Ananth Kumar’s journey from ABVP to Union Minister position
Bengaluru, November 12: Ananth Kumar was one among those who toiled hard in organizing the BJP in the state, has marched from ABVP secretary to Union Minister position.
1982-85: ABVP state secretary
1985-87: ABVP National Secretary
1987-88: BJP state secretary
1988-95: BJP state general secretary
1995-98: BJP national secretary
1996: Elected to Lok Sabha from Bengaluru South for the first time
1996-97: Member of Industrial Advisory Committee and Railway Standing Committee
1998: Re-elected to Lok Sabha for second time
1998-1999: Union Civil Aviation Minister
1999: Additional charge of Union Tourism Minister
1999: Re-elected to Lok Sabha for third time
1999-2000: Union Minister for Culture and Youth Service
2000: Along with Culture, he shouldered Tourism ministry
2000: Urban Development, Poverty Eradication and Rural Development Ministry
2003: BJP state president
2004: Re-elected to LS for the fourth time from Bengaluru South
2004-08: Parliament Steel Committee chairman
2004: BJP national general secretary
2005: Member of Joint Parliamentary Committee on Profitable Posts
2007: Parliament Standing Committee on Finance chairman, Sessions Advisory Committee member
2009: Re-elected to LS for the fifth time
2009: Chairman, Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizer
2009: Member of Privileges and Rules
2010: Chairman, Committee on External Affairs
2014: Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers in Modi government. He also handled additional charge of Parliamentary Affairs Ministry
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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.
