Close shave for Jet Airways flight after ATC spots tractor on Mangaluru runway

Pulwama, May 28: A major incident of a vehicle-borne IED blast was averted by the timely input and action by Pulwama Police, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Army, the Jammu and Kashmir Police said.

According to sources, Pulwama Police got credible information last night about a terrorist moving with an explosive-laden car ready to blast at some location. They took out various parties of police and security forces and covered all possible routes keeping themselves and the police and security forces away from the road at safer locations.

The suspected vehicle came and a few rounds were fired towards it. A little ahead this vehicle was abandoned and the driver escaped in the darkness. On close look, the vehicle was seen to be carrying heavy explosives in a drum on the rear seat. Possibly more explosive would be fitted elsewhere in the vehicle, sources added.

The vehicle was kept under watch for the night. People in nearby houses were evacuated and the vehicle exploded in situ by the Bomb Disposal Squad as moving the vehicle would have involved serious threat, sources said.

The vehicle reportedly sports a number plate of a scooter registered somewhere in Kathua district of Jammu zone, sources added.

Mysuru, Jan 19: The 'City of Palaces', for the first time in history, got a Muslim woman as its first citizen, on Saturday.

Tasneem, a JD(S) Corporator, is elected as the 22nd Mayor of Mysuru. The 34-year-old Tasneem is a second-time corporator, representing Ward number, 26. She defeated BJP candidate Geetha Yogananda, representing Ward no 65 of Srirampura, by a margin of 24 votes. Out of 70 members, who were present during the election, 47 voted for Tasneem, 23 for Geetha Yogananda.

Tasneem thanking the party leaders said the JD(S) gave her an opportunity to serve the city and its people. JD(S) gives more priority for minorities. The party facilitated the first Muslim Mayor, Arif Hussian, in 1996. Later, Congress corporator Ayub Khan served as mayor in 2008.

Women from different communities had served as mayor of the city, but, Tasneem is the first Muslim woman to be elected as Mayor of Mysuru.

Tasneem, a BA Graduate from Maharani's College, was proud for being the first citizen and thanked party supremo H D Deve Gowda, leaders H D Kumaraswamy, MLAs Sa Ra Mahesh, G T Devegowda, K S Rangappa, and her colleagues in the Mysuru City Corporation. Tasneem extended her gratitude to her voters, who voted her for the second time.  

'Mysuru is known for cleanliness. Thus, my first priority is to maintain cleanliness and I will work towards retaining the 'Clean city' tag. The city is facing issues related to street lights among others for many days. I will make prompt attempts to resolve them,' she said.

JD(S) city president K T Cheluvegowda said the party nominated Tasneem for mayor's post as per the suggestion from the party supremo H D Deve Gowda and other leaders. There were other aspirants, but, they were convinced and nominated Tasneem, he said.

Mangaluru: The first-of-its kind Beach Zumba event organized by Veekshitha Arasa on January 26th at Panambur Beach, Mangaluru attracted huge crowd and entertained the masses. Thousands of people who visited the beach last Sunday evening witnessed and danced along with the talented Zumba instructors from Bengaluru and Mangaluru. The show lasted for almost two hours.

The programme was organized by Veekshitha Arasa in association with Panambur Beach Tourism with the cooperation of Panambur Police and sponsorship of AJ Hospital & Research Centre, APD Foundation and SS Arrangers & Caterers.

Panambur Beach Tourism CEO Yatish Baikampady, APD Foundation Trustee Abdullah Rehman and Santhosh Kumar from SS Arrangers and others flagged off the event by releasing saffron, white and green balloons (the colours of Indian tricolor) to mark the nation’s Republic Day. Panambur beach police officials too participated in the inauguration. Veekshitha Arasa’s husband Rohan Lobo, Veekshitha’s parents Bhaskar Arasa and Geetha B Arasa too joined in.

This was done with the message ‘Let the love for health and fitness fly high among the citizens much like the soaring spirit of patriotism’. Speaking on the occasion, Veekshitha said that it was her dream to conduct a Zumba event in the city. “This is my small attempt at promoting fitness among the citizens of Mangaluru. There should be more such events,” she said.

Meenal Dubey, Ashwitha Shetty, Vishal Rai, Aishwarya, Namratha Shekar, Shruthi Keerthiraj, Vinayak Acharya, Kavitha Manish and Urmi were some of the enthusiastic Zumba instructors who performed with Veekshitha.

RJ Nayana and Saravanan Govindaswamy compered the event.