KG Bhopaiah writes to CM urging him to cancel Tipu Jayanti celebrations by state government
Bengaluru: Urging the Chief Minister to cancel celebrating Tipu Jayanti marking the birth anniversary of freedom fighter and Mysuru king Tipu Sultan, Virajpet MLA and former Assembly Speaker K G Bhopaiah on Tuesday wrote a letter to the newly sworn-in CM of the state, BS Yediyurappa.
Kannada and Culture Department of the Government of Karnataka has been celebrating the birth anniversary of the ruler of the erstwhile Mysore Kingdom since 2014 on November 10 every year. A move of the state government which faced stiffed opposition from the section of people in the state especially from the people of Kodagu District who believes that the 18th Century ruler had held captive, tortured and forced religious conversion in the District during his rule.
“Holding such celebrations in the state can lead to putting lives of people and public and private properties under risk as it can trigger law and order situation here. It has happened before and the aftereffects of such events are still found in the District as the atmosphere of unrest and lack of communal harmony in the region is still evident” KG Bhopaiah added in the letter while also urging the CM to immediately cancel the government’s order celebrating Tipu Jayanti as a government event.
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Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Exp mows down 7 elephants in Assam, 5 coaches derailed
Nagaon/ Guwahati (PTI): At least seven elephants were killed, and one was injured after a herd of jumbos was hit by the Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express in Assam's Hojai district early Saturday, officials said.
Five coaches and the train’s engine were also derailed, they said.
Initially, all eight elephants were reported to have been killed, though later it was said that one of them was found injured.
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No passengers were injured in the accident, which occurred at 2.17 am, the officials said.
Nagaon divisional forest officer Suhash Kadam told PTI that the accident in Changjurai village is suspected to have occurred due to heavy fog in the area.
“Autopsy of the seven dead jumbos is underway, and treatment is on for the injured one by local veterinary doctors. Cremation will be done near the accident site. Legal formalities are being followed,” he said.
NFR chief spokesperson Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said the accident took place in the Jamunamukh- Kampur section under the Lumding division.
The area is about 126 km from Guwahati.
He claimed that the accident took place at a location which is not a designated elephant corridor. “The train driver, on observing the herd of elephants, applied emergency brakes. However, the jumbos dashed with the train,” he added.
Sharma said accident relief trains, along with top officials from the divisional headquarters, have already reached the site.
The NFR general manager and the divisional railway manager of Lumding have also rushed to the site, he said.
Helpline numbers -- 0361-2731621 / 2731622 / 2731623 -- have been activated at Guwahati railway station, he added.
The NFR spokesperson said the passengers of the affected coaches were temporarily accommodated in the vacant berths available in other compartments, and the train, without the derailed coaches, left the site for Guwahati at 6.11 am.
The passengers will be accommodated in additional coaches, which will be added to the train at Guwahati, and the train will resume its journey after that, he said.
Trains scheduled to pass through the affected section have been diverted through the UP line, and restoration work is underway, Sharma added.
The Sairang-New Delhi Rajdhani Express connects Mizoram's Sairang (near Aizawl) to the Anand Vihar Terminal in Delhi.
