Strong earthquake shakes Indonesia's main island, killing 1 and damaging dozens of homes
Yogyakarta (Indonesia) (AP): A strong undersea earthquake shook parts of Indonesia's densely populated main island of Java, causing panic as it killed at least one person, injured two others and damaged dozens of houses.
The US Geological Survey said Friday's magnitude 5.8 quake was centred 84 kilometres southwest of Bambanglipuro, a village in Bantul regency of the special province of Yogyakarta. It occurred at a depth of 86 kilometres.
Abdul Muhari, spokesperson for Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency, said a 67-year-old woman in Bantul died when she fell while fleeing in panic and at least two other residents were injured.
The quake damaged at least 93 houses as well as other buildings, such as schools, health centres, houses of worship and government facilities, in Yogyakarta and its neighbouring provinces of Central Java and East Java, Muhari said.
Television reports showed local residents in Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces panicking as houses and buildings swayed for several seconds. Some places ordered evacuations, sending streams of people into the streets.
Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency said there was no danger of a tsunami but warned of possible aftershocks. The agency measured a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 for the quake. Variations in early measurements of quakes are common.
Yogyakarta is an ancient centre of Javanese culture and the seat of royal dynasties going back centuries. It is home to the ninth century Borobudur nine stone tiers stacked like a wedding cake and adorned with hundreds of Buddha statues and relief panels and the towering Hindu temple complex of Prambanan, both of which are UNESCO World Heritage sites. Mount Merapi, the country's most active volcano, is also in the province.
In 2006, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake in Yogyakarta killed more than 6,200 people and injured more than 130,000, but caused only minor damage to the two temples.
The country of more than 270 million people is frequently struck by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis because of its location on the arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Pacific Basin known as the "Ring of Fire".
In 2004, an extremely powerful Indian Ocean quake set off a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries, most of them in Indonesia's Aceh province.
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BJP accuses CM Siddaramaiah of 'misleading' public on govt job figures
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra on Wednesday lashed out at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, accusing him of "misleading" the public on government recruitment figures and "failing" to address the concerns of unemployed youth in the state.
In a detailed post on his X handle, Vijayendra alleged that the Congress-led government was attempting to deflect accountability by blaming the previous BJP administration instead of initiating concrete steps to fill vacant posts.
“Chief Minister, please refrain from misleading the people. Do not attempt to shift the blame for all your shortcomings onto the BJP and evade responsibility. Your administration has earned a reputation for arrogance, corruption and mismanagement,” Vijayendra said, adding that students and youth were not naïve enough to be swayed by what he termed as "exaggerated claims".
Vijayendra's response came following Siddaramaiah's statement on Tuesday blaming BJP for the huge backlog of government job vacancies.
The CM had said that when Congress assumed office in 2023, over 2.64 lakh government posts were vacant.
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The backlog resulted from prolonged inaction under the previous BJP government, which failed to initiate timely recruitment or create a structured roadmap, he said.
As thousands of government job aspirants staged a massive protests in Dharwad on Tuesday demanding filling the vacant posts immediately, Siddaramaiah accused BJP leaders of "misleading students for political gains" and said recruitment irregularities and alleged corruption between 2019 and 2023 had eroded trust in the system, leading to the current crisis.
Questioning the government’s public statements on employment generation, Vijayendra referred to figures tabled in the Legislative Assembly.
“According to the official figures presented by your own government in the Legislative Assembly, only 8,157 government recruitments have been completed during your three years in office. Yet publicly claiming that 40,000 posts have been filled raises serious concerns. Does this not amount to misleading the unemployed youth of the state?” the Shikaripura MLA asked.
The BJP leader also raised the issue of large-scale vacancies in government departments, claiming that lakhs of posts remained unfilled even after the Congress came to power.
According to him, the state was struggling financially and questioned the delay in initiating fresh recruitment drives despite what he described as legal clarity on proceeding under the existing reservation framework.
Vijayendra further criticised the government for prioritising the accommodation of party workers and disgruntled MLAs in state-run corporations with ministerial rank and perks, while unemployed youth continued to wait for job opportunities.
“At the very least, please stop making claims that do not align with facts. Youth unrest in the state is mounting. Before matters escalate further, act with sincerity — or consider stepping down and seeking the people’s forgiveness,” the BJP state chief said.
Noting that frustration among students and job aspirants was intensifying, Vijayendra urged the CM to immediately expedite pending recruitment processes and ensure transparency in appointments.
He warned that the government would be held accountable for any fallout arising out of growing youth discontent.
