Petrol, diesel prices go up in Karnataka

Bengaluru, May 26: Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah today held a video conference with Kannadiga businessmen in Saudi Arabia and paid heed to the woes of Saudi Kannadigas amidst covid-19 lockdown.

Sheikh Karnire, Director of Operations Expertise Contracting Co, Mohammad Mansoor, Chairman of Saara Group and President of OIC Bahrain, and Ismaeel, CEO of Realtech Industrial Services among others explained Mr Siddaramaiah the need to operate repatriation flights from Saudi Arabia to Mangaluru and Bengaluru. 

They said among the thousands of stranded Kannadigas in Saudi Arabia there are a large number of pregnant women, elderly people, patients who need immediate medical attention. 

They urged Siddaramaiah to exert pressure on the chief minister of Karnataka B S Yediyurappa and union ministers to arrange repatriation flights in the current schedule of Vande Bharat Mission itself. 

Siddaramaiah assured to take up the issue with the chief minister and other authorities concerned.

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.

Mangaluru, Apr 1: The rush for purchase of essential commodities has eased in several places in Dakshina Kannada with the relaxation of lockdown from Wednesday between 7 am and 12 noon by the district administration. However, a few markets in Mangaluru still had queues in front of vegetable shops on Wednesday.

Vegetable shops and markets in Mallikatte, Kadri, Bejai-Kapikad, Urwastore, Mannagudda and Carstreet areas were crowded with people violating social distancing norms due to the coronavirus crisis.

To avoid swelling of crowds at Central Market in Mangaluru, the market was opened only for wholesalers to collect vegetables. The entry of public to Central Market was prohibited.

MCC Commissioner Ajith Kumar Hegde Shanady said that retail sale is prohibited at Central Market.

The Surathkal market too has been closed from April and traders from the market are allowed to sell essential commodities at alternative locations from 7 am to 12 noon.