41 members of pro-Kannada outfit held for storming Bengaluru hotel to protest 'Hindi promotion' meet
Bengaluru (PTI): Forty-one members of a pro-Kannada outfit were arrested for allegedly forcing their way into a five-star hotel here in protest against Hindi Diwas event and causing a disturbance, police said on Friday.
The Ministry of Home Affairs' Rajbhasha Samiti had organised a "Hindi Promotion Meeting" at the hotel, attended by six Members of Parliament, when members of the pro-Kannada outfit barged in on Thursday, according to sources.
Raising slogans against the event, the activists alleged that the meeting was an attempt to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking states.
According to a police statement, the Parliamentary Committee on Official Language had organised a meeting from September 23 to 25 at the hotel on Race Course road here.
On the final day of the meeting, the session commenced at 9.30 am.
"Between approximately 10.45 am and 11 am, about 30 to 40 members of an organisation illegally entered the venue in protest against
the meeting agenda, obstructed the work of government officials present, and created a disturbance. This caused a temporary disruption to the meeting," it stated.
The police immediately arrived at the scene, took the protestors into custody, and brought the situation under control. Consequently, the meeting at the hotel experienced a brief interruption but was completed as planned due to the police's timely intervention.
"A case was registered against the protestors at High Grounds Police Station, and legal action was taken. A total of 41 protestors were arrested and produced before the 1st ACJM Court, which sent them to judicial custody," it added.
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Hyderabad–B’luru, Chennai-B’luru among seven high-speed rail corridors announced in budget
New Delhi: India will expand its high-speed rail network with seven new corridors as part of efforts to promote faster and environmentally sustainable passenger transport, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced while presenting the Union Budget 2026 in Parliament on Sunday.
Outlining the government’s infrastructure plans, Sitharaman said the proposed high-speed rail corridors are aimed at improving connectivity between major economic and cultural centres, while also helping reduce the carbon footprint of long-distance travel.
“The government proposes to develop environmentally sustainable passenger transport systems through seven high-speed rail corridors,” the finance minister said in her Budget speech.
According to the announcement, the identified routes include Mumbai–Pune, Hyderabad–Bengaluru, Delhi–Varanasi, Varanasi–Siliguri, Pune–Hyderabad, Hyderabad–Chennai and Chennai–Bengaluru. These corridors are expected to link key metropolitan cities with fast-growing urban and industrial hubs.
