KALABURAGI  SATURDAY  NOVEMBER 28, 2020  `7.00  PAGES 14  CITY EDITION GOVT CAPS CAB AGGREGATORS’ COMMISSION AT 20% OF FARE As per the guidelines issued by the Union Transport ministry on Friday, 80% of the total fare must go to driver partners SURGE PRICING LIMIT FIXED AT 1.5% In what could be a relief to the riders, the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines stipulate that for the surge price imposed during peak hours be capped at 1.5 times the base fare. It also allows the aggregator to charge a fare that is 50% lower than the base fare when the demand is low. Where taxi fare has not been determined by the local government, `25-30 will be the base fare P12 ■ 15-day ALL-FEMALE POOL OPTION FOR WOMEN ■ ■ Drivers welcomed it, but said the commission should be capped at 10%. At present, cab aggregators charge 25-30% According to the guidelines, women riders opting to pool their trips should be able to do so with only female passengers Cancellation fee of 10% applicable to drivers if they cancel trips TRAINING MUST BE PROVIDED FOR NEW DRIVERS BY THE AGGREGATOR CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI With the AAP supporting the agitation, the Delhi govt rejects the Delhi Police’s request to convert stadiums inside the city into temporary jails to house the detained farmers After intense clashes at the Delhi border, Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar reaches out, invites farmers’ organisations for a fresh round of talks on the new farm laws on December 3 “While a section of farmers want to block the highway to pressure the Centre, others want to protest at the designated Nirankari ground,’’ said a farmer leader on condition of anonymity BSY defers move on OBC tag for Lingayats E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bengaluru Police fire water canon on farmers marching towards Delhi, protesting the Centre’s farm reforms, at Singhu Border | SHEKHAR YADAV Delhi gate opens to Punjab, Haryana farmers after clashes Union Agri minister suggests talks on December 3, but protesters unmoved EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi/Chandigarh/Lucknow THOUSANDS of farmers from Punjab and Haryana clashed at least thrice with the Delhi Police on Friday as they were prevented from entering the Capital even as Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar urged them to end the agitation and come for the third round of talks on December 3. “The government has always been ready to discuss issues. We have invited farmers’ organisations for another round of talks on December 3,” Tomar said in a statement. But his appeal hardly found any takers as the far mers stayed put at Delhi’s doorstep, blocking the national highway LOCAL PUSH Govt to hire Kannadigas as outsourced employees EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru EVERY human resource agency that provides outsourced staff to various gove r n m e n t d e p a r t m e n t s, should hire only Kannadigas, said a circular issued by the Karnataka government on Friday. The circular directs all departments to place this condition before the agencies. The circular, issued by Chief Secretary TM Vijaybhaskar, said the State government is observing Kannada year (November 2020 to 2021), and stressed the enforcement of Kannada in day-to-day administration. They listed out 19 points on enforcing Kannada. Vijaybhaskar has directed human resource agencies providing outsourced staff to various government departments, to recruit Kannadigas and also place the same condition in their agreement copy with the agencies. The circular also said they should give a chance to local Kannadiga artistes in all their road shows, including Dasara, Hampi Utsav and other events. The circular also stressed that parks, junctions and circles be named after Kannada writers, freedom fighters and others who worked for Kannada and the State. to Chandigarh. They also ignored the Delhi Police, which after blocking their entry into the Capital, permitted them to go to the Nirankari ground in north Delhi’s Burari area to stage their protest. The Punjab and Haryana farmers received support from their Uttar Pradesh counterparts, with the Bharatiya Kisan Union holding sit-in protests across several districts of west UP and blocking highways. Other than the Yamuna Expressway the BKU protested at , Ba ghpat, Muzaf f ar na g ar, Meerut, Bijnor, Hapur, Shamli, Bulandshahr, Ghaziabad, Noida, Moradabad and Saharanpur. Officials in the Union Min- istry of Home Affairs maintained that the government is in constant touch with the concerned states to maintain law and order. In many areas along the Delhi border, such as Tikri, Singhu border, protesters refused to move to the Nirankari ground. At Tikri border, the Delhi Police took hundreds of farmers to the Nirankari ground but the protestors returned to the border. At Singhu border, the farmers instead sought permission to protest at the Ramlila maidan instead. “We are not moving anywhere now. We have enough dal, wheat and gas to prepare our own food,” said farmers at the Singhu border. “Please end your stir come forward for talks. The government is ready for all discussions...,” Narendra Singh Tomar, Agriculture Minister Pro-terror group graffiti surfaces in M’luru on 26/11 anniversary EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Mangaluru AN inflammatory graffiti, hailing terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba, surfaced on the compound wall of an apartment in Kadri police limits on Friday the 12th , anniversary of the 2008 Mumbai attack, leading to public outrage. The police acted quickly to get the graffiti erased before any untoward incident occurred and have launched an investigation. The message read, “Do not force us to invite Lashkar-eTaiba and Taliban to deal with Sanghis and Manuvadis. #Lashkar Zindabad.” A case has been registered for allegedly promoting enmity between different communities and causing damage to property A special team is investi. gating the case and is collecting CCTV footage from nearby buildings, City Police Commis- sioner Vikas Kumar said. Many leaders from across the political spectrum have condemned the attempt to disrupt peace in the coastal region and demanded the arrest of those responsible. District Youth Congress president Mithun Rai, in a press release, urged the police to immediately nab the miscreants. “This graffiti in support of terror groups is a threat to national security. Such anti-social elements need to be taught a lesson,” he said. CONTINUED ON: P5 IN a surprising, but strategic climbdown, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday deferred a decision on recommending the OBC tag to the Veerashaiva-Lingayats, reportedly after a conversation with Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The issue’, which was listed on the agenda for the cabinet meeting, was discussed, but not approved as planned earlier. “Since this is a very special decision, we will discuss the issue with the central leadership and then go ahead. This is also the view expressed by my cabinet colleagues”, the CM said, before heading into the cabinet meeting. Speaking to the media, Yediyurappa confirmed that he had a telephonic conversation with Amit Shah. Before the meeting, the CM spoke to Shah, who is said to have dissuaded him from taking up the issue in the cabinet for now. The government will take up the issue up after due diligence — discussing it in detail with different community heads, cabinet colleagues, central leadership and legal experts and getting a comprehensive understanding of the matter, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy said. The CM was originally scheduled to address the media and make an announcement on Friday urging the Centre to approve the OBC tag , to the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community This . was being seen as a master stroke to further consolidate his support base in the community . But as the issue was deferred, the media contingent was informed that the CM will not address P4 them after the cabinet meeting. Cabinet identifies taluks for state’s 31st district EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi The cabinet on Friday said it has identified taluks for the state’s new 31st district, Vijayanagara. Hosapete, Hagaribommanahalli, Kotturu, Huvina Hadagali, Kudligi and Harapanahalli will form part of the proposed district, with Hosapete as its headquarters. INDIA’s economy, on a slowdown path since March 2018 and pummelled by the coronavirus pandemic, has officially entered recession with GDP growth contracting 7.5% year-on-year in the JulySeptember 2020 quarter. This is, however, a notable improvement from the mind-numbing 23.9% decline in the previous threemonth period (April-June 2020). Recession is when economic growth rate is negative for two consecutive quarters or more. Assuming a 5-6% trendline growth, the effective output loss during the first half of the current fiscal is upwards `20 lakh crore. On the brighter side, the data released by the National Statistics Office on Friday have come as a relief as various projections had pegged GDP growth to be much worse. This, according to economists, shows the economy is healing faster than P12 thought. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa arrives for the cabinet meeting at Vidhana Soudha on Friday | NAGARAJA GADEKAL If it had been approved by the State Cabinet and sent to the Centre, and if the Union Government had delayed implementing it, then they could have risked being seen as anti-Lingayat — Political analysts Close monitoring helps bring down cases of malnourishment in Shivamogga district A R P I T H A I @ Shivamogga THE district has seen a slight dip in the number of malnourished children compared to previous year, thanks to the efforts of anganwadi workers who undertook in-depth tracking and tracing and also provided the children with timely interventions t o o v e r c o m e malnourishment. According to data obtained from the Women and Child Development Department, there were 371 malnourished children in the district in April 2019. In April t h i s ye a r, t h e number had dipped to 297. Currently, there are 256 malnourished children in the district. Suresha C, in-charge Deputy Director of the Women and Child Development Department, told The New Indian Express that compared to other districts, Shivamogga has less cases of malnourished children. “As the district has been covered under Poshan Abhiyan, the anganw a d i s t a f f a re equipped with updated mechanisms to identify stunting and wasting. There are 2,439 anganwadi centres in the district. The anganwadi workers and teachers measure the height and weight of such children every month without fail and also closely monitor their food habits.” Suresha said that Nutritional Rehabilitation Centres (NRC) were set up in each taluk to suggest nutritious food habits, treatment and medication. The department gives Rs 2,000 per child for buying immunity boosters. CONTINUED ON: P7 EXPRESS READ This graffiti in support of terror groups is a threat to national security. Such anti-social elements need to be taught a lesson Demolition at actor’s bungalow illegal: HC Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday held that demolition carried out by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation at actor Kangana Ranaut’s bungalow here was illegal and smacked of malicious intent. Mithun Rai, Youth Congress President, Dakshina Kannada Police covered the wall with the controversial graffiti before it could cause any untoward incidents, in Mangaluru on Friday | EXPRESS Recession stays, but recovery has been faster PM to review vaccine work today BENGALURU’S VERY OWN A group of researchers from around the world, including Karnataka, have discovered a new species of frog, Sphaerotheca Bengaluru (above), which is found to inhabit the peri-urban zones of the garden city. Ahmedabad/Hyderabad/ Pune: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Pune, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad on Saturday to review coronavirus vaccine development work at facilities here, the PMO said. NEW INITIATIVE Flipkart teams up with Army welfare body to recruit retired personnel EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru Homegrown e-commerce major Flipkart has said that it will recruit ex-Army personnel for several roles in its workforce under a new initiative launched in partnership with the Army Welfare Placement Organisation (AWPO). The Bengaluru-based firm said that under the new initia- tive, selected personnel will be offered customised induction, sensitisation programmes, and curated learning modules to enable a seamless transition and help them learn the nuances of the various corporate job roles. Flipkart’s hiring of ex-servicemen will help provide opportunities in new career paths and offer more options after serving in the Armed forces, the company said in a statement. “We have several former personnel of the armed forces leading important charters at Flipkart, and we are delighted to announce FlipMarch to take this initiative ahead. The loyalty, discipline and risk-taking ability of the members of the armed forces are of great value to Flipkart and will play a crucial role in building a robust organisa- tion,” Krishna Raghavan, Chief People’s Officer, Flipkart said on Thursday . According to AWPO, over 50,000 personnel in the age bracket of 30-40 years, who are well trained in multiple aspects of logistics, workforce management, crisis handling, retire every year, making them an ideal choice for large organisations. “This partnership brings together two influential service providers serving the nation — a leading homegrown e-commerce marketplace and another providing opportunities to Indian Army veterans. This agreement between Flipkart and AWPO also exemplifies the dedication of both organisations in leveraging each other’s strengths and providing meaningful opportunities to the Army veterans. We look forward to a continued relationship with Flipkart,” Major General Deepak Sapra, Managing Director, AWPO, said. Flipkart currently has numerous ex-Army personnel in its workforce deployed across corporate offices, supply chain operations and security management who play a key role in the day-to-day functioning of the company .