Punjab govt has offered to supply rice to K'taka for its Anna Bhagya scheme, says state AAP unit
Bengaluru, June 20: The AAP-ruled Punjab has come forward to supply rice required for Karnataka's free rice scheme, Anna Bhagya, the party's state unit has said.
The AAP's Karnataka unit said the Punjab government, led by Bhagwant Mann was willing to help Karnataka by providing rice required to implement the scheme, which offers 10 kg of food grain to each member of a family living below the poverty line.
In a letter to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday, AAP Karnataka convener Prithvi Reddy said, “The AAP government of Punjab is ready to provide the rice required for the implementation of Anna Bhagya scheme in Karnataka.” He stated that he had a detailed discussion on the issue with Punjab Chief Minister Mann.
''Mann reacted positively and has in-principle agreed to supply rice in the state from Punjab,” Reddy claimed.
The AAP strongly believes that irrespective of political differences, all parties must support initiatives that are meant to help people of our country, he said.
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Reddy also took a dig at the BJP government at the Centre for allegedly declining to provide extra rice to Karnataka.
“It is both surprising and sad to note that the BJP led central government has refused to provide extra rice to our state for fulfilment of the new Anna Bhagya scheme proposed by your government,” the AAP state chief said in his letter.
Slamming the Centre, Reddy said the alleged refusal to provide the extra rice not only exposes the 'anti-poor attitude' of the BJP government but also their ''step-motherly'' treatment to non-BJP ruled states”.
Later, addressing reporters he flayed the Congress for coming to power in Karnataka without any prior preparations.
He also charged the Siddaramaiah-led dispensation with completely 'copying' the programmes of the AAP and announcing many hasty guarantees for vote bank politics.
While five kg rice was already being given by the Centre, the state government wants to provide an additional five kg from its resources, according to a senior state government official.
The union government recently discontinued the sale of rice and wheat from the central pool under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) to state governments. According to an order issued by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), The sale of wheat and rice under the OMSS (domestic) for state governments is discontinued. However, the sale of rice under the OMSS will be continued for northeastern states, hilly states and states facing law and order situations, natural calamities at an existing rate of Rs 3,400 per quintal, it said. The move comes amid the slow progress of the monsoon and rising prices of rice and wheat. Rice prices have increased by up to 10 per cent in the last one year at the mandi level and by 8 per cent in the last one month, as per official data.
According to Siddaramaiah, the state needed 2.28 lakh metric tonnes of rice. On June 12, the FCI had agreed to provide the required quantity of rice but two days later it backtracked, he alleged.
Karnataka has approached the National Consumer Cooperative Federation, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation, and Central Warehousing Corporation to procure rice.
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South Korean protesters brave cold to demand Yoon's ouster as detention deadline looms
Seoul (AP): Hundreds of South Koreans, bundled up against freezing temperatures and snow, rallied overnight into Sunday near the residence of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, calling for his ouster and arrest, as authorities prepared to renew their efforts to detain him over his short-lived martial law decree.
Dozens of anti-corruption agency investigators and police attempted to execute a detainment warrant against Yoon on Friday but retreated from his residence in Seoul after a tense standoff with the presidential security service that lasted more than five hours.
The one-week warrant for his detention is valid through Monday. There were no immediate indications that anti-corruption authorities were ready to send investigators back to the residence as of Sunday afternoon. Staff from the presidential security service were seen installing barbed wire near the gate and along the hills leading up to Yoon's residence over the weekend, possibly in preparation for another detention attempt.
A Seoul court last Tuesday issued a warrant to detain Yoon and a separate warrant to search his residence after the embattled president repeatedly defied authorities by refusing to appear for questioning and obstructing searches of his office. But enforcing them is complicated as long as Yoon remains in his official residence.
Investigators from the country's anti-corruption agency are weighing charges of rebellion after the conservative president, apparently frustrated that his policies were blocked by a legislature dominated by the liberal opposition, declared martial law on Dec. 3 and dispatched troops to surround the National Assembly.
The Assembly overturned the declaration within hours in a unanimous vote and impeached Yoon on Dec. 14, accusing him of rebellion, while South Korean anti-corruption authorities and public prosecutors opened separate investigations into the events.
If the anti-corruption agency manages to detain Yoon, it will likely ask a court for permission to make a formal arrest. Otherwise, Yoon will be released after 48 hours.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, which is leading a joint investigation with police and military investigators, says detaining Yoon would be “virtually impossible” as long as he is protected by the presidential security service. The agency has urged the country's acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, to instruct the service to comply with their execution of the detainment warrant, but Choi has yet to publicly comment on the issue.
The chiefs and deputy chiefs of the presidential security service defied summonses on Saturday from police, who planned to question them over the suspected obstruction of official duty following Friday's events.
Yoon's legal team said it will file complaints against the anti-corruption agency's chief prosecutor, Oh Dong-woon, and approximately 150 investigators and police officers involved in Friday's detention attempt, which they claim was unlawful. The team said it will also file complaints with public prosecutors against the country's acting defense minister and police chief for ignoring the presidential security service's request to provide additional forces to block the detention attempt.
Yoon's lawyers had submitted an objection to the warrants against the president on Thursday, but the Seoul Western District Court dismissed the challenge on Sunday.
Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, called for the anti-corruption agency to move quickly to detain Yoon, saying it was deeply disappointing to see the agency “hesitating and letting time slip away.”
Hundreds of anti-Yoon protesters rallied for hours near the gates of the presidential residence from Saturday evening to Sunday, voicing frustration over the failed detention attempt and demanding stronger efforts to bring Yoon into custody. Separated by police barricades and buses, pro-Yoon protesters were gathering in nearby streets, denouncing his impeachment and vowing to block any efforts to detain him.
“With barely a day left before the execution deadline for Yoon Seok Yeol's detainment warrant, the presidential security service continues to hide a criminal and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials cannot be more relaxed,” Kim Eun-jeong, an activist, said on a stage during the anti-Yoon rally.
“Angry citizens have already spent two freezing nights demanding his immediate detainment. Are their voices not being heard?”
Yoon's lawyers have challenged the detention and search warrants against the president, saying they cannot be enforced at his residence due to a law that protects locations potentially linked to military secrets from search without the consent of the person in charge - which would be Yoon. They also argue the anti-corruption office lacks the legal authority to investigate rebellion charges and that police officers don't have the legal authority to assist in detaining Yoon.
While the presidential security act mandates protection for Yoon, it does not authorize the presidential security service to block court-ordered detainments. The service's attempts to block the execution of the warrant may amount to an obstruction of official duty, according to Park Sung-bae, an attorney specializing in criminal law. While the president mostly has immunity from prosecution while in office, the protection does not extend to allegations of rebellion or treason.
The agency said its outnumbered investigators had several scuffles with presidential security forces that threatened their safety and expressed “serious regret” that Yoon was not complying with the legal process.
After getting around a military unit guarding the residence's grounds, the agency's investigators and police were able to approach within 200 meters (yards) of Yoon's residential building but were stopped by a barricade comprising around 10 vehicles and approximately 200 members of the presidential security forces and troops. The agency said it wasn't able to visually confirm whether Yoon was inside the residence.
The Defense Ministry says the troops at Yoon's official residence are under the control of the presidential security service. Kim Seon-ho, the acting defense minister, conveyed his concern to the presidential security service, saying that deploying military personnel to block the execution of the detention warrant would be “inappropriate” and requesting that the troops aren't placed in a position where they might confront police, according to the ministry.
Yoon's defense minister, police chief and several top military commanders have already been arrested over their roles in the period of martial law.
Yoon's presidential powers have been suspended since the National Assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 14. Yoon's fate now lies with the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberations on whether to uphold the impeachment and formally remove Yoon from office or reinstate him.
