Ukraine crisis: Over 7K Indians to be evacuated in next 2 days, says Centre
Darpan News Desk IANS, 03 Mar, 2022 01:10 PM
New Delhi, March 3 (IANS) Over 7,400 Indian nationals are expected to be evacuated under the 'Operation Ganga' in the next two days, the government said on Thursday.
The Centre has initiated an airlift operation to evacuate Indians, who have found their way to the neighbouring countries of war-torn Ukraine. It has deployed a number of special charter as well as Indian Air Force flights to ferry back the citizens.
On Friday, 3,500 are expected to be brought back, while over 3,900 will be ferried back on Saturday.
As per a Ministry of Civil Aviation statement, a total of 17 flights are expected to land in India -- 15 in New Delhi and 2 in Mumbai -- on Friday.So far, the Centre has brought back over 6,200 citizens, including the 2,185 coming on Thursday alone through 10 special civilian flights, since the evacuation process began on February 22.
On Wednesday, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that over 4,000 Indian students will be evacuated from Romania in the next three days.
Scindia is one of the four Union Ministers, along with Hardeep Singh Puri, Kiren Rijiju and Gen V.K. Singh (retd), who have gone to countries adjoining Ukraine to support and supervise the ongoing evacuation operations.
Similarly, six flights each will be operated on Thursday and Friday.
Furthermore, he said that flights will also be operated from Suceava, Romania.
According to an estimate, a total of 18,000 students are stranded in war-torn Ukraine. However, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Tuesday said that so far, 12,000 Indians have been evacuated from Ukraine, which is 60 per cent of the country's total population in the war-ravaged nation.
In an apparent embarrassment for Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, his 'elder sister' Suman Tur on Friday described him a 'cruel' for deserting her elderly mother after father's death with an intention to 'grab family property'. She told the media here that Sidhu had abandoned her mother and she passed away on a railway station in 1989.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Friday demanded transfer of state intelligence officials, including the top brass, who face charges of compromising the security of Punjab and indulging in electoral malpractices to provide "illegal, illegitimate and immoral" help to the ruling Congress.
Due to incessant rains and water logging of fields owing to overflow of nearby natural drains during September-October 2021 in Delhi, crops of farmers have been severely damaged, the Delhi government said in a release, adding that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had taken cognisance of the matter and assessed that a relief package for crop damage was necessary to be provided.
The SKM also reiterated that the name, banner or platform of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha will not be used by any political party or candidate in the run-up to the Assembly polls in Punjab, scheduled on February 20.
Appearing for the Punjab government, Senior Advocate P. Chidambaram argued that Majithia has gone into hiding after the rejection of his bail plea in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and now he is appearing through counsel.
Interestingly, the move comes a week after neighbouring Madhya Pradesh permitted liquor sales at all its airports, select supermarkets in four major cities and also allowed issuing home bar licences to those earning Rs 1 crore or more annually.
