Siddaramaiah attacks BJP for fomenting communal divide in coastal Karnataka

Bengaluru, May 20: A mysterious "boom" heard in large parts of Bengaluru this afternoon left residents of the city and social media users puzzled. While the source of the sound is being investigated, the Indian Air Force (IAF) indicated that it could be the result of "routine test flights that necessitate going supersonic a times".

The sound was heard from as far as the Bengaluru airport in Devanahalli to the IT hub of Electronic City 54 km away. It was also heard in Kalyan Nagar in east Bengaluru, central Bengaluru's MG Road and areas such as Marathahalli, Whitefield, Sarjapur and Hebbagodi.

IAF said no aircraft of training command was flying in the area. "However, ASTE (Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment) and HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) could have been undertaking their routine test flying, which necessitates going supersonic at times. These are done well beyond the city limits in specified sectors. However, considering the atmospheric conditions and reduced noise levels in the city during these times, the aircraft sound may become clearly audible even if it happened way out from the city," said the air force statement.

Many people had speculated that the sound could have been caused by a fighter jet such as a Mirage 2000.

"We have also asked the Air Force Control Room to check if it was a jet or supersonic sound. Bengaluru police are awaiting confirmation from the Air Force," Bengaluru police commissioner Bhaskar Rao said in a statement.

It was not an earthquake, Karnataka's state disaster monitoring centre had tweeted earlier.

"Earthquake activity will not be restricted to one area and will be widespread. We have checked our sensors and there is no earthquake activity recorded today," the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre said, quoting its director Srinivas Reddy.

"The activity reported in Bengaluru is not due to an earthquake. The seismometers did not capture any ground vibration as generally happens during a mild Tremor. The activity is purely a loud unknown noise," the agency tweeted.

#Bangalore and #BangaloreBoom was among the top trends on Twitter this afternoon.

"We are trying to ascertain the source of the noise," a senior police officer said. "In Whitefield area, we have searched on the ground and so far, there is no damage to any property," he added. There were no calls to the police control room reporting any damage.

Thiruvananthapuram, May 22: Kerala reported its highest rise of COVID-19 cases in a single day with 42 new cases on Friday of which 23 returned from other states and 17 from abroad.

Addressing media persons, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that of the new cases, 23 have come back from other States (Maharashtra-21, Tamil Nadu-1 and Andhra Pradesh-1) and 17 have returned from abroad (Kuwait-7, UAE-5, Saudi Arabia-2 and Qatar-2). Two are cases of local transmission including one health worker in Kasargod.

"A total of 12 persons from Kannur district, seven in Kasargod district, five each from Kozhikode and Palakkad districts, four each in Thrissur and Malappuram districts, two from Kottayam district, and one each in Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Wayanad districts are those who have tested positive, " he said.

Meanwhile, two patients under treatment for Coronavirus in Malappuram district have tested negative today. The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Kerala is 732 and 216 patients are now under treatment in different hospitals. Kannur and Malappuram districts have 36 patients each, followed by 26 in Palakkad district, 21 in Kasargod district, 19 in Kozhikode district and 16 in Thrissur district.

The Chief Minister said that a 73-year-old woman had died in Thrissur district. She had recently returned from Mumbai.

There are 84,258 persons under observation across the state, 83,649 are quarantined at their homes or institutional quarantine centres and 609 are isolated in hospitals.

A total of 162 persons were admitted to hospitals today.

Till now, 51,310 samples have been sent for testing and 49,535 samples have been confirmed without any infection. Apart from this, as part of sentinel surveillance of high-risk groups, 7,072 samples were tested separately and out of these, 6,630 samples have been confirmed with no infection.
No new place was declared as hotspot today and there are 28 hotspots in the state.

So far, 91,344 people have come to the state from foreign countries and other states by road, sea and air.

Expressing concern over the rising numbers, the Chief Minister said, "The increase in numbers is a serious warning. Our COVID-19 preventive measures need to be enhanced. More people are expected to come back and we will ensure proper testing, treatment and care to all. Serious patients are among those who are coming back."
"We will ensure additional facilities including ventilators in hospitals to accommodate more in-patients. Huge rush is being seen at some places. People should observe more self-restraint or else all efforts will become ineffective," he added.

Bengaluru, Feb 17: A combative ruling BJP is bracing to face the onslaught of the opposition Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) in the year's first legislature session beginning on Monday.

"We are ready to counter the opposition parties on any issue they want to raise or discuss, keeping in view the spirit of fairness in a democratic set-up, as we have the numbers to provide a stable government," party's state unit spokesman G. Madhusudhana told news agency here.

Ahead of the 3-day session, the BJP's legislature party met here under the leadership of Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to chalk out its strategy to address issues, move bills and present the state budget for fiscal 2020-21.

"We hope the Congress and JD-S members will allow Governor Vajubhai Vala to address the joint session of the legislature on Monday and not disrupt his speech or walkout of the House before he concludes to maintain the dignity of his office," Madhusudhana said after the BJP meeting at a private hotel over dinner.

The legislature will resume the month-long budget session on March 2 with a special discussion for two days on the Constitution, markings the 70th year of its adoption and enforcement.

About 100 legislators, including the three Deputy Chief Ministers, the newly sworn-in cabinet ministers, council members and party's state unit members participated in the 2-hour long meeting.

"Yediyurappa, who also holds the Finance portfolio, will present the state budget for fiscal 2020-21 on March 5, which will be the fifth time as the fourth Chief Minister in over a decade," the official said.

Both the Houses will deliberate on the budget proposals and pass it by March 31.

In the 225-member Assembly, including one nominated, the ruling BJP has 117, opposition Congress 68, Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) 34, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) one, Independents 2 and vacant 2.

Buoyed up by winning 12 of the 15 seats in the December 5 assembly by-elections, the party is confident of passing the finance and other bills, as it has the support of 119 members, including 2 Independents in the lower House.

"There is no threat to our government, which will complete the remaining 3-year term of the Assembly till May 2023. Yediyurappa has already won the majority test on July 29, 2019, three days after he took office for the fourth time," Madhusudhana said.

The Congress, however, asserted that it would raise the alleged misuse of police against the opposition members, anti-CAA protestors and minorities.

"We will question the morality of the government in making a tainted legislator like Anand Singh a forest minister when a dozen illegal mining cases are pending in the courts," a Congress official told news agency.