Volume 15 | Issue 25
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Tourists dumped in city limits as state govt courts foreign investors ‘Invest Karnataka’ bans tour buses to ease city congestion Payal Gangishetty Many travellers are stranded in bus depots in various parts of the city due to a ban imposed on private buses. Karnataka Transport Department has imposed the ban on private buses and trucks entering the city limits between 7am and 10pm to reduce traffic flow for ‘Invest Karnataka 2016’, a global investors meet which is scheduled to be held this week. According to travel operators, the move is not only causing commuters a problem but costing fortunes for agents. “At present it is a major problem that we are facing. On one hand we are promoting tourism but on the other hand there are restrictions for the movement of tourism buses,” said B. Chandran, Founder Member of Karnataka Tourism Forum. He added, “I do not see any logic in banning the movement of private tourism buses for few days. It is a great inconve-
Private buses stranded at Kalisipaliam Bus Depot on NICE Road, as traffic police question drivers. nience as we need to book the KSRTC buses from the outskirts. It is an additional cost not only to the travellers but even to the agencies that run it. This is not going to solve the issue. Instead it is an extra expense to the travel agencies.” A public interest litigation was filed by P. K. Naveen, Managing Director of San Travels in
the High Court where he challenged the ban on private buses and trucks entering the city from February 1 to 10. Chandran said, “I hope we get a stay on the petition and this issue is resolved as soon as possible.” “We were not given any notice regarding the ban being imposed. Yesterday we had
five customers who cancelled their ticket. It is a loss to us,” said the owner of Diwakar Travels. He added, “We need to make alternative arrangements through mini-vans for the drop and pick-up of the customers from the city outskirts and that is an additional cost of Rs.15,000 per day. We are facing almost 40 per cent loss in the business.” “Since yesterday evening I have been waiting for a bus to Tumkur. Every time I enquire, they say it will come within half-hour. It has been almost 12 hours and not a single bus has come,” said Waseem, who is stranded at Kalisipaliam bus depot. He was in the city to visit his relative in a hospital. Bus drivers say that a restriction in movement in the city is causing strain to them personally. “Today while coming from Dhramavaram, the passengers in the bus were urging me to drive fast so that I can reach the city before 7am. We have a speed limit set which we are not allowed to violate. We will be held responsible if an accident occurs,” said Laxamiah,
driver of RPG Travels. Dinesh, a travel agent, said, “On a regular basis, the bus would leave the depot full but from yesterday hardly four seats are getting filled which is leading to a loss of Rs.4000 a day.” He added, “We are not able to meet the diesel expense also.” “This ban is only for 10 days and the police department is already taking measure to ensure that there won’t be any chaos during the invest meet,” said K. T. Natraj, Senior Traffic Inspector. He added,” Already the tourism bus operators are given the pick-up and drop points in the outskirts of the city and are not allowed to enter the city after the stipulated time. To ensure this move takes place smoothly the concerned jurisdiction is taking all measures.” When asked about if the manpower is sufficient to handle the situation, he said, “For now we have sufficient staff, but if this move is imposed for a long run then we might face some issue.”
contd. on page 3
Yahoo India staff anxious as job cuts loom Tanay Sukumar The Bangalore office of Yahoo India awaits news on job cuts after reports of an expected announcement today. Yahoo’s Asia Pacific region had seen the worst revenue drop among all regions the previous quarter. If 15 per cent of the workforce is cut as expected, Yahoo will have less than 10,000 employees left globally. The announcement is expected after the release of the Q4 report for 2015 later today according to media reports. In the first hour and half of
trading today, Yahoo’s share price fell to $28.74. Things were much better in terms of stability at workplace before Marissa Mayer became CEO, according to some former employees of Yahoo India. A former employee from the Bangalore office said: “Back then, there was no pressure and the job was never under
threat. Performance was not a great factor, and employees were certain of their jobs. People would join Yahoo for job stability. But with the firing now, people are realizing performance is necessary.” He said: “I worked with Yahoo in 2010. The company was not doing well then revenue-wise. The lax attitude might have led to this.”
Another employee said that if Yahoo were to choose between US and India, they would probably cut jobs in US, because for a tenth of the salaries, they get more work done. The company’s report for the third quarter of 2015 showed that Asia Pacific was the region with the highest yearon-year drop in Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
(GAAP) revenue. Asia Pacific revenue went down from $186 million in the third quarter of 2014, to $159 million in the same quarter of 2015. In comparison, the Americas had a revenue rise of 13 per cent and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) dropped by 11 per cent. At the end of the previous quarter, Yahoo had 10,700 employees worldwide, a drop of 14 per cent since the same period in 2014. Current employees of Yahoo India refused to comment and said they have no official information on this yet. Yahoo’s share price has fallen from $44.69 on February 2 last year, by a third to $29.57 at yesterday’s closing.