Man killed in spat over dog barking during T20 match

Bengaluru, Jul 10: Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers under the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) on Friday held protests in different parts of Karnataka, demanding personal protective equipment (PPE) kits and a salary of at least Rs 12,000 per month.

According to Madhu Kumari, an ASHA worker from Kalaburgi, ASHA workers currently receive a salary of Rs 3,000 per month.

"Our demand is to increase our wages to at least Rs 12,000 per month. We have been making this demand for the last six months but we have not received any response from the authorities. We will not go back to work until we are given an appropriate response. We did not want to create a difficult situation but the government has given us no choice," Kumari told ANI.

Clad in their signature pink saris, the women were holding posters in their hands and raising slogans to demand appropriate salary for their work and the necessary equipment to protect themselves from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Farhana, an ASHA worker protesting in Shivamogga, said that the women have been making demands for PPE kits since June 30. "We have been taking care of COVID patients for the last few weeks but have not received adequate PPE kits. A few of us received some in the beginning but they were not enough. We are not even given hand sanitiser or masks to protect ourselves," she added.

"We have sent letters to the District Commissioner's Office and to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare but our pleas have gone unheard. We are protesting to get the attention of the concerned authorities," she added.

They also demanded that authorities to conduct their COVID-19 tests as they have to deal with patients infected with the virus.

Sajida, an ASHA worker in Kalaburagi said, "We are very stressed about the COVID situation. We take care of sick people day in and day out, but no one is there to take care of us. We want the government to conduct COVID tests for all ASHA workers in the state."

Bengaluru, Mar 4: CM BS Yediyurappa may reconsider plans to hike taxes and curtail populist schemes in his budget on Thursday as the Centre released part of GST compensation it owes the state. Officials said the Centre released the first instalment of the bimonthly compensation for October-November amounting to Rs 2,013 crore.

"This is welcome relief as the government has been scrambling to mobilise funds," said BT Manohar, member of GST consultative committee, government of Karnataka. The second instalment of Rs 1,523 crore is also expected to be released soon.

The CM, in his seventh budget, is expected keep the focus firmly on farmers and give top priority to irrigation, agriculture and welfare schemes.

The irrigation sector is expected to land the lion's share with an allocation of at least Rs 25,000 crore, followed by agriculture. Former CM Kumaraswamy had allocated over Rs 17,000 crore for water resources.

The bulk of funds is likely to go to the Upper Krishna (UKP) and Upper Bhadra projects, as it will help backward Kalyana Karnataka and central Karnataka regions. The two are also significant political blocs. The government will also seek assistance from the Centre for the UKP project in the erstwhile Hyderabad-Karnataka region, which enjoys special status under the Constitution owing to its backwardness. P4

Yediyurappa is also expected to spell out populist schemes for the poor.

Former CM HD Kumaraswamy had allocated Rs 17,212 crore in the previous budget for water resources and Yediyurappa is likely to go well beyond that figure. "Priority will be given to irrigation and farmers," Yediyurappa had said recently. "I am making efforts to present a budget within the financial constraints."

he amounts are released once every two months, but the Centre had fallen behind on payments. PX

"There are indications that another payment will be made."

The state's optimism stems from the fact that the Centre's GST collection crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore-mark for four successive months till February.

However, the CM could still hike tax rates marginally. At a pre-budget meet on resource mobilisation where Yediyurappa is learnt to have expressed willingness to borrow funds, officials from the finance department advocated raising tax rates instead.

Bengaluru, Apr 18: The Karnataka government has managed to get the contact details of nine out of 10 foreign nationals who had visited Jubilant Life Sciences, a pharmaceutical company in Mysuru district's Nanjangud which has been declared a coronavirus hotspot, State minister S Suresh Kumar said on Saturday.

As many as 66 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Nanjangud.

While investigating the source of virus in what is now known as 'Nanjangud cluster', the Mysuru administration could get information that 10 foreign nationals had visited this town, Kumar told reporters.

Soon the External Affairs Ministry's help was sought which managed to track nine of them, Kumar said, adding that the MEA contacted its embassies in China, Germany, Japan and the USA to track these persons.

"Out of 10, they could contact nine and got details. All of them have said that they were all healthy and they did not have any symptoms.

Hence, they did not feel the need to undergo COVID-19 tests," the minister said.

He opined that many people do not show the symptoms but they could be carriers of the virus.

Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths on April 18

"It all depends on the person's immunity," Kumar explained.

A foreign national from Germany who had visited Nanjangud could not be reached as her contact details were not available.