Mangaluru youth stranded in Saudi Arabia returns home; family thanks Indian Social Forum

Bengaluru, Apr 28: Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday demanded that the Karnataka government announce a "special package" for unorganised sector workers, street vendors and autorickshaw drivers, among others, all daily wagers whose lives are affected by the COVID-19 lockdown. "..a special package needs to be announced to this section of people, this is the demand," Siddaramaiah, who is also Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, told reporters here.

Alleging that the government has failed to control the spread of coronavirus, he said it is the government's responsibility to take care of the basic needs of those from the unorganised sector, whose lives have been impacted by the lockdown. "It is the duty of the government and they should do it immediately. The package should also be announced. I will hold discussions with leaders of other opposition parties like JD(S), CPI, CPI(M) and BSP in this regard and also on trouble faced by farmers," he added. Alleging discrimination in supply of food packets and ration kits, Siddaramaiah said it was being supplied properly only in constituencies represented by BJP legislators.

"Politics is being played out in supply of food materials to the needy, keeping corporation elections in mind.... We don't want to do politics at this point in time as there is lockdown. If things continue to be the same after the lockdown ends, we will protest on the streets," he said.

Siddaramaiah on Tuesday interacted with representatives of auto rickshaw and cab drivers, street vendors, barbers, unorganised workers organisations, among others, to understand the difficulties faced by them during the lockdown and to know whether help from the government has reached them. He said most of them don't have work and it has become difficult for them to lead their normal lives.

They raised several issues like auto and cab drivers being unable to pay road tax and EMI, he said, adding that he would write a detailed letter to the Chief Minister in this regard The former Chief Minister pointed out that there is about 21 lakh registered organised workers, 1.32 crore lakh unorganised workers and also agriculture labourers in the state.

"Among organised workers only 12.5 of the 21 lakh are said to be getting Rs 2000, that too from the Employees Welfare Fund, while others could not get any money, citing reasons like they have not renewed it," he said.

On the other hand, unorganised sector workers don't get money and were also not getting proper food or ration kits, he alleged Though the labour department claimed that it was supplying one lakh food packets and 1.5 lakh ration kits, as also corporations, there were leakages and it was not reaching the beneficiaries properly, he said.

Mangaluru, Jan 20: The improvised explosive device (IED) recovered from a bag at Mangaluru airport was defused in an open field by the personnel of the bomb disposal squad on Monday. 

A short while ago, the Commissioner of Police in Mangaluru, PS Harsha, narrated the incident, along with the action taken by the security personnel.

"Today at approx 9 am a suspect dropped the baggage, containing plausible explosive substances, at the Mangaluru airport. It was spotted by the security personnel and then the bomb detection and disposal team was pressed into action," Harsha told reporters here.

"The area was cordoned off and then the suspected object was taken in a threat containment vehicle to a spot for defusing the explosive device. The local police have registered an FIR in this connection based on the complaints of CISF," he added.

The Commissioner said that three teams have been formed for "identification and apprehension of the accused."
He further said that the visuals of the suspect have been shared for his identification, and urged citizens of Mangaluru and around the nation to come forward and inform the police if they have any knowledge of the accused.

"Our teams have made some breakthrough and established few preliminary facts and I am assured we will be able to trace out the execution plan of the act of sabotage," he added.

Also Read: Security beefed up at airports across country after suspicious bag found at Mangaluru airport

Bengaluru, May 15: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday said that the new amendment in the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act will substantially aid the farmers in getting remunerative price for their produce.

"Our motto is 'First Farmers'. The new amendment in the APMC Act will provide an opportunity for farmers to sell their produce directly to any purchase outside APMC or in other APMCs. This will help the farmers in getting remunerative price for their produce," CM Yediyurappa tweeted.

"Amendment will not dilute the powers of the work of the APMCs. All these marketing activities will be monitored by the Directorate of State APMC. This new amendment Act will benefit farmers in improving their income & suffering from losses due to market fluctuations," the Karnataka CM added.

Yediyurappa further said that the amendment will indirectly help farmers in doubling their income by 2022.

"This amendment will indirectly help farmers in doubling their income by 2022. I want to clarify that we have not removed the APMC Act, we are only amending 2 sections of the APMC Act which enable farmers to sell their produce at the markets where they intend to," he tweeted.