Opposition set to corner Siddaramaiah govt in Belagavi session

Agencies
November 12, 2017

Belagavi, Nov 12: The Winter Session of Karnataka legislature beginning here on Monday is expected to be stormy as the opposition seeks to corner the Siddaramaiah government on a host of issues, including the demand for Minister K J George's resignation.

This will be the last session at Belagavi for the 14th Assembly, as polls are due early next year. During the ten-day long session, other than demand for George's resignation, Income Tax Department raids on properties linked to senior Minister D K Shivakumar is also likely to come up, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah accusing BJP-led Union government of using the department to woo him into the party fold.

Issues that may also come up include demand for separate religion status to the dominant Lingayats as the session is being held in north Karnataka where the community's presence is predominant, and Mahadayi water-sharing dispute with neighbouring Goa.

Among the bills, 'The Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Inhuman Evil Practices and Black Magic Bill, 2017' is likely to be discussed as Law Minister T B Jayachandra after Cabinet's approval had said that "It will be tabled in the next session."

Also expected is discussions on "Karnataka Private Medical Establishments Bill," against which private Doctors have announced 'Belagavi Chalo,' a protest march during the session. The doctors contend that the provisions of the bill are too harsh on them.

Among various issues on which opposition is set to target the government ahead of elections, next year, are farmers issue, especially concerning sugarcane growers.

Speaking to reporters here ahead of the session, Assembly Speaker K B Koliwad said his intention is to give "priority" to issues pertaining to north Karnataka region, where the session is being held.

On the issue of attendance of the members, he said, "I can only request them to actively participate, they are responsible representatives of the people... there is no law for this, I can request."

Stating that including 10 days of the current session, totally the House would have met for 40 days during the current year, Koliwad said his wish was for 90 days session with 45 days each in Bengaluru and Belagavi.

He said the finance department has approved Rs 21 crore for the Winter Session and based on the request of various departments including the police to make necessary arrangements, a request has been made for additional Rs 5 crore.

Expressing "sadness" over Suvarna Vidhana Soudha remaining non functional for the rest of the year, other than during the session once a year, Speaker Koliwad said his wish was to make it function for 365 days by shifting some departments here. "It is left to executive."

District administration and the police have made elaborate security arrangements for the session with over 5,000 police personnel being deployed along with bomb disposal and other forces, officials said.

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News Network
May 4,2020

The government of India today said it will begin evacuating its nationals stuck abroad due to the coronavirus pandemic from May 7 in a phased manner. This facility would be made available on payment basis. 

A Standard Operating Protocol has been put in place and the travel would be arranged by aircraft as well as naval ships and will be available on a payment-basis, the government said.

"Medical screening of passengers would be done before taking the flight. Only asymptomatic passengers would be allowed to travel. During the journey, all these passengers would have to follow the protocols, such as the health protocols, issued by the ministry of health and the ministry of civil aviation," it said in a statement.

Specifying the protocols upon entry in India, the government said the returning Indians would be medically screened and will have to be quarantined for 14 days, either in a hospital or in an institutional quarantine on payment-basis, by the respective state government.

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News Network
March 3,2020

Dubai, Mar 3: Abu Dhabi-based Indian retail tycoon MA Yusuff Ali has become the first Indian to receive Saudi Arabia's premium residency, his office said in a statement on Monday.

Yusuff Ali, 64, is the chairman of the LuLu Group, who was ranked the richest expat in the UAE by the Forbes magazine last year.

The permit, informally known as Saudi Green Card, grants expatriates the right to live, work and own business and property in the Kingdom without need for a sponsor, the LULU group said in a statement.

The introduction of the Premium Residency comes as a part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 reform plan, which was announced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to boost the Saudi economy, the statement said.

Yusuff Ali said "obviously a very proud and humbling moment in my life. This is a great honour not only for me but for the entire Indian expat community and I sincerely thank the HM the King Salman, HRH Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman and the government of Saudi Arabia."

"@Yusuffali_MA , an investor from India, after obtaining Premium Residency in Saudi Arabia: ''The Kingdom became an attractive investment destination due to the remarkable growth in economy," Premium Residency tweeted on Monday.

Yusuff Ali said he was sure that this new permanent residency initiative will further boost Saudi Arabia's image as one of the key investments and business hubs of the region as well as attract and retain new investors.

This initiative is targeting key investors and prominent personalities from various fields, including sports, arts & culture, who have played a defining role in the nation building process.

The Lulu Group owns and operates more than 35 hypermarkets and supermarkets in Saudi Arabia, which includes ARAMCO Commissaries and National Guards super stores.

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News Network
May 22,2020
Bengaluru, May 22: Evacuation planes from Male in Maldives and Doha in Qatar landed in Bengaluru with returnees from Karnataka after they were stranded for two months due to suspension of international flights since March 23 and the extended lockdown, an official said on Friday.
 
"An Air-India flight (#0266) with 152 passengers from Male and its subsidiary Express flight (IX-0822) with 177 returnees and 5 infants from Doha landed here safely at 6.50 pm. and 9.05 pm respectively," an airline official told media persons in Bengaluru.
 
Both the flights are first from their respective countries to Bengaluru, bringing in returnees to the southern state in the second phase of the Vande Bharat mission, being carried out to evacuate Indians stranded the world over.
 
"As per the standard operating procedure and guidelines of the state health department, all the passengers were screened with thermal device and tested to ensure they were asymptomatic before leaving the airport," a nodal officer said.
 
The returnees were given a spare mask to wear all the time and a sanitiser to wash their hands.
 
"The luggage of all passengers was screened and disinfected before handing over to them after they completed formalities such as filling the self-declaration form and downloading of the Quarantine App for contact tracing later,” said the official.
 
The passengers were ferried from the airport in state-run buses in batches for 14-day institutional quarantine in hotels and resorts across the city.
 
The flights were the 6th and 7th flights to Karnataka, of the national carrier and its Express arm, which are operating the service to repatriate thousands of Indians, including distressed workers, migrants, students, senior citizens and tourists, stranded overseas.
 
Five flights have flown about 650 returnees till date from May 18-21 under the mission's second phase to Bengaluru and Mangaluru on the west coast. The passengers have been brought from Dubai in the UAE, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Muscat in Oman, Dammam in Saudi Arabia and San Francisco in the US.
 
The remaining flights to Karnataka will land in Bengaluru and Mangaluru over the next 12 days till June 3 from 9-10 more destinations the world over.
 
In the first phase of the mission from May 7-17, the airline and its arm flew 6 flights to the state from May 11-15, bringing in 800 passengers, including 623 to Bengaluru and 177 to Mangaluru from London, Singapore, San Francisco and Dubai.

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