Netizens baffled as Karnataka minister shares TikTok video amid #BoycottChina calls

Bantwal, Jun 16: Two unmarred siblings committed suicide by self-immolation at Sangabettu in Bantwal taluk of Dakshina Kannada last night.

Neelayya Shettogar (42) and his sister Kesari (39) poured petrol on themselves before torching themselves at around 11 p.m. on June 15 inside a room of their house, police sources said. The siblings were reportedly facing health problems.

Neelayya's brother and latter’s wife were sleeping in the other room of the same house when the incident took place. They came to know only when they heard the screams of the duo.

Even though the siblings were rushed to the government hospital at Bantwal with the help of locals, the doctors declared them dead.

Bantwal rural police sub-inspector, Prasanna and staff visited the spot as part of investigation.

Amidst heightened border tensions between Indian and China, senior BJP leader and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's two year old tweet comparing his party with Communist Party of China started going viral. 

The tweet, dated 26 June, 2016 reads: "Communist Party of China & BJP have done numerous works in social field. This way, there is tremendous similarities between the two parties." (sic)

Twitterati dug up this tweet after over 20 Indian Army personnel, including a colonel, were killed in a clash with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh earlier this week.

Soon after Chouhan's tweet went viral, netizens took to the micro-blogging site and slammed BJP. One user said, "Interesting comment by Hindutva ITSELF to recognise how similar they are with China. No doubt. Both believe in Dragon Throne .... and brutal absolute control." Another user said, "No wonder the BJP & China both agree that PLA never crossed into Indian territory."

No wonder the BJP & China both agree that PLA never crossed into Indian territory. https://t.co/fjguCNdGfc

— Pierre Fitter (@pierrefitter) June 18, 2020

Interesting comment by Hindutva ITSELF to recognise how similar they are with China. No doubt. Both believe in Dragon Throne .... and brutal absolute control. https://t.co/zDbmaMwBMH

— Devdutt Pattanaik (@devduttmyth) June 18, 2020

BJP EXPOSED!#IndiaChinaFaceOff https://t.co/f9WaZTYWVZ

— Youth Congress (@IYC) June 17, 2020

Indeed. Both deceive and betray. https://t.co/VR8brc9pbt

— Dushyant (@atti_cus) June 17, 2020

Always held that both these ideologies have "tremendous similarities". Best to be equidistant from both. https://t.co/hrvd07IQQV

— Rachit Seth (@rachitseth) June 17, 2020

didn't know this, no one talks of these similarities. https://t.co/y0TKXAPa70

— S lrfan Habib (@irfhabib) June 18, 2020

What!!! I never saw this before. https://t.co/gQLby93tIk

— Sanjukta Basu (@sanjukta) June 18, 2020

Bengaluru, Apr 18: Amid fears that people from the unorganised sector are running out of cash to meet their daily expenses, the Karnataka government said there was no data available for such labourers, who can be provided financial assistance under the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme.

"The government does not have data of people in the unorganised sector such as drivers, farmers, domestic help and others. If we have to deposit directly into their account, we need data..," State Labour minister A Shivaram Hebbar told reporters.

The minister said a situation borne out of the COVID-19, where the entire nation has been lockdown was never anticipated.

To him, the pandemic has given an opportunity to gather information about the unorganised sector.

"This COVID-19 has taught the department and the workers a lesson that we should be prepared for a situation like this. We have learnt that all the information about labourers should be available with the labour department," Hebbar conceded.

The minister opined that the department should have had the list during the good times but nobody bothered to have it.

"During the good times nobody bothered about it -- neither they (beneficiaries) asked for it, nor we thought of it.," Hebbar said.

Now that the pandemic has struck, the government is focusing only on not letting anyone starve to death.

A three-level preparation has been made -- at the village level, Taluk level and the city level, the minister said.

Village anganwadis have been stuffed with food items to be cooked for the needy, whereas in Taluk level, government hostels have been turned into shelters for the labourers, he said, noting that lakhs of philanthropists in cities have come forward to feed the people from unorganised sector.

"The basic objective of our government is that no one should starve to death. The issue of organised or unorganised sector comes next," he explained.

On the fear of large-scale retrenchment, the minister said notices have been served on all the industries that no one should be expelled from the job.

However, Hebbar underlined that the industrialists today are as much in distress as the workers and his department was taking into account everyone's concern.

A decision will be taken in this connection by the government in the next two days, to provide assistance to small enterprises to keep them afloat.