SC directs Hadiya’s father to produce her before it on Nov 27

Benagluru, Feb 27: The sudden hike in bus fares by the state-run transport corporation has triggered a public outrage and protests by the opposition Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) in Karnataka.

Terming the hike as anti-people and inflationary, the Congress urged the ruling BJP to withdraw it forthwith and spare the commuters from the additional burden.

"KSRTC and its affiliates should not further burden the people when the cost of living has gone up and its bus service is used by the majority in the absence of trains in many regions of the state," said Ravi Gowda of the Congress.

In a surprise announcement on Tuesday night, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and its two affiliates -- North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKSRTC )and North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKSRTC) -- increased bus fares by 12% with effect from Wednesday, drawing the ire of commuters and opposition parties alike.

Condemning the fare hike, JD(S) leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy urged the KSRTC to roll back the revised fares and give relief to the common man reeling under price rise due to CGST, SGST and food inflation.

"The BJP government has deliberately increased the bus fare ahead of the state budget for 2020-21 fiscal on March 2, catching people unawares. Though student passes have been spared from the hike, regular passengers are forced to pay Rs 5-32 more instead of getting better efficiency, management and productivity," Kumaraswamy said in a statement in Bengaluru.

It's an additional burden on us, said Bengaluru resident K. Venkatesh, while adding,

"The 12 percent hike in bus fares by the KSRTC and its north-east and north-west affiliates from Wednesday will hit passengers hard and make commuting costly.”

"The fare hike will negate the state government's efforts to encourage public transport service and force passengers to travel on the train, which is cheaper, faster and safer," asserted Venugopal Gupta, a cloth merchant in the city.

Justifying the hike, KSRTC Managing Director Shivayogi Kalasad told media that the hike was inevitable due to the steady increase in diesel price, dearness allowance in staff salary and overall cost of operations.

"Since the last fare revision came in May 2014, the operational cost has gone up substantially due to Rs 11.27 per litre hike in diesel price, increase in DA to employees and repairing, maintenance and fleet management costs," Kalasad said.

The financial burden due to fuel price hike is Rs 261 crore, DA Rs 341 crore and operational cost Rs 601 crore per annum for KSRTC alone, he said.

"For the benefit of rural passengers, fares have been reduced to Rs 5 from Rs 7 for the first 3 km. There is no increase in fares for the first 12 km and up to first 6 km in express service," Kalasad added.

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 20: The Kerala government announced the relaxation of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in two zones, allowing among other private vehicles movement in an odd-even basis and dine-in services at hotels from Monday.

State police chief Loknath Behera said the relaxations of restrictions imposed would come into effect in the Green and Orange-B zones in the state from Monday,an official release said.

Earlier, the Left government had colour-coded 14 districts of the state into four zones-- Red, Green, Orange-A and Orange-B, for containing the Covid-19 pandemic. Red zone comprises Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode and Malappuram districts. In this zone, a complete lockdown will be in place until May 3 while two entry and exit points are allowed for carrying essential commodities to coronavirus hotspots. Orange-A zone comprises Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam and Kollam while orange-B zone comprises Alappuzha, Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad, Thrissur and Wayanad.

The lockdown will be in effect until April 24 in this zone and then partial relaxation will be allowed. Kottayam and Idukki come under the Green zone, in which lockdown will be in effect until April 20 and then regulations will be eased. However, large gatherings, the functioning of educational institutions, religious functions, celebrations and travel outside the district will not be allowed in this zone.

Not more than 20 people are allowed to take part in weddings and funerals, according to government instructions. On the functioning of courts, the release said, "Courts in the Green and Orange-B zones will re-open on April 21 while that in Orange-A zone will start functioning from April 25. The courts will function with 33 per cent of staff. The cases will be heard via video conferencing."

Meanwhile, the Bankers' Council has announced that banks will function as per the usual timings from Monday in the state except four districts falling under the Red zone. The Transport Ministry has clarifiedthat public transport won't be allowed to ply in the state during the lockdown period. "Inter-district travel will not be allowed despite relaxations in the state, but essential services such as medical services, food supplies will not be stopped. However, in case of emergency, inter-district travel will be allowed with an affidavit prepared by the traveller," Behra said in a release.

On the implementation of the odd-even scheme for private vehicles, the police said, "Vehicles with odd numbers will be permitted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Those with even numbers will be allowed on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays." Woman drivers travelling solo or with dependants are also exempted from it, police said. On Sundays, only those working for essential services are allowed to use their vehicles.

All education institutions, cinema halls, shopping malls, public parks, bars, places of worship will remain closed in all zones of the state. The health department and local administration, which carry out sanitation work before the monsoon, are allowed to operate. Four-wheelers are permitted to carry two passengers besides the driver and in case of a two-wheeler, only the driver will be allowed while the pillion rider is allowed in case the person is a family member.

On Dine-in services, a government order said it is allowed at hotels and restaurants until 7 PM in Green and Orange-B zone from Monday and in Orange-A zone from April 24. However, take-away counters can function until 8 PM, it said. Kerala on Sunday reported two positive cases of Covid-19 in the state taking the total number of affected to 401 while the health department announced that 13 people were cured.

Mangaluru, Apr 6: The city police were seen wearing personal protective equipment including eye protection on Monday, April while on lockdown duty to slow the spread of COVID-19.

City police Commissioner Harsha taking to twitter wrote, ''Specialised protection equipment, AntiContagion face shields have been issued to all policemen at the front line having the highest risk of exposure to coronavirus..
They are fighting a pandemic .. FOR YOU..Be kind to them..Comply with all legal instructions.''