective police stations. The committee will prepare a list of missing people and submit it to the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) for scrutiny.
The DDMA will examine the list and forward it to the state-level committee with its suggestions. The state level committee, comprising additional chief secretary (home) and principal secretaries of revenue and local self-government, will examine the list and forward it to the government, the order said.
The government will subsequently issue an order declaring them as dead and providing ex-gratia to their close relatives.
According to official record, 263 people were dead and 35 people were reported missing in the landslides that occurred on July 30 last year. The order directs the local level committee to closely examine the FIRs filed in connection with the missing people in the respective police stations.
The tahsildar or sub-divisional magistrate should conduct a detailed enquiry about the missing person and the findings will be published on the official website and government gazette.
A 30-day period will be given for filing any objections, after which the list of missing people will be published and death certificates issued to their immediate relatives, the order said.
