Mixed response to Karnataka shutdown, as BJP, Congress spar over bills

News Network
September 29, 2020

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Bengaluru, Sep 29: The day-long shutdown by the farmers and others on Monday evoked mixed response in Karnataka amid tight security, even as the ruling BJP and opposition Congress sparred over the bills to amend the APMC Act and the Land Reforms Act.

“The shutdown was mixed but peaceful, barring a few stray incidents. The shutdown evoked good response in the old Mysuru (southern) region, partial in Malnad but tepid in coastal and northern regions across the state,” a home ministry official told IANS here.

In the Bengaluru, hundreds of farmers, pro-Kannada activists, labourers, workers and trade union members staged a massive demonstration at Town Hall in the city centre and a held a protest rally to Freedom Park, shouting slogans against the state and Central governments for its ‘anti-farmer’ bills.

“About 300 protesters were detained at the Mysuru Bank circle in the city centre when they tried to block vehicular traffic and force shops and eateries to shut,” a police officer said.

Farmers’ leaders Kodihalli Chandrashekar and Kurburu Shanth Kumar and Kannada Rakshana Vedike President Narayan Gowda addressed the gathering at Town Hall and Freedom Park, urging the state government to withdraw the bills passed in the state legislature on Saturday, as they were against the farmers and the rural people.

Heavy police deployment thwarted some protesters from taking out a bike rally from Town Hall to Freedom Park to prevent disruption to vehicular traffic in the central business district on the first working day of the week.

Though normal life was not disrupted in this tech hub, as pubic transport services like buses and metro rail operated normally and government and private offices reopened after the holiday on Sunday, there were not many customers in shops and eateries across the city.

Hundreds of farmers and protesters blocked vehicular traffic on Bengaluru-Mysuru state highway at Ramanagara, Chennapatna and Mandya but were whisked away to clear the stranded vehicles later.

While farmers were allowed to stage protest rallies and demonstrations in cities and towns across the state peacefully, the police prevented them from disrupting normal life, close shops or disturb movement of buses.

Though intra and inter-state bus services were not suspended, their frequency was curtailed, as commuters were less than on a normal working day, even as the protesters raised slogans, burnt effigies and held banners against the ‘anti-farmer’ bills.

The shutdown call got mixed to poor response in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Belagavi, Vijayapura, Bagalkote, Kalaburagi and Bidar in the state’s coastal and northern regions.

In Kalaburagi, bus services were withdrawn, as farmer associations and pro-Kannada outfits staged a protest at the central bus stand.

“Though there were commuters at the bus stand, the services were withdrawn as a precautionary measure,” a state transport official said.

In Bidar, farmers alleged that the BJP government in the state and the NDA government in the Centre were neglecting them and helping corporates to exploit them by buying their produce at lower prices.

The state-wide bandh call got poor response in Malnad region, including Shivamogga, which is Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyiurappa’s home district, and Bhadarvati.

Unfazed by the protests and shutdown, Yediyurappa told reporters here that he would tour the state and explain to the farmers the benefits of the amended APMC Act and the Land Reforms Act.

“The Congress is conspiring with the protesters and using the gullible farmers to oppose the bills. I invited them (farmer leaders) for talks, but the talks failed due to the machination of the Congress. I am not sitting here to enjoy power but to help the farmers. These bills will change their lives forever,” the Chief Minister said.

Upset with the farmers terming him as “son of corporates and not son of the soil”, Yediyurappa said he was not the one to stick to power by cheating farmers.

Reiterating that the bills would help eliminate middle-men from agri-business, the Chief Minister told the farmers wait for at least eight months to a year to reap the benefits of the bills.

Congress leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, however, dared the Chief Minister to prove how the new laws enacted by the Parliament and the state Assembly were beneficial to farmers.

“Let Yediyurappa dissolve the assembly and face elections on the amended laws. The people will defeat him and the BJP,” Siddaramaiah said in a statement here.

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Agencies
March 26,2025

The airstrikes led by the United States have killed at least 25 civilians in Yemen over the past week, marking the deadliest week of bombing on the country since the final months of the Washington-backed Saudi war in January 2022.

In a report released on Tuesday, the Yemen Data Project said the 25 civilians were the victims of 38 US-led aerial assaults on March 15-21, adding that 28 people were also injured in the attacks.

The independent tracker also said that 21 out of the 38 US air raids hit non-military, civilian targets.

“Civilian targets hit included: a medical storage facility, a medical center, a school, a wedding hall, residential areas, a cotton gin facility, a health office, Bedouin tents, and Al-Eiman University,” it said.

The deadliest US strike in the first week of US bombing campaign struck a residential area in Yemen’s northwestern Sa'ada province, killing 10 civilians and wounding 11 others, among them children.

The US began bombing Yemen on March 15, a few days after Yemen resumed its operation against Israeli-linked ships in response to Israel’s Gaza aid blockade that violated a ceasefire with the Hamas resistance group.

The Yemeni Armed Forces began their anti-Israel naval campaign in November 2023, a month after the occupying regime waged a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

The Yemeni forces halted their attacks in solidarity with the Palestinians in January, when Israel accepted a three-phase Gaza ceasefire.

Two months later, however, Israel unilaterally broke the Gaza truce and resumed its brutal onslaught on the besieged territory.

On Tuesday, Yemeni media reported 17 US strikes on Sa'ada and two more on the nearby 'Amran province.

The reports said American warplanes carried out "aggressive air raids... causing material damage to citizens' property," but gave no details of casualties.

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Agencies
March 19,2025

Kanpur (UP): The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad on Wednesday arrested an employee of the Kanpur Ordnance Factory for allegedly sharing classified and sensitive information with a Pakistani intelligence operative through social media, according to a statement.

The accused, identified as Kumar Vikas, was employed as a Junior Works Manager at the Kanpur Ordnance Factory, the ATS said in the statement.

He was in contact with a suspected Pakistani agent who used the alias "Neha Sharma", it said. Investigations revealed that Vikas had been sending confidential documents and sensitive data related to ordnance manufacturing, employee attendance sheets, machine layouts, and production charts via WhatsApp.

On March 13, ATS arrested another Ordnance Factory employee, Ravindra Kumar, from Hazratpur, Firozabad, for similar offenses. His interrogation led ATS officials to Vikas, who had also been in contact with the suspected Pakistani agent since January 2025.

Authorities said the Pakistani agent introduced herself as an employee of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and initially contacted Vikas on Facebook. They later exchanged mobile numbers and continued their communication on WhatsApp.

To avoid detection, they used the Ludo gaming app for covert conversations, the statement read. Vikas was allegedly lured by financial incentives to pass on classified information, it said.

Kumar Vikas has been taken into custody and further legal proceedings are under way.

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News Network
March 28,2025

qudsday.jpg

Millions of people across Iran and the world took to the streets on International Quds Day, expressing solidarity with Palestinians and condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif, spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and head of the Intifada Committee in Tehran, stated that rallies began at 10:00 a.m. local time (0630 GMT) in over 900 cities across Iran.

Demonstrators from various walks of life carried Iranian and Palestinian flags, as well as banners reading “Free Palestine” and “Al-Quds Must Be Liberated.” Flags of regional resistance groups, including Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (Hashd al-Sha'abi), Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and Yemen’s Ansarullah, were also displayed.

Mass rallies were held across West Asia, including in Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon, as well as in other parts of the world.

Iranian Leaders Condemn Western Stance

Senior Iranian officials participated in the rally in Tehran, where Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf addressed the gathering.

“Iranians have taken to the streets in a massive show of support for Palestine and the Islamic Ummah,” Qalibaf said. “The Palestinian struggle is not just an issue for the Islamic world but a lesson for all of humanity.”

He criticized the West’s response to Israeli actions in Gaza, calling it a stain on Western civilization. “These crimes will be remembered as a lasting ignominy, exposing the West’s duplicity in human rights advocacy,” he added.

Qalibaf also defended the October 7, 2023, Palestinian attack on Israeli-occupied territories, describing Operation al-Aqsa Flood as a “rightful and legitimate response to 77 years of oppression by Israel, the U.S., and Britain.” He further described Israel as a “spare regime” dependent on U.S. support.

Quds Day: A Global Symbol of Resistance

Al-Quds Day, observed annually on the last Friday of Ramadan, was established in 1979 by the late Imam Khomeini to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinians and oppose Israeli occupation. The event has since become a symbol of resistance, with large rallies held worldwide, particularly amid Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza and the West Bank.

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