Hindutva protesters violate Section 144 in BC Road; 2 MPs among many arrested

Kuwait: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all sections of the community in Kuwait, hundreds of NRIs are stranded due to unavailability of flights to fly back home. Leaders of associations belonging to Karnataka state in Kuwait and other part of Gulf countries have initiated a collective effort to discuss the challenges and issues faced by Kannadigas in Gulf Countries during COVID-19 pandemic.    

Mr. Ramesh S Bhandary – President of Tulu Koota Kuwait and Mr. Rajesh Vittal KKK president along with Other Gulf Karnataka Association leaders held video conference meeting arranged by GULF NRI Forum with Hon. Chief Minister of Karnataka Sri B.S. Yediyurappa to discuss the issue of COVID19 in Kuwait.

During this video conference, association leaders briefly explained various issues, statistics of emergency cases which include pregnant women, Senior citizens, visit visa expired cases and urgent medical treatment requirement cases who wish to travel back to Karnataka.

Evacuation flights to Bengaluru and Mangalore from Kuwait and other Gulf countries, request for free airline tickets or free quarantine facility at Bengaluru and Mangaluru also requested during this video call.

Dedicated Covid - 19 Helpline number for Karanataka NRIs- Nominate One line Contact person in Karnataka to co-ordinates all Covid related issues of NRI.

Responding to leaders requests, B.S Yediyurappa promised to address GCC Kannadigas concerns during this humanitarian crisis.

On Behalf of Kannadigaru Dubai & KNRI Forum , Gulf Kannadigas & Gulf Karantaka associations leaders expressed the happiness with BS Yadiyurappa - Hon Chief Minister of Karnataka, Raghavendra Yadiyurappa - Member of Parliament - Shivamogga constituency, for hearing problems of NRI and giving assurance of immediate action plan to repatriate needy Kannadigas from Gulf region to Karnataka.

Video conference was attended by Karnataka association leaders of Gulf Countries.

Karnataka NRI  Forum Kuwait committee comprising  representatives of leading associations of Karnataka in Kuwait such as Tulu Koota Kuwait (TKK), Kuwait Canara Welfare Association (KCWA), Kuwait Kannada Koota (KKK), Buntara Sangha Kuwait (BSK), Billava Sangha Kuwait (BSK), KKMA Karnataka Branch , Indian Doctors Forum and Karnataka Muslim Welfare Association Kuwait (KMWA).

Bengaluru, May 17: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Transport Minister Laxman Savadi on Sunday wrote to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari requesting to issue new lockdown guidelines including permission to operate public transport and said the lockdown has caused a financial loss of Rs 16,00 crore to all four Karnataka Transport Undertakings.

In view of these problems, the state Transport Minister requested Gadkari to permit the deployment of Non-AC buses on scheduled routes to ensure the adequacy of services.

The four State Transport Undertakings (STUs) in Karnataka which are providing bus-based public transport services within the state and to the neighbouring states are Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC), North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC) and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC).

"KSRTC, NWKRTC and NEKRTC operate buses for mofussil services i.e. Interdistrict, intradistrict and interstate, whereas BMTC operates only in urban and suburban areas in the city of Bengaluru. The four STUs put together hold a fleet of about 24,900 buses including 1,520 air-conditioned buses and operate about 71.00 lakh km. per day and carries about 98.00 lakh passengers every single day," Savadi outlined in the letter.

The Minister said due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the lockdown that ensued have brought regular bus operations and functioning to a grinding halt.

"This has caused a devastating impact on the operations of all the four STUs due to the combination of lack of revenue and continuing fixed costs such as salaries and pensions to staff, payables against existing loans etc. It has been estimated that the lockdown has caused a financial loss of INR 1,600/- crore to these four STUs," he added.

Savadi said even after post-COVID lockdown, operations and revenues won't reach its previous demand& supply patterns in the next six to eight months due to reduced economic activity and users' perceived risk of contacting COVID in public transport.

In addition to that, "occupancy should be allowed up to seating capacity (without standees). This is essential to meet minimal demand," he said in the letter.

"The crew should wear facemask and hand gloves. The crew with health issues should not be deployed. The face masks should be made mandatory for all the passengers. Only asymptomatic persons should be allowed to travel in public transport. The Government of India may consider staggering working hours for various sectors to reduce peak hour traffic demand," the minister listed out these recommendations in the letter.

Savadi said that with social distancing norm of reduced seating capacity in public transport, it will not be possible to provide transport facility to all the daily passengers. This will create demand for more buses, which cannot be met.

"Restrictions on public transport will lead to passenger commute by overcrowding in smaller vehicles like cars, maxi cabs, goods tempos etc. which will adversely affect preventive measures," he added.

Therefore, Savadi requested Union Minister to look into the above matter and issue fresh guidelines to all the states / UT's.

Bengaluru, Jun 7: A mobile app and a portal offering technology-driven solutions to manage and mitigate floods in urban areas were launched here on Saturday by Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashoka.

The mobile app 'Bengaluru Megha Sandesha' was developed to disseminate information on rainfall and flood forecast, location-specific dynamic weather directly to the public. "The in-built features of the app and the information provided for a city is the first of its kind in the country," a press release said. This is a system of providing rainfall, flood forecasts and early warning to the officials of government agencies in the city through SMS to their mobile phones, social media platforms and a dedicated web portal, the release said.

The information provided would help the civic authorities act in advance and manage the floods, it said. The portal 'Varunamitra' is for information on the weather. The information provided is based on real-time data from 100 telemetric rain gauges installed and maintained at various locations across the state, it said. Rainfall forecast is based on the weather research and forecast models developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Ahmedabad, the release said.

The information on flood forecast is based on the hydrological model, hydraulic routing and automation of the results. The Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, along with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), took up this project on the urban flood model for Bengaluru city. The project was funded by the Central government's department of science and technology, the release added.