No sign of end of Karnataka transport employees’ agitation on 10th day

News Network
April 16, 2021

Bengaluru, Apr 16: There is no sign of State Transport Employees withdrawing their agitation as Karnataka Government is not ready to yield to the pressure tactics and thus woes of travelling public continued for the 10th day.

The relief to some extent was Private operators continued their services in the BMTC and KSRTC routes.

The agitators today staged a protest in front of the house of Legislators urging the government to implement a 6th pay commission on par with state government employees.

KSRTC officials claimed that more than 4000 buses resumed service and expect more and more joining soon.

Official sources said that so far 240 employees have been removed from the service. An order in this effect was issued by BMTC.

Private buses and other Public Transport vehicles, which have been given temporary permission to operate on mofussil routes, plied as usual. As a convenience to commuters, boards that mentioned the routes and final destination were pasted on Private vehicles.

All Karnataka Road Transport Employees’ Federation North Eastern Zone president Chandrakanth Gaddagi said the employees should withdraw their strike and return to duty in the interest of the public as Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi have already agreed for their salary revision.

Karnataka State Road Transport Corporations’ Veerashaiva Lingayat Employees’ Welfare Association President Sangamnath Rabashetty said the Transport Minister has agreed to hike salary by 12 per cent and has also responded positively for cancelling transfers. The employees should immediately return to the duty to prevent privatisation of the transport department.

KSRTC SC/ST Employees' Association has called on employees of road transport corporations who are on strike, to return to work to save RTCs from privatisation. The BJP government wants to privatise RTCs and therefore, it is not responding to the demand of agitating employees. To fight against that conspiracy, SC/ST employees should return to work, and another round of struggle for their demands can be launched later," said the association president F H Jakkappanavar.

Nearly 40 per cent of employees against whom actions like transfer and suspension are taken belong to SC/ST communities. Utilising the strike, the government is trying to privatise RTCs, he charged.

"Our main demand is to consider RTC employees as government employees, but only the sixth pay commission issue is being highlighted now", he added.

"The strike was launched without proper discussion, that too during the Covid-19 situation. Employees of the RTCs should withdraw the strike to save RTCs from privatisation, and to end inconvenience being experienced by the public," said AITUC district unit President Devanand Jagapur. Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, who is leading the strike, seems to be into an unholy pact with the government which is in favour of privatisation of RTCs, he alleged.

So far 947 out of about 1,800 employees attached to four depots of KSRTC Mysuru City Division have reported for duty, while 845 out of the nearly 3,000 staff attached to Mysuru Rural Division have reported for work, according to KSRTC sources.

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News Network
November 24,2025

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Israel has launched a new act of aggression on a residential neighborhood in Lebanon's capital, Beirut, killing and injuring about two dozen civilians.

The Israeli regime's military said in a statement that its forces carried out a so-called precise strike in a residential apartment in Dahiyeh in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Sunday.

The aggression targeted residential areas, killing at least five people and injuring more than 28 people, Lebanon's Health Ministry said. 

Hezbollah announced the martyrdom of senior Hezbollah commander Haytham Ali Tabatabai and four resistance fighters.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun condemned the airstrike, calling it a clear demonstration of Tel Aviv’s disregard for repeated international calls to halt violations on Lebanese soil.

“Israel refuses to implement international resolutions and all efforts aimed at ending the escalation and restoring stability,” Aoun said, urging the international community to take action to prevent further aggression.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement also condemned the attack, holding the international community accountable. 

“The international community bears responsibility and continues to provide cover for these attacks as long as it does not restrain the occupiers,” said Ali Abu Shahin, a member of the group’s political bureau.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that the Israeli army carried out a strike “in the heart of Beirut."

Netanyahu reportedly approved the operation following recommendations from top Israeli security officials.

Two senior US officials commented on the Israeli strike.

The first official said that Israel did not notify Americans in advance about the attack. "We were informed immediately after the strike was carried out."

The second senior official said that the "US knew for several days that Israel was planning to escalate its strikes in Lebanon, but did not know in advance the timing, location, or target of the strike."

Speaking from the site of the Israeli strike, Lebanese MP Ali Ammar condemned the attack as part of a broader campaign of aggression that has targeted "all of Lebanon since the Washington-sponsored ceasefire."

He stated that "any attack on Lebanon is a violation of red lines; this aggression is part and parcel of the entity that targets Lebanon's dignity, sovereignty, and security of citizens."

Ammar went on to say the resistance is responding with "utmost wisdom, patience, and will confront the enemy at the appropriate time."

"Unfortunately, the enemy is emboldened to commit its aggression by voices within Lebanon that have turned themselves into tools that support its aggression," he added.

The Israeli attack on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital is the latest blatant violation of the ceasefire Israel signed with Hezbollah in November 2024, which was intended to end hostilities that had escalated into full-scale war.

An Israeli strike on the Ain al-Hilweh camp near Sidon in southern Lebanon late Tuesday killed at least 14 people. It wounded several others, including young students, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

The military claimed the attack targeted “a Hamas training compound” used to plan and carry out attacks against the regime -- a claim that has frequently been made without evidence.

Hamas rejected the allegations as “a blatant lie aimed at justifying the massacre,” stating it had “no military installations in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon” and that the targeted site was merely “an open sports field.”

According to Lebanese authorities, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 4,000 people and displaced more than 1.2 million residents across the country since October 2023.

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News Network
November 27,2025

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Authorities at Pakistan’s high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on Wednesday dismissed speculation about the condition of imprisoned former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, rejecting rumours that he had been moved out of the facility or was in danger. Officials said Khan was in “good health” and described the viral death claims as “baseless.”

“There is no truth to reports about his transfer from Adiala Jail,” the Rawalpindi prison administration said in a statement, according to Geo News. “He is fully healthy and receiving complete medical attention.”

Amid swirling rumours on social media, Imran Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), urged the federal government to issue an official clarification and demanded that authorities allow his family to meet him immediately, Dawn reported.

The frenzy began after Khan’s three sisters called for an impartial probe into what they described as a “brutal” police assault on them and other PTI supporters outside Adiala Jail last week. Soon after, several social media handles circulated unverified claims alleging that Khan had been “killed” inside the prison.

The rumours intensified when a handle named “Afghanistan Times” claimed that “credible sources” had confirmed Khan’s “murder” and that his body had been moved out of the jail — allegations that have not been verified by any credible agency.

Imran Khan, PTI’s patron-in-chief, has been lodged in the Rawalpindi prison since August 2023 in multiple cases. For over a month, an undeclared restriction has prevented family members and senior PTI leaders from meeting him. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has reportedly been denied access despite making seven attempts.

In a letter to Punjab Police Chief Usman Anwar, Khan’s sisters — Noreen Niazi, Aleema Khan, and Dr. Uzma Khan — said they were “peacefully protesting” outside the jail when police allegedly launched an unprovoked assault after streetlights were switched off.

“At 71, I was seized by my hair, thrown to the ground and dragged across the road,” Noreen Niazi said, alleging that other women present were also slapped and manhandled.

Adiala Jail officials reiterated that speculation over Imran Khan’s health was unfounded and insisted that his well-being was being ensured, Geo News reported.

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News Network
December 1,2025

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Udupi, Dec 1: A horrific case of alleged rape has unfolded in Udupi, where a worker from a Hindutva organisation, previously arrested and released on bail for harassing a young woman, is now accused of waylaying and sexually assaulting her.

The arrested individual has been identified as Pradeep Poojary (26), a member of the Hindu Jagarana Vedike's Nairkode unit in Perdur.

Poojary had allegedly been relentlessly harassing the young woman, pressuring her to marry him. When she bravely stood up to him and refused his demands, she filed a formal complaint at the Hiriyadka police station. He was subsequently arrested in that initial harassment case but was later granted bail.

According to police reports, driven by the same malicious grudge, Poojary allegedly intercepted the woman again on November 29. While she was walking through a deserted area, the accused is claimed to have threatened her by grabbing her neck. When she again refused to marry him, he allegedly proceeded to rape her.

The survivor immediately informed her family about the traumatic assault. Following this, her parents lodged a complaint at the Udupi women’s police station.

Police arrested Poojary again and produced him before the court. He has since been remanded to judicial custody.

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