Advocate on EC’s panel quits citing conflict of values Mohit D Ram, a lawyer who has been representing the Election Commission before the Supreme Court, has resigned from the panel of advocates of the EC, saying his values were not in consonance with the present functioning of the poll body. Advocate Mohit D Ram was a panel counsel for the EC in the Supreme Court since 2013. bengaluru l saturday l may 08, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION 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 14-day ‘lockdown’ from Monday Movement of pvt vehicles strictly prohibited; Chief Secretary says curbs more stringent now A n u s h a R a v i @ Bengaluru Starting 6 am on Monday a , near-complete lockdown will be enforced across Karnataka. With 592 Covid-19 deaths reported on Friday the highest so , far, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa acknowledged that the ‘Corona Curfew’, that is in force, had been ineffective and hence, there was a need to implement more stringent restrictions. A 14-day lockdown has been announced from May 10 till 6 AM on May 24 in the state. Vehicular movement will be strictly prohibited in a bid to stop people from getting on to the roads. While goods vehicles and home delivery service providers are exempted, the use of personal vehicles will be prohibited even to buy essentials or takeaways. “The second wave of Covid-19 is wreaking havoc across the state. The ‘Corona Curfew’ hasn’t yielded expected results in reducing the spread of infection and death rate. Therefore, the government has decided to impose a complete lockdown to CoWin concern Techies to the rescue as 18+ struggle to find slots for jab B i s m a h Ma l i k @ Bengaluru Technology works in most cases, but when it comes to registering for vaccinating millions of people who are aged under 45 on the CoWIN portal, it is proving to be a nightmare. On Friday, the government announced the introduction of an additional 4-digit security code to minimise data entry error. Nearly 5,44,33,405 registrations in the 18-45 age group were made through the portal on that day .Venting out their frustration on social media forums, the younger folks aren’t necessarily amused by a new feature on CoWIN when even a slot booking is now almost impossible, especially in populous metros. Software engineers and coders are also coming to the rescue of the people wanting to get vaccinated, but are not able to find a slot. “There is a huge disparity when it comes to finding slots in various parts of the country explains, Shyam Sun,” der, who has developed getjabs. in . With the help of the API of CoWIN, apisetu.gov.in, Sunder said that his portal sends email alerts to subscribers whenever a slot is available in a particular district. The next step of quickly logging in to CoWIN, filling their KYC details and registering rests upon the user. Sunder said these alerts are also delivered to users in various Telegram groups by other techies/portals to enable quick P7 registration.  check the spread of the disease and deaths,” said Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa before announcing the 14-day lockdown. Soon after the CM’s press conference, Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar clarified that it wasn’t a “lockdown”, but “additional stringent measures”. He added that the prohibition of vehicular movement and industries were the biggest changes in the new guidelines. “Vehicle movement was allowed so far, but starting Monday it won’t be. One has to walk even to buy essentials from neighbourhood shops or food from hotels. No vehicles will be allowed, but hotels can use vehicles for home delivery No ve. hicular movement will be allowed exce pt in case of emergencies or to catch scheduled flights and trains. Industries were earlier allowed to function, but now only those that have in-situ staff will be allowed. E-commerce will be allowed,” Ravi Kumar said, adding that there won’t be any vehicle pass system. continued on: P4 NATIONWIDE Fresh cases 4,12,262 4,14,188 Recoveries 3,29,113 3,31,507 3,980 3,915 Deaths STATEWIDE Fresh cases Recoveries Positivity Rate may 7 48,781 18,943 29.83% 28,623 30.69% Deaths in a single day A family of migrant labourers wait for a special train to return to their hometown at the Mysuru railway station on Friday, ahead of the lockdown which will be enforced from May 10 | Udayshankar S MAY 7 may 6 49,058 592 With several residents testing positive, Rameshwara village in Davanagere district may be declared a containment zone State Govt caps price of CT-scan and digital X-ray in private hospitals and labs at D1,500 and D250, respectively Tougher Restrictions to Kick In WHAT’S NOT ALLOWED WHAT WILL BE ALLOWED Takeaway from restaurants, groceries allowed by walk; no vehicles will be allowed Personal vehicles prohibited on roads, except for medical emergencies, vaccination, hospital visits with proof All industries prohibited, except units manufacturing essentials; production units that require continuous process; industries operating with in-situ staff Hotels , eateries for takeaways & deliveries only (till 9 pm) Inter-state/Inter-district travel prohibited, except in emergencies Shops selling groceries, meat, milk, vegetables and fruits (6 am-10 am) Buses and Metro prohibited Pandemic profiteering adds to patient stress e X P R ESS n E W S SE R VI C E I MAY 6 t is not just that the totally inept national healthcare management has made the second wave of Covid-19 more lethal than it ought to have been. It’s that pandemic profiteering by vultures in the system has amplified patient distress and even led to loss of lives. From oximeters to oxygen to ambulances to hospital beds and life-saving medicines, the prices of all of them have jumped manifold. Even in states that imposed a price cap on those services, there is hardly any regulatory system to curb fleecing. Amid a surge in Covid cases, the demand for hand sanitisers, masks, pulse oximeters and thermal scanners has gone up. With no cap in the pricing or mechanism to ensure quality the market is flooded with low, quality products. For example, a pulse oximeter which used to cost around `300 a few months ago now costs upwards of `3,000 in many states. In Tamil Nadu, an oximeter was priced at `700 in March. But one has to shell out `3,000 to buy it now. The inflation in price is almost the same across the country — from around `900 before the pandemic to up to `3,500 now. According to sources, medical shops get branded oximeters priced between `900 and `5,000, for which MRP is charged. However, products from some Chinese companies will not have MRP on them. “This is where overpricing occurs. Though the cost is only `7001,200, medical shops charge up to three times that amount,” said a source. The demand, as well as price, of infrared thermal scanners has also shot up. “During the first wave, the price of infrared thermal scanners had gone up and later the demand declined. Till recently, the price was around `500. But now the price has gone up to `15002,000 again,” said All Kerala Chemist and Druggist Association’s Ernaku- China said Friday the risk of damage from a rocket falling back to Earth was “extremely low”, after the United States warned it could crash down on to an inhabited area. Military experts in the US expect the body of the rocket to come down some time around Saturday or Sunday and warned it was difficult to predict where it will land and when. 16 Saturday vellore newindianexpress com 08 05 2021 l l Despite challenges in these desperate times, many NGOs, organisations and volunteers are actively engaged in helping those in need by providing food, shelter, running errands, animal care...you name it. These selfless bunch of people are keeping the spirit of humanity alive. In the first of a series, here’s the list of a few KErala sahrudaya, charitable organisation Sahrudaya, a charitable organization under Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese of the Syro Malabar Church, caters to the needs of the destitute in the district under its project ‘Karunya Sparsham’. Food packets are distributed on all weekends. Ernakulam 0484-2344243 People For Animals (PFA) The organisation has been engaged in rescue and rehabilitation, feeding and taking care of animals. PFA provides shelter for pets when all family members are Covid positive. Thiruvanathapuram 9061607700 Fr Davis chiramel’s hunger hunt Fr Davis Chiramel, Founder of Kidney Federation of India, is engaged in feeding those requiring food anywhere in Kerala. This priest has started another humanitarian effort to provide food for those in his locality — Thrissur — in coordination with a group of people. Thrissur 9447883378 Rakshak Accident and Rescue service Alapuzha TElangana 9400778362 Angamaly (Ernakulam) 9847048674 Rajiv Youth Foundation The Malappuram-based NGO provides home delivery of food kits and medicines to people during the lockdown. Malapurram rajivyouthfoundation5@gmail.com rparamban@gmail.com Annapoorna charitable foundation The NGO distributes food kits to the poor in society. Providing food and essential items to those who are in need during the pandemic. Also helping in blood donation. Kannur 94477 35845 The volunteers have stepped into social service like, giving food to the beggars, protecting animals, taking care of around 200 palliative patients and providing ambulance services. Mattannur, Kannur 0490 2473512 sachithra soman She takes care of pets especially dogs and has been offering her service to people who have been quarantined or hospitalised. She will visit the pets and feed them. 9847727088 Kochi For speech and hearing impaired National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH) has launched a 24*7 helpline exclusively for speech and hearing-impaired persons. The helpline offer counselling services to stressrelated issues in addition to answering queries and concerns relating to Covid-19. Sign language interpreters are available to attend the WhatsApp video calls. 9446750983, 9496918178, Anywhere 9249505723. Ashakiranam Their cancer care campaign under Caritas India has launched a telemedicine helpline for cancer patients who can’t travel to hospitals during the 9061080017 Hyderabad 9133266399 https://twitter.com/cyberjagrithi Feed the needy hachiko 9746061123 ambulance help All Kerala Ambulance Owners and Drivers Association has been on the forefront of helping people reach hospitals on time. They help make available vehicles in areas which has a dearth of it anywhere in the state. 7995404040 Providing Free Ambulance, free food and medicine kit to home isolated patients. They also provide oxygen cylinders (2 nos) and concentrators (2 nos) on free rent Hyderabad 9866006269 @nfw_hyderabad shakina Foundation Rikit shahi Delivery of commodities or run errand for any one in home isolation in Khairatabad area Khairatabad, Hyderabad 9963033832 They are delivering medicines at the doorsteps of elderly people, epsecially those who cannot venture out due to the the pandemic 9566170334 The organisation is providing beds in Covid Isolation Center at at RVK School, Annojiguda, for mild and asymptomatic cases. It is free. Hyderabad 040-48212529 9895261141, 9846021141 Chennai 9841776685 Pasi illa thamilaham The NGO is performing last rites of Covid victims along with a free hearse service. They bury or cremate the corpse and conduct rituals pertaining to the victim’s religion. They also distribute food for the homeless on Sundays. 88833 40888 community kitchen Sridhar Vembu, CEO of Zoho, announced that his company’s community kitchen has begun providing meals to people in Tenkasi. People who have been struggling for food can get a meal there. Tenakasi 97914 26564 R soya (self help group in coordination with Tirunelveli Corporation) They distribute food to approximately 1500 people every day. They are also providing shelter at two homes for the homeless (at the Corporation as well as at a shelter near the high ground in the city) Kanniyakumari 7010259901 Rajesh Udhavum karangal Ambulance service, hearse vans and last rites of Covid victims. Also distribution of food to those in need, especially during Sunday lockdowns. Aruppukottai (Virudhunagar) 98421 22046 / 7010763134 Virudhai Vizhudhugal Distribution of food to the homeless as well as other programmes like door delivery of items to patients in isolation. Virudhunagar 99941 81139 Anbaal inaivom ilaignargal sangam Distribution of food to the homeless as well as those in quarantine. Also supply of medicines and food if there is demand. Subsidisation of grocery items in villages and town area Sivakasi 73392 37879 Aram trust Last rites of Covid patients and, distribution of food and medicines to isolating patients. Rajapalayam 93453 96026 90807 70910 / Food oN puSHCART covid surge impact Alliance Helps in finding covid resources. They can verify resources leads. 040-67419503 covidhelphyd The consumption of oil and oil products also decreased in almost all member states, while natural gas consumption decreased only in 15 member states and increased or stayed at the same level in the 12 others,’ the office said. CO2 emissions from energy consumption account for about 75per cent of all man-made greenhouse gases in the eU. The amounts produced are influenced by many factors, including economic growth, transportation and industrial activities. As part of the ‘european green Deal,” the eU has committed itself to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55per cent by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. Brussels is also aiming to become ‘climate-neutral’ by midcentury . Scientists say this goal needs to be achieved to keep average global temperatures from rising above 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) by the year 2100. Tirunelveli 9976649066 environment MeDAn (InDOneSIA): Indon e s i a ’s r u m bl i n g M o u n t Sinabung erupted Friday spew, ing a thick column of volcanic ash 2.8 kilometers (1.7 miles) into the sky . Villages near the volcano in north Sumatra province have been relocated after past eruptions, and there were no further evacuations or casualties from the new blast. People have been advised to stay 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from the crater’s mouth and to be aware of ashfall and avalanches of volcanic debris. Activity at the volcano was increasing, with at least 15 smaller eruptions recorded in the past week, said Armen Putra, an official at the Sinabung monitoring post. ‘The potential for eruption is still high. There will be more eruption in the near future,’ Putra said. Sinabung is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia, and some 30,000 people have been forced to leave nearby homes in the past few years. Sinabung is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is located on the ‘Ring of Fire,’ an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Ocean. Normal cost Residents of this society have set up provisions to distribute food to patients in home isolation. Report needed to avail free services. Vidyanagar (Tirupati) 7382013870/9100640979 student organisation A team of students working in an organisation is supplying medicines and other essential commodities to Covid patients in home isolation Gudur, Nellore 9505908258 Nari sena global Women Forum The forum is providing free food for Covid positive patients in home isolation. Visakhapatnam 9603648754, 7893656403, 8106407087 homemade goodness Providing free food to families in home isolation. Visakhapatnam 6300667177 satish savitri sarella Sarella of Future-India Foundation is delivering food packets to people in home isolation. Vijayawada 8317553253 cooking food The cooking teacher, who is also part of Art of Living, and her team are providing food packets to those in home Isolation and unable to cook Vijayawada 9618000399 sanjeevini seva trust V Venkataramana Reddy of the trust is helping in transporting unclaimed bodies of Covid victims and performing their last rites. Anantapur 9440476651 To cater to the needs of daily-wage labourers, who have lost their source of income due to Covid, a financier has come up with a novel way to give them food. He places food parcels and bananas in a pushcart near Gobichettipalayam bus stand Uday Kumar of Life World Charitable Trust in Hindupur of Anantapur district, with the help of his friends, is performing last rites of victims. SRi SATHyA SAi SEVA oRGANiSATioNS spandana Organisation Gobichettipalayam The organisation will be providing lunch to patients in isolation from Saturday. Salem 9994349579, 9487569702 pet care Urvanam The animal rescue group offers free pet care if families are down with Covid. They take care of dogs, cats, birds and fish. Madurai 9940832133 Life World charitable trust Hindupur 9908052099 Providing patients food to those in home isolation and takes care of other necessities without charge. Also performing last rites. Kadapa 998556385 the Bashas SK Mehaboob Basha and brother SK Jillani are providing free food and operating ambulances for free transportation of patients to hospitals and shifting bodies to burial grounds. Kadapa 9441030986 Everest open but get tested, keep distance Britain wants climate finance for poor nations Chandigarh Ambulance to Delhi with oxygen & ventilator BRUSSeLS: Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion dropped 10 per cent in the european Union last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to estimates from the eU’s statistical office. eurostat said in a statement Friday that emissions fell in all of the eU’s 27 member nations compared to 2019 as governments imposed lockdown measures to slow the spread of the virus. greece recorded the largest decrease (-18.7per cent), followed by estonia (-18.1per cent), Luxembourg (-17.9per cent), Spain (-16.2per cent) and Denmark (-14.8per cent). The countries with the smallest reductions were Malta (-1per cent), Hungary (-1.7per cent), Ireland (-2.6per cent) and Lithuania (-2.6per cent). eurostat said the sources of the cutbacks varied. ‘The largest decreases were seen for all types of coals. 9884089770 andhra seven hills Arcade YMJ trust Provides food to patients’ relatives who wait at government and private hospitals. The trust also offers financial help to those in need and provide an ambulance service the brighter side: P16 Carbon emissions from energy dropped by 10% in EU last year climate change Chennai karunai Ullangal The group runs free emergency rescue vehicles to transfer patients from one hospital to another, get CT and other scans or pick up and drop services to and from government hospitals. They have two vehicles with oxygen, one normal rescue van and an auto. Tenkasi seva Bharthi 99405 63528 They help in buying groceries, essentials and over the counter medicines for Covid patients in home quarantine and senior citizens. The group has two doctors among them to verify the medicines. They plan to start food delivery. No food waste Hyderabad The foundation is providing free lunch to Covid patients in home quarantine. They have provided food to more than 2,800 patients around since they started last week. Relief Riders The group is helping people to coordinate with patients and donors for plasma donation. Also helping with ambulance service Hyderabad Rajasthan Youth Association cosmo Elite Foundation Chennai Relief riders Hachiko is a dedicated pet boarding, grooming and pet clinic in Vennala. Since March, Hachiko provides facilities for pets whose owners are in isolation or quarantine. Have clinic facilities, pet supplies and other facilities at the center. Kochi As the cyber crime increases during covid with people claiming to sell remdesivir injections and other covid related resources. The organisation helps people to file cyber crime complaints. The foundation is providing free food, oxygen cylinder, isolation centres, medicine, oxygen on wheels Hyderabad 8008008012 pet care sehion Preshita sangam The organization has been providing food for those in quarantine and also those suffering due to the lockdown, besides the poor. The central kitchen provides food for over 1,000 and this sometimes goes above 2,000. TaMIl nadU cyber Jagrithi Mini sports and Arts club The service is providing help by getting medicines and other facilities for COVID care. The NGO helps people get medicines that are unavailable in their area. Those in need can contact Rakshak 24/7 Edakochi hand of good lockdown. Oncologists will attend to cases through video calls. adventure tions such as health checks and is on guard against imported cases. The 38 people who were issued Chinese permits to climb the peak, known as Qomolongma in Tibetan, must come from parts of China that are at low risk for infection and must show a clean bill of health before attempting the summit, state media reported Friday . They must undergo temperature checks regularly use bot, tled oxygen and stay 4 meters (13 feet) from other climbers at the summit. They will be provided masks, thermometers and disinfectant. Climbing schedules from the south side of the mountain, which is in nepal, will be consulted so packs of climbers don’t meet, said nyima Tsering, head of the bureau overseeing Chinese climbing operations. People not registered to climb on the Chinese side are strictly barred from that side. Last year, China used the break in climbing to haul some 6 tons of garbage off the mountain that has attracted everlarger groups of climbers enabled by commercial mountaineering companies. Hyderabad Five-litre imported oxygen concentrator BeIjIng: China has opened Mount everest’s norther n slope to a few dozen mountaineers who will be tested for the coronavirus and must keep their distance while ascending the world’s highest peak. Both nepal and China closed the mountain to foreign climbers last year because of the pandemic. nepal has allowed in foreign climbers this season despite a surging COVID-19 outbreak, and at least one climber, a norwegian, confirmed last month he had contracted the virus. nepal mountaineering officials have denied any outbreak on the mountain, citing only altitude sickness and other ailments common in the cold, harsh, low-oxygen environment where climbers stay in close quarters. This week, the Himalayan nation halted all flights as part of a strict lockdown of its capital and major cities amid its recent surge. In contrast, China, where COVID-19 first emerged, has now largely contained domestic transmission of the virus, but it has maintained restric- Normal cost H 15,000 H 40k-60k H 35,000 H 95k-1.2L Spewing fire Mount Sinabung erupted in North Sumatra on Friday I AP sight-kick Night vision and superb hearing in a small theropod suggest it was a moonlight predator paleontology Today, barn owls, bats, leopards and many other animals rely on their keen senses to live and hunt under the dim light of stars. These nighttime specialists avoid the competition of daylight hours, hunting their prey under the cloak of darkness, often using a combination of night vision and acute hearing. But was there nightlife 100 million years ago? In a world without owls or leopards, were dinosaurs working the night shift? If so, what senses did they use to find food and avoid predators in the darkness? To better understand the senses of dinosaur ancestors of birds, our team of paleontologists and paleobiolo gists scoured research papers and museum collections looking for fossils that preserved delicate eye and ear structures. And we found some. Using scans of fossilised dinosaur skulls, in a paper published in the journal Science on Now May 6, 2021, we describe the most convincing evidence to date for nocturnal dinosaurs. Two fossil species – Haplocheirus sollers and Shuvuuia deserti – likely had extremely good night vision. But our work also shows that S. deserti also had incredibly sensitive hearing similar to modern-day owls. This is the first time these two traits have been found in the same fossil, suggesting that this small, desertdwelling dinosaur that lived in ancient Mongolia was probably a specialised night-hunter of insects and small mammals. Looking to theropods By studying fossilised eye bones, one of us, Lars Schmitz, had previously found that some small predatory dinosaurs may have hunted at night. Most of these potentially nocturnal hunters were theropods, the group of three-toed dinosaurs that includes Tyrannosaurus rex and modern birds. But to date, fossils for only 12 theropod species included the eye structures that can tell paleontologists about night vision. Eye bones for night Scleral ossicles are thin, rectangular bone plates that form a ring-like structure surrounding the pupils of lizards as well as birds and their ancestors – dinosaurs. Scleral rings define the largest possible size of an animal’s pupil and can tell you how well that animal can see at night. The larger the pupil compared to the size of the eye, the better a dinosaur could see in the dark. Now Since the individual bony ossicles of these rings fell apart after these animals died more than 60 million years ago, our team made scans of the fossils and then digitally reconstructed the eyes. Of all the theropods we examined, H. sollers and S. deserti had some of the proportionally largest pupils. S. deserti‘s pupil made up more than half of its eye, very similar to night-vision specialists that live today like geckos and nightjars. In today’s nocturnal animals, hearing can be as important as keen eyesight. To figure out how well these extinct dinosaurs could hear, we scanned the skulls of 17 fossil theropods to decipher structure of their inner ears and then compared our scans to the ears of modern animals. All vertebrates have a tubelike canal called the cochlea in their inner ear. Studies of living mammals and birds show the longer this canal, the wider the range of frequencies an animal can hear and the better they can hear very faint sounds. lam district president P V Tomy . It is the same story for essential drugs. A pharmacist working in a private hospital in Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu said Covid patients are fleeced by private hospitals and pharmacies in several ways. “Ulinastatin, Methylprednisolone Sodium Succinate, and Enoxaparin Sodium injections are currently sold three times their MRP . A respiratory exerciser worth `250 is sold for `900 in the pharmacies attached to hospitals. A high concentration oxygen mask worth `300 is sold for `1,100,” he added. An official with the Tenkasi government hospital said private hospitals were paying `10,000-13,000 bribe to health workers for referring Covid patients to them. “The amount spent on bribing does not matter to these hospitals as they collect `1.5-6 lakh from P10 each Covid patient,” he added.  Pharmacies, fuel stations, banks and ATMs will be open Goods vehicles Standalone liquor outlets & shops (6 am to 10 am) Pushcarts selling vegetables and fruits (6 am-6 pm) Milk booths and HOPCOMS outlets (6 am-6 pm) Home delivery of food, e-commerce, essentials Construction allowed only in-situ Flights and trains uninterrupted cabs to and from airport and railway stations allowed with ticket as proof Movement of media personnel with valid ID cards issued by their organisation/ institution to the place of work and back permitted centre to give 1.2K tons SC throws out plea against K’taka HC order on O2 quota Ka n u Sar d a @ New Delhi The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay a Karnataka High Court order, directing the Centre to raise the state’s daily oxygen allocation to 1,200 metric tons. The order came on a day the Karnataka government opted for a fortnight lockdown from May 10 to 24 amid a crippling shortage of oxygen and a massive spike in fresh cases and deaths. The state recorded 48,781 cases and 592 fatalities over the past 24 hours. “We do not want to leave the citizens of Karnataka in the lurch. The HC order is a careful, calibrated and judicial exercise of power. We see no reason to entertain the Special Leave Petition,” said a bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud. Earlier, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench that HCs should refrain from passing orders on immediate supply of oxygen. “We are trying our best to solve the problem. If every high court starts to pass orders, then it will lead to a complete breakdown of the pandemic management,” Mehta said. While assuring to set up a panel to revisit oxygen allocation, the bench questioned the Centre’s rationale behind allocating oxygen from far-flung places after the Karnataka government pointed out that it could not pick up 30 MT earmarked for it from a distant port.