PM Modi condoles death of Tulsi Gowda, says she will remain guiding light for environment conservation

The planned ceasefire agreement between the Palestinian Hamas resistance group and Israel has taken effect after deadly strikes by the usurping regime on the Gaza Strip.

The truce deal was set to begin at 8:30 a.m. local time (06:30 GMT) on Sunday to end the 15-month-long Israeli genocidal war on the besieged territory but was delayed for almost three hours. It finally went into effect at 11:15 a.m. local time.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli military said that it continued to carry out attacks on Gaza as Hamas had not provided a list of captives to be released under the ceasefire.

Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a televised statement that the regime’s military “continues to strike within the Gaza area at this time. According to the prime minister’s directives, the ceasefire will not come into effect until Hamas fulfills its commitments.”

He echoed an earlier statement from prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who ordered the occupation’s military not to implement the Gaza truce until Hamas issues the names of the Israeli captives to be released.

Meanwhile, Hamas said the delay in handing over the names of the captives is due to “technical and field reasons.”

In a statement issued on Telegram, the resistance group reaffirmed its commitment to the terms of the ceasefire agreement.

Afterwards, Hamas provided a list of the three Israeli captives to be freed later on Sunday.

13 Palestinians killed during ceasefire delay

Gaza’s Civil Defense said 13 people have been killed and more than 30 others injured in the Israeli bombing of Gaza on Sunday morning during the nearly three-hour delay in the start of the ceasefire.

Gaza’s Government Media Office announced that it had begun deploying thousands of Palestinian police officers tasked with maintaining security and order in the blockaded territory.

“Ministries and government institutions are fully prepared to begin work according to the government plan [and] to implement all measures that ensure life returns to normal as soon as possible,” it added.

Israel unleashed its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023, after Hamas carried out a historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

However, the Tel Aviv regime failed to achieve its declared objectives of freeing captives and eliminating Hamas despite killing nearly 47,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza.

Earlier this week, Israel was forced to agree to a ceasefire, accepting Hamas' longstanding negotiation terms.

The ceasefire deal consists of three phases, each lasting 42 days. Negotiations for the second and third phases will begin 16 days after the implementation of the first phase. 

The first phase will see the release of some 1,900 Palestinian abductees in exchange for 33 Israeli captives held in Gaza. It also requires Israeli occupation forces to begin withdrawing from the Philadelphi corridor - also known as the Salah al-Din axis - on the Gaza-Egypt border.

In a no-holds-barred attack on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for his remark that India got "true independence" after the Ram Temple in Ayodhya was consecrated, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today said the comment amounted to "treason" and that Mr Bhagwat would be arrested and tried if he was in any other country.

Mr Gandhi was addressing an event to mark the inauguration of the new Congress headquarters in Delhi. "We are getting a new headquarters at a very particular time. I think it's quite symbolic that yesterday, the chief of the RSS said that India never achieved Independence in 1947. He said true Independence in India was achieved when the Ram Mandir was built. He says that the Constitution was not the symbol of our freedom."

"Mohan Bhagwat has the audacity to inform the nation every two or three days what he thinks about the Independence movement, what he thinks about the Constitution. What he has said yesterday is treason because it is stating that the Constitution is invalid, it is stating that everything (done) to fight against the British was invalid and he has the audacity to say this publicly," Mr Gandhi said, adding, "in any other country, he would be arrested and tried".

"To say that India did not get Independence in 1947 is an insult to every single Indian and it's about time we stop listening to this nonsense that these people think they can just keep parroting out and shouting and screaming," the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha said.

Mr Bhagwat was in Indore on Monday to present the National Devi Ahilya award to Champat Rai, general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. Addressing a gathering there, he said the day of the consecration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya should be celebrated as "Pratishtha Dwadashi" as it marks the "true independence" of Bharat. 

"India, which faced enemy attacks for centuries, witnessed its true independence that day. We had independence, but it had not been established. India got political independence on August 15, 1947, we also brought a Constitution but the country did not run in its spirit. How can we accept that dreams have been fulfilled and pain alleviated? Our swa (self) is Ram, Krishna and Shiva. Do they belong only to those who worship them? No. Ram connects people from north to south, Krishna from east to west and Shiva is in every particle of Bharat," he said.

Udupi: A resident of Karkala in Udupi district has accused five individuals of defrauding him of nearly Rs 2 crore under the guise of business partnerships.

Dawood Hakim, a resident of Ennehole in Marne village, Karkala, has filed a complaint stating that he operated a mobile sales and service business on Karkala Market Road for 15 years. He had known the accused for over two decades and trusted them implicitly.

According to Dawood, the accused convinced him to invest in multiple business ventures, including land dealings and a travel business, promising substantial returns and partnership benefits. Believing their assurances, Dawood reportedly handed over cash, gold, and a vehicle.

However, the promised profits never materialized, and the accused allegedly failed to return the money or assets. Dawood claims this deception has caused severe financial distress to him and his family, amounting to a loss of around Rs 2 crore.

A case has been registered at the CEN police station, and investigations are underway.