The nation wants to know: Why did Arnab quit as editor-in-chief of Times Now?

Bengaluru, Jan 3: Former Karnataka chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Friday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that 90 per cent of the promises made by him remain unfulfilled.

"He (Prime Minister Modi) had promised that in 2020 the economy will be doubled, but only their troubles have doubled. He just lied. 90 per cent of the promises made by Modi have remained unfulfilled," Siddaramaiah told media here.

Siddaramaiah's remarks come at a time when Prime Minister Modi is on a two-day visit to the state.

"In August, there was severe flood in state, he didn't visit Karnataka at that time. Flood situation was in 23 districts. Prime Minister will tweet for small issues. But at the time of severe flood he didn't even tweet. In 2009, Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister. He did aerial survey of the state and announced Rs 1500 crore relief on spot," Siddaramaiah said.

"This time the estimated damage due to flood is more than Rs 1 lakh crores," he said.

He went on to say, "Prime Minister came to witness Chandrayaan-2. He did not give time to Chief Minister and ministers and opposition party to meet him and discuss about floods."

"When I was the Chief Minister, the Prime Minister visited the state two times. Prime Minister had told at the time of inauguration of food park that there will be 10,000 direct employment and 25,000 employment. But nothing has happened till now," Siddaramaiah said.

Besides the Prime Minister, Siddaramaiah also criticised Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.

"In last election, Prime Minister had told that, if BJP comes to power in Centre and state, there will be development. But nothing has happened. Chief Minister and ministers should have spoken to the Prime Minister about relief funds. The central government should have announced it as National disaster... That's why I called BS Yediyurappa as weak Chief Minister," Siddaramaiah said.

"He had said if BJP is in power at the centre and state, doors of fortune of the state will be opened. People trusted him and gave 25 seats in Lok Sabha elections. But now, he doesn't even open the doors of his house for his party leaders," he said.

Congress leader further cornered the Prime Minister over his address in Tumkuru Mutt on Thursday and said, "We admit Pakistan is an evil country. But what are you doing about minorities in our country? You are bringing law against the minorities. Is that right? And you give speech about these things in front of young children."

Prime Minister Modi is on a two-day visit to Karnataka and is attending several events as part of his official engagements.

Mangaluru, June 21: The first ever repatriation flight from Saudi Arabia’s Dammam Karnataka’s Mangaluru under Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) today brought home around 165 stranded passengers. 

The IndiGo flight took off from Dammam International Airport at 11 a.m. (Saudi time) and landed at Mangaluru International Airport at 6:30 p.m.

The stranded passengers included pregnant women, senior citizens and those who are in need of emergency medical treatment are on board.

The passengers were screened at the Airport before being despatched for institutional quarantine in special buses. 

Even though a few charter flights arranged by a couple of NRI entrepreneurs have already repatriated hundreds of stranded people from Dammam to Mangaluru, the government of India had not operated any repatriation flight under VBM on this sector so far. 

Saudi Kannadigas Humanity Forum (SKHF), an NGO which came into existence to help the stranded Kannadigas in Saudi Arabia during covid-19 lockdown had been successful in persuading the government of India operate a flight on Dammam-Mangaluru sector under VBM. 

SKHF has also set up an online portal for those who were in need of emergency repatriation. In today’s flight around 100 passengers have obtained seats through SKHF.

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Bengaluru/Ballari, Jan 7: Former minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan of the Congress set a one-week deadline for the BJP government on Monday to arrest Ballari City BJP legislator G Somashekhara Reddy for his recent speech warning Muslims of dire consequences if they continue to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Police have already booked Reddy, younger brother of tainted mining baron G Janardhan Reddy, under section 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) of the Indian Penal Code.

However, Khan took the fight to Reddy a step further. “If the government fails to arrest Reddy by January 13, I will stage a dharna outside his house in Ballari, come what may. Let them do whatever they want,” Khan told reporters in Bengaluru.

In his speech at a pro-CAA rally organized by BJP workers and ABVP activists in Ballari, the BJP legislator had said, “We [Hindus] are 83% and they [Muslims] are 17% and if we take law into hands, you know what will happen.”

Khan said on Monday, “I challenge Reddy, the coward, to unsheathe his sword and cut me down first. It is absolutely shameful for a legislator to speak such things against a particular community. Why is Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who often says Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, silent?”

On his part, Reddy on Monday said he stood by what he said. “What I meant was you Muslims should not get swayed by CAA protests and damage public property. We [Hindus] are sons of the same mother and live peacefully. However, they [Muslims] should not test our [Hindu] patience. I stick by my words 100%,” he said.

A delegation of the Ballari district Congress unit also submitted an appeal to the deputy commissioner, inspector general of police and superintendent of police on Monday to arrest Reddy for his provocative speech.