Environment of honesty prevailing in country: Modi
New Delhi, June 29: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the country is witnessing an environment of honesty where many citizens are coming forward to make their contribution towards nation building.
"Today, an environment of honesty has been created in the country. A large number of people are taking steps to contribute towards nation building," Modi said at AIIMS after dedicating five health projects to the nation.
Modi said this change in the mindset has been brought about by the government which is ensuring all resources at its disposal are used for the benefit of the country and its people.
"There is a faith in the people that each and every paisa of the tax they pay is being utilised for the benefit of the country," he said and added the country is proceeding with a commitment for a "New India".
The Prime Minister said his request to the people of the country, who have the ability to pay, to forego their LPG gas subsidy resulted in 1.25 crore people giving away their subsidy. "This strongly reflects the positivity among our citizens," he said.
But what is yet not known in the public is a similar story of honesty and commitment towards nation building in the railways and that too without any announcement or request to him, Modi said, adding that people would be astonished to recognise this strength of the country.
"Mere addition of an option of foregoing the subsidy in the railway forms resulted in 42 lakh senior citizen passengers not availing the benefit in the last eight to nine months. This is the new environment in the country," he said.
As the audience, many of whom were doctors from AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital, applauded at the revelation, Modi went on to share another incident when he had urged the doctors to provide free service and guidance to pregnant women on the ninth day of every month.
"I am happy that thousands of doctors came forward, hung a board outside their hospitals about the free service, and as pregnant women came to know of it, many of them started coming. Under the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan, till now 1.25 crore pregnant women have been treated by these doctors," he said.
"I want more doctors to come forward as we all have to take some extra steps to solve the problems of our country," Modi added.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
