Accused Praveen Arun Chowgule arrested in brutal murder of 4 family members of NRI in Udupi

UNICEF has sounded a strong warning about the toll being exacted on children in the Gaza Strip, which has come under a renewed and genocidal Israeli war.

"We cannot see more children with the wounds of war, with the burns, with the shrapnel littering their bodies, with the broken bones," James Elder, spokesman for the United Nations children's agency, said on Friday.

"Inaction by those with influence is allowing the killing of children. This is a war on children," he added.

The regime launched the war against Gaza on October 7 following an operation staged by the territory's resistance movements.

The war killed more than 15,500 people, most of them women and children, across the coastal sliver until last week when an Egyptian- and Qatari-mediated truce took effect. Israel restarted the military campaign earlier on Friday, following the truce, killing nearly 200 more people.

Thousands more are missing and feared buried under rubble.

Speaking earlier this month, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the besieged Palestinian territory was turning into "a graveyard for children."

"The health system here is overwhelmed," Elder said.

"I cannot overstate how the capacity has been reduced of hospitals in the last seven weeks," he added.

"Clearly words, clearly pleas from the world do not make a difference on those who have the power to stop the killing, the maiming of children."

The remarks came amid untrammeled military and political support for the war on the part of the United States, Israel's biggest and oldest ally.

The US has provided the regime with thousands of arms consignments since the initiation of the war.

Washington, which has backed Tel Aviv's ferocious attacks on Gaza as a means of "self-defense," has also been casting its veto against the UN Security Council resolutions that would call on the occupying regime to cease its aggression.

Bengaluru, Nov 23: The data of the ‘Socio-Economic and Education Survey’, popularly known as caste census, is “safe” and “intact”, according to K Jayaprakash Hegde, chairman of Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes.

His clarification comes following the emergence of documents suggesting that the original report of the caste census is missing from the office of the Commission.

Kicking up a storm, the BJP questioned the credibility of the caste census that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wants to take forward. 

In October 2021, when the BJP was in power, Hegde had written to the government stating that neither the main report nor a photocopy was available in sealed boxes that were opened.

He also brought to the notice of the government that the signature of the member-secretary was missing from the available documents. 

In August 2022, a letter was written to Transport Secretary Dr N V Prasad who was the member-secretary of the Commission when the caste census report was finalised. The letter sought Prasad’s response to his missing signature. In this letter, too, the Commission states that the original report and its photocopy were not available in its office. 

“It is baffling to note that after spending crores of tax payers’ money to prepare this caste census report, we do not have the original copy,” BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal said in a tweet and asked if the government had filed a police complaint or acted against officials responsible for this. 

Former BJP MLA V Sunil Kumar asked the Congress government to clarify before the start of the winter session of the legislature on December 4. “If a government document has gone missing, did someone steal it? Will the government get a fresh report done?” he said. 

But according to Hegde, the caste census data is not missing. “The data is 100% correct and intact. The data has the signature of the then chairperson, members and member-secretary. The data has been uploaded safely in our software developed by the BEL,” he said. 

Hegde explained that the caste census has two parts -- the data and a resultant report. “In the report comprising recommendations that had to be given to the government, some worksheets are missing,” he said. 

The BJP also taunted the Congress for being divided. “In this government, the CM and DyCM have different stands. Who should people believe?” Kumar said while Yatnal accused the Congress of “orchestrating this spectacle” for the Lok Sabha polls.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said his decision to do justice to the disadvantaged communities, by accepting the report of the Socio-Economic and Education Survey, popularly known as the "caste census", is unwavering. His statement is seen as significant as the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes chairperson is expected to submit the report to the state government this month.

"I fully agree with our proud leader Rahul Gandhi's stand. I feel that the country's independence will be meaningful only when the caste census is conducted across the country and based on its report, "equal share for all - equal rights for all" is ensured," Siddaramaiah posted on 'X'.

"My decision to do justice to the disadvantaged communities, by accepting the report of the Economic, Social and Educational Survey conducted by our previous government, is unwavering," he said while commenting on Gandhi's statement regarding conducting caste census at the national level if the Congress forms the government at the Centre.

Raising the caste census pitch, describing it as an 'X-ray' of the country, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, while addressing an election rally in Udaipur, said the Congress will conduct caste census in Rajasthan if it comes to power and also do so at the national level if it's voted to office at the Centre.

With pressure mounting on his government, from a certain section, to make public the state's socio-economic and educational survey, following Bihar government releasing findings of its caste survey recently, Siddaramaiah had so far been maintaining that a decision will be taken once he receives the report -- which is expected later this month.

The then Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in 2015 had commissioned the social-economic and educational survey, at an estimated cost of Rs 170 crore in the state, the findings of which have not been made public yet.

The state Backward Classes Commission under its then chairperson H Kantharaj was tasked with preparing a caste census report.

However, with strong disapproval from two dominant communities -- Lingayats and Vokkaligas -- the survey report may turn out to be a political hot potato for the government, as it may set the stage for a confrontation, with Dalits and OBCs among others demanding for it to be made public.

Lingayats, led by All India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, which is the apex body of Veerashaiva-Lingayats, have expressed disapproval about the survey calling it unscientific, and demanded conduct of a fresh survey; while Vokkaliga leaders at a meeting, which was also attended by Deputy CM D K Shivakumar and prominent seers from the community recently, passed a resolution urging the government to "reject" the caste census.

On the other hand, federations representing Dalits, tribals and other backward classes (OBC) have demanded that the findings of a caste census, kept under wraps, be made public.

Accusing both the dominant communities of trying to block the caste census from coming out, leaders of the Karnataka State Backward Castes Federation and the Karnataka Marginalised Communities Federation have threatened to hold agitations.

On his part, K Jayaprakash Hegde, the current chairperson of Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes, has already said he would submit the caste census report to the state government in November.

According to some analysts, successive governments have been shying away from releasing it as the findings of the survey are allegedly contrary to the "traditional perception" of the numerical strength of various castes in Karnataka, especially the dominant Lingayats and Vokkaligas, making it a political hot potato.

Political parties in the state have indulged in a blame game for not accepting the survey and not making it public.

Officials have also cited the then member-secretary of the State Commission for Backward Classes not signing the final report, as the technical hurdle that has hindered the release of the report earlier.

They said the caste census report is currently with the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes, and once it submits it, the cabinet would take a call.