State govt should clear arrears by August 31, says Karnataka contractors' association president
Bengaluru: D Kempanna, President of the Karnataka State Contractors' Association, has urged the state government to release the outstanding amount to contractors by August 31, expressing displeasure that the clearance of contractors' bills was being delayed.
Addressing reporters in Bengaluru on Friday, Kempanna pointed out, “Works are completed with loans worth crores of rupees drawn from various sources. Deeds of houses, gold and plots are mortgaged to get loans. Funds are reserved to pay contractors under some of the government departments. The government has released Rs 675 crore to BBMP for clearance of the contractors' bills, but is now claiming that the BBMP commissioner has not been given an order by a higher authority.”
Kempanna added, “A delay of barely a couple of months in the clearance of the bill will cause interest problems for the contractors. Whom should the contractors approach, to get relief for such problems? We are only waiting with great hope that the government will release the arrears.”
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
