Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday approved eight draft bills, including the ones on hate speech and hate crimes, prevention of slaughter and preservation of cattle and protection of people from social boycott.

Briefing reporters after the cabinet meeting, State Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the cabinet passed eight draft bills.

Bills that were approved by the cabinet include the Karnataka Hate Speech and Hate Crimes Prevention Bill, the Bayaluseeme Area Development Board (Amendment) Bill, the Malnad Area Development Board (Amendment) Bill, Karnataka Hindu Religious Institution and Endowment (Amendment) Bill.

Other bills that received cabinet nod are: Shree Chamundeshwari Kshetra Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, Karnataka Inland Water Transport Rules Bill, Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill and Karnataka Protection of People from Social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill.

The bill on hate speech and hate crime aims to curb inciting people to commit hate crimes.

Regarding the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill, Patil said, “This is something related to the establishment of slaughterhouses. It pertains to the Government of India grants.”

The bill to prevent instances of social boycott aims to bring social reform. It aims to stop families from being harassed with social boycott. According to officials, the scourge of social boycott is more prevalent in rural areas.

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Washington: US President Donald Trump has said the United States is close to achieving its objectives in Iran, while thanking key allies in the Middle East for their support.

“We are gonna finish the job. We are getting very close,” Trump said, expressing appreciation to Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Bahrain. “They’ve been great and we will not let them fail in any way shape or form,” he added.

Trump claimed that US military operations against Iran have delivered major results over the past month. Referring to “Operation Epic Fury”, he said American forces had carried out “swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield”.

He said Iran’s naval and air capabilities had been severely weakened and its ability to launch missiles and drones had been significantly reduced. “Their ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed, and their weapons factories and rocket launchers are being blown to pieces – very few of them left,” he said.

The US president also repeated his criticism of the 2015 nuclear deal signed under former President Barack Obama, claiming it would have allowed Iran to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has consistently maintained that its nuclear programme is peaceful.

Trump said the US military campaign aims to weaken Iran’s ability to support proxy groups and prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. “Taken together, these actions will cripple Iran militarily,” he said, adding that key strategic objectives are “nearing completion”.

In a separate remark, Trump urged countries dependent on Gulf oil to take action and suggested they should rely more on American energy supplies. He called on them to show “delayed courage” and secure the Strait of Hormuz, which has been affected by the ongoing conflict.

“[They] should have done it before, should have done it with us, as we asked. Go to the strait and just take it, protect it,” he said, adding that the United States has sufficient oil resources.

The remarks come as tensions remain high in the region, with continued military exchanges and growing concerns over global energy supplies.

“We will continue until our objectives are fully achieved. Thanks to the progress, we’ve made, I can say we are on track to complete all of America’s objectives shortly, very shortly,” the US president said.

We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We are going to take them back to the stone ages where they belong,” he added.

He further added that “regime change was never our goal” but that “regime change has occurred because of their original leader’s death”.

He’s also warned Iran of strikes on power plants if no deal is agreed.

“If during this period of time, no deal is made, we have our eyes on key targets. If no deal is reached we are going to hit every one of their electric generating plants very hard, and probably simultaneously,” he says.