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Bengaluru, July 14: The Karnataka government has allowed some relaxations during the week-long lockdown in Bengaluru urban and rural districts. The lockdown will commence from 8p.m. today (July 14) and end at 5a.m. on July 22.  The government has released the guidelines for lockdown.

Restrictions

*No new flights or trains will be permitted; only flights and trains already scheduled will continue to operate. Flight and train tickets shall serve as passes for movement by taxis/cab aggregators/auto rickshaws.

* Metro rail services prohibited

* Taxis and services of cab aggregators will be prohibited except for emergency and as permitted in guidelines.

* Schools, colleges, educational/training/coaching institutions etc. will remain closed. Online/distance learning shall continue to be permitted. Examination already scheduled shall be permitted

* Hotels, restaurants, and hospitality services, prohibited except those meant for health/police/government officials/healthcare workers. Hotels and restaurants shall be permitted to operate kitchens for takeaway/home delivery of food items only.

* All cinema halls, shopping malls, gymnasiums, sports complexes, stadia, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars and auditoriums, assembly halls and similar places.

* All social/political/sports/entertainment/academic/cultural religious functions/other gatherings and large congregations.

* All religious places/places of worship shall be closed for public. Religious congregations are strictly prohibited. Commercial and private establishment shall be closed down

Relaxations (outside containment zone)

* Shops including ration shops (PDS), dealing with food, groceries, fruits and vegetables, etc. to open only from 5 am to 12 noon. Home delivery of essential items shall be encouraged.

* All facilities in the supply chain of essential goods, whether involved in manufacturing, wholesale or retail of such goods through local stores, large brick and mortar stores or e-commerce companies.

* All food processing and related industries.

* Banks, insurance offices and ATM.

* Print and electronic media.

* Telecommunication, internet services, broadcasting and cable services, IT and IT-enabled services with minimum staff for essential purposes. As far as possible, work from home should be encouraged.

* Delivery of essential items such as food, medicines, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment through e-commerce.

* Power generation, transmission and distribution units and services.

* Capital and debt market services and notified by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)

* Cold storage and warehousing services.

* Private security services.

* Delivery of goods by E-Commerce companies. Industries/industrial establishments as listed below will be allowed to operate (outside containment zones):

i. Production units which require continuous process, and their supply chain.

ii. Food processing industries, manufacturing of essential goods, including drugs, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, their raw material and intermediates.

iii. Manufacturing of packing materials.

iv. Manufacturing and other industrial establishment with access control in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) or outside municipal limits and Export Oriented Units (EoUs), Industrial townships. Construction activities will be allowed in continuation of works in construction projects, where workers are available on site.

Bengaluru, Jul 7: There seems no impact of Covid-19 on kharif crop sowing in Karnataka with the current year actually being ahead of previous years, according to an official here on Monday.

"In agriculture, as far as sowing is concerned, there is no impact of COVID-19," Agriculture Commissioner Brijesh Kumar Dikshit told IANS. One of the reasons, according to Dikshit, is that people in rural areas are aware, but not scared of the pandemic.

"In rural India, coronavirus is there. People are aware, not scared. They are taking precautions, but don't have any phobia," he said.

Another reason was that by June the number of infections in Karnataka was not as high as other states, when a lot of sowing was done, he said.

By the end of June, Karnataka saw 15,242 Covid-19 cases. Of that, 7,074 were active.

The sowing is ahead of previous year as it's mostly dependent on weather. "It's ahead of previous years. Agriculture is directed by weather and rains had been slightly earlier this year," he said.

According to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, at 185 mm the state received 14 mm less rain in June against the normal 199 mm. "It's like a normal year, or slightly a good year," he said.

Some crops will be sown in the last fortnight of July and few more will extend up to August 15. "The last two weeks will be critical and on July 31 we should be able to tell whether we are short or ahead," he said.

According to preliminary indications, the Commissioner said the area under agriculture is increasing this year, which could also be because that labourers might have come back.

Bengaluru, Apr 13: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa today held a review meeting with his cabinet colleagues and senior officials regarding prevailing coronavirus situation and several other important issues in the state.

Chief Secretary TM Vijay Bhaskar was also present at the meeting. The possible situation once the COVID-19 lockdown is lifted was discussed along with the financial status of the state government and how to mobilise additional resources, sources said.

The Chief Minister also appealed to sugar factory owners to clear the pending payment to the tune of Rs 2834 crore to farmers in 11 districts. He also said that the government has released Rs 45 crore compensation to farmers for loss of paddy crop in Raichur and Koppal District due to hailstorm based on a report submitted by District Collectors.

Amid the lockdown distribution of free milk to the poor will also be continued for one more week, sources added.

The meeting also decided to speed up disposal of cases related to the regularisation of unauthorised constructions which are pending before the High Court and Supreme Court.

In addition to this, the government is planning to auction more than 12,000 corner sites lying idle in Bengaluru. An amendment to the law governing permission to allow sites in private and co-operative housing societies will be made. Hundreds of societies are waiting for approval from the government for releasing the sites, sources said.

It was also decided to utilise Rs 1,000 crore available at Rajiv Gandhi Health University to upgrade medical college hospitals.