BJP will win 150 seats; I will take oath as CM on May 17: Yeddyurappa

Bengaluru, Jun 27: Announcing Karnataka’s ambitious plan to install a 108-ft-tall statue of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda outside the airport, deputy chief minister Ashwath Narayan said the government will bear the project cost — approximately Rs 78 crore.

Work on the project will formally commence with the chief minister laying foundation stone for installation of the statue and development of a 23-acre park where it will come up, on Saturday.

How soon we get a coronavirus vaccine depends on not only the pace of work in research labs, but also the preparedness of factories supplying glass vials, stoppers and syringes

A look at the factors that may determine the severity of infection

An artist’s impression of the 108-ft-tall statue, which is proposed to come up in a 23-acre park outside KIA. The chief minister will perform bhoomi puja on Saturday.

KPCC president DK Shivakumar on Thursday suggested the cost be borne by Kempegowda International Airport and not the government. He wrote to the CM welcoming the decision to erect a statue of the chieftain at KIA, but asked why should the govenment spend on it. “When huge concessions have been provided to KIA, why not use its services to construct the statue,” he asked. Narayan, who is chairman of Kempegowda Development Authority, said it is the government’s duty to bear the cost.

The government has released sketches of the statue and a blueprint of the park. Noted sculptor Ram Sutar, who designed the Gandhi statue located between Vidhana Soudha and Vikasa Soudha and the Statue of Unity in Gujarat, will be part of this project as well.

Narayan said the government was not competing with any other state on having a tallest/largest statue while emphasising that Kempegowda ensured the city had tanks, markets and drainage system when it was founded. He added the government won’t invite many guests to Saturday’s ceremony. “Most legislators will be given a virtual link to view the event,” he said.

Bengaluru, Jun 27: Karnataka witnessed the biggest single-day spike in Covid cases on Saturday as 918 cases were recorded and 11 more deaths were linked to the pandemic. 

In Bengaluru alone, 596 more people tested positive for the infection in the last 24 hours as three more fatalities were also confirmed by the Department of Health and Family Welfare Services.

Following is the district wise tally:

Mangaluru, Jun 15: A father and his four-year-old son were killed when their motorcycle was hit by a lorry from behind at Bakampady junction on the outskirts of the city.

The Police said the deceased has been identified as Abdul Bhasheer, a resident of Krishnapura and his son Shayan. 

On Sunday evening, Bahseer was going from Mangaluru to Krishnapura by the motorcycle along with wife and son when a speeding lorry "dashed into the motorcycle from behind and knocked them down''.

The four-year-old son died on the spot while Basher and his wife were rushed to the hospital. However, the husband succumbed to injuries at the hospital on Monday. Local police registered a case in this connection.