No sign of end of Karnataka transport employees’ agitation on 10th day

News Network
April 16, 2021

Bengaluru, Apr 16: There is no sign of State Transport Employees withdrawing their agitation as Karnataka Government is not ready to yield to the pressure tactics and thus woes of travelling public continued for the 10th day.

The relief to some extent was Private operators continued their services in the BMTC and KSRTC routes.

The agitators today staged a protest in front of the house of Legislators urging the government to implement a 6th pay commission on par with state government employees.

KSRTC officials claimed that more than 4000 buses resumed service and expect more and more joining soon.

Official sources said that so far 240 employees have been removed from the service. An order in this effect was issued by BMTC.

Private buses and other Public Transport vehicles, which have been given temporary permission to operate on mofussil routes, plied as usual. As a convenience to commuters, boards that mentioned the routes and final destination were pasted on Private vehicles.

All Karnataka Road Transport Employees’ Federation North Eastern Zone president Chandrakanth Gaddagi said the employees should withdraw their strike and return to duty in the interest of the public as Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi have already agreed for their salary revision.

Karnataka State Road Transport Corporations’ Veerashaiva Lingayat Employees’ Welfare Association President Sangamnath Rabashetty said the Transport Minister has agreed to hike salary by 12 per cent and has also responded positively for cancelling transfers. The employees should immediately return to the duty to prevent privatisation of the transport department.

KSRTC SC/ST Employees' Association has called on employees of road transport corporations who are on strike, to return to work to save RTCs from privatisation. The BJP government wants to privatise RTCs and therefore, it is not responding to the demand of agitating employees. To fight against that conspiracy, SC/ST employees should return to work, and another round of struggle for their demands can be launched later," said the association president F H Jakkappanavar.

Nearly 40 per cent of employees against whom actions like transfer and suspension are taken belong to SC/ST communities. Utilising the strike, the government is trying to privatise RTCs, he charged.

"Our main demand is to consider RTC employees as government employees, but only the sixth pay commission issue is being highlighted now", he added.

"The strike was launched without proper discussion, that too during the Covid-19 situation. Employees of the RTCs should withdraw the strike to save RTCs from privatisation, and to end inconvenience being experienced by the public," said AITUC district unit President Devanand Jagapur. Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, who is leading the strike, seems to be into an unholy pact with the government which is in favour of privatisation of RTCs, he alleged.

So far 947 out of about 1,800 employees attached to four depots of KSRTC Mysuru City Division have reported for duty, while 845 out of the nearly 3,000 staff attached to Mysuru Rural Division have reported for work, according to KSRTC sources.

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News Network
March 16,2024

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Budget carrier Air India Express has launched a new fare family, offering travelers the option to save on flight tickets by traveling light, with an increased baggage allowance of up to 40kg or no check-in luggage at all.

The new fare categories, applicable to flights to and from the UAE and other international destinations, are:

•    Xpress Lite
•    Xpress Value
•    Xpress Flex
•    Xpress Biz

Xpress Lite offers cabin baggage-only fares, making it the most economical option for passengers traveling with the airline.

Xpress Value fare includes 15 kg check-in bag fares, while Xpress Flex offers unlimited changes with no change fees. Xpress Biz features business class seats, complimentary meals, and priority services.

A subsidiary of Air India and a part of Tata Group, the airline introduced Xpress Lite on February 20 for UAE passengers who prefer traveling without check-in baggage.

Xpress Biz fares are accessible on all the new Air India Express Boeing 737-8 aircraft. Travelers can benefit from increased baggage allowances of 25kg for domestic flights and 40kg for international flights when booking Xpress Biz fares. This fare offers priority check-in, baggage, and boarding services.

Air India Express is already operating aircraft with Biz seats across 70-plus routes in India.

In a previous interview with a news channel Aloke Singh, managing director of Air India Express, stated that the carrier was looking to increase capacity to the Gulf region, including the UAE, as well as to provide better connectivity to Gulf travelers.
 

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News Network
March 27,2024

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Gokarna (Uttara Kannada): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday said the Congress will decide about making him the Chief Minister in future, bringing to the fore again the issue of leadership change.

There was stiff competition between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for the Chief Minister's post after the Assembly election results in May last year, and the Congress had managed to convince the latter and made him the Deputy Chief Minister.

There were some reports at the time that a compromise had been reached based on a "rotational Chief Minister formula," according to which Shivakumar will become CM after two-and-half years but they have not been officially confirmed by the party.

During a temple visit here, a priest prayed that God's blessings may be showered on Shivakumar, and he became the Chief Minister.

Speaking to reporters here in Uttara Kannada district, Shivakumar, who has in the past made no secret of his ambition to become Chief Minister, amid speculations of change in guard mid-way of the Assembly term, responded to talk in some political circles about the leadership issue.

"What's wrong if a priest expresses his desire before God while praying? The priest has expressed his desire. Now Siddaramaiah is the Chief Minister, I'm working as Deputy Chief Minister under him, also as party's state President. People speak about it and desiring it (Shivakumar should become CM) is a different matter, it will be decided by our party," Shivakumar said.

"Now we are all working under the leadership of Siddaramaiah, and our desire is that the state should progress further under his leadership," he said.

"There will be people including supporters and priests, who pray for us, they will express their opinion. Can we stop them from doing it? At the temple it is between God and his disciple, they have expressed their feelings to God," Shivakumar added. 

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News Network
March 27,2024

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At least seven people have been killed when Israeli warplanes bombed an emergency center in southern Lebanon near the border with the 1948 Israeli-occupied territories with air-to-surface missiles, according to Lebanese security sources.

Two sources, speaking on condition of anonymity said early on Wednesday that the strike targeted the Islamic Group’s emergency and relief center in Lebanon’s southern village of Habbariyeh.

Jamaa Islamiya, a Lebanese group closely linked to the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, said in a statement that “a number” of people had been killed, and called the strike a “heinous crime.”

An official from the group said “seven rescuers” were killed in the aerial assault.

Another Jamaa Islamiya official, also requesting anonymity, said a dozen medical staff were in the emergency center at the time of the strike, adding that bodies were being pulled from the rubble.

Lebanese lawmaker Hassan Mrad said “the Israeli aggression on Habbariyeh adds to the long list of Israeli crimes.”

Israel has been launching air strikes against Lebanon since the beginning of its onslaught against the Gaza Strip in early October.

An Israeli strike knocked down part of a building in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh on February 14, killing seven members of the same family, including a child, Lebanon’s official National News Agency said. A boy initially reported missing was found alive under the rubble.

In a separate Israeli attack, a woman and her two children were killed in the village of as-Sawana in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli regime launched its devastating hostilities in the Gaza Strip on October 7 after the territory’s Hamas-led Palestinian resistance groups carried out a surprise retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupying entity.

Israel's raids have resulted in retaliatory strikes from Hezbollah in support of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

The movement has vowed to keep up its retaliatory operations as long as the Tel Aviv regime continues its onslaught on Gaza.

The Israeli campaign in Gaza has killed at least 32,414 people, most of them women and children. Another 74,787 individuals have also been wounded.

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