Shantanu Gupta’s book on BJP to become part of curriculum in Indonesia’s Islamic University

Bengaluru, Feb 19: Congress MLA UT Khader on Wednesday slammed the Central government over the enactment of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and said it violates the Constitution.

"The new citizenship amendment bill is unconstitutional. The citizenship cannot be given on cast and creed basis. Because of these things we are fighting against it," he said while speaking to media in Bengaluru.

Opposition along with several non-BJP state governments, including Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala, Punjab and Rajasthan have refused to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed NRC in their respective states.

The CAA grants citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist and Christian refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who came to India on or before December 31, 2014.

Bengaluru, May 26: After Yogi Adityanath said that no state can take manpower from Uttar Pradesh without his government's permission, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar on Tuesday termed the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister's move as "unconstitutional" and "against the right to freedom of movement."

"Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's move to restrict hiring people of Uttar Pradesh is unconstitutional and goes against the right to freedom of movement. Mr Yogi, please note that UP is not the private property of your govt. The people of Uttar Pradesh don't need your government's permission to work anywhere in India," Shivakumar tweeted.

"Mr Yogi doesn't understand the basic rules of governance in a democracy. Such actions lack common sense and will only make the people of Uttar Pradesh suffer more. When it's convenient for BJP, it's One Nation, when it's not, it's different states and different people. Heights of hypocrisy," he added.

Adityanath had on Monday said that the state government will provide social security and insurance to labourers and no state can take manpower from Uttar Pradesh without his government's permission.

"If any state wants manpower, they cannot take our people from the state without our permission as there were reports of misbehaviour with them in other states. We are taking full responsibility for labourers' social security. We will provide every kind of security to them including insurance. Wherever they will go, we will always stand by them," Yogi said.

The Chief Minister said that skill mapping is being done in Uttar Pradesh and a commission will be set up for labourers to ensure employment for them.

On Sunday, Adityanath had ordered the formation of a 'Migration Commission' for the purpose of providing the workers, who have returned to the state during the lockdown phase, with employment suited to their skills.

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.