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Bengaluru, Jan 3: Former Karnataka chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Friday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that 90 per cent of the promises made by him remain unfulfilled.

"He (Prime Minister Modi) had promised that in 2020 the economy will be doubled, but only their troubles have doubled. He just lied. 90 per cent of the promises made by Modi have remained unfulfilled," Siddaramaiah told media here.

Siddaramaiah's remarks come at a time when Prime Minister Modi is on a two-day visit to the state.

"In August, there was severe flood in state, he didn't visit Karnataka at that time. Flood situation was in 23 districts. Prime Minister will tweet for small issues. But at the time of severe flood he didn't even tweet. In 2009, Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister. He did aerial survey of the state and announced Rs 1500 crore relief on spot," Siddaramaiah said.

"This time the estimated damage due to flood is more than Rs 1 lakh crores," he said.

He went on to say, "Prime Minister came to witness Chandrayaan-2. He did not give time to Chief Minister and ministers and opposition party to meet him and discuss about floods."

"When I was the Chief Minister, the Prime Minister visited the state two times. Prime Minister had told at the time of inauguration of food park that there will be 10,000 direct employment and 25,000 employment. But nothing has happened till now," Siddaramaiah said.

Besides the Prime Minister, Siddaramaiah also criticised Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.

"In last election, Prime Minister had told that, if BJP comes to power in Centre and state, there will be development. But nothing has happened. Chief Minister and ministers should have spoken to the Prime Minister about relief funds. The central government should have announced it as National disaster... That's why I called BS Yediyurappa as weak Chief Minister," Siddaramaiah said.

"He had said if BJP is in power at the centre and state, doors of fortune of the state will be opened. People trusted him and gave 25 seats in Lok Sabha elections. But now, he doesn't even open the doors of his house for his party leaders," he said.

Congress leader further cornered the Prime Minister over his address in Tumkuru Mutt on Thursday and said, "We admit Pakistan is an evil country. But what are you doing about minorities in our country? You are bringing law against the minorities. Is that right? And you give speech about these things in front of young children."

Prime Minister Modi is on a two-day visit to Karnataka and is attending several events as part of his official engagements.

Kalaburagi, Mar 16: Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner B Sharat has banned the sale of liquor and ordered the closure of bars and restaurants in the district until further orders in the wake of coronavirus scare.

On Sunday, Sharat said that the public gatherings including local markets, village fairs, Urs festival in Kalaburagi district have been banned.

"Gatherings including local markets, village fairs, Urs festival in the district have been banned as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus until further orders," Sharat said.

The Karnataka Health Department on Sunday said that all the family members and other contacts of the 76-year-old man who died of coronavirus in Kalaburagi are being monitored closely.

The state government has said that six cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the state as of now, including one person who died.

"Till date, six COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state including one death. The 5 Coronavirus positive cases are in isolation at the designated hospital in Bengaluru," the government said.

Bengaluru, June 10: The Department of Primary and Secondary Education of Government of Karnataka today ordered a ban on online classes for children from KG to class 5.

The decision was taken following a report based on the report submitted by director NIMHANS, recommending online classes only above the age of 6 years and also following the complaints from several parents about online classes conducted by private schools even for kindergarten kids.

Briefing the media soon after the meeting with department officials, S Suresh Kumar, primary and secondary education minister said, "We have taken two major decisions today. The online classes for LKG, UKG and primary classes should be stopped immediately."

Even collecting fees in the name of online classes should be stopped, said the minister. "We have already issued a circular about it insisting that schools not collect fees in the name of online classes and also requesting schools not to increase fees for the 2020-21 academic year considering financial constraints of several people due to the COVID-19 pandemic," said the minister.

The department, however, also discussed how to engage children during this period as there was no clarity over the reopening of schools for the 2020-21 academic year. "We have constituted a committee to prepare guidelines on how to engage students and increase their knowledge. The committee is headed by Prof. MK Sridhar," he said.

Before taking this decision, the department had three rounds of discussions with various experts, including Prof. MK Sridhar, Prof. VP Niranjanaradhya, Dr John Vijay Sagar and other departments, including the home and health departments.