FCI offloading wheat and rice to private buyers under OMSS in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): The regional office of the Food Corporation of India is offloading wheat and rice to private buyers under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS-Domestic) via e-auction on every Wednesday to keep the retail price under check, Bhupendra Singh Bhati, General Manager at the FCI's Karnataka office here said on Wednesday.
According to Bhati, the reserve price of wheat has been fixed at Rs 2,150 per quintal for Fair and Average Quality (FAQ) and Rs 2,125 per quintal for the Under Relaxed Specifications (URS) variety across the country up to December 31.
The reserve price of rice has been fixed at Rs 3,100 per quintal (Rs 73 per quintal shall be added to the reserve price for fortified rice) for private parties across the country up to October 31.
During the e-auctions conducted on June 28, July 5 and July 12, a quantity of 13,470 MT, 13,600 MT and 14,570 MT of wheat was offered and a quantity of 3,260 MT, 3,930 MT and 5,830 MT was sold respectively, Bhati said.
He said as on July 1, the stock position in respect of rice in Karnataka was 6.49 LMT and regarding wheat, it was 0.63 LMT.
The all-India stock position of rice is 253.49 LMT and that of wheat is 301.45 LMT.
No damaged foodgrain stock accrued in the Karnataka region in the last one year, Bhati said.
"For the last one year, a quantity of 1.69 LMT of fortified rice has been issued from the depots under the divisional offices of FCI, Karnataka under various welfare schemes.
"For the last one year, a quantity of 22,24,404 MTs of non-fortified rice has been issued under various government schemes and also for ethanol production," the FCI general manager said.
For 2022-23, a total of 43.85 LMT of foodgrains has been moved into Karnataka, whereas during 2023-24, a total of 6.03 LMT of foodgrains has been moved into the state till June 2023.
Further, a total of 0.05 LMT of foodgrain stocks were moved to the Lakshadweep islands from the Mangalore port by ocean vessels for the PDS beneficiaries during the FY 2022-23, Bhati explained.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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.
