MANGALURU MONDAY JULY 22, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 14 CITY EDITION TENSIONS RISE AS ISRAEL STRIKES LEBANON; HEZBOLLAH RETALIATES Hezbollah said on Sunday it fired rockets at Israel in response to an overnight Israeli strike that hit a Lebanese arms depot and wounded six civilians ISRAELI SCHOOL HIT BY ROCKETS FROM LEBANON YEMEN REBELS FIRE MISSILES AT ISRAEL’S EILAT Hezbollah-fired rockets hit an empty school in northern Israel’s Dafna, the Times of Israel reported. The rocket barrage also set off a number of blazes in the area, the report said. Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters have traded fire on a near-daily basis. Rising intensity of attacks and counterattacks have raised concerns about a full-scale war breaking out ■ ■ Iran-backed Huthi rebels said they fired missiles towards Eilat in the early hours of Sunday after the Israeli strike on Yemen that killed 6 Israeli military intercepted the missiles. Analysts say the Israeli strike on Yemen will likely embolden the rebel group. Saudi Arabia, a key regional player, urged all parties to exercise utmost restraint | P10 104 civilians KILLED IN LEBANON SINCE THE START OF ISRAEL’S WAR IN GAZA LAST OCTOBER CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI MAHA CAMPAIGN In rare attack on Pawar, Shah calls him ‘leader of corruption’ S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai UNION Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday launched an unusually blistering attack on Opposition leader Sharad Pawar, calling him the ‘sargana of corruption’ (ring leader of corruption). Shah’s attack drew an equally sharp response from the NCP (SP), which called the BJP, “a washing machine” that le gitimises corruption. Shah was speaking at the BJP’s state convention in Pune, kick-star ting the party’s elections campaign for the upcoming assembly elections. “They (Opposition) talk about corruption, but the biggest leader of corruption in Indian politics is Sharad Pawar and I have no confusion when I say this. Sharad Pawar institutionalised corruption in many governments of this country,” Shah alleged. Shah also said when- ever Sharad Pawar’s government comes to power, Maratha reservations go out. “Therefore, if we want Maratha reservations, Sharad Pawar should not be voted to power,” Shah added. Responding to Shah’s attack on Pawar, NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto said, “They accuse political leaders of corruption, and then once those who they accuse join BJP, they are all given a clean chit. This is the BJP’s washing machine process of legitimising corruption.” He said Rahul Gandhi has become arrogant after the Opposition’s surprisingly strong performance in the Lok Sabha polls. “Once we win the Maharashtra, Haryana, and Jharkhand assembly polls later this year, Rahul Gandhi’s arrogance will be crushed,” Shah said. Training his guns on the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, Shah called it the “Aurangzeb fan club”. Stormy Budget session from today as BJP allies join Oppn to raise heat NEET row, UP govt fiat on eateries, special status for states raised at Sunday’s all-party meet EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Malappuram RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR NEET, Kanwar yatra pleas in SC today @ New Delhi DROPPING hints that the Budget session of Parliament starting Monday is going to be stormy, the all-party meeting on Sunday saw Opposition parties demanding discussion on a number of contentious issues, including the NEET fiasco, the UP government’s order to eateries on the Kanwar Yatra route, among others. Misuse of central agencies, Centre-state relations, and Lok Sabha deputy speaker post were among the other issues the Opposition parties wanted discussion on. But what will put the BJP-led government in a tricky situation is the demand by the Opposition as well as some BJP allies JD(U) and LJP for special status for states. The JD(U), the BJD and the YSR Congress Party demanded the status for Bihar, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, respectively As many as 55 leaders from 44 parties attended the meeting. In a bid to signal its political outreach, the government had invited a number of smaller parties, including some hav- The SC will on Monday hear a batch of petitions related to the NEET-UG 2024. The apex court will also hear a petition against the Uttar Pradesh government’s order that eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route must display the names of their owners Economic Survey to be presented today Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Kiren Rijiju and J P Nadda during the all-party meeting in New Delhi on Sunday. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also seen | PTI ing only one MP. While most opposition parties participated in the meeting, the Trinamool Congress chose to skip it. At the meeting, which lasted for over three hours, the Congress batted for the post of deputy speaker in the Lok Sabha for Opposition while the AAP raised serious concerns against the alleged misuse of central agencies such as ED and CBI. Defence minister Rajnath Singh, who chaired the meet, appealed to all parties for the Shirur: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah visited the landslide area at Shirur on Ankola-Kumta road in Uttara Kannada district on Sunday, spending more than an hour inspecting the damage and interacting with the locals. He directed the officials to provide relief to the needy | P5 Rescue personnel at the landslide site at Shirur village in Ankola taluk of Uttara Kannada district on Sunday | D HEMANTH Army team in Ankola to take up search ops @ Shirur (Uttara Kannada) A 44-member team of the Maratha Light Infantry Regiment from Belagavi has been deputed to carry out the search and rescue operations at the landslide site at Shirur village in Ankola taluk of Uttara Kannada district. They will look for missing persons, especially for Kasargod-based Arjun, amid the rubble. Arjun, a truck driver, was transporting timber EXPRESS READ Job quota: Biocon nameboard blackened Bengaluru: A Biocon nameboard was smeared with black paint after after its founder, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, opposed the proposed reservation for Kannadigas in the private sector. But, there was no confirmation about the location | P4 3 killed in landslide on Kedarnath trek route Rudraprayag: Three devotees died and eight others were injured in a landslide on the Kedarnath Dham trek route in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand on Sunday. The incident happened around 7.30 am on the Gaurikund-Kedarnath route when the devotees were hit with boulders and debris. names, terming it ‘communal and divisive’. The Budget session will have 19 sittings till August 12 when the government is expected to present six bills, including the one to replace the 90-year-old Aircraft Act. A G E N C I E S @ Dhaka We will not protect any guilty. We will initiate action against those responsible, once the rescue operations are completed SUBHASH CHANDRA NS smooth conduct of Parliament. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government is willing to discuss all issues in accordance with the rules. Later, speaking to the reporters, Rijiju said: “As we prepare for the budget session, running Parliament smoothly is a collective responsibility .” Most Opposition parties criticised the Uttar Pradesh government’s fiat that eateries and shops along the Kanwar Yatra route must display owners’ The Economic Survey 2023-24 will be presented in the Lok Sabha at 1 pm and in the Rajya Sabha at 2 pm on Monday. The survey gives details about the economic progress the country made in the previous year. The Union Budget will be presented on Tuesday | P11 A day after testing positive for Nipah, a 14-year-old boy from Kerala’s Malappuram district died on Sunday. The boy, who was undergoing treatment in the Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital, suffered a cardiac arrest around 10.50 am on Sunday and doctors could not revive him. “The boy was in an unconscious state. He suffered a cardiac arrest. The doctors tried their level best to save the boy . Unfortunately, he passed away around 11.30 am,” said Kerala Health Minister Veena George. The minister said three persons are under isolation at Kozhikode medical college. Although the health department received the monoclonal antibodies from the Indian Council of Medical Research on Sunday the boy died before , doctors could administer it. Meanwhile, samples taken from seven persons suspected to have contracted virus tested negative on Sunday . Nipah outbreaks have been reported in Kerala since 2018, when 17 people died. B’desh SC dials down govt job quota behind deadly unrest CM meets residents at landslide site Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister 14-year-old boy dies of Nipah virus in Kerala from Jagalpet in Joida taluk when the area was hit by the landslide six days ago. The Army personnel have been deployed after severe criticism by Kerala media over the slow-paced rescue operations at the site. “The Ar my unit has arrived here. It was decided yesterday (Sunday). We have NDRF, SDRF and Army personnel working now. We hope there will be quicker results,” said a senior district admin- istration official. Uttara Kannada Deputy Commissioner Lakshmi Priya said there was a request from the Kerala government to expedite the rescue operations and the district administration decided to seek Army’s assistance. “We feel the truck could be buried under the debris. The Army unit will be here for four days,” she added. Asked whether Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan himself called to expedite the process, she said, “The Kerala transport minister had called.” The Army unit will search the Gangavalli river where the truck is suspected to be stuck. They will be helped by NDRF, ASDRF and district police. SP Narayan said the Army unit is quite experienced in rescue operations. “This team is not ordinary. It has members who worked in Himachal Pradesh in rescue operations.” CONTINUED ON: P5 THE Bangladesh Supreme Court on Sunday pared back the contentious quotas for government jobs after days of clashes between students and security forces that have killed at least 155 people. Protests erupted after a lower court last month ordered that a scheme, that reserved 56% of government jobs for select applicants, be brought back. It had been scrapped by the Sheikh Hasina government in 2018 amid protests by youngsters. Critics accused the government of using the scheme to stack public jobs with loyalists to Hasina’s ruling Awami League. The Supreme Court on Sunday decided that the lower court’s order to reintroduce the scheme was “illegal”. The court curtailed the number of reserved jobs from 56% to 7%, AFP reported. It reserved 5% of all government jobs for the children “freedom fighters” who took part in the 1971 liberation war, down from 30%. One percent is reserved for tribal communities, Soldiers and special forces stand guard at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on Sunday. The court was hearing pleas on government quota | AFP Our doors open: Didi West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said she would keep the doors of her state open for people in distress from Bangladesh. “There is a UN Resolution to accommodate refugees in regions adjacent to those under turmoil,” she said and another one percent for people with disabilities. The remaining 93% of positions would be decided on merit, the court ruled. This, however, has failed to mollify university student leaders, with students calling for a complete abolition of the “freedom fighter” category “We won’t call off . our protests until the government issues an order reflecting our demands,” Students Against Discrimination, a student group leading the protests has said. Reports said soldiers were patrolling cities across Bangladesh on Sunday after riot police failed to restore order. In an update on Sunday, the Ministry of External Affairs said that over 4,500 Indian students have retur ned from Bangladesh. Mys to Siachen: Capt Supreetha breaks barriers IT staff worry over 14-hr K A R T H I K K K @ Mysuru IN a remarkable achievement, Captain Supreetha CT from Mysuru has become the first woman officer from the Corps of Army Air Defence to be operationally deployed at the formidable Siachen Glacier, the world’s highest battlefield. Born to Thirumalesh, a police sub-inspector, and Nirmala, a homemaker, Supreetha’s journey from the serene Mysuru to the treacherous terrains of Siachen has emerged as a testament to her unwavering determination and pioneering spirit. In 2021, Supreetha’s military dreams took flight when she was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Army Rigorous training at . the Officers Training Academy Capt Supreetha CT (inset) crosses a gorge at Siachen Glacier (OTA) in Chennai prepared her for her role in the Army Air Defence unit. Her service saw her deployed in strategic locations, like Anantnag, Jabalpur and Leh. Her posting to Siachen Glacier came on July 18, said Thirumalesh, who hails from Chama- rajanagar district. Thirumalesh, an SI at the Talakadu Police Station, expressed immense pride in his daughter’s achievements. “Supreetha has always been determined and focused. Her journey to Siachen is a dream come true for her and an inspiration to many,” he said. Supreetha studied at Shastri Vidya Samsthe in Hunsur, St Mary’s in HD Kote, St Joseph’s in KR Nagar and Marimallappa’s School in Mysuru. She pursued LLB at JSS Law College and also got her BBA. During her studies, she earned the NCC Air Wing C Certificate, represented Karnataka at the All-India Vayu Sainik Camp, and marched in the prestigious Republic Day Parade in New Delhi in 2016. Supreetha married Major Jerry Blaiz, son of Col (retd) Richard Blaize and Lt Col Vijayalakshmi, in 2024. The couple had made headlines as the first pair to participate together in this year’s Republic Day parade. workday, its consequences P U R A N C H O U D H A R Y @ Bengaluru THE Karnataka government is looking at amending the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishment Act 2024 in close consultation with industrialists and businesses. But it is kicking up a storm among employees, especially in the IT and ITeS sector, as they are worried that work hours per day could be increased from the present 10 hours to 14 hours. The Karnataka State IT/ ITeS/BPO Employees Union (KITU) stated that under the new amendments, the government aims to extend the work hours and normalise a 70-hour work week. Neeti Sharma, CEO, Teamlease, told TNIE that if the government passes the amendment, it will have many consequences on not only employee health, but also the overall productivity of a company . “We need to find a balance between working hard and working smart. Working 14 hours will not guarantee higher productivity but will lead to burn, out in the long run. With companies expecting employees to come back to office 3-4 days a week and if you add the commute time, it will be a double whammy for the salaried class,” she pointed out.
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