Saudis keen to invest in Indian food sector: Envoy tells Karnataka authorities

Agencies
December 5, 2018

Bengaluru, Dec 5:  Saudi Arabia was keen to invest in the Indian food sector as India was one of the largest exporters of grains and vegetables to the desert kingdom, its ambassador to India Saud bin Mohammed Al-Sati said on Tuesday.

"We are looking to invest in the Indian food sector, particularly in packaging, storage and transportation, as India is one of the largest exporters of food grains and vegetables to our kingdom," Sati told an interactive session with India Inc here.

In view of the 30 per cent wastage in the Indian farm sector due to bottlenecks in storage, packaging and transportation, the envoy said investment by Saudi Arabia would benefit both the countries.

Projecting a 10 per cent increase in bilateral trade between the two countries this fiscal (2018-19) from $27.5 billion last fiscal (2017-18), Sati said there was immense scope to boost it further by investing in agriculture, chemicals, fertilizers and tourism.

"There is a great potential for tourism as we are reducing our dependency on petroleum oil. We are expecting about 8 lakh Indians to visit our country this year as against 5 lakh last year," said the ambassador.

Calling upon India Inc to explore business opportunities in his country, the envoy told the Karnataka members of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) apex body to invest in the education and IT sectors to benefit the 3 million Indian expats in the kingdom.

Hydrolines Chief Executive R.P. Nair said IT, IT-enabled services, pharmaceuticals, life sciences, manufacturing, power, energy, transport and logistics, food processing and beverage, infrastructure and construction, plastics and polymers chemicals and automotive were the key sectors for trade between the two countries.

"As relations between the two countries were robust and vibrant, there is huge potential to expand the cooperation in unexplored areas. India can be a strong partner in Saudi Arabia's expansion process," added Nair.

Earlier, Sati called on Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy at the state Secretariat in the city centre along with former Minister and Congress legislator Roshan Baig.

Also Read: Bengaluru to get Saudi Arabian consulate soon

Comments

Joseph Stalin
 - 
Wednesday, 5 Dec 2018

Great gift for people. It will help to increase jobs in food packaging, storaging and transporting sections

Unknown
 - 
Wednesday, 5 Dec 2018

Actually we need govt like Saudi . They are really working for people's development and satisfaction. Modi govt such a waste. Working for unwanted issues

Sandeep Ullal
 - 
Wednesday, 5 Dec 2018

Packaging, stiraging fields will improve far better than now. Good news.. Congrats HDK govt. Thank you saudi govt

Vinod
 - 
Wednesday, 5 Dec 2018

Such a nice move. HDK doing great things

Reshma kodialbail
 - 
Wednesday, 5 Dec 2018

Indians love arabian foods. Already we adopted many arabian foods than western

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News Network
August 6,2020

Chennai, Aug 5: Karnataka on Wednesday crossed the 1.5 lakh mark in respect of COVID-19 cases and Kerala was on the verge of 30,000 while Andhra Pradesh witnessed a five- digit daily caseload after a lull. 

Tamil Nadu saw a small jump in its daily cases as compared to Tuesday while Telangana and union territory Puducherry reported their respective record single-day spikes. 

The five states and the union territory reported a combined 24,415 fresh confirmed coronavirus cases and 316 fatalities on Wednesday. 

A Puducherry Minister tested positive for the deadly virus while an opposition AINRC legislator who contracted the coronavirus earlier was discharged after being cured of it. 

In Karnataka, the coronavirus cases stood at 1,51,449 with the addition of 5,619 fresh cases while 100 deaths were reported, pushing the total fatalities to 2,804, the health department said.

According to a health bulletin, 74,679 persons have been discharged so far, leaving 73,958 active cases. Andhra Pradesh''s COVID-19 surge continued on Wednesday too, with 10,128 cases reported afresh after easing a little in the last four days. 

The overall tally rose to 1,86,461 on Wednesday. The state had last reported its five-figure daily tally on July 31 when it was 10,376. 

The state also saw a record number of 77 coronavirus deaths in a day, pushing the toll to 1,681, the latest bulletin said. 

In the last 24 hours, 8,729 patients had also recovered from the infection and there were 80,426 active cases. 

As many as 1,04,354 patients have been cured and discharged so far. Kerala was on the verge of 30,000 cases, as its tally stood at 29,145 with the addition of 1,195 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday.

The toll from the virus so far climbed to 94 with seven more deaths. Thiruvananthapuram continued to top the districts in infections with 274 cases on Wednesday, of whom 248 had been infected through contact. 

Malappuram (167), Kasaragod (128), Ernakulam (120) and Alappuzha (108) reported over 100 cases. As many as 112 patients died of COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu, the highest reported in a single day so far, taking the toll to 4,461 on Wednesday while 5,175 more people tested positive, propelling the case count to 2.73 lakh.

Recoveries outnumbered fresh cases with 6,031 people getting discharged from various hospitals, taking the total cured to 2,14,815 as the active cases dropped to 54,184, a government bulletin said. 

In Telangana, 2,012 new cases emerged while 13 related fatalities were reported, taking the total infection tally in the state to 70,958. Out of the new cases, 532 were from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), followed by Medchal-Malkajgiri 198 and Rangareddy 188, a state government bulletin said on Wednesday, providing data as of 8 PM on August 4. 

The total number of people who recovered from the infectious disease touched 50,814, while 19,568 were under treatment.

The COVID-19 fatality rate in the state was 0.81 per cent, while it was 2.10 per cent at the national level, it said. The recovery rate was 71.6 per cent in the state, while it was 66.31 per cent in the country, it added. 

Puducherry clocked its worst single-day spike of 286 infections, recording seven deaths, even as the overall tally of cases went up to 4,432. 

The deaths during the 24 hours in the Union Territory took the toll to 65 so far since the outbreak of the virus, Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao told a virtual press conference. 

His cabinet colleague M Kandasamy and his son reported positive for the virus and were admitted to JIPMER.

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News Network
April 6,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 6: Karnataka State Board for Auqaf on Monday suspended mass prayers and visit to the Qabrasthans (graveyards) and dargahs on the occasion of Shab-e-Barat on April 9 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"It is hereby directed to all not to hold congregational prayer in the Masjid and the management of the Qabrasthans/Dargahs throughout the State should suspend the visit of public on the occasion of Shab-e-Barat on Thursday, April 9," according to a statement here on Monday.

It said, no public shall be allowed to perform religious rituals in the Qabrasthans/Dargahs and all the gates shall be kept closed.

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News Network
May 3,2020

Bengaluru, May 3: Undergraduate and postgraduate students skipping online classes held by their universities run the risk of being debarred from writing their exams. 

State universities, which are monitoring the attendance of online classes, are asking their affiliate colleges to send the monthly online attendance details and this would reflect in their regular attendance. This would apply to those studying professional courses like medicine and engineering. 

State medical education minister Dr K Sudhakar has asked all medical colleges to regularly send attendance details to the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS).

RGUHS vice-chancellor Dr Sachidanand confirmed to DH that the varsity is indeed monitoring the attendance of students. “Online classes are equal to classroom teaching. (Such method of conducting classes) are necessary during the Covid-19 pandemic and the nationwide lockdown,” he said.

According to the Supreme Court directions, students should have 75% attendance to be eligible to appear for the final exams. There could be relaxations if they have health issues. If students are bunking online classes, it would reflect on their minimum attendance necessary to appear for the exams, the vice-chancellors of state-run varsities said.

Bangalore University vice-chancellor Prof K R Venugopal said most of the students are attending online classes and teachers are messaging the parents of those who are irregular. “(Of course) if they fall short of the minimum attendance, they won’t be allowed to appear for the exams,” he said.

Bengaluru North University vice-chancellor Prof T D Kemparaju said the administration has asked its teachers to record details of students attending online classes and update the university.

Mixed signals 

Meanwhile, the University Grants Commission (UGC) on Wednesday issued guidelines directing all universities to treat the lockdown period as “deemed as attended” for students and research scholars. Experts pointed out that the order would prompt students not to take the online classes seriously.

“Arrangements have been made at the state varsities to make students attend online classes compulsorily and students are also serious about it. Now, because of the UGC guidelines, they may bunk classes,” said the vice-chancellor of a state-run university.

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