Dharwad: Reacting to the Congress mentioning in its election manifesto for Karnataka that it will impose a ban on Bajrang Dal if voted to power, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Tuesday that the Congress will be thrown out of the country if the ‘Bajrangis’ — the devotees of Lord Hanuman — revolt.
“The Congress is talking about banning the Bajrang Dal. They have likened the Bajrang Dal with PFI, an anti-national and terrorist organisation that has already been banned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Bommai said during BJP’s election campaign in Dharwad.
The Chief Minister claimed that Bajrang Dal upholds the country’s heritage, culture, history, and religion.
“If the Bajrangi revolt, the Congress will be removed from its roots and thrown out of the country,” he said.
Speaking at the roadshow for Navalgund BJP candidate Shankar Patil Munenkoppa, Bommai said that Navalgund is the land of farmers’ revolt.
“The farmers of this region are hard-working. Earlier, the fields were not getting water despite Malaprabha river’s flow. The Congress government tried to collect water tax from the farmers without supplying water and later the police opened fire on them,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that the farmers protested to bring Mahadayi river water through Malaprabha to Navalgund and Nargund.
The Congress became the big hurdle for the 20-year-long agitation, he said.
“The then AICC President Sonia Gandhi had said in Goa that not a drop of water from Mahadayi river will be given to Karnataka. The Kalasa-Bandura agitators were beaten up black and blue by the police during the Congress regime. Even the women farmers were beaten up. Will you vote for the Siddaramaiah governmen,” Bommai asked the gathering.
The Chief Minister also said that the Congress which speaks of social justice had termed the hike in quota as anti-Constitution.
“The BJP government has done justice to all the communities, but the Congress moved the court through the backdoor,” he said.
The security breach occurred at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s roadshow with a mobile phone thrown at the PM’s open top vehicle. The PM was inches away from the phone that was hurled at his vehicle.
The incident took place during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s roadshow in Karnataka’s Mysuru.
Hyderabad: Turning a new leaf in its history, India’s youngest state Telangana on Sunday opened a new building of its Secretariat, the nerve centre of state’s administration equipped with state-of-the-art features and built with a unique design.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao inaugurated the complex by occupying a chair in his chambers on the sixth floor and signing a few files. A group of priests performed the rituals with chanting of Vedic hymns.
Ministers, leaders of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and senior officials presented bouquets to congratulate him on the occasion. Many ministers and other public representatives bowed down to touch the feet of Chief Minister KCR.
Ministers, Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari, secretaries and other top officials occupied their chairs in their respective chambers simultaneously.
A brainchild of Chief Minister KCR, the Secretariat complex has come up near the banks of Hussain Sagar lake in the heart of the city at the same piece of land where old buildings of Telangana Secretariat and earlier undivided Andhra Pradesh stood.
The building, termed as a symbol of Telangana’s progress, boasts off two massive domes. National emblem atop the huge domes has taken the building to its planned height of 265 feet, making it the tallest state Secretariat in the country.
The integrated complex housing the offices of the chief minister, ministers, chief secretary and all other secretaries and heads of departments, reflects the pride of Telangana and would stand as a role model for other states, says the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government. It has been named after the chief architect of the Indian Constitution, Dr B.R. Ambedkar.
Built at a cost of over Rs 600 crore, the Secretariat is a six-storey structure with seven lakh square feet of built-up space and equipped with all modern facilities.
The rituals associated with the inauguration of the building began Sunday morning. Sudarshana Yagam was performed by Vedic pandits. Minister for roads and buildings Vemula Prashant Reddy and his wife performed Dwaralaxmi puja.
After the Sudershana Yagam, Chandi homam and vastu homam were performed.
Chief Minister KCR arrived at the Secretariat at around 1.15 p.m. After getting down from the car at the main gate and accompanied by a few ministers and top officials, he walked towards the special tent to perform puja before driving into the complex. At the entrance KCR took a salute from a police contingent before unveiling a plaque and cutting the ribbon to formally inaugurate the building.
The structure has been built in the Indo-Saracenic style that blends the Indo-Islamic architectural features generally with domes. The multiple domes and arches of the building perfectly fit in this style representing the syncretic and liberal Deccani style, expressing Telangana’s quintessence.
Designed by the Chennai-based Architects Ponni Concessao and Oscar Concessao, the complex has been built by Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Pvt Limited with all the Indian Green Building Council norms, meeting the stipulations of fire safety, disaster management and other mandatory regulations.
The construction work started in January 2021 amid Covid-19 and court cases, but was completed in a record time of 26 months. According to officials, usually it takes five years to complete the works of such a huge construction.
The building, a fusion of different cultures, has been built with a height of 265 feet on an area of 10,51,676 square feet in a sprawling 28 acres. It has 34 domes, including two huge domes, which add attraction to the complex.
The six-storey Secretariat, with 635 rooms, 30 conference halls and 24 lifts, has been built to accommodate 2,000 employees.
There are two floors with 4,500 square feet each under the dome on the sixth floor. These will be used for the President, Prime Minister and foreign guests who are on a state visit. Royal dining halls have been built in the Persian model.
According to officials, 3,500 cubic meters of Dholpur red stone, which was used for Parliament building, was also utilised for the new Secretariat. For this, a whole mine was used in Dholpur, Rajasthan. From there, the stone was transported to Hyderabad in 1,000 trucks. Red stone is used for the entire basement, while light brown stone is used from the main dome to the portico.
The government has also built Hindu, Muslim and Christian prayer halls in the Secretariat. They have been made more spacious and beautiful than before. The government has provided flexibility to get the construction done according to the wishes of the respective religious leaders.
Bengaluru: Senior BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Monday joined the Congress ahead of the May 10 Assembly elections in the state.
He joined the party in the presence of AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, General Secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala (Karnataka in-charge), KPCC president D K Shivakumar and Legislature Party leader and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, among others.
Shettar on Sunday had resigned as the Hubli-Dharwad (Central) MLA after the BJP denied him the ticket to contest the Assembly polls.
The 67-year old six-time MLA, Shettar was asked by the BJP top brass to make way for others, but he on his part had asserted he wanted to contest one last time.
After joining the Congress, Shettar alleged that he had been humiliated by the BJP by denying him a ticket and that party is today in the control of “very few people.”
“I was forcefully thrown out of the party that I built…I’m joining the Congress by accepting its ideology and principles,” he told reporters.
On his arrival in Bengaluru from Hubballi on Sunday night, Shettar had held discussions with Congress leaders Surjewala, Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, former minister and campaign committee chief M B Patil and veteran party leader Shamanur Shivashankarappa (Shettar’s relative).
This decision of Shettar, a prominent Lingayat leader from north Karnataka, may adversely impact the BJP’s prospects in a number of segments in the region, according to political observers.
Shettar, a veteran BJP leader whose family has been associated with the party since Jana Sangh days, is an influential leader from its bastion of Kittur Karnataka region. While in the BJP he had served as a Minister, Speaker, Leader of the Opposition and the chief minister.
TV footage shows Kishida standing with his back to the crowd. His security detail suddenly points to the ground near him, and the prime minister whips around, looking alarmed. The camera quickly turns to the crowd just as several people, including uniformed and plainclothes police officers, converge on a young man wearing a white surgical mask and holding what appears to be another device, a long silver tube.
As they collapse on top of the man, working to remove the tube from his hands, a large explosion is heard near where Kishida had been standing. The crowd scatters in panic as police roughly drag the man away.
It wasn’t immediately clear what the explosive device was or how many the suspect had, but some reports said it was a smoke or pipe bomb, possibly with a delayed fuse.
No injuries were reported in the incident, which came on the eve of a major international forum in Japan. Kishida was not hurt and continued his campaign speeches later Saturday, Matsuno said.
Kishida did not mention the explosion and returned to the Tokyo region in the evening after campaigning in Chiba for another candidate.
“Elections are the core of democracy, and we should never tolerate threats or obstruction by violence,” Matsuno said.
He said he instructed national police to ensure their utmost effort for the protection of dignitaries who are visiting Japan in the period leading up to the Group of Seven summit in May.
Abe’s assassination, which shocked a nation that prides itself on public safety and extremely tight gun controls, came as he delivered a campaign speech in the western city of Nara. Amid a national outcry, police have tightened their protective measures following a subsequent investigation that found holes in Abe’s security.
Security has been also ramped up in Japan as senior diplomats from some of the world’s most powerful democracies arrive for Sunday’s G-7 foreign minister meetings. Kishida will host a May 19-21 G-7 leaders’ summit in his hometown of Hiroshima.
One witness Saturday told NHK television that she was standing in the crowd when she saw something come flying from behind. After a sudden loud noise, she fled with her children. Another witness said people were screaming and that he saw someone being apprehended right before the explosion occurred.
Saturday’s attack comes ahead of nationwide local elections, including several by-elections for vacated parliamentary seats, with voting scheduled for April 23.
In Abe’s assassination, the former prime minister was shot with a homemade gun during a campaign speech. The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, has been charged with murder and several other crimes, including violating the gun control law.
He told investigators that he killed Abe, one of Japan’s most influential and divisive politicians, because of the former prime minister’s apparent links to a religious group that he hated. In statements and in social media postings attributed to him, Yamagami said he developed a grudge because his mother had made massive donations to the Unification Church that bankrupted his family and ruined his life.
Abe’s assassination led to the resignation of top local and national police chiefs and a tightening of security guidelines for political leaders and other prominent people.
Kishida’s government was hoping to focus world attention this weekend on the hot spring resort town of Karuizawa, where senior diplomats will gather Sunday for the so-called Group of Seven foreign ministers’ meeting.
The foreign ministers from Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and the European Union are expected to focus on worries over Russia’s war in Ukraine, China’s increasingly belligerent rise and North Korea’s provocative string of weapons’ tests.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
Zojila pass, Mar 16: The strategic 434 km long Srinagar-Leh highway was thrown open by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in a record 68 days, officials said Thursday.
Talking to reporters after throwing the highway open for traffic officially, Director General Border Roads Organisation (BRO) Lt General Rajeev Chaudhary, as per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), it is always a toughest challenge to throw open Zojila pass. “It was due to the hardwork of BRO officials and men that we were able to throw the pass open in a record number of 68 days. For the past three years, we have been breaking our own records,” he said, adding that first the road was thrown open in 110 days, then in 78 days and now in just 68 days.
“Our efforts will be make the road through in just 60 days (two months),” he said. “BRO officials and men are fully acclimatized and familiar with the area. No equipment was damaged during the road opening process.”
He said the locals who work with the BRO are being provided with adequate wages, shelter and food besides warm clothes. “Some people are with us since 25 years. We are like a family,” the DG BRO said.
He said that early opening of this road helps save RS 7 Crore a day for the government. “This road helps to send defence equipment including guns, bullets and tanks besides troops to Ladakh. Similarly, the early road opening helps give an economic push to the Ladakh region who remain cut-off from the rest of the world for six months,” the DG said, adding that “people of Ladakh can come to Srinagar through this road and carry out their economic activities—(KNO)
SRINAGAR: The strategic 434 km long Srinagar-Leh highway was thrown open by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in a record 68 days, officials said Thursday.
Talking to reporters after throwing the highway open for traffic officially, Director General Border Roads Organisation (BRO) Lt General Rajeev Choudhary said that it is always a toughest challenge to throw open Zojila pass. “It was due to the hard work of BRO officials and men that we were able to throw the pass open in a record number of 68 days. For the past three years, we have been breaking our own records,” he said, adding that first the road was thrown open in 110 days, then in 78 days and now in just 68 days.
“Our efforts will be make the road through in just 60 days (two months),” he said. “BRO officials and men are fully acclimatized and familiar with the area. No equipment was damaged during the road opening process.”
He said the locals who work with the BRO are being provided with adequate wages, shelter and food besides warm clothes. “Some people are with us since 25 years. We are like a family,” the DG BRO said.
He said that early opening of this road helps save RS 7 Crore a day for the government. “This road helps to send defense equipment including guns, bullets and tanks besides troops to Ladakh. Similarly, the early road opening helps give an economic push to the Ladakh region who remain cut-off from the rest of the world for six months,” the DG said, adding that “people of Ladakh can come to Srinagar through this road and carry out their economic activities. (KNO)
Srinagar, Mar 09: Kashmir’s historic Badamwari was on Thursday thrown open for the general public while the authorities said that the almond bloom to be witnessed in the next 7-8 days at the garden.
The visitors, especially the tourists from different parts of the country, were seen clicking pictures at the famous and historic Badamwari garden here today.
Javed-ul-Islam, a tourist from Delhi, said that the garden is a wonderful place to click pictures and the people from outside should visit here. “Kashmir is blessed with picturesque places and Badamwari is one among them. It was a wonderful experience today at this garden,” he said.
Director Floriculture, Farooq Ahmad Rather as per the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) also visited the park today where he said that only 20 per cent of almond trees are in bloom while the garden will witness complete bloom in the next 7-8 days.
He said that the garden is being mostly visited by the people living around Srinagar City and the tourists as well. He added that the garden spread over an area of 300 kanals has 1500 almond trees with different varieties— (KNO)
SRINAGAR: In a bizarre incident, Shabir Ahmed, a government school teacher and resident of Chily Bala, Gandoh, was allegedly thrown from the third floor of his residence at midnight by unknown assailants.
According to reports, the teacher was rushed to GMC Doda, but the doctors declared him brought dead. The tragic death of the educator has sparked outrage and protests among the locals, who are demanding the immediate arrest of those responsible for this heinous crime.
