1 dead, 5 injured after 35-year-old Ganesh goes on stabbing spree on Bengaluru streets

Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada MP Captain Brijesh Chowta recently met with Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnav to discuss urgent concerns regarding the region's railway infrastructure development. Key issues raised during the meeting included the long-pending Mangaluru-Bengaluru connectivity, the Shiradi Ghat stretch, and other vital railway concerns impacting the region.

In addition to discussing these issues, Captain Chowta submitted a letter requesting the Union Minister's intervention and support. The letter emphasized the need to merge Konkan Railway with Indian Railways and called for the doubling of railway tracks between Bengaluru and Mangaluru, which would significantly improve rail connectivity between the state capital and Mangaluru.

Further, Captain Chowta raised concerns about enhancing passenger facilities along the region's rail routes, particularly the need for better services between Subrahmanya and Mangaluru.

To bring more attention to these pressing issues, Captain Chowta took to social media, urging the state government’s support. In a tweet on his official X handle, he requested Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to expedite the resolution of these concerns. “In this direction, I request our Karnataka government led by CM Shri @siddaramaiah to kindly provide the necessary state support for the swift redressal of various concerns pertaining to both Konkan Railways as well as HMRDC to ease movement of both people and cargo in this important stretch between Mangalore and Bangalore,” he posted.

The meeting with the Union Minister was attended by Bengaluru Rural MP Dr. CN Manjunath, Udupi-Chikmagalur MP Kota Srinivas Poojary, and Uttara Karnataka MP Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri, all of whom supported the discussion on enhancing railway infrastructure in the region.

Hamas says the Israeli regime’s sole objective lies in “erasing” the entirety of the Palestinian population from across the Palestinian territories.

Khalil al-Hayya, a ranking official with the Gaza Strip-based Palestinian resistance movement, made the remarks to the Palestinian al-Aqsa TV on Wednesday.

“The occupation targets everyone—it strikes hospitals, civil defense, women, children, and the elderly,” he said, adding that the regime sought to “empty Gaza of its residents, and displace the Palestinian people to fulfill its dreams of building a Zionist Jewish state across all of Palestine.”

The remarks came amid the regime’s October 2023-present war of genocide on the coastal sliver that has so far claimed the lives of nearly 44,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

“This unprecedented aggression in modern times evokes scenes from the dark ages of human history, having crossed all red lines and exceeded every expectation of brutality in the modern era,” the Palestinian official lamented.

He also regretted that the regime had added “systematic and dangerous starvation to its aggression, falsely claiming before the world that it allows 250 [aid] trucks into Gaza daily. In reality, the number of trucks is far fewer.”

Hayya, meanwhile, regretted that “scenes of children torn apart, women screaming over their children, and heart-wrenching destruction have failed to stir enough humanity to stop these crimes.”

He decried the United States for vetoing the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions that are aimed at bringing about a potential ceasefire in the war, saying this indicated Washington’s “partnership in the aggression” and a simultaneous siege that the Israeli regime has been enforcing on Gaza.

Addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the official asserted that, despite what the Israeli official is after, Hamas would not hand over the regime’s captives “without [the regime’s] stopping the war.”

He called Netanyahu “the main obstacle” in the way of cessation of the aggression, saying the Israeli premier “blocks any progress for political reasons,” and citing his preventing conclusion of a ceasefire agreement in July.

Hayya also warned that the regime sought to expand the war beyond Gaza, but asserted that its goals are “impossible and will never happen.”

“Today, the enemy exposes its true intentions of extermination and displacement, but it will fail,” he stressed.

“The Palestinian people are resilient and will not surrender, as they believe in their humanitarian and political cause. The enemy and its allies will not succeed in achieving their goals. This steadfast people will endure, and the occupation will not prevail against them.”

Union minister Amit Shah on Friday, November 15, said PM Narendra Modi will amend the Waqf Act despite opposition from leaders like Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar.

"Modi ji wants to change the Waqf Board law, but Uddhav ji, Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule are opposing it," Shah said, addressing a rally at Umarkhed in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district.

"Uddhav ji, listen carefully, you all can protest as much as you want, but Modi ji will amend the Waqf Act," he said. Shah said there are two camps in the November 20 Maharashtra assembly polls, one of 'Pandavas' represented by the BJP-led Mahayuti and the other of 'Kauravas' represented by Maha Vikas Aghadi.

"Uddhav Thackeray claims that his Shiv Sena is the real one. Can the real Shiv Sena go against renaming Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar? Can the real Shiv Sena go against renaming Ahmednagar to Ahilyanagar? The real Shiv Sena stands with the BJP," Shah said.

"Rahul Baba used to say that his government would credit money in the accounts of the people instantly. You were unable to fulfil your promises in Himachal, Karnataka, and Telangana," he said.

Shah said the Mahayuti alliance has promised that women will get Rs 2,100 per month under the Ladki Bahin Yojana. "Kashmir is an integral part of India and no power in the world can snatch it away from us," Shah said.