Saudi Arabia bans foreign workers in 12 sectors; Indian expats to be affected

New Delhi, Feb 3: BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde's swipe at Mahatma Gandhi has irked the top party leadership and he may be forced to apologise, party sources said on Monday.

A senior BJP leader said the Karnataka leader's comments were "condemnable" and the party leadership is upset with him.

"The party has conveyed its displeasure to him and asked him to take remedial measure. Any insult to Mahatma Gandhi is unacceptable," he said.

Hegde, a former Union minister, reportedly claimed at an event in Bangaluru that the entire freedom movement was staged with the consent and support of the British, and the independence movement led by Gandhi was a "drama".

He also wondered why the Father of the Nation was called 'Mahatma' (a great soul).

The party leader said the Lok Sabha MP is a "disciplined" member of the party and will do what he has been asked to.

Hegde, known for hardline Hindutva leanings, has a history of making controversial remarks.

Bengaluru, May 18: A large number of people in India are planning inter-city bus travel within a month of the lifting of travel restrictions, according to a randomised online survey of over 10,300 customers of redBus, India's largest online bus ticketing platform.

Nearly 57 per cent of the respondents are planning to travel within a month post the lockdown. However, there is a high standard of expectation on the implementation of measures to make buses safe for travel with over 79 per cent wanting deep cleaning and sanitisation of buses after every trip.

Hand sanitisers, mandatory masks and temperature screening for all passengers are next in expectations for bus travel. Over 78 per cent of the respondents want the implementation of hygienic conditions at boarding points and 70 per cent want social distancing protocols to be implemented at boarding points.

"The survey does underscore the fact that given the adherence to safety protocols, bus travel is possibly one of the safest options for travel since the number of travellers are fewer, checks can be done individually and the whole factor of pick up and drop as close to home as possible minimises the number of contacts throughout the journey," said redBus Chief Executive Officer Prakash Sangam.

In addition, online booking further reduces the number of contact points as people can book bus tickets directly from their home. Further, there is a heightened awareness of personal hygiene and safety measures which is important for the travel to be safe.

"The large number of people waiting to travel not only points to the need but also the importance it has for the revival of economic activity as very few of them would be travelling for leisure," said Sangam.

The survey also showed that passengers put a very high consideration on hygiene, sanitation and disinfection -- over 73 per cent -- and social distancing (63 per cent) and much lower consideration to traditional factors such as travel cost (22 per cent), comfort (21 per cent) and punctuality (18 per cent).

The survey was conducted among redBus customers across India. Only 5 per cent of the respondents were willing to postpone their travel to over six months while the rest had plans to travel within that period.

Udupi, Jun 4: Karnataka Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakhar on Wednesday said that he will take up an issue before a high-powered committee on COVID-19 to find out the possibility of imposing lockdown on a particular house of the person infected with the virus instead of sealing down of entire areas.

Talking to reporters here on Tuesday after reviewing the district's prevailing COVID situation, the minister said the concept and modalities of declaring any area as containment zone has undergone changes in the last two months.

"Hitherto, we were declaring the entire area as the containment zone after detection of coronavirus positive cases. Subsequently, the area of the containment zone was decreased from the whole area to a particular street," the Minister said.

"Now, BJP MLA Raghupati Bhat has given a suggestion to seal down a particular house of the positive patient which would be taken up before the high-powered panel. The district administration concerned could supply all essential items to the particular family," he said.

He further said that the Union government has been providing all facilities to all the states to deal with the situation."