CM announces free LGP gas connections for 30 lakh poor; health scheme for all

Agencies
February 16, 2018

Bengaluru, Feb 16: In his pre-assembly election budget for 2018-19, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today announced schemes for universal health coverage, providing free LPG gas connections and mitigating miseries of dry land farmers.

The chief minister also said the implementation of the sixth pay commission for 5.93 lakh state government employees and 5.73 lakh pensioners would cost Rs 10,508 crore to the exchequer. The commission has recommended 30 per cent hike in the salary structure and with increase in pay and other steps to increase productivity and efficiency, the government would be in a better position to implement its welfare measures, he said. Siddaramaiah, who holds the finance portfolio, announced a scheme to waive loan of up to Rs one lakh taken by a farmer member from a primary agricultural credit cooperative society on his death.

No fresh levies were announced in the Budget, which proposed an increase in rates of additional excise duty on Indian-Made Liquor by eight per cent, depending on the slabs. The 'Arogya Karnataka Yojana' (universal health coverage), to be launched this month, would be implemented across the state by the end of this year. The scheme will make available primary, and specific secondary and tertiary treatments to all people. Over 9,000 health and wellness centres would be set up by upgrading existing sub-centres for every 5,000 population in rural areas during the next seven years for providing high quality comprehensive primary health care services, he said. A total budgetary allocation of Rs 6,645 crore has been made for the health and family welfare department. The announcement comes close on the heels of what was touted as the world's largest public health scheme to cover 10 crore families unveiled in the Union Budget. In an apparent move to counter the Centre's Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Scheme, Siddaramaiah announced that under the 'Mukhyamantri Anila Bhagya Yojana', free gas connection with twin burner stove and two refills would be provided to 30 lakh beneficiaries with an expenditure of Rs 1,350 crore. 

The scheme comes against the backdrop of sharp differences between the Siddaramaiah government and the Centre over the implementation of Ujjwala scheme. Siddaramaiah also unveiled 'Raitha Belaku', a scheme to give direct income assistance to mitigate miseries of dry land farmers. Under the scheme, Rs 5,000 per hectare, subject to a maximum of Rs 10,000 would be provided to each farmer growing rain-fed crops with money transferred directly to farmers' bank accounts. It entails expenditure of Rs 3,500 crore every year and around 70 lakh farmers would be benefited. On GST, Siddaramaiah said due to implementation problems in the initial months, systematic analysis of data and rigorous enforcement activities could not be undertaken. However, implementation of the Karnataka model of e-way bill in the entire country is expected to bring about qualitative change in tax compliance and streamline GST collection across the country.

Asserting that the state government was committed to the comprehensive development of Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said necessary action would be taken to prepare project report for 105.55 km line under the Bengaluru Metro Phase-3. With this, the total length of Bengaluru metro rail, including all phases, would be 266 km. To manage goods and passenger transport more efficiently and quickly, and to reduce density of road traffic, a feasibility study would be undertaken for implementation of "Roll-on and Roll-off" multi-modal logistic park and sea plane services under PPP mode, he said. With elections due early this year, Siddaramaiah sought vote-on account up to July 31, 2018. Stressing his government's focus on welfare schemes, he said: "Today, there is no situation in the state where any person goes to bed with hunger," and described his government as "farmer-friendly".

"I am not an expert who has made a scholarly study of economics. There is no knowledge greater than experience," said Siddaramaiah,

His leadership is being projected by the Congress for the coming assembly polls, where he is facing a fierce fight from BJP, which is raring to return to power.

The state budget is his record 13th in more than 35 years of political career, and sixth in a row as chief minister.

Also Read: 

Sops galore for backward classes, dalits, minorities in Karnataka budget 2018-19

Siddaramaiah presents Nava Karnataka Budget 2018: Key highlights

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coastaldigest.com news network
August 4,2020

Bengaluru, Aug 4: As the stage is set for the ground-breaking ceremony for Ram temple construction at Ayodhya on Wednesday, retired Supreme Court judge N Santosh Hegde has called for the promotion of religious harmony and peaceful coexistence and respect for different faiths.

"It is a good idea to make that as an object of the temple so that there can be peace in the world," the former Solicitor General of India said when asked if the temple should be promoted as a symbol of national integration, and social and communal harmony.

Hegde said one of the most dangerous things for conflict today is religion. "In that background, there should be some effort from somebody or other to bring about peaceful coexistence, respecting each religion," the former Karnataka Lokayukta told PTI on Tuesday. "It is a good idea to start Bhumi Pujan as an indicator of that or foundation for developing harmony among various religions," he added.

The Supreme Court had in November last year paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple by a Trust at the disputed site of the Babri Masjid's demolition in Ayodhya. It also directed the Centre to allot an alternative 5- acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a "prominent" place in the holy town in Uttar Pradesh. The Uttar Pradesh government has allotted a five-acre land in Dhannipur village in Sohaval Tehsil of Ayodhya for the mosque's construction.

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News Network
March 24,2020

Bangalore , Mar 24: Bizom, India's leading retail intelligence platform, announced free subscription of its retailer app and tele-ordering solutions for consumer businesses in India and other emerging economies. Both solutions enable retailers to send their orders directly to the brand.
In COVID-19 times of social distancing and prophylactic measures, brands are conscious about the safety of their salespersons. Also, retailers don't want travelling salespeople to enter their premises. Consequently, many retail stores are facing stockout situations of fast-moving product categories. Bizom's self-ordering solutions help brands to avoid stockouts of their products.
Bizom trends, which analyses consumption and demand for consumer brands, showed how a near-complete shutdown during the Janta Curfew followed panic buying in early March. The asymmetrical demand and a lack of salespeople for order-taking are driving the industry towards social-distancing-based store-stocking mechanisms.
Bizom provides social-distancing-based store-stocking solutions for consumer businesses. They include the Bizom Retailer App and the Bizom Tele-ordering.
The Bizom Retailer App enables self-ordering for a brand's key retail outlets and can be implemented in under two weeks. The mobile app, a B2B shopping app, is a simple installation for retailers. It lists and groups the brand's products as per its product categories. The app's interface is no different from that of leading e-commerce apps. All the user has to do is select the preferred SKUs and add them to their shopping carts.
The app also allows brands to customize the app to meet the requirements of their continually changing product categories. For instance, if an SKU runs out of stock, the brand can disable the given SKU from the app.
With the Bizom Retailer App, brands can take orders directly from retailers instead of the traditional order-taking approach, which requires high-touch from a salesperson. Some of the key features of the app are, the ability to provide product information directly through retailers including SKUs, competitor comparison and pricing.
It also enables self-ordering from the retailer to maintain the flow of products as per demand, enables scheme rollout information through a notification on the app rather than through salespeople, tracks delivery of goods to the retailer and enables incentive payments to retailers directly rather than through distributor claims.
With Bizom Tele-ordering, as the sales teams go remote, the tele-ordering solution will become useful for brands who want to get salespeople to take orders from retailers, remotely. It ensures continued service to outlets despite not being physically present in the market.
Here, salespeople can discuss product requirements with retailers and enter orders based on specific outlet types (grocery, chemist etc.), outlet class (Class A, Class B etc.) or based on their beat or as per a distributor.
The key features of the Bizom Tele-ordering solution are, its ability to help salespeople collect orders from retailers remotely and enter it for fulfilment into Bizom using a tool, the flexibility offered to salespeople for remote servicing of retailers as per outlet type, beat, distributor area etc., secondary schemes get applied automatically, variable discounts will get applied as applicable at an SKU level.
"At Bizom, we are conscious of our responsibility to help brands run faster during these COVID-19 times. Our solutions of Bizom Retailer App and Bizom Tele-ordering have been built to ensure that brands can leverage this situation of low direct touch with retailers to enable a better way of working, remotely. I am trying to help brands go live in a few days so that they, in turn, can serve consumers better during these testing times," said Lalit Bhise, CEO, Bizom.

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Agencies
January 22,2020

Ahmedabad/New Delhi, Jan 22: Interpol has issued a Blue Corner Notice seeking information about controversial self-styled godman Nithyananda, who fled the country amid allegations of wrongful confinement of children, officials said on Wednesday.

A Blue Corner Notice is issued by the international police cooperation body to collect additional information from its member countries about a person's identity, location or activities in relation to a crime.

The Gujarat Police had sent a request to the CBI, the nodal body for Interpol matters in India, seeking a Blue Corner Notice against Nithyananda, the officials said.

"Interpol issued the Blue Corner Notice against the controversial godman this month," Deputy Superintendent of Police, Ahmedabad (rural), K T Kamariya, told PTI.

The police said they are now working to get Interpol to issue a Red Corner Notice, a global arrest warrant, against Nithyananda.

The Gujarat Police had registered an FIR against Nithyananda after two girls went missing from his ashram in Ahmedabad.

He was charged with kidnapping and wrongful confinement of children to make them collect donations from followers to run his ashram.

Nithyananda was earlier declared wanted by the Gujarat Police.

While police continue to look for him, reports emerged in December last year that he has created a Hindu nation, Kailaasa, with its own flag and political setup, on an island near Ecuador.

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