Govt. is committed to develop entire Karnataka: CM Kumaraswamy
72nd Independence Day celebrations at Manekshaw Parade Grounds
Bengaluru, August 15: Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy who hoisted the tricolour as part of the 72nd Independence Day at the Manekshaw Parade Grounds here on Wednesday, wished the people of the state on the occasion of the Independence Day.
Quoting the lyrics of Rashtrakavi Kuvempu- “Bharata Bhoomi Nanna Thayi Nanna Poreva Tottilu, Jeevanavene Devigereve Bidute Gudia Kattalu”-, the Chief Minister said that “nonviolence is the most influential weapon that the world has ever seen. We are representing the heroic tradition which fought for independence through non-violence. India is the front runner in achieving the unity in diversity among other countries. I sincerely bow my head to all freedom fighters including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Lokmanya Tilak, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Dr BR Ambedkar and others for their sacrifice for the independence”, he said.
“Our government is committed to develop Karnataka without giving room for damaging the unity of the state. The budgets presented by the previous government and my government are complementary to the comprehensive development of the state. My government is ready to implement all the programmes mentioned in the budget”, he promised.
Independent India was built on the basis of the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi. Now, the country was celebrating the 150th Gandhi Jayanti. As a preamble to this celebration, the government has planned stage around 1000 theatre shows across the state under the title ‘Gandhi-150, a theatre journey’. In the same way, the country was in the threshold of celebrating the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s speech at all faith conference in Chicago. The state government was planning to celebrate this occasion also, he said.
“I have close relationship with Belagavi. I have the credit of beginning the Assembly Session in Belagavi. I have laid the foundation stone for Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi. Most importantly, I have started my much ambitious programme ‘village stay’ from Belagavi district. The government is planning to shift some of the departments to my beloved district”, he said.
The CM said that the state government was committed to protect the interests of Kannadigas living in other states especially Goa, Kerala and Maharashtra and would have cordial relationship with those states.
One of the priorities of his government was to ensure permanent solutions to the farmers problems and creating job opportunities to the hands. It was the long pending demand from the farming community to waive off the loans. Now, his government has responded positively to that demand and the government has decided to waive off around 49,000 crore loans availed from cooperative banks and nationalized banks. No other states in the country have taken such a decision to waive off the farm loans. Already, the government has declared waiver off loans availed from cooperative sector and 20.38 lakh farmers would get the benefit. Shortly, another order would be issued to waive off the loans availed from nationalized banks, he said.
It was not fair to do politics in the name of farmers. Farm loan waiver was not the only solution to the farmers problems. It was an effort to instill confidence among them. The government was thinking about on how to make the agriculture a sustainable and profitable sector, he said.
He had participated in a paddy transplanting in Sitapura in Mandya district. Due to shortage of water, the paddy cultivation was affected in the district for the last three years. This time, because of the sufficient rain, the farmers were happy and he had participated in their happiness. He has decided to conduct such programme once in a month in all districts to educate the farmers on modern agriculture pattern and instill confidence among them, he said.
Thanks to the rain God that all reservoirs were full this time. This year, the state could get more power from hydel power generation units. The 370 MW capacity gas-based power unit at Yelahanka would commission its service this year. In order to strengthen the power transmission, the Energy department would set up 35 new power substations and lay more than 800 km power lines to ensure sufficient power to all sectors, he said.
Education should not be a commodity. The government has decided to provide all needed basic infrastructure for government schools and colleges and increase the students attendance. The government held many meetings regarding this issue and decided to modernize all schools. It was planned to give complete education to rural girls and bring them to the mainstream. To achieve this, it was planned to set up separate residential colleges for girls, he added.
State highway development
In the third phase, total 3,831 km state highways would be developed and in the fourth stage, 2,722 km road would be developed at a cost of Rs 3,480 crore. Because of heavy rains, the roads in coastal region and Malnad region were damaged, bridges were collapsed in many places. For the benefit of the public and school children, total 451 small connecting bridges would be constructed, he said.
In order to ensure hassle-free traffic movement in the Capital city, efforts were on to take up the Metro second stage, peripheral ring road and satellite town train project. Steps would also be taken to protect the tanks and scientific disposal of waste in the Capital city, he said.
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Netanyahu recommends his Cabinet approve Hezbollah cease-fire proposal
Beirut, Nov 26: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he would recommend his cabinet adopt a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah, as Israeli warplanes struck across Lebanon, killing at least 23 people.
The Israeli military also issued a flurry of evacuation warnings — a sign it was aiming to inflict punishment on Hezbollah down to the final moments before any ceasefire takes hold. For the first time in the conflict, Israeli ground troops reached parts of Lebanon's Litani River, a focal point of the emerging deal.
In a televised statement, Netanyahu said he would present the ceasefire to Cabinet ministers later on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting.
Netanyahu said the vote was expected later Tuesday. It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released. The deal does not affect Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which shows no signs of ending.
The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously have not been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks before a ceasefire, sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, and some cars had mattresses tied to them. Dozens of people, some wearing their pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, kept up its rocket fire, triggering air raid sirens across northern Israel.
Lebanese officials have said Hezbollah also supports the deal. If approved by all sides, the deal would be a major step toward ending the Israel-Hezbollah war that has inflamed tensions across the region and raised fears of an even wider conflict between Israel and Hezbollah's patron, Iran.
The deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides' compliance.
But implementation remains a major question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted on Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, doesn't provide “effective enforcement” of the deal.
“If you don't act, we will act, and with great force,” Katz said, speaking with UN special envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Tuesday that Israel's security concerns had been addressed in the deal also brokered by France.
“There is not an excuse for not implementing a ceasefire. Otherwise, Lebanon will fall apart,” Borrell told reporters in Italy on the sidelines of a Group of Seven meeting. He said France would participate on the ceasefire implementation committee at Lebanon's request.
Bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs continues
Even as Israeli, US, Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing optimism over a ceasefire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, which it says aims to cripple Hezbollah's military capabilities.
An Israeli strike on Tuesday levelled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the city's downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said another 10 people were killed in the eastern Baalbek province. Israel says it targets Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure.
Earlier, Israeli jets struck at least six buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs. One strike slammed near the country's only airport, sending plumes of smoke into the sky. The airport has continued to function despite its location on the Mediterranean coast next to the densely populated suburbs where many of Hezbollah's operations are based.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in the suburbs, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where UNIFIL is headquartered.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that peacekeepers will not evacuate.
Other strikes hit in the southern city of Tyre, where the Israeli military said it killed a local Hezbollah commander.
The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few kilometres from the Israeli border.
Previous ceasefire hopes were dashed
Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the strongest Iranian-backed force in the region, would likely significantly calm regional tensions that have led to fears of a direct, all-out war between Israel and Iran. It's not clear how the ceasefire will affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Hezbollah had long insisted that it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ends, but it dropped that condition.
Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging barrages ever since.
Israel escalated its campaign of bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes.
More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members.
Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the country's north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon.
After previous hopes for a ceasefire were dashed, U.S. officials cautioned that negotiations were not yet complete and noted there could be last-minute hitches that delay or destroy an agreement.
“Nothing is done until everything is done,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
While the ceasefire proposal is expected to be approved if Netanyahu brings it to a vote in his security Cabinet, one hard-line member, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said he would oppose it. He said on X that a deal with Lebanon would be a “big mistake” and a “missed historic opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah.”
