Tens of thousands protest across occupied territories against Israel's 'Crime Minister' for 9th week

News Network
March 5, 2023

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Tens of thousands of protesters have held massive rallies for the ninth straight week across the occupied territories against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's so-called judicial reforms that seek to hobble the occupying regime's Supreme Court.

The rallies were held on Saturday in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, the occupied city of al-Quds, and the city of Karmiel, near the coastal city of Haifa, in the northern part of the occupied territories.

In addition, about 12,000 people demonstrated in Netanya, while more than 10,000 demonstrated in Herzliya, 3,000 in Beersheba, and thousands in several other areas.

In Tel Aviv, the protesters held up a large banner that read "Crime Minister" in reference to Netanyahu, with participants shouting "Shame!"

They also waved banners, some of which read, "Oh police, where were when they [Israeli settlers] burned Huwara?" in reference to the terrorist pogrom against Palestinians by Israeli settlers last week in the town of Huwara, south of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.

Demonstrators also held a banner bearing the images of two hard-line minsters of the regime and behind it a picture of the town of Huwara burning following the settlers' attack. 

Scuffles broke out in Tel Aviv at the end of the mass protest against Netanyahu’s proposed plan, when a group of protesters breached barricades and clashed with the regime’s security forces, blocking a Tel Aviv highway for a short while.

Israeli security forces on horseback confronted the demonstrators, some of whom lit up a torch, and used water cannons to hold them back.

Four people were detained in Tel Aviv protest.

Israeli media have put the number of demonstrators in various cities across the occupied territories at more than 200,000, adding that around 160,000 took part in Tel Aviv protest alone.

In Haifa, the number of demonstrators was significantly higher than previous weeks. They demanded Netanyahu step down. The protesters also waved banners with slogans written in Hebrew, English and Arabic, including: "Palestinian lives matter," "A people occupying another people cannot be free,” and “It is time to overthrow the dictator.” 

Netanyahu returned to power as the regime's prime minister in late December, heading a coalition of far-right and extremist parties.

To buy the loyalty of those parties, he has vowed to bring about major changes across the regime's judicial system. His proposed changes seek to take away the Supreme Court's ability to override decisions made by Netanyahu's extremist cabinet and the Knesset.

The so-called reforms have already received first-reading endorsement from the Knesset.

Observers say the reforms can potentially enable the Knesset to annul a set of corruption charges that Netanyahu is being tried on. The prime minister is being sued for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. 

The reforms would also empower the Knesset to amend the so-called Basic Laws -- the regime's quasi-constitution -- in any way it sees fit.

Proponents, however, allege that the changes are required to limit the court's ability to interfere in politics.

The anti-Netanyahu marches have attracted huge crowds on a weekly basis since early January, when he introduced his plan.

Similar protests were also held on Wednesday in which demonstrators denounced the planned reforms.

Dramatic footage recorded during the "day of disruption" rallies showed protesters scuffling with the police, who deployed stun grenades and water cannons to rein them in.

Around 39 people were arrested during the Wednesday protest in Tel Aviv and 11 were injured.

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News Network
November 28,2025

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Mangaluru, Nov 28: Karnataka Health Minister and Dakshina Kannada district in-charge minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Friday handed over Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighting the severe distress faced by farmers due to crashing crop prices.

PM Modi arrived at the Mangaluru International Airport en route to Udupi, where Gundu Rao welcomed him and submitted the letter. The chief minister’s message stressed that farmers are suffering heavy losses because maize and green gram are being bought far below the Minimum Support Price (MSP). The state urged the Centre to immediately begin procurement at MSP.

According to the letter, Karnataka has a bumper harvest this year—over 54.74 lakh metric tons of maize and 1.98 lakh metric tons of green gram—yet farmers are unable to secure fair prices. Against the MSP of ₹2,400/MT for maize and ₹8,768/MT for green gram, market rates have plunged to ₹1,600–₹1,800 and ₹5,400 respectively.

The chief minister has requested the Centre to:

• Direct NAFED, FCI and NCCF to start MSP procurement immediately.
• Ensure ethanol units purchase maize directly from farmers or FPOs.
• Increase Karnataka’s ethanol allocation, citing high production capacity.
• Stop maize imports, which have depressed domestic prices.
• Relax quality norms for green gram, allowing up to 10% discoloration due to rains.

The letter stresses that MSP is crucial for farmer dignity and income stability and calls for swift central intervention to prevent a deepening crisis.

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News Network
December 4,2025

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Domestic carrier IndiGo has cancelled over 180 flights from three major airports — Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru — on Thursday, December 4, as the airline struggles to secure the required crew to operate its flights in the wake of new flight-duty and rest-period norms for pilots.

While the number of cancellations at Mumbai airport stands at 86 (41 arrivals and 45 departures) for the day, at Bengaluru, 73 flights have been cancelled, including 41 arrivals, according to a PTI report that quoted sources.

"IndiGo cancelled over 180 flights on Thursday at three airports-Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru," the source told the news agency.

Besides, it had cancelled as many as 33 flights at Delhi airport for Thursday, the source said, adding, "The number of cancellations is expected to be higher by the end of the day."

The Gurugram-based airline's On-Time Performance (OTP) nosedived to 19.7 per cent at six key airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — on December 3, as it struggled to get the required crew to operate its services, down from almost half of December 2, when it was 35 per cent.

"IndiGo has been facing acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of the FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) norms, leading to cancellations and huge delays in its operations across the airports," a source had told PTI on Wednesday.

Chaos continued at several major airports for the third day on Thursday because of the cancellations.

A spokesperson for the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru said that 73 IndiGo flights had been cancelled on Thursday.

At least 150 flights were cancelled and dozens of others delayed on Wednesday, airport sources said, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, according to news agency Reuters.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said it is investigating IndiGo flight disruptions and has asked the airline to submit the reasons for the current situation, as well as its plans to reduce flight cancellations and delays.

It may be mentioned here that the pilots' body, Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze".

The FIP said it has urged the safety regulator, the DGCA, not to approve airlines' seasonal flight schedules unless they have adequate staff to operate their services "safely and reliably" in accordance with the New Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.

In a letter to the DGCA late on Wednesday, the FIP urged the DGCA to consider re-evaluating and reallocating slots to other airlines, which have the capacity to operate them without disruption during the peak holiday and fog season if IndiGo continues to "fail in delivering on its commitments to passengers due to its own avoidable staffing shortages."

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News Network
November 22,2025

The Karnataka government has announced a 50% rebate on pending traffic and transport fines. The discount is available from November 21 to December 12.

The rebate applies to all traffic e-challans and violation cases booked by the RTO between 1991–92 and 2019–20. Officials clarified that the offer is not applicable to pending tax dues and is restricted only to traffic-violation fines.

Across Karnataka, more than 4 lakh RTO cases remain pending, including those involving transport vehicles. While thousands of vehicle owners have already cleared their dues, the department expects to generate substantial revenue through this limited-period rebate.

How to Pay and Avail the Discount

There are three ways to check and pay your pending fines:

1. Through Mobile Apps
Available on both Play Store and App Store:
•    Karnataka State Police (KSP) app
•    KarnatakaOne app
•    ASTraM app

Steps:
•    Enter your vehicle number in any of the above apps
•    Verify the photo/details of your vehicle
•    Pay the fine with the 50% discount applied

2. Visit a Traffic Police Station

You can pay your pending fine at any nearby traffic police station.

3. Visit the Traffic Management Centre (TMC)

•    Location: First Floor, Infantry Road, near Indian Express, Bengaluru

Transport Commissioner Yogeesh A M said, “We don't issue e-challans, so there's no online payment system.”

The department estimates ₹52 crore in pending RTO fines up to March 2020. “With the 50% rebate, we expect to collect around ₹25 crore if all dues are cleared,” he added.

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