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 14,2024

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Mangaluru, Mar 14: “Hindutva is my commitment and development is my priority,” said Indian army veteran and entrepreneur Captain Brijesh Chowta after the BJP high command announced a ticket to him from Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency.

Known as a BJP stronghold, Nalin Kumar Kateel has served as the MP of this constituency for the past 15 years.

Soon after the announcement was made, 42-year-old Chowta, who is also the BJP state secretary from Dakshina Kannada constituency, sought the blessings of his parents and went to Shree Sharavu Mahaganapathi Temple and visited the war memorial to offer tributes.

A BSc graduate from St Aloysius College, he completed his executive business Management program from the Indian Institute of Management, Indore.

He was commissioned into the 7th battalion of the 8 Gorkha Rifles and served in counter-insurgency operations in Assam and Manipur and was part of Elite Ghatak team. He also served as the adjutant to the battalion. He has been associated with the BJP since 2013. He is the president of Mangaluru Kambala and organiser of Mangaluru Lit Fest.

“Humbled and grateful to our party seniors led by our commander-in-chief PM Narendra Modi for giving me this opportunity to be our party’s candidate and representative of his work and vision in Dakshina Kannada. I pledge to continue to work with even greater rigour for the welfare of our region and people driven by the mantra of ‘Nation First’. I humbly bow down to all our karyakartas & everyone who stood by me & toiled with me to make this happen. Our task has just begun, as we work towards making Dakshina Kannada the number one in the state,” Captain Chowta said on X.

Kateel welcomes change 

Meanwhile, sitting Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel has welcomed the party’s decision to field Capt Brijesh Chowta as the BJP candidate for Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency.

He said the change aligns with the party’s strategy of fostering new talent to broaden its base and activities. He hoped that he will win by a margin of more than 3 lakh votes.

Soon after the list was announced on Wednesday, the three-time MP told reporters that he has brought projects worth about Rs 1 lakh crore during the last 10 years, under the Modi government.

He thanked the party for giving him a big responsibility of leading the party in the state. “I have worked honestly,” he said.

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News Network
March 22,2024

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Bengaluru, Mar 22: An FIR has been registered against BJP MP Tejasvi Surya over a provocative hate post on social media, Election Commission officials said on Friday.

The move comes after a complaint filed by officials of the poll body and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) that the Bengaluru South MP, who is also the President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, had in a post apparently targeted a minority and spread enmity between two communities.

He also made a similar post on March 19 on X and YouTube which went viral. He has 1.3 million followers on X, thereby influencing the voters and disturbing the communal harmony between the communities, it further alleged.

Based on the complaint, an FIR was registered at Halasuru Gate police station on March 20 under sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 295 A (Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code and the Representation of the People Act, the officials said.

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News Network
March 26,2024

Bengaluru: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has detained two suspects in connection with the Rameshwaram Cafe blast case in Bengaluru, sources confirmed on Tuesday.

The preliminary probe has revealed that the two suspects were in direct contact with the suspected bomber.

The NIA sleuths have picked up the suspects from an area in the state capital. However, a statement is yet to be made by the NIA in this regard.

Even as the investigating agencies, both NIA and state special wing CCB teams have launched an extensive search operation in various states, the bomber has remained elusive. The authorities had obtained the bomber’s images and videos from CCTV footage on March 1, soon after the incident.

Sources said that the sleuths were suspecting that the bomber had come from Tamil Nadu and was staying in a neighbouring state for two months before carrying out the blast.

The hair samples of the accused were gathered from the hat of the accused which he abandoned in Bengaluru near a religious place. The authorities have sent the samples for the DNA testing and were hoping for a breakthrough.

The Rameshwaram Cafe bomb blast took place on March 1 on the International Technology Park Limited (ITPL) road in the Brookfield area. Low intensity Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was used to carry out the blast and nine persons were injured in the incident.

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