3 Mangalureans among 4 NRIs killed in Saudi Arabia road mishap

Mangaluru/Udupi, July 19: Amid continuous heavy rains in Karnataka's coastal region, the district administrations of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi have declared a holiday for all schools and pre-university colleges on Saturday, July 20.

In response to the persistent rainfall over the past few days, the disaster management authority has implemented several precautions. All Anganwadis, primary and high schools, and pre-university colleges (up to 12th grade), including government, aided, and unaided private institutions, will remain closed.

Parents are urged to keep their children away from low-lying areas, lakes, seashores, and riverbanks. Fishermen have been warned against venturing into the water. Taluk-level officers are required to remain at their headquarters, and district-appointed nodal officers must stay alert and respond to public complaints. Tahsildars have been instructed to maintain constant communication.

Relevant department officers have been directed to open and prepare rescue centers at the taluk level. Emergency services are available 24/7 via the toll-free control room number 1077 and the following telephone numbers: 0824-2442590 (Dakshina Kannada) and 0820-2574802 (Udupi).

As a precaution, both residents and tourists are strictly prohibited from approaching beaches, rivers, and waterfalls and are advised against taking photos and videos in these areas.

Bengaluru: Senior JD(S) lawmaker HD Revanna on Tuesday launched a diatribe against Director-General of Police Alok Mohan in Karnataka Assembly, dubbing him as “unfit” to be the top cop.

But an emotional Revanna also said that his son Prajwal Revanna, the former Hassan MP accused of mass sexual abuse, should be hanged if found guilty.

“If my son has committed wrongs, then let him be hanged. I won’t say no,” Revanna said in his first Assembly appearance after his family was embroiled in the Hassan sexual abuse case. 

“I’ve been a lawmaker for 25 years. I’ve spent 40 years in public life. Against me, some woman is brought to the Director-General’s office. The DG gets the complaint filed. Isn’t he nalayak to be the DG? He’s unfit. This is a shameless government,” Revanna said. 

This riled up members of the ruling Congress, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who asked Deputy Speaker Ramappa Lamani in the chair to expunge the comments. 

Revanna was arrested on May 4 in a kidnap and illegal confinement case linked to the Hassan sexual abuse saga. 

Revanna rose to speak after Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka drew a comparison between the manner in which Special Investigation Teams (SIT) are probing the Hassan sexual abuse case and the embezzlement at the Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation. 

“Revanna, Bhavani and our former Hassan MLA Preetham...they’re facing an SIT. But that SIT is so strong...all of them went to court seeking justice fearing arrest,” Ashoka said. “But with the other SIT, there’s no fear,” he said, adding that former minister B Nagendra was not summoned for investigation for over 30 days. 

Senior BJP lawmaker S Suresh Kumar interjected. “There’s SIT and there’s SSIT. The SIT is Special Investigation Team. The SSIT is the Siddaramaiah Shivakumar Investigation Team,” he said. Taking exception, Shivakumar said the comment should be expunged.

The US military has officially declared an end to the mission of its floating pier off the coast of the Gaza Strip that was apparently used to facilitate an Israeli massacre instead of delivering aid to the besieged territory.

Speaking at a news briefing on Wednesday, Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, the deputy commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), claimed that the water dock had “achieved its intended effect to surge a very high volume of aid into Gaza”.

"The maritime surge mission involving the pier is complete. So there's no more need to use the pier," he added.

US President Joe Biden announced back in March the construction of the $230 million pier that involved 1,000 US soldiers and sailors. 

However, bad weather delayed the initial installment of the maritime corridor, and then in late May, broke it apart. Since then, the US military has detached the pier and moved it to the port of Ashdod.

As a result, the pier operated only 25 days and delivered supplies equivalent to just a couple of days’ worth of the aid that flowed into Gaza before Israel’s ongoing genocidal war.

Meanwhile, reports said it facilitated the Israeli massacre against the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza that killed at least 274 people and wounded nearly 700 others on June 8.

The ex-US aid director for the West Bank and Gaza, Dave Harden, said that the now-closed pier was “interesting in theory, but in practice, an absolute failure – and my concern is who will be held accountable?”

“What we have not seen is a robust opening of the crossings … I think this goes first to the Israelis, and second to the Americans,” he told Al Jazeera. “And in the meantime, the Gazans themselves continue to suffer. This was a tragedy compounding a tragedy."

Biden had already expressed disappointment in the temporary water dock, saying, “I was hopeful that would be more successful.”

Several congressmen had also criticized the Gaza pier for its cost and potential risk to US troops.

Furthermore, the Gaza government had condemned the US project as a publicity stunt “to beautify its ugly face.”

Similarly, aid groups had denounced the pier as a distraction, saying Washington should have instead put pressure on Israel to open Gaza crossings and allow humanitarian aid to enter the blockaded Palestinian territory.

“The US wanted to show that it was doing something to aid the humanitarian effort, and yet it wasn’t successful in pushing Israel to do the most obvious necessary thing — which is to allow full access via the land crossing, or allow access from Israeli and West Bank markets,” said Tania Hary, the executive director of Gisha, an Israeli rights group.

“So it put in this incredibly expensive, inefficient workaround that ended up proving to be a completely disastrous waste of money, and a colossal and embarrassing failure on top.”

Israel unleashed its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023, after the Hamas resistance group carried out its historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for the regime’s intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the Tel Aviv regime has so far killed at least 38,794 Palestinians, mostly women, and children, in Gaza, and injured 89,166 others.