Sand problem: Labourers to go on indefinite strike from Oct 25
All MLAs extend their support
Udupi, October 22: The construction labourers, daily wage workers and other workers involved in sand transportation have decided to sit in an indefinite dharna in front of the deputy commissioner’s office here from October 25, demanding solution to the sand problem in the district.
Interestingly, cutting across party line, all elected representatives from the district have decided to extend their support to the dharna.
Speaking to reporters here on Monday, Opposition Leader in the Legislative Council Kota Srinivas Poojary said that the dharna would continue till the problem was solved. In the last two decades, he has not seen such a worst administrative system in the district. The strike being observed by the lorry owners and drivers has entered the fifth day on Monday. They have parked their tippers and lorries on either side of national highway from Byndoor to Hejamadi. The district administration has not given permission for them to hold strike on the premises of the DC office, he said.
If the police tortured the vehicle drivers and owners who have been protesting peacefully, all MLAs would support the agitators, he warned the SP.
Now, the labourers who are dependent on sand were facing tough days due to scarcity of sand in the district. So, they have decided to stage dharna demanding solution to the sand problem and all five MLAs and MLCs of the district would support their cause, he said.
When the Chief Minister came to Udupi last time, he had directed the district administration to solve the problem by October 15. Even he held a meeting of the MLAs from coastal districts in Bengaluru and directed the authorities. But the district administration has been dilly-dallying to start the sand mining which shows that the state government has no control over the administration, he said.
Though 27 sand mines were identified in SRZ zone in the district, proposal was sent for only nine blocks and approval was taken only for seven. There were provisions to begin the sand mining legally, the district administration was not showing interest in it. As a result, the families which are dependent on sand mining have come on to the streets. They would continue their protest till they get justice, he said.
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Iran reimposes restrictions on Strait of Hormuz, accusing US of violating deal to reopen it
Cairo (AP): Iran swiftly reversed course on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, reimposing restrictions on the critical waterway on Saturday after the US said it would not end its blockade of Iran-linked shipping.
Iran's joint military command said on Saturday that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state ... under strict management and control of the armed forces.” It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.
The announcement came the morning after US President Donald Trump said that even after Iran announced the strait's reopening on Friday, the American blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the US, including on its nuclear programme.
The conflict over the chokepoint threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy after oil prices began to fall again on Friday on hopes the US and Iran were drawing closer to an agreement. Roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passes through the strait, and further limits would squeeze already constrained supply, driving prices higher once again.
Control over the strait has proven to be one of Iran's main points of leverage and prompted the United States to deploy forces and initiate a blockade on Iranian ports as part of an effort to force Iran to accept a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire to end almost seven weeks of war that has raged between Israel, the US and Iran.
Iran said it fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels after a 10-day truce was announced between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. But after Trump said the blockade would continue, top Iranian officials said his announcement violated last week's ceasefire agreement between Iran and the US and warned the strait would not stay open if the US blockade remained in effect.
A data firm, Kpler, said movement through the strait remained confined to corridors requiring Iran's approval.
US forces have sent 21 ships back to Iran since the blockade began on Monday, US Central Command said on X.
Truce in Lebanon could help US-Iran peace efforts
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The ceasefire in Lebanon could clear one major obstacle to an agreement. But it was unclear to what extent Hezbollah would abide by a deal it did not play a role in negotiating, and which will leave Israeli troops occupying a stretch of southern Lebanon.
Trump said in another post that Israel is “prohibited” by the US from further strikes on Lebanon and that “enough is enough” in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The State Department said the prohibition applies only to offensive attacks and not to actions taken in self-defence.
Shortly before Trump's post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel agreed to the ceasefire in Lebanon “at the request of my friend President Trump,” but that the campaign against Hezbollah is not complete.
He claimed Israel had destroyed about 90 per cent of Hezbollah's missile and rocket stockpiles and added that Israeli forces “have not finished yet” with the dismantling of the group.
In Beirut, displaced families began moving toward southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs despite warnings by officials not to return to their homes until it became clear whether the ceasefire would hold.
The Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon reported sporadic artillery shelling in some parts of southern Lebanon in the hours after the ceasefire took effect.
An end to Israel's war with Hezbollah was a key demand of Iranian negotiators, who previously accused Israel of breaking last week's ceasefire with strikes on Lebanon. Israel had said that the deal did not cover Lebanon.
The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,290 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen US service members have also been killed.
