Skyrocketing flight prices forcing Indian students to stay put in Ukraine
Darpan News Desk IANS, 16 Feb, 2022 11:36 AM
New Delhi, Feb 16 (IANS) After the Ministry of External Affairs put out an advisory for the Indians in Ukraine to leave country, many students are unwilling to return due to skyrocketing flight ticket prices.
The flight ticket prices have risen from Rs 50,000 to over Rs 70,000 and the students say it is this financial hurdle that is forcing them to stay put despite the advisory by the Indian government. On normal days, the flight tickets would cost Rs 21,000-Rs 26,000. But now, due to the Russia-Ukraine tensions, the rates have jacked up.
"Travel agents are exploiting the situation to mint money. We don't have so much money. The news of this Russian-Ukraine conflict actually gave them an opportunity to push flight ticket booking charges citing the troubled situation over here, what can we do? We cannot afford this," said a medical student at Ukrainian capital Kyiv to the media.
"The Indian embassy issued an advisory, telling us to leave the country (Ukraine) temporarily, but how? That's the question and we have been not answered by them," said another medical student.
A small but vibrant Indian community lives in Ukraine, comprising mostly business professionals and students. There are about 18,000 Indian students studying in Ukraine, mainly in the field of medicine. Indian business professionals work predominantly in the fields of pharmaceuticals, IT, engineering, medicine, education, etc.
"India Club' founded by Indian expats in 2001, actively engages the Indian diaspora in Ukraine and organises/supports several events -- such as Diwali festival, cricket tournaments, Holi festival, Indian dance festival, screening of Bollywood movies, etc," informed the Ministry of External Affairs.
A delegation of parents of the students from Gujarat approached Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and asked for help to make a safe passage for their children staying in Ukraine to return home.
The Ministry of External Affairs has activated helpline numbers and emails, so that Indian nationals in Ukraine can contact the embassy when required.
Ukraine is now at a verge of war due to Russian military buildup at the borders. The US has warned that Russia can invade Ukraine at any time, though in the last two days, there has been a de-escalation of the situation at the Russia-Ukraine border.
For Trump, it’s seen as a potential lifeline to Black and Hispanic voters, who are more likely to support vouchers and other school choice options, polls have found.
Fesler and O'Shaughnessy say adversaries like Russia and China are increasingly well-positioned to exploit the "seams" that currently exist between North America's air, sea and missile defence systems and early warning networks.
Biden plans stiff tax penalties for companies that manufacture U.S.-bound products outside the country and a crackdown on those that use offshoring to avoid paying taxes at home.
If elected, Biden said, he would impose stiff new tax penalties on companies that manufacture U.S.-bound products outside the country, create incentives for keeping jobs on U.S. soil and close what he called "Trump loopholes" that allow companies engaged in offshoring to avoid paying U.S. taxes.
A spokesperson for AstraZeneca, via a statement said that the company’s “standard review process triggered a pause to vaccination to allow review of safety data.”
Prosecutors, defence lawyers and District Judge Theodore Chuang gathered today via conference call to set deadlines for the government's response to the motions and to set a hearing date.
.jpg "AstraZeneca vaccine trial not going ahead due to adverse reaction in a subject")
