Thousands of Christians take to streets to denounce church attack

Bengaluru, Jan 6: A delegation of Christians, led by Peter Machado, archbishop of Bengaluru, met chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday and sought an amicable solution to the issue of installing a statue of Jesus Christ atop Kapalibetta in Harobele village, Kanakapura taluk.

Yediyurappa is learnt to have assured the delegation of doing the needful and said he would take a decision after the revenue department submits its report. The department is looking into various aspects of the issue, including the sanction of 10 acres of land for the purpose.

“The meeting was cordial and the chief minister lent us a patient hearing. Our only request was to settle the issue in a way that is acceptable to all sections of society,” Machado said. Congress functionary and Kanakapura legislator DK Shivakumar had laid the foundation stone for the 114-foot statue of Christ on Kapalibetta on Christmas Day at an event organised by the Harobele Kapalibetta Development Trust, which plans to install the statue.

The issue took a political hue when BJP functionaries objected, saying the land sanctioned to the trust is part of gomala (reserved for cattle grazing) land and any religious activity there would be illegal. Revenue minister R Ashoka sought a report and department officials said they would submit it in a week’s time.

Bhopal, Mar 11: After meeting with 19 party MLAs who have tendered their resignations, Congress leader Sajjan Singh Verma on Wednesday said they are neither willing to support Jyotiraditya Scindia nor in favour of joining BJP as they were "misled and taken to Bengaluru" in Karnataka.

"Nobody is ready to go with Scindia ji. They said they were misled and taken to Bengaluru, most of them said they are not ready to join BJP," Verma told media persons on being asked about the 19 MLAs.

"I just came from Bengaluru and now I am going to Jaipur. Besides 5-6 ministers and one MLA, we all are going to Jaipur. They (MLAs) have said they have the blood of Congress and they will remain in the party. 
Since Scindia was a senior party leader, all our MLAs followed his order as a courtesy," he said.

The Congress leader further claimed that BJP is using both "muscle and money power" to influence Congress MLAs.

He also claimed that he is strongly in contact with 7-8 BJP MLAs.

On Tuesday, Congress sent two of its leaders -- Verma and Govind Singh -- to Bengaluru in order to pacify some of the rebel MLAs who are lodged in a hotel there and who claimed to have resigned from the state Legislative Assembly.

Most of the rebel MLAs are perceived close to Scindia and are apparently unhappy at Scindia being "ignored" in the party. The grand old party has been witnessing an internal turf war in Madhya Pradesh since the party formed the government in the state in 2018.

Scindia is likely to join BJP later today.

Hubballi,  Jul 25: South Western Railway (SWR) inducted seven lady sub-inspectors (SI) in the Railway Protection Force (RPF), in a first, on Friday. Three more women SI undergoing training in Lucknow are expected to join SWR soon.

According to the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of SWR, the inducted sub-inspectors are part of 164 women SI cadets who passed out of the RPF training centre in Moula Ali, Hyderabad, after a rigorous training of nine months. They will take care of the security of railway passengers, Railway property, and Railway premises, after resuming their duties.

They will also be responsible for giving special care to the vulnerable sections of society, women, and children while discharging their duties, the CPRO said.

The CPRO also informed that the newly admitted female SIs will be posted to major stations on SWR for regular duties on completion of their two months of practical training over the Zone. Further 120 ladies are undergoing constables training for various training centres across India.

This move is considered a step forward into women empowerment in Railways.