After Gyanvapi, ASI survey at Kamal Maula Mosque - Bhojshala Temple in MP's Dhar

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister-designate Rekha Gupta on Thursday assured that the BJP government would fulfill its poll promise of providing Rs 2,500 monthly financial assistance to women. The first installment of the monthly support will be credited to their accounts by March 8, Gupta said.

Ahead of the polls, the BJP's manifesto aimed to outdo the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) announcement of Rs 2,100 monthly support if it came to power. Gupta, who was elected as the leader of the BJP legislature party on Wednesday, emphasized that delivering on their promises is her top priority.

"Fulfilling the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the responsibility of all 48 BJP MLAs in the capital. We will definitely fulfill all our promises, including financial support for women. Women will 100% get monetary support in their accounts by March 8," she said. March 8 is observed as International Women's Day.

The BJP secured a landslide victory in the Delhi Assembly elections, winning 48 out of 70 seats and ending the AAP's decade-long rule. Gupta, a former Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) president and municipal councilor, will be sworn in as the fourth woman CM of Delhi at a grand ceremony at Ramlila Maidan later in the afternoon, in the presence of Prime Minister Modi and other dignitaries.

Bengaluru: Starting March, households in Karnataka will feel the pinch as the price of Nandini milk is set to increase by ₹5 per litre. The hike, which will take effect after the state budget on March 7, will also see a reduction in milk packet quantity from 1,050 ml to 1 litre. With this revision, the cost of a litre of Nandini toned milk will rise to ₹47.

This marks the latest price revision by the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) in the past three years. In 2022, milk prices increased by ₹3 per litre, while in 2024, KMF raised prices by ₹2 per packet but increased the quantity by 50 ml. However, KMF insists that last year’s change was not a price hike, as it involved a proportional increase in milk volume.

The increase in milk prices comes amid multiple price hikes across essential commodities and services. The Coffee Brewers Association has announced a ₹200 per kg hike in coffee powder rates by March, while BMTC bus and Namma Metro ticket fares have also been increased. Additionally, the state government is considering a rise in water tariffs, and electricity supply companies (Escoms) have sought approval for a 67-paise hike per unit from the Karnataka Electricity Commission.

According to KMF Managing Director B. Shivaswamy, the hike follows demands from farmers for a ₹5 per litre increase. "Earlier, we procured 85-89 lakh litres of milk per day, sometimes even 99 lakh litres. Now, the supply has dropped to 79-81 lakh litres per day, so the additional milk provided to consumers will stop," he explained.

Despite the price increase, Shivaswamy emphasized that Nandini milk will still be more affordable than other brands in Karnataka and other states, including those sold online. KMF is currently in discussions with farmer unions, milk unions, employee associations, and other stakeholders to determine how the increased revenue will be allocated.

"Ideally, the additional cost should benefit farmers. However, concerns raised by employee unions over financial matters, including 7th Pay Commission wages and pensions, also need to be factored in," said a KMF official on the condition of anonymity.

The final decision on the milk price hike now rests with the Karnataka Chief Minister, with an official announcement expected post-budget.

The Palestinian Hamas resistance movement hands over the bodies of four Israeli captives, killed in the regime's strikes on the besieged Gaza Strip to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The handover, part of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Tel Aviv regime, was carried out in Khan Yunis on Thursday, with Hamas saying that the move reflects its commitment to consolidate the ceasefire for long-term peace in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

According to the movement, all four captives, a mother and her two children and an elderly journalist, were killed in the Israeli airstrikes during the 15-month genocide war that killed at least 48,284 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in the small coastal territory.

"To the families of Bibas and Lifshitz: We would have preferred your sons to return to you alive, but your army and government leaders chose to kill them instead of bringing them back," Hamas said in a statement.

"They killed with them: 17,881 Palestinian children, in their criminal bombardment of the Gaza Strip, and we know that you know who is truly responsible for their departure. You were the victim of a leadership that does not care about its children."

Hamas said the Israeli army killed the captives by bombing their detention centers, and that the regime of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu bears full responsibility after repeatedly obstructing the exchange agreement. 

"The criminal Netanyahu is crying today over the bodies of his prisoners who returned to him in coffins, in a blatant attempt to evade responsibility for their killing in front of his audience."

Hamas said it did everything in its power to protect the prisoners and preserve their lives, "but the barbaric and continuous bombing by the occupation prevented them from being able to save all the prisoners".

On Saturday, Hamas said it would also release six more live captives in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners that include half of the women and children abducted by the occupying regime during the genocide.

The handover came just a day after the resistance movement announced that it is ready to release all Israeli captives in a single swap during the second phase of the Gaza truce deal.

"We emphasize that the exchange is the only way to return the prisoners alive to their families, and any attempt to bring them back by military force or return to war will only result in more losses among the prisoners," Hamas said in its Thursday statement. 

Israel and Hamas are currently in the process of implementing the first phase of the truce, which began on January 19. Since then, 19 Israeli captives have been released in exchange for more than 1,100 Palestinians.

After the completion of the first phase, 58 captives will remain in Gaza. The Israeli military says 34 of the remaining captives are dead.

Prior to Al-Aqsa Flood operation in October 2023, approximately 5,200 Palestinians were held in Israeli prisons. According to Palestinian officials, that number has since increased to over 10,000.

The occupying entity failed to achieve its declared objectives of freeing captives and eliminating Hamas despite killing at least 48,284 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza.

The ceasefire is divided into three phases, each lasting 42 days. In the first phase, which is currently underway, 33 Israeli captives will be freed in exchange for approximately 2,000 Palestinian detainees held in the regime’s prisons.

Despite Hamas fully committing to the ceasefire deal, Israel has restricted the delivery of humanitarian aid, including shelters, and blocked the entry of heavy machinery into the besieged strip, hindering the clearance of rubble from destroyed infrastructure.