Division will be a loss for both Hindus and Lingayats: Pejawar seer

Bengaluru, Jun 27: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Saturday emphasised on giving a new dimension to the city by strengthening the infrastructure and improving various other sectors including health and housing.

He was speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony of the 108-feet-tall bronze statue of Kempe Gowda, the founder of Bengaluru, at the Kempegowda International Airport near here. The statue would be built at a cost of Rs 66 crore in one-and-half years.

Yediyurappa said Bengaluru has earned the fame of Garden City and Silicon Valley of India. Noting that the state capital was one of the fastest-growing cities in the world and internationally acclaimed hub of information technology and biotechnology, he said, "We need to give a new dimension to this city and strengthen the infrastructure. We have to focus on health, housing, pollution control, traffic management. Our government has taken various measures to develop the city," the chief minister said.

On Kempe Gowda, Yediyurappa said though the city did not have a perennial river, he built hundreds of lakes and interconnected them. His water management reflects on his foresightedness, he added.

"Kempambudhi, Dharmambudhi, Sampaniram and Halasuru lake are among the major lakes gifted to the people of Bengaluru. He had set up the markets called Chickpet, Akkipet, Balepet, Kumbarpet, are still the major trade hubs," Yediyurappa said.

Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, Union Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi, deputy chief ministers Govind Karjol, Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, Laxman Savadi and many other ministers were present on the occasion. The event was organised on the 511th birth anniversary of Kempe Gowda. Kempe Gowda was a chieftain of Vijayanagara dynasty who founded Bengaluru around 550 years ago.

Kasaragod, May 27: In a tragic incident, two persons, who were brothers, died of asphyxiation while trying to rescue a calf that fell in their well at Bandhiyod near here on Wednesday.

Police sources said the elder brother Narayanan (50) entered into the well first to save the calf that fell in the well early in the morning.

His brother Sankaran (40) also followed suit after he noticed his brother fainting deep down the well. However, he also fainted inside the well.

Bengaluru, Mar 8: Lieutenant General Milind Hemant Thakur, Director-General of Supply and Transport Corps of the Indian Army, unveiled the renovated Animal Memorial at Agram Grounds in ASC Centre and College here on Saturday.

The animal memorial signifies the contributions of mules and horses of the Indian Army. These animals belonging to the Army Service Corps, who have rendered their services relentlessly during the war in the Himalayas, often paying the highest price of sacrificing their lives in the line of duty have been chronicled in the Memorial.

To ensure that these hoof prints do not get obliterated, on approval by the Government of India, their saga was brought to life in the form of a sculptured monument in the Equestrian Training Area of the ASC Centre and College.

This animal transport memorial has now been extended by constructing two walls supported by Roman pillars on either side.

These walls highlight the role played by the animals in the Indian Army since the British Raj. It gives details of 637 gallantry awards won by the brave muleteers, 49 battle casualties since independence, 14 gallantry awards to mules since independence and 05 military recognitions bestowed by the Chief of the Army Staff and other Army Commanders on AT units, who have been relied upon heavily to fill an important niche in the logistics networks of the Indian Army.

Gen Thakur also declared that 26 September each year has been nominated as the AT Remembrance Day as it was on this day in 1914, that 9th mule Corps, as part of the Indian Expeditionary Force, landed at Marseilles in France, to a most hearty and enthusiastic welcome by the French to support the British and allied armies in World War One.