Elderly patient from Udupi stuck helplessly in Saudi Arabia for decades reaches home after Indian Social Forum’s intervention

News Network
June 29, 2021

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Udupi: Prabhakar Thonse, a 67-year-old man from Udupi living in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, who was suffering from abdominal chronic disease, was sent back home with the help of Indian Social Forum Dammam team members through Vande Bharat repatriation flight.

He had been working in Saudi Arabia for the past 40 years as a tailor in Dammam SECO area. His last visit to his family was 21 years ago in 2000 and had never returned to India thereafter. 

Indian Social Forum came to know about his plight when Social Democratic Party of India leaders requested to find the Indian who was seeking help through WhatsApp message claiming to be sick with no medical facility and no care taker around. Tracing through the viral message ISF Dammam team lead by Mohammad Ali Muloor and accompanied by Imran Kaatipalla and Ibrahim Krishnapura was able to locate Prabhakar on 10th June at his accommodation in a bad condition. Prabhakar was going through an abdomen chronic disease and lying in his bed with regular bleeding issues.

ISF team found that his Saudi Arabian resident ID (Iqama) was not renewed for past 4 years, no medical insurance covered, passport was missing, and however getting all these documentation done required lengthy procedure to be followed with Sponsor Company, Government offices and Indian Embassy. Prabhakar was immediately taken to local private hospital and was later shifted to King Fahad University hospital in Dammam by ISF welfare team where he had undergone colonoscopy, endoscopy, Biopsy and other treatment for more than 2 weeks. These test results seem to be chronic disease and hence doctors advised the team to send him to India for the further treatment. 

Meantime, ISF team started following up with Saudi Sponsors in order to make the exit VISA process at Ministry of Interior and contacted Indian Embassy for the issuance of Confirmation letter and Emergency certificate. With no time, Indian Embassy swung into action to issue the Emergency Certificate / Temporary passport to facilitate Prabhakr’s repatriation to India. With the regular follow ups with Saudi Sponsor, Ministry of Labor and other local authorities ISF team successfully completed the repatriation procedure. 

Indian Social Forum has requested local Mangaluru SDPI leaders to make arrangements for the further treatment at home town, as agreed he was received at the Bajpe International airport and later shifted in party ambulance to a local hospital whereas SDPI leaders assured his further treatment will be taken care of. 

Tremendous amount of work, dedicated and selfless team effort had been put in place by ISF’s welfare team for the past 2 weeks in order to complete the repatriation process. ISF appreciated Indian Embassy for the swift response in facilitating the documentation and thanked MASA president Sathish Bajal, ISF well-wisher Joy Fernandez and Dr. Mohammad Waseem Bhatkal Dammam Health Clinic for extending generous financial support in procuring flight ticket and other needs. This incident is a classic example for Indian community’s collective team work, by this attitude devastated and stranded NRIs in Saudi Arabia can be benefited hugely, ISF said in a press statement.

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News Network
March 19,2024

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Bengaluru, Mar 19: Former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday said that the Congress will split in three months after the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and its impact will be visible on the Siddaramaiah-led state government.

"Due to internal squabbles, the state government will not last long," the BJP leader said.

Talking to reporters on Monday, he said the sitting MP from the Gadag-Haveri constituency, Shivakumar Udasi, has done a lot of development work and implemented the Central government's schemes effectively.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi will surely become the PM for the third time. The overall response has been good in the Gadag-Haveri Lok Sabha constituency," the former Karnataka chief minister said.

Asked if he was contesting the election in a half-hearted manner in the Gadag-Haveri seat, Bommai said "such a question does not arise when the party's high command gives instructions".

He said he would respect his opponent and not take anyone lightly. 

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News Network
March 28,2024

An Indian expatriate, hailing from Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka, who was detained in Jeddah jail in an alleged cyber case, was set free recently. He is allowed to continue his work in the same company. 

The 49-year-old Mangalurean, has been working for a Maintenance company in Jeddah for more than 13 years. He is known for his efficiency and sincerity in the company with good experience in his field of work. 

His company usually assigned him on duty in Jeddah sea port to take the delivery of the goods consigned to his company. As a part of his duty, he normally takes pictures of the goods before the transportation. He did the same in February 2023 too. 

The security personnel informed the police about his act that amounts to be a violation of the port security rule. He was unaware of the rule as he was doing it normally in the port during the release of the goods. Since then, he was detained by the police on the charge of photographing inside the port premises. After more than 6 months detention, he was released and allowed to work in the same company. 

The detainee’s brother based in Jeddah was constantly pursuing the case.

P A Hameed Padubidri, a pro-bono NRI lawyer and social worker based in Riyadh, extended his socio-humanitarian help in this case upon the request of his family and relatives. 

He actively involved trying to set him free from the jail on humanitarian grounds with the coordination and help of the Consulate General of India (CGI) Jeddah. The CGI keenly followed up the case with the concerned Saudi authorities. He was released from the jail recently and shared his happiness with his family and thanked good samaritans. 

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News Network
March 19,2024

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Mangaluru: The Mangalore International Airport (MIA) will connect to a new domestic destination with the introduction of a non-stop flight to Tiruchirappalli International Airport in Tamil Nadu. 

The non-stop service, once-a-week, will operate on Wednesday (from TIA) and Thursday (from MIA), starting April 3. Air India Express will operate the flight.

The flight is expected to help those taking up a pilgrimage to Vailankani shrine.

Sources from the AIE said that the airline carrier decided to fly non-stop between the two southern Indian cities as a flight to Jeddah, which will start from April 3, arrives from Tiruchirappalli International Airport. 

“It is a ferry or positional flight from TIA to MIA. Instead of flying empty, the management has decided to run it as a commercial flight. This will help both passengers and the airline. The airline will deploy Boeing 737-800 aircraft with a 186-seater all-economy configuration on this route. 

The same flight, after landing in MIA, will further fly to Jeddah,” a source said. 

The flight IX 1498 will depart every Thursday at 5am from MIA to TIA. The TIA-MIA flight IX 1499 departs at 12.50pm. It is a one-hour nonstop flight. The same flights will also operate nonstop between Jeddah and MIA. 

The non-stop flight IX 499 will depart MIA at 2.50pm and reach King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah at 6.25pm. The IX498, will depart from Jeddah at 7.25pm and reach MIA early at 3.40am.

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