India repatriates non-essential crew members of Iranian ship in Kochi
New Delhi (PTI): India has repatriated the non-essential crew members of an Iranian warship that docked in Kochi on March 4 amid the escalating military conflict between Iran and the US, people familiar with the matter said on Saturday.
Over 50 of the 183 crew members have stayed back as the ship, IRIS Lavan, remains in Kochi, they said.
The non-essential sailors left India by a Turkish airline aircraft. The aircraft landed in Kochi late last night after picking up the bodies from Colombo of over 80 Iranian sailors of another warship that was sunk by a US submarine off the coast of Sri Lanka on March 4.
IRIS Lavan has remained in Kochi since March 4. The ship had developed urgent technical issues and was granted emergency docking approval on March 1 following a request from the Iranian side.
It is learnt that the Iranian sailors of IRIS Lavan will travel to Iran by road from Yerevan, Armenia's capital city.
The repatriation of the crew members comes as New Delhi makes efforts to ensure safe passage for over two dozen Indian-flagged merchant vessels currently stationed on either side of the Strait of Hormuz.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to his Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Thursday night in the fourth such conversation since the West Asia crisis erupted.
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Karnataka govt warns of action against LPG hoarding, blackmarketing amid supply concerns
Tumakuru (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said the police have been instructed to take legal action against those involved in hoarding and black marketing of LPG cylinders.
Amid supply constraints caused by the West Asia conflict, he expressed hope that the supplies would be restored at the earliest.
"If anyone tries to hoard or black market gas cylinders, legal action will be taken against them. Police have been given instructions in this regard across the state...We will not allow it," Parameshwara told reporters here.
Quoting officials, he said there are no issues with supply of domestic gas cylinders as of now. Though, there are supply issues concerning commercial gas cylinders.
"Hotels may face problems for a couple of days, efforts are underway to resolve the issue," he added.
He expressed hope that gas and oil supplies from Gulf countries would improve soon, citing reports that a couple of Indian vessels had passed through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran granted India some exemptions.
Responding to a question, the Minister said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has convened a special cabinet meeting on March 27 to discuss internal reservation in recruitments. "We expect the issue to be resolved that day."
"After the cabinet decision, the government will issue an order, following which the recruitment process will start. The government said it will hold recruitment for over 56,000 posts, everything is ready for the process. In my own department (Home department) 8,000 vacancies will be filled. We will immediately adopt (the reservation related decision) and start the recruitment process," he added.
Reports have emerged about rifts between SC (Right) and SC (Left) factions within the ruling Congress regarding internal reservation during the recruitment announced for 56,432 vacant jobs.
The state government had recently decided to conduct recruitment for 56,432 vacant jobs based on the reservation order in force before December 28, 2022 (15 per cent for SCs and 3 per cent for STs), due to the stay on the enhanced quota and internal reservation, while continuing to pursue its case in court.
The previous BJP government had increased the reservation quota for SCs from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and for Scheduled Tribes from 3 per cent to 7 per cent, raising the state’s total reservation to 56 per cent, exceeding the Supreme Court-mandated 50 per cent ceiling.
While the matter is still in court, the Congress government decided to provide internal reservation by slicing up the 17 per cent reservation matrix given to 101 scheduled castes, under three groups, with a formula of 6, 6, and 5 per cent respectively.
According to sources, the SC (Left)/Madiga community, which has fought for internal reservation for decades, opposes recruiting for 56,432 jobs without providing internal reservation. The SC (Right)/Holeya community, however, favoured recruitment without providing internal reservation.
