Indians stuck in Saudi Arabia due to lockdown ought to know these things before returning home

Bengaluru, Apr 28: Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday suggested that the government can allow sale of liquor in green zones. 

“Merely because there is an economic slowdown in the state, I don’t recommend that alcohol should be allowed to be sold. But, wherever there are green districts, they can open (liquor sale) with certain restrictions, I think,” Siddaramaiah, the leader of the Opposition, told reporters. 

There are 14 districts in the state that are categorised as green because they do not have any active COVID-19 cases. The green districts are: Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, Haveri, Davangere, Shivamogga, Chitradurga, Udupi, Chikmagalur, Hassan, Kodagu, Chamarajanagar, Ramanagara and Kolar.

There is tremendous pressure on the B S Yediyurappa administration to revive the economy as the lockdown has dried up all revenue sources. Excise, alone, accounts for 18 per cent of Karnataka’s own tax revenue. 

The Excise department recently suggested allowing regulated sale of liquor through the state-run MSIL outlets. The government, however, did not approve it fearing crowding and backlash from the Centre.

Bengaluru, Jan 11: India’s second-biggest IT company, Infosys Ltd, said it found no evidence of financial misconduct by its executives following a investigation into whistleblower complaints.

Bengaluru-headquartered Infosys, which earlier on Friday raised its revenue forecasts due to upbeat demand from Western clients, said an audit committee report exonerated Chief Executive Officer Salil Parekh and Chief Financial Officer Nilanjan Roy of all allegations, including accusations that the duo prevented employees from presenting data on large deals.

“I’m very happy that CEO Salil Parekh and CFO Nilanjan Roy have emerged from this stronger,” Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani told reporters. “The last two years since Salil has been here the company has changed dramatically for the better.”

Parekh took over as Infosys CEO in January 2018, after his predecessor Vishal Sikka quit following a public row with the company’s founder executives amid whistleblower allegations of wrongdoing.

The company earlier said it expected revenue to grow between 10 per cent and 10.5 per cent on a constant currency basis in the year ending March 2020, compared with its previous forecast of between 9 per cent and 10 per cent.

“We continue to see momentum in the market and we have an extremely robust pipeline driven by segment leaders,” CEO Parekh told a news conference.

“With the strength of large deal wins and digital momentum, we were able to clearly see that we have support to raise our guidance.”

Mangaluru, Apr 3: The laboratory at District Wenlock Hospital has initiated trial for Covid 19 testing, close on the heels of receiving permission from state government.

Doctors, elected representatives and stakeholders had repeatedly demanded that a laboratory should be set up in the port city. Without the lab, the samples were sent either to Shivamogga or to Bengaluru for testing. When Heath Minister Sriramulu had visited Mangaluru on March 17, he had promised a lab in the city for testing of the samples.

Accordingly, the government gave permission for starting the laboratory at Wenlock Hospital. The process of registering the lab with Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) will be completed shortly. The laboratory will be fully operational only after it is registered.