Four women raped, modesty of 9 outraged every day in Delhi in 2012-15

Bengaluru, Apr 7: Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Siddaramaiah on Monday urged Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to announce a special package to help farmers, agriculture labourers and also working class in various sectors who are affected by the lockdown.

Mr Siddaramaiah put forth his demands during a telephonic conversation and the Chief Minister positively responding to it informed that he will formulate a programme keeping in mind the suggestions made by the Opposition, a statement from the LoP's office said.

It said, the Chief Minister also spoke to Mr Siddaramaiah regarding the government's decision to stop supply of free food for poor and needy through Indira Canteens.

Mr Siddaramaiah on Saturday had written to Yediyurappa urging him to utilise Indira Canteens efficiently and provide food for poor and needy until the coronavirus crisis and lockdown is over.

The former Chief Minister's letter had come a day after the state government had decided not to provide free food at Indira Canteens as concerns were raised about the quality and misuse that was happening.

It had, however, decided to continue to provide subsidised food- breakfast at Rs 5 and lunch and dinner at Rs 10, as usual.

Mr Yediyurappa during the phone conversation on Monday appraised Siddaramaiah that the decision to supply food by fixing a price was taken to stop misuse that was happening.

Mr Siddaramaiah, however, insisted the government should provide food free of cost to the poor and needy, by taking care that misuse doesn't happen.

The senior Congress leader asked the Chief Minister to take action against errant officials who allowed misuse to happen, the statement said, adding that Yediyurappa has promised to look into it.

Initially, the government last month had decided that the state subsidised Indira Canteens would provide food packets free of cost to the poor and needy in the wake of the lockdown.

New Delhi, Apr 29: WhatsApp on Tuesday said it will now allow up to eight people to connect on a group video call as an increasing number of people turn to digital platforms to connect with friends and family amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Facebook-owned company said over the last month, people on average are spending over 15 billion minutes talking each day on WhatsApp calls, well above a typical day before the pandemic.

"...we see that people all over the world are turning to voice and video calling on WhatsApp more than ever before. Group calling has been particularly useful and our users have asked to connect with more people at once," WhatsApp said in a blogpost.

Starting Tuesday, the company is doubling the number of participants one can have on a WhatsApp video or voice call from 4 to 8 people at a time, it added.

WhatsApp emphasised that like written messages, all calls on its platform are protected with end-to-end encryption.

"We have built group calling in a way that makes it available for as many users as possible, including people on lower-end devices and slow network conditions," it added.

Also Read: Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths

WhatsApp said that to access the new, higher participant limit on WhatsApp calls, all participants in a call need to update to the latest version of WhatsApp available on iPhone or Android.

Video calling tools like Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom and others have also seen a significant jump in userbase and traffic as people connect while maintaining social distancing amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Last week, Facebook had introduced Messenger Rooms that will soon hold up to 50 people with no time limit.

It had added that the company will also add ways to create rooms from Instagram Direct, WhatsApp and Portal.

Noting that between WhatsApp and Messenger, more than 700 million accounts participate in calls every day, Facebook had said, adding that video calling on Messenger and WhatsApp more than doubled in many countries.

Also, views of Facebook Live and Instagram Live videos have also increased significantly in March, it said.

Mangaluru, May 13: Union Minister and former Karnataka chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda today assured that he will exert pressure on the authorities concerned to operate more repatriate flights to bring back Kannadigas from Saudi Arabia to Karnataka. 

Speaking in a video conference organised by coastaldigest.com with Kannadiga delegates in Saudi Arabia, Mr Gowda said: “Today itself I will contact the external affairs ministry and Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to convince them the need to add operate flights to bring back stranded Kannaidgas from the Kingdom.

After paying heed to the advices, requests and concerns of Kannadiga delegates that participated in the video conference, Mr Gowda said: “Two things need to be done. First thing is number of flights from Saudi Arabia to Karnataka should be increased. Second thing is to ensure that most of these flights land in the Mangaluru Airport as most of the Kannadiga expats in Saudi Arabia are from the coastal region.

“There should be at least two to three flights from Saudi Arabia to Karnataka (Bengaluru Airport or Mangaluru Airport) every week. That is my intention,” he added.