Miracle in Siachen: Soldier from Karnataka found alive after 6 days under 25 feet of snow

Bengaluru, Feb 17: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday assured that the Centre is committed to stand by its promise of providing Rs 18,600 crore Bengaluru suburban Rail project.

Addressing a press conference after a post-budget interactive session with the representatives of the various trade bodies, industry leaders and others here, she said that the union cabinet has already given its clearance for the long-pending project.

Informing that the central government will have 20 per cent of its capital share in the project followed by another 20 per cent share from the state government, she said "beside this, the union government will stand for a sovereign guarantee for the rest of the 60 percent share, which can be raised through loans from external agencies".

Bengaluru, Feb 23: As India gears up to welcome Donald Trump on his maiden visit to the country, a kite artist flew a special 15-feet long kite to welcome the US President.

VK Rao, an international kite artist from Karnataka, crafted the special kite, which included the photographs of both Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the messages 'Namaste Trump' and 'Welcome to India'.

Speaking to ANI, Rao said: "We have created and flown this special kite to welcome the US President. The kite is 15 feet long."

Earlier, an Amritsar-based kite maker in Punjab had designed special kites to welcome Trump.

"As Donald Trump will be visiting India, so I have made some kites to welcome him. There are kites with pictures of PM Narendra Modi and Donald Trump," said Jagmohan Kanojia, the kite maker.

Preparations are on across the country to welcome Trump, who is scheduled to visit India on February 24 and 25.

During the visit, Trump is scheduled to participate in a roadshow with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and will address a gathering at the Motera stadium.

On Monday evening, the President and his family will be visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra.

Shivamogga, Feb 1: A three-year-old girl who fell out of a moving vehicle had a miraculous escape in Agumbe Ghat section in Teerthahalli taluk of Shivamogga district of Karnataka.

The incident took place in the early hours of Friday when 12 members from three different families were returning from a tour of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The girl was reunited with her family after 30 minutes of high drama.

The child, identified as Anavi, is believed to have fallen from the vehicle as it negotiated hairpin bends on the Agumbe Ghat road, 350km from Bengaluru. The child's parents, Binu and Lincy, from NR Pura in Chikkamagaluru district, and other family members reportedly dozed off and did not realize the child had fallen off the vehicle until they covered a distance of about 20km.

One of the family members noticed that child was missing from the seat next to the door. When the driver realized the door latch had given way, they suspected the child could have slipped out of the vehicle.

Then the family started searching along the road and learnt from a forest guard at the Agumbe checkpost that a missing child was found and it had been handed over to Agumbe police station.

An advocate who identified himself as Vinay spotted the girl child as he passed the deserted stretch minutes after the vehicle left and picked her up and handed her over to Agumbe police.

The child sustained minor injuries in the fall. She was provided medical treatment before she was handed over to the parents.

Sources said it wasn't known how the vehicle door opened. One theory is that the girl could have accidentally unlocked the door while clutching the latch in the bumpy ride on the ghat. Police did not file any complaint.

Similar incident

This incident is almost a rerun of a Kerala incident in which a one-year-old baby fell off a moving jeep and was reunited with its mother hours later in September 2019 in Idukki district.

The baby had slipped off the mother's arms while she dozed off in the vehicle. CCTV footage showed the baby, after falling on the road, crawling towards a lit-up area close by, which turned out to be a forest checkpost. Family realised child was missing after 20km.