BJP calls for state-wide protest against state government on Nov. 21
Allegation of sugarcane dues, insult to woman
Bengaluru, November 20: The BJP has called for a state-wide protest against the state government accusing it of insulting a farmer woman and demanding clearance of sugarcane dues and support price on November 21.
Speaking to reporters at the party office at Malleshwaram here on Tuesday, BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa said that Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy was responsible for the sugarcane farmers to come on the streets. They would not have protested if the state government announced the suitable price to the sugarcane. Chief Minister Kumaraswamy’s statement on a farmer woman was not acceptable. The farmer woman termed Kumaraswamy as unfit to become a chief minister. What was wrong in it? But the Chief Minister has tried to justify his statement, he alleged.
Official opposition party
“We have been working as an official opposition party in the state. Who put pressure on me when I reduced the interest rate on farm loans during our coalition government? Both Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy had questioned me about reducing the interest rate”, Yeddyurappa said.
In the next Belagavi Session, all issues including the farmers issue would be discussed. A farmers rally would be conducted in Belagavi during the Session to draw the attention of the government. Total 100 taluks were drought affected. But the concerned ministers have not visited the affected taluks. The BJP has been collecting information about it and raise this issue in the Winter Session, he said.
‘Whoever may be, take action’
Even if the sugar factories owned by the BJP leaders have dues to farmers or leaders of any political parties have owned the sugar factories, dues should be cleared immediately. The government should take immediate action. The Chief Minister should take action to clear the dues.
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BS Yeddyurappa, BJP State President
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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.
