‘Contractor getting food bills of 500 people’
Irregularities alleged in Indira canteen
Mangaluru, Jan 3: “There is irregularity in bill payments of five Indira canteens from the City Corporation and the Labour department. Though only 150 customers visit each Indira canteen every day, the contractors have been getting the payment for 500 customers”, alleged city corporation opposition leader Premananda Shetty.
In Indira canteen, Rs 5 was fixed for breakfast, and Rs 10 each for lunch and dinner. But the local body and the labour department have been paying Rs 7 per breakfast and Rs 14 per meal to the contractor. Of which, the city corporation has been bearing 70 percent and Labour department has been paying remaining 30 per cent.
Each Indira canteen would get 100-150 customers every day. But the contractors were being given the payment for 500 customers. The Mayor and the officials concerned should give clarification about this, Shetty demanded in a press conference.
An organization called Sai Hospitality has got the contract of the Indira Canteens in the city. Interestingly, the bills being given to the company are being prepared in the city corporation. The mayor has to clarify on how they have kept a tab on the number of customers for each canteen. The city corporation has spent Rs 80 lakh for Electrification, Drainage, Compound wall, Interlocks and other facilities. But there was no mention on utilizing the city corporation funds for the canteens, he said.
Clock tower work delayed
There was a proposal before the police department to allow one-way traffic movement on the road between Clock Tower and AB Shetty Circle near Hampankatta. This would solve the problem that New Clock Tower would create inconvenience to traffic movement due to which, the clock tower work was delayed, he said.
City Corporation members Ganesh Hosabettu, Sudhir Shetty Kannur, Roopa D Bangera, Vijay Kumar Shetty and others were present.
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.
First direct US-Venezuela commercial flight in 7 years to land in Caracas
Caracas (Venezuela) (AP): The first direct commercial flight between the United States and Venezuela is scheduled to land on Thursday in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, seven years after the US Department of Homeland Security ordered an indefinite suspension, citing security concerns.
The resumption of a commercial flight between the two countries comes in the wake of the US capture of Nicolás Maduro in a stunning nighttime raid on his residence in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, in early January.
It also comes a month after the US formally reopened its embassy in Caracas following the restoration of full diplomatic relations with the South American country.
Flight AA3599 operated by Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines, was scheduled to depart from Miami at 10:16 a.m. local time and arrive three hours later in the Venezuelan capital, returning to Florida later in the afternoon.
Earlier, the airline said a second daily flight between Miami and Caracas will start on May 21.
In late January, US President Donald Trump said he informed Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez that he would open up all commercial airspace over Venezuela, allowing Americans to visit.
“American citizens will be very shortly able to go to Venezuela, and they'll be safe there,” Trump said at the time.
The flights mark the resumption of nonstop travel between the US and Venezuela for the first time since diplomatic ties were severed in 2019. For the past seven years, passengers have relied on international airlines and indirect routes through neighbouring Latin American countries.
In January, when the airline announced the resumption of flights it said it would give customers the opportunity to reunite with families and pursue new business opportunities.
American Airlines was the last US airline flying to Venezuela. It suspended flights in 2019 between Miami and Caracas, as well as flights to the oil hub city of Maracaibo. Delta and United Airlines pulled out in 2017 amid a political crisis that forced millions to flee the country.
