IPL-2024 to kick-start 2-month spending boom in poll-bound India

Rights groups and social media frequenters react to US President Joe Biden’s decision to cancel his re-election bid, saying he will be remembered by how he facilitated the Israeli regime’s ongoing war of genocide against Palestinians.

The reactions began pouring in on Monday, immediately after Biden announced in a letter on social media that he was stepping aside as a candidate for the 2024 presidential election.

The decision came following a disastrous performance at a debate also featuring arch-rival Donald Trump that raised questions concerning Biden’s capability to run another term.

Commenting on the decision, however, the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action (USCPR), a rights group, said, “It was not Biden’s failed debate that showed he is unfit to lead. It was the tens of thousands of bombs he sent to kill Palestinian families.”

Biden had “repeatedly funded, armed, and backed Israel’s mass slaughter of the Palestinian people,” the USCPR said, adding, “Nothing will erase the fact that” Biden’s “legacy is – and always will be – GENOCIDE.”

Jeremy Scahill, co-founder of Drop Site, an independent news website, and a former journalist at The Intercept, an online American news organization, chimed in.

“When I read the lionizing of Biden, emphasizing his decency and heroism, all I can think of is that little girl in Gaza whose jaw was blown off and all the other Palestinian children who were dismembered, burned alive, murdered with US weapons in a war Joe Biden facilitated,” he wrote on X.

The group was referring to the United States’ sustaining and even invigorating its already unfaltering arms support for the Israeli regime during the war, which has so far killed nearly 39,000 people and wounded some 90,000 others.

Owen Jones, author and activist, likewise underlined that Biden had the blood of tens of thousands of Palestinians on his hand, calling him “A monster, who belongs in jail.”

“Israel would never have been able to raze Gaza to the ground without him,” Jones noted, adding, “…if hell exists, that man would have a first class ticket there.”

Human rights campaigner Sophie McNeill echoed the criticism, saying, “The next Democratic nominee must end their support for this criminal war.”

Bareilly: The programme proposed by the local political group Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) to conduct mass marriage of men and women of other religions who have converted to Islam has been postponed after the district administration denied permission for the event.

IMC chief Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan, who had announced to organise the event, said, "We work within the ambit of the law. The mass marriage program will be held only after the permission of the administration. We sought permission from the administration, which was not given. The program will not be held without the permission of the administration."

IMC state in-charge Nadeem Qureshi said the city magistrate did not give permission to convert and perform the marriage of couples. The program has been postponed for now, he added.

"The marriage of men and women who have converted from Hinduism to Islam will be conducted and in the first phase, five couples will get married, in which the men and women will complete the process of conversion and embrace each other," the IMC chief had earlier said.

The IMC had sought permission from the district administration for the event but their request was denied on Tuesday evening.

District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar said late on Tuesday night that the IMC had sought permission from the city magistrate to organise an event for religious conversion and marriage.

"The permission for the same has not been given and the religious conversion and marriage program has been postponed by IMC. The administration has received the letter from IMC informing about the postponement of the program," the officer said.

"The mass marriage ceremony will be held on July 21 at 11 am in Khalil Higher Secondary School. Permission has also been sought from the administration for this," he added.

The IMC chief's proposed 'mass marriage programme after conversion' resulted in a controversy with Hindu organisations staging a protest and seeking action against Khan here on Tuesday.

The protestors also submitted memorandums to the district magistrate with their demands.

Bengaluru, Jul 19: The Karnataka government was taking all necessary measures towards rescue and relief of those affected by flooding and landslides caused by heavy downpour in parts of the state, where monsoon rains since June has been 22 per cent above normal, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said on Friday.

The Minister was replying to a discussion in the Legislative Assembly on floods and landslides in parts of the state due to rains, amid BJP and JD(S) protest from the well of the House against alleged financial irregularities in a state-run corporation.

"The government will take all necessary measures. We had information since January about above normal rains this year and accordingly we have made necessary arrangements. Since June 1 so far normally 365 mm rains should have happened, but 447 mm rains have occurred which is 22 per cent above normal," Gowda said.

He said: "In the three coastal districts normally 1,537 mm rains should have happened but this time it was 1,858, which is 21 per cent above normal, and in the Malnad region normally it should have been 733 mm, but it is 802 mm, which is 9 per cent above normal."

"So far 29 care centres have been set up, where 2,332 people are taking shelter, and to carry out relief works all the districts have been provided a total of Rs 777.54 crore; if required, more funds will be given, there is no shortage of funds," he added.

From July 1 to 19 there has been 244 mm rains in the state and this is highest in 30-40 years, the Minister said, adding, in Malnad districts it is 544 mm and in coastal region 1,154 mm.

Noting that five platoons of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in six districts of coastal and Malnad regions, the Minister said they will be stationed for the entire monsoon season.

The government has identified gram panchayats that are vulnerable to floods, he said. 2,225 villages are mapped as vulnerable ones, under 1,247 gram panchayats, with 2,38,000 people.

"In each of these 1,247 gram panchayats a task force has been set up, and a taluk level officer has been appointed as nodal officer for each panchayat," he said. Funds have been allocated to each of these task forces to take up immediate relief work.

Blaming "unscientific work" by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the massive landslide that hit National Highway 66 near Shirur village of Ankola taluk in Uttara Kannada district on July 16, the Minister said, the Chief Secretary has spoken to NHAI to correct the "unscientific designs."

A tanker containing LPG had fallen into the river during the tragedy, he said. With the help of technical experts, controlled release of gas was done to avoid any possible explosion.

According to preliminary reports, about 371 hectare of agriculture crops and 351 hectare of horticulture crops have been damaged, the Minister said. More crops have been damaged in the last couple of days and reports are awaited. About 2,450 houses have been damaged, including some partially.

"Houses will be provided for those who lost houses," he said, adding, immediate relief will be provided for crop losses.

"About 60 percent of our dams are filled," Gowda said. "Total capacity of our dams is 895 tmcft; last year this time it was 243 tmcft, but this year 536 tmcft water storage is there."

Leader of Opposition R Ashoka alleged that no relief is being given and there are no funds with the government.

"None of the Ministers have gone to affected regions so far. The government has become bankrupt. The government is dead," he added.