MCC demolishes structures to recover relinquished land from builders

Bengaluru, Feb 12: Hinting at the possibility of a consolidation of ex-Janata Parivar leaders, JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda said Tuesday his party was open to talk to any former Janata leaders, who are at present either in various factions of the Janata Dal or in Congress and BJP. The veteran leader also appreciated Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP's way of work.

At the party's National Executive Committee meeting held here, Gowda said that some ex-Janata Parivar leaders had reached out to him in this regard. His comments come at a time when JD(U) leader Mahima Patel recently rekindled the debate of a unified Janata Parivar.

However, Deve Gowda was clear that he was not interested in pursuing anyone who was happy with the party they were in. "It's a waste of time to pursue someone who has seen success within their party. I am not going to do that. I am willing to persuade only those who are not holding any office at present," he said. He added that he had already asked party leaders in Kerala to take the initiative and figure out ways to bring leaders together. As for other places, it would take him some time to reach out people, he added.

The party, which organised the National Executive Meet here on February 10 and 11, spoke of strategies to rejuvenate the party from the grassroots level. The party is also conducting a membership drive.

'Much to learn from AAP'

There is much to learn from Aam Aadmi Party, which registered a victory in Delhi elections on Tuesday, said Devegowda. "Kejriwal has showed that caste does not matter. There is lesson to be learnt from the work done by AAP," he said. Later in the day, Deve Gowda also wrote a letter to Arvind Kejriwal, congratulating him on his victory.

On the occasion, the party also came up with resolutions to urge the central government to release pending amount of GST it owed to state governments apart from focusing on development of labour, industries and agriculture; to demand the centre to rollback decision on CAA, NRC and NPR and to urge the centre to pass the women's reservation bill.

At the JD(S) National Executive Meet, even as news poured in about the victory of Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi elections, the JD(S) leaders celebrated Arvind Kejriwal's victory. Seeing it as an optimistic sign for regional parties across the country, the leaders distributed sweets to mark the hat trick win of Kejriwal.

Mangaluru/ Bengaluru, May 10: Nearly 11,000 non-resident Kannadigas who are seeking repatriation from various countries across the world should be ready to shell out a huge amount for a two-week private quarantine in Karnataka before reaching their home.

The Kannadigas stranded in Gulf countries including UAE and Saudi Arabia have already expressed shock over the high airfare for repatriation during coronavirus lockdown. Another shocker is heavy quarantine fee once they reach their home state.

Officials in Mangaluru and Bengaluru have confirmed that administration has fixed charges for quarantine facilities starting from Rs 1,200 up to Rs 4,500, including food per day. 14 day quarantine will be mandatory for all healthy and asymptomatic international passengers. Hence, they should be ready to pay Rs 16,800  to Rs 63,000.

The other option is government quarantine centres: hostels run by social welfare, backward classes welfare and minority welfare departments but they are far from satisfactory. This is in stark contrast to the plush government quarantine facilities in Kerala.

In Mangaluru

The first repatriation flight to Mangaluru International Airport is expected to land on Tuesday, May 12 from Dubai.

The quarantine facilities include lodges, hostels and service apartments. Rates are fixed based on four categories: basic, economy, medium and premium. The basic facilities are mainly hostels of educational institutions, and the rest are budget and star hotels, said Rahul Shinde, probationary IAS officer, who is In-charge of the quarantine facilities for those being repatriated.

In Bengaluru

As many as 350 international passengers are set to arrive in Bengaluru at 3 am on Monday, May 11. So far, nobody has opted for government quarantine facilities, according to Lakshman Reddy, Joint Director, Social Welfare Department.

In Bengaluru, there are 55 hostels of the social welfare department, 51 of the backward classes welfare department and 12 of the minority welfare department. “We provide them with three square meals a day,” he added.

Mangaluru, June 11: The private flight chartered by Saudi Arabia's SAQCO Contracting Company to repatriate coastal Kannadigas stranded in the kingdom landed at Mangaluru International Airport at 1:15 am on Wednesday.

The flight with 175 passengers took off from the Dammam International Airport around 6 pm (KSA time).

SAQCO’s Directors Althaf Ullal and Basheer Sagar said that all the legal procedures were carried out smoothly before the flight took off from Dammam for Mangaluru.

The duo also informed that no staff or official of SAQCO were traveling on the chartered flight and that it was arranged only for the stranded Kannadigas. The cost of traveling, institutional quarantine, and COVID-19 tests will be borne by the SAQCO Company.

SAQCO had established a desk to finalize the list of passengers who will be traveling on the flight to Mangaluru on Wednesday. The company added priority was given to pregnant women, the senior citizens who had come to the kingdom on visit visas, people with medical emergencies, people who had lost jobs, and those who had reported deaths in their families.