Karnataka govt sets rules for layout approvals on converted land outside planning areas
Bengaluru (PTI): The Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj in Karnataka issued directions on the procedures to be followed for granting design approval for layouts developed on converted lands situated within gram panchayat limits but outside local planning areas.
According to a statement, under Section 199(B) of the Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Act, 2025, the concerned authority, either the Gram Panchayat or any authority notified by the government—must obtain prior approval of the layout plan from the competent planning authority having jurisdiction.
This approval is mandatory before issuing a new 'khata' or Property Identification (PID) number for building sites intended for construction purposes, it said.
The statement further said that developers are required to submit an application in Form 1, along with the necessary documents, to the gram panchayat as specified in Regulation 4(1).
As per the approved layout plan, layout owners must transfer, free of cost, through a registered relinquishment deed, all areas earmarked for road widening, roads, parks, parking spaces, civic amenity areas, public utility areas, and other basic facilities to the concerned Gram Panchayat, the department said.
It added that, under Regulation 11, layout owners must carry out all development works within the approved layouts as per existing rules and in accordance with the approved plans and authenticated estimate schedules certified by relevant departments, including the Panchayat Raj engineering, rural drinking water and sanitation, ESCOM, and so on.
The department also directed that gram panchayats located outside local planning areas must ensure that design approvals and development works in converted lands within their limits are implemented in accordance with the prescribed guidelines.
"They must also maintain all necessary documents related to the layouts and take appropriate steps to bring such properties under the tax ambit," the statement said.
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Iran reimposes restrictions on Strait of Hormuz, accusing US of violating deal to reopen it
Cairo (AP): Iran swiftly reversed course on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, reimposing restrictions on the critical waterway on Saturday after the US said it would not end its blockade of Iran-linked shipping.
Iran's joint military command said on Saturday that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state ... under strict management and control of the armed forces.” It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.
The announcement came the morning after US President Donald Trump said that even after Iran announced the strait's reopening on Friday, the American blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the US, including on its nuclear programme.
The conflict over the chokepoint threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy after oil prices began to fall again on Friday on hopes the US and Iran were drawing closer to an agreement. Roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passes through the strait, and further limits would squeeze already constrained supply, driving prices higher once again.
Control over the strait has proven to be one of Iran's main points of leverage and prompted the United States to deploy forces and initiate a blockade on Iranian ports as part of an effort to force Iran to accept a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire to end almost seven weeks of war that has raged between Israel, the US and Iran.
Iran said it fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels after a 10-day truce was announced between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. But after Trump said the blockade would continue, top Iranian officials said his announcement violated last week's ceasefire agreement between Iran and the US and warned the strait would not stay open if the US blockade remained in effect.
A data firm, Kpler, said movement through the strait remained confined to corridors requiring Iran's approval.
US forces have sent 21 ships back to Iran since the blockade began on Monday, US Central Command said on X.
Truce in Lebanon could help US-Iran peace efforts
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The ceasefire in Lebanon could clear one major obstacle to an agreement. But it was unclear to what extent Hezbollah would abide by a deal it did not play a role in negotiating, and which will leave Israeli troops occupying a stretch of southern Lebanon.
Trump said in another post that Israel is “prohibited” by the US from further strikes on Lebanon and that “enough is enough” in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The State Department said the prohibition applies only to offensive attacks and not to actions taken in self-defence.
Shortly before Trump's post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel agreed to the ceasefire in Lebanon “at the request of my friend President Trump,” but that the campaign against Hezbollah is not complete.
He claimed Israel had destroyed about 90 per cent of Hezbollah's missile and rocket stockpiles and added that Israeli forces “have not finished yet” with the dismantling of the group.
In Beirut, displaced families began moving toward southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs despite warnings by officials not to return to their homes until it became clear whether the ceasefire would hold.
The Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon reported sporadic artillery shelling in some parts of southern Lebanon in the hours after the ceasefire took effect.
An end to Israel's war with Hezbollah was a key demand of Iranian negotiators, who previously accused Israel of breaking last week's ceasefire with strikes on Lebanon. Israel had said that the deal did not cover Lebanon.
The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,290 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen US service members have also been killed.
