Waqf land: Karnataka govt warns action against officials issuing eviction notice to farmers

Bengaluru: In response to the rising number of Caesarean deliveries in Karnataka, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dinesh Gundu Rao, announced on Monday that the state government would introduce a dedicated programme next month to address this issue.

Replying to MLC Jagadev Guthedar's question in the Legislative Council, the minister revealed that Caesarean deliveries now account for 46% of total births in the state. He noted that private hospitals conduct 61% of these procedures, while government hospitals perform 36%.

The minister emphasized the necessity of preventing unnecessary Caesarean deliveries. He highlighted that some private hospitals perform Caesarean sections in 80% to 90% of cases primarily for financial gain, finding it easier compared to normal deliveries. To counteract this, the Health Department plans to launch a separate programme in January aimed at reducing such procedures.

Gundu Rao underscored the importance of mentally preparing pregnant women for normal deliveries. "We are already conducting an audit of Caesarean deliveries at every hospital to understand the necessity and rationale behind the doctors' decisions," he added.

Additionally, the minister mentioned the government's intention to provide round-the-clock maternity services at taluk hospitals to further discourage unnecessary Caesarean deliveries.

Regarding foeticide cases, the minister informed the House that in 2023-24 and 2024-25, 45 individuals were arrested for violating the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Act. Cases were registered in Belagavi, Kolar, Mandya, and Bengaluru Rural.

The Supreme Court on Monday while hearing a petition against the stand of Karnataka High Court's view that shouting 'Jai Sriram' inside a mosque was not an offence, sought the stand of the State of Karnataka in the matter.

A bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Sandeep Mehta was hearing the matter.

"Alright, they were shouting a particular religious slogan. How is that an offence?" Justice Mehta asked, as bench posted the matter for January 2025.

The bench asked if the accused persons had been identified. Kamat replied that CCT visuals had been collected and the police identified the accused persons, as recorded in the remand report. The bench asked if merely spotting the accused near the mosque would mean that they shouted the slogans.

"Are you able to identify the actual accused? What material you have brought?" the Court asked. Kamat clarified that he was only representing the complainant (caretaker of the mosque) and it is for the police to conduct the investigation and collect the evidence. The FIR need only give information about the offence and need not be an 'encyclopedia' containing all evidence, he added.

This comes after a petition was filed in the Supreme Court questioning the Karnataka High Court's order of September 13, 2024 which quashed an FIR lodged against two men for raising the 'Jai Shri Ram' slogan within mosque premises.

The high court's single judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna had said, "It is ununderstandable as to how if someone shouts 'Jai Shri Ram' it would outrage the religious feeling of any class, when the complainant himself states that Hindu - Muslims are living in harmony in the area".

The Israeli military has completely destroyed 70 percent of buildings in the Jabalia refugee camp as the occupying regime continues with its deadly aggression against northern Gaza. 

Amos Harel, a military affairs analyst, wrote in the Israeli daily Haaretz on Sunday that the Jabalia refugee camp has become a “ghost town” amid Israel’s deadly offensive in the area.

“As far as the eye can see lie miles and miles of destroyed homes. It's hard to look away from the devastated remains of Jabalia's refugee camp in northern Gaza,” Harel said.

“I could see that even the few buildings that are still standing were badly damaged,” he added.

Harel went on to say that the Israeli military has operated in the area twice before, but this time the camp was torn down.

“Jabalia has become a ghost town. Outside, you mainly see pack after pack of stray dogs roaming around and hunting for scraps of food,” he said.

The Israeli regime dispatched tanks again to northern Gaza last month in what it said was aimed at combating members of the Palestinian resistance movement launching retaliatory strikes, and preventing them from regrouping.

The towns of Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia have been besieged for more than 40 days, without food, water, medicine, or aid, and under constant bombing, shelling, and drone attacks.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after Hamas-led resistance groups waged the surprise Operation al-Aqsa Flood against the occupying entity in response to its decades-long campaign of devastation against Palestinians.

The regime’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed 45,227 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 107,573 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under rubble.

The Tel Aviv regime has also imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

Separately on Sunday, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said its fighters hit a group of nine Israeli soldiers who had taken refuge inside a house in the west of the Jabalia refugee camp.

It made the remarks in a statement on Telegram, noting that several Israeli forces were killed and wounded in the attack which was carried out with a TBG (thermobaric) rocket.

Qassam Brigades further noted that its fighters had killed an Israeli soldier from a long distance in the central area of the Jabalia camp.

Qassam Brigades has been daily carrying out military operations against the Israeli occupation forces since October 7 last year.

On Thursday, Qassam Brigades said its fighters stabbed at close range an Israeli officer and three soldiers at the Jabalia refugee camp, resulting in their deaths.

The retaliatory operation came following another attack on Wednesday, when Hamas fighters killed five Israeli soldiers in central Jabalia, also at close range.