After poll drubbing, Kumaraswamy to resume village stay programme
Bengaluru, Jun 2: Days after the JD(S) was decimated in the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Sunday announced that he will resume his "Grama Vastavaiya" (village stay) programme to find out the challenges facing the state's rural areas.
Kumaraswamy had initiated the programme to interact with villagers during his previous tenure as chief minister, which lasted from February 2006 to October 2007.
"'Grama Vastavaiya' is a way to reach out to the people, to understand their problems and to know the functioning of the government. Soon 'Grama Vastavaiya' is going to start in government schools," Kumaraswamy said in a tweet.
During his previous stint, Kumaraswamy used to spend the nights at villagers' houses as part of the initiative.
This time, however, he has decided to stay in government schools.
"During his previous term as chief minister, Kumaraswamy had conducted 47 'Grama Vastavaiya'. He had stayed in 47 houses. This time he has decided to stay in government schools," an official associated with the Chief Minister's Office said.
The idea behind staying in government schools is to improve the conditions there, he said.
Officers will ensure that the rooms, desks, benches and other school infrastructure are in good shape, he added.
The modalities are being worked out and the details of the programme will soon be made public, the officer said.
Most likely, the chief minister will kick-start the village stay programme from Kodagu district, which has still not fully recovered from last year's devastating floods.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
West Asia: India supplied 22,000 MT of high-speed diesel to Bangladesh in March, says MEA
New Delhi (PTI): Amid the ongoing West Asia conflict, India has supplied 22,000 metric tonnes of high-speed diesel to Bangladesh in March and has received a request from Seychelles and the Maldives to meet their energy requirements, the MEA said on Friday.
At his weekly briefing, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in his response to a query related to requests received from India's neighbouring countries for fuel amid the West Asia situation, also said that India is "finalising a government-to-government agreement" for the supply of oil and gas, which will play an important role in reinforcing energy security of Mauritius.
The conflict in West Asia has now stretched to nearly 50 days, with global ramifications.
"So, we have received requests from our neighbouring countries for supply of fuel, and these are being looked into, keeping in mind our own requirements, availability and refining capacity," Jaiswal told reporters.
He further said India has "supplied 22,000 metric tonnes of high-speed diesel to Bangladesh in March 2026, and further supplies have continued this month as well".
"You would recall that last month we had supplied 38 metric tonnes of petroleum products to Sri Lanka as well," he added.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Mauritius last week, the MEA spokesperson said, adding, "We are finalising a government-to-government agreement for supply of oil and gas, which will play an important role in reinforcing the energy security of Mauritius".
As far as Nepal is concerned, there is an existing arrangement between Indian Oil Corporation and Nepal Oil Corporation to supply petroleum products to Nepal as per its requirements. The supplies are continuing without any interruption, he said.
Energy supplies to Bhutan also continue according to the existing arrangement.
"As I had mentioned earlier, we have received a request from Seychelles and the Maldives to meet their energy requirements. We continue to be in touch with them in this regard, and are considering the request keeping in mind our own domestic requirements and availability of fuel.
"I would also like to add that our neighbouring country governments have expressed appreciation for the uninterrupted supply, fuel supply to them during the West Asian conflict," Jaiswal said.
Global oil and gas prices surged after Iran restricted the transit of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow lane between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman that handles roughly 20 per cent of global oil and LNG trade.
_vb_59.jpeg)
