Karnataka govt forms panel to rejuvenate 17 polluted river stretches

Mangaluru, July 21: Putting an end to all speculations, district in charge minister Kota Srinvas Poojary on Tuesday said that the lockdown in Dakshina Kannada will not be extended beyond Wednesday.

In a video message, the minister said that all the shops in the district will remain open from July 23 morning. He said district administration will make a formal announcement soon.  

Meanwhile chief minister B S Yediyurappa said: “There’ll be no lockdown from Wednesday, people need to get back to work, economy is also very important. We have to fight COVID-19 while maintaining stable economy. Lockdown is not the solution, now restrictions will be placed only in containment zones.”

Bengaluru, Feb 27: Karnataka Chief Minister and veteran BJP leader B S Yediyurappa turned 78 on Thursday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a host of leaders greeting him.

Modi hailed Yediyurappa as a "hardworking" chief minister and wished him long life and good health, while several state leaders flocked to his residence and greeted the Lingayat strongman.

"Birthday greetings to Karnataka's hardworking CM @BSYBJP Ji. He is passionately working for the state's progress, especially on farmer welfare and rural development. I pray for his long life and good health," the Prime Minister tweeted.

A large-scale "non-partisan" birthday bash will be held here later in the evening.

The felicitation function will see Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and former chief minister S M Krishna besides Siddaramaiah of Congress and H D Kumaraswamy of JD(S) sharing the stage.

Union Ministers D V Sadananda Gowda, also a former chief minister, Pralhad Joshi and Suresh Angadi will be in attendance.

BJP National General Secretary (Organisation) B L Santosh and state party chief Nalin Kumar Kateel are among those who will be gracing the event.

While Santosh will release a felicitation volume in Kannada with 78 articles from a cross-section of people, including politicians, writers, bureaucrats, and spiritual leaders; Siddaramaiah and Kumaraswamy will unveil a coffee table book and documentary respectively.

Yediyurappa, on the eve of his birthday on Wednesday, had said whatever he has achieved is a result of the people's "blessings and faith" and requested well-wishers not to bring bouquets, flowers, shawls, sweets, turbans or any souvenirs to greet him.

The birthday function organised by "Yediyurappa Abhinandana Samiti" (Yediyurappa Felicitation Committee) is being seen in some quarters as an attempt by Yediyurappa and his loyalists to send a message to the party leadership that he was still "strong".

The BJP's current dispensation under Narendra Modi and Amit Shah has retired several senior party leaders who crossed the age of 75.

However, an exception was said to have been made in Yediyurappa's case after the BJP won 25 of 28 seats in the Lok Sabha election under his leadership.

In the 2018 elections, he spearheaded the campaign of the BJP which emerged as the single largest party but fell short of the majority mark following which Congress and JD(S) came to power stitching a post-poll pact.

However, the coalition collapsed in July last year, paving the way for return of Yediyurappa as Chief Minister for the fourth time.

Bengaluru, May 7: Karnataka Minister for Labour Shivaram Hebbar, on Thursday, ordered issuance of notice to employers who have not paid salary to the workers during lockdown period amid Coronavirus threat in the state.

The Ministry has also directed serving notice to those employers who have reduced the wages of the workers in April '20, official sources told UNI here.

State Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had appealed to the employers not to retrench any employee from the job because of their failure to attend to work because of Coronavirus which is spreading like wildfire and since they have been asked to remain in the house.