Start door delivery of ration to needy, Centre tells states
New Delhi, June 29: Even as the Centre is yet to clear the Delhi government's proposal on door delivery of subsidised foodgrain, it told the states on Friday to implement a similar programme to prevent starvation deaths.
Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan asked the states to deliver ration to the doors of PDS beneficiaries unable to visit Fair Price Shops (FPS).
Addressing a gathering of state Food and Civil Supplies Ministers, Paswan said: "We do not want any deaths due to starvation. Those who are incapable of going to FPS should get ration at their doors. Assign your staff for delivery.
"If you cannot carry out door delivery, ask the beneficiaries to assign someone to receive the ration on their behalf."
An 11-year-old girl in Jharkhand's Simdega district had allegedly died of starvation last year as her family did not get foodgrain from the PDS shop as their ration card was not linked with the Aadhaar card.
Paswan said that about 81 crore persons in the country were getting foodgrain at subsidised rates -- rice at Rs 3 per kg, wheat at Rs 2 per kg and coarse grains at Re 1 per kg -- which will remained unchanged till 2019.
"We have issued guidelines to the states. We have told them that there should not be any death due to starvation. The central government spends a huge sum of money to give up to 90 per cent subsidy on foodgrain," he told reporters later.
Paswan said that he welcomed the Delhi government's plan to deliver ration at the door of intended beneficiaries but expressed concern about the FPS dealers.
"It is a good thing that they want to deliver ration at the doors. But what will happen to FPS dealers? If other states want to do it, it is welcome as we will be happy that the poor get ration at their homes," he said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had this month held a protest at the Lieutenant Governor's office over the "rejection" of the door delivery of ration scheme.
Paswan also said that sugarcane arrears had come down after the government took some measures, including a Rs 7,000 crore relief package to the sugar sector.
Cane arrears had increased to Rs 22,654 crore as of June 1.
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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.
