Govt staff strike: Arrangements made to ensure key services are unaffected in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): With government employees deciding to go on an indefinite strike in the state from Wednesday, transport, health and education departments have made arrangements to ensure that the services are not affected.
The employees have put forward their demands including, implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission report and implementation of at least 40 per cent of fitment facilities, and reverting to the Old Pension Scheme.
A senior education department official told PTI today that there are standing instructions to all the schools to remain open.
"We have given directions to keep the schools open. If the teachers do not turn up then they will be marked absent," the officer said.
He added that 10th class preparatory examinations are going on and teachers have been told that they should be conducted as per schedule.
The health department is also on the toes to ensure that the emergency services remain open during the strike.
A health officer told PTI that all the important hospitals in districts have been directed to ensure that the trauma and emergency health services are not disrupted.
"It is too early to say how the situation would be throughout the day but as of now, the services are as usual. We have made arrangements to ensure that the trauma and emergency healthcare services are not affected," the official said.
The Karnatska State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses were seen plying as usual in the morning.
The police department has also taken steps to make sure that no law and order situation is created due to the strike, a police officer said.
There are instructions to protect any damage to the government properties, especially buses, due to the strike.
A few government officers PTI spoke to said that the government offices may not function like normal days and most of them could remain shut.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had on Tuesday reached out to the employees, saying the administration was ready to seek Seventh Pay commission's interim report and implement it.
Most of the services, barring a few like transport, critical care at hospitals and crematoriums, are likely to be hit, as talks between the government and the employees' association to avert the strike have so far not yielded "positive results."
"Our senior officials are in touch with the government employees association and their President, holding talks. I have already made it clear in the Assembly that we are the ones who formed the seventh pay commission and it will be implemented in 2023-24 itself, and funds have been allocated for it in the budget," Bommai told reporters at Hubballi on Tuesday.
Karnataka State Government Employees' Association President C S Shadakshari, had said on Tuesday that there is no question of them withdrawing the call for strike at this point in time.
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Talks with Iran ended after 21 hours without reaching agreement, says US Vice President Vance
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Islamabad (PTI): US Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday that the Islamabad Talks with Iran failed as the two sides could not bridge the gulf of differences despite hectic efforts spreading more than 21 hours.
Vance addressed a press conference here after “substantive discussions” in direct talks between the two sides -- the first since 1979 at this level --mediated by Pakistan.
“We have been at it now for 21 hours, and we have had a number of substantive discussions, that’s the good news,” Vance said.
“The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement,” he added.
“We have made very clear what our red lines are, what things we are willing to accommodate them on and what things we are not,” the US vice president said, adding that the Iranian delegation had “chosen not to accept our terms”.
He was asked to elaborate the main sticking points of what did the Iranians reject but he refused to go into specifics.
“I won’t go into all the details because I don’t want to negotiate in public after we negotiated for 21 hours in private. But the simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon and that they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon,” Vance said
He said stopping Iran from getting a "nuke" was the “core goal of the US president, and that’s what we have tried to achieve through these negotiations”.
Vance also praised Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, terming them “incredible hosts”.
“Whatever shortcomings were in the negotiations were not because of Pakistanis, who did an amazing job and really tried to help us and the Iranians bridge the gap and get to a deal,” he said.
Separately, the spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baqaei, in an X message also confirmed that the two sides failed to make a deal and “numerous messages and texts have been exchanged between the two sides".
“In the past 24 hours, discussions were held on various dimensions of the main negotiation topics, including the Strait of Hormuz, the nuclear issue, war reparations, lifting of sanctions, and the complete end to the war against Iran and in the region,” he wrote.
“The success of this diplomatic process depends on the seriousness and good faith of the opposing side, refraining from excessive demands and unlawful requests, and the acceptance of Iran’s legitimate rights and interests.”
Baqaei also expressed appreciation to the “government and the warm-hearted and noble people of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for hosting the negotiations and their benevolent efforts in advancing this process”.
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