Not opening more liquor shops in Karnataka, says CM Siddaramaiah

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said his government will not be opening more liquor shops in the state reported news agency PTINo we are not openingwho said we are opening Minister has said we will think about it but we will not open he said in response to a question reported PTIThe Karnataka Excise Department has submitted a proposal to the government recommending setting up of liquor shops in gram panchayats with a population of over 3000 reported PTIOpposition parties BJP and JDS had urged the government not to give its nod terming the proposal as anti peopleSpeaking about various staterun boards and corporations in the state the chief minister also said that appointments of Congress workers as presidents and directors will be done soon reported PTIAnswering a question Siddaramaiah said he has informed the 10member interministerial central team IMCT which is on a fourday visit to take stock of the drought situation that this time the state is facing a green drought and requested that the assessment be made based on ground realities reported PTIThe state has told the team that 195 out of 236 taluks have been declared as droughthit as per central guidelines more than Rs 30000 crore worth crops have been damaged There is 52 per cent crop damage it is about 42 lakh hectareThe IMCT has been informed about less water in most of the reservoirs across the state he said adding that Rs 4860 crore drought relief has been sought from the Centre as per norms while the actual loss is estimated to be around Rs 30000 crore reported PTIMeanwhile Karnataka government has floated an Expression of Interest EOI for empanelment of agencies to set up an Information Disorder Tackling Unit for it aimed at tackling misinformation disinformation malinformation and fake newsThe Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society KITS has floated the EOI and the deadline for proposal submission is October 16Minister for ITBT Priyank Kharge said that the government of Karnataka is serious about tackling misinformation disinformation malinformation and fake news The EOI has been floated for empanelment of agencies to set up such a unit for the governmentIn a post on social media platform X he said The EoI includes Fact Verification Team This group will consist of impartial factchecking organisations chosen by the state government to detect and address false information Analytics Squad Utilising advanced technologies such as data analytics and Artificial Intelligence this team will actively oversee the ecosystem of misinformation and Capacity Development team This team will lead public awareness campaigns to educate people about the presence and consequences of the misinformation ecosystemWith inputs from PTI