Centenarian environmentalist Saalumarada Thimmakka laid to rest with full state honour
Bengaluru (PTI): Padma Shri recipient ‘Saalumarada’ Thimmakka was laid to rest with full state honour here on Saturday.
The 114-year-old environmentalist, who earned the reputation of ‘Vruksha Maate’ (Mother of Trees) had passed away in a private hospital on Friday owing to old age related ailments.
Born on June 30, 1911, Thimmakka earned the fame ‘Saalumarada’ after she planted 385 banyan trees all along the 4.5 km stretch between Hulikal and Kudur in Ramanagara headquartered Bengaluru South district.
With no formal education, Thimmakka started the plantation campaign as she treated them as her children to fill the void in her life as childless woman.
The last rites were performed according to the Lingayat tradition at Kalagrama in Jnana Bharathi campus in Bengaluru.
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara, Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre several MLAs were among those present when her body was lowered into the grave.
"An award will be instituted in the name of Saalumarada Thimmakka," Khandre said after paying his last respects to Thimmakka here.
He said the state has lost a devoted guardian of the environment who inspired lakhs of people through her lifelong commitment to nurturing trees.
He noted that hundreds of citizens continue to plant and take care of saplings, drawing inspiration from her work.
"As a mark of tribute, 114 saplings will be planted and nurtured at 114 locations across Karnataka, symbolising each year of Thimmakka’s life," the Minister said.
He recalled that the forest department had earlier honoured her as an 'Environment Ambassador'.
Khandre said ‘Vruksha Maate’ Thimmakka had set an example by caring for trees with ‘maternal affection’ and taking the message of conservation to the world.
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Tejas jet suffered damage to airframe while landing at frontline air base
New Delhi (PTI): A Tejas light combat aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) sustained major damage to its airframe after it overshot the runway at a frontline airbase following a suspected brake failure earlier this month, authoritative sources said on Sunday.
The pilot of the aircraft ejected safely, they said.
It is learnt that the aircraft was returning to the base after carrying out a training sortie.
There was no official word from the IAF on the accident that took place on February 7.
Following the incident, the IAF grounded the entire fleet of around 30 single-seat Tejas jets to carry out an extensive technical scrutiny, the sources said.
It was the third accident involving the Tejas jets. The first one took place in March 2024, when a Tejas jet crashed near Jaisalmer.
The second incident took place in November 2025, when a Tejas jet crashed during an aerial display at the Dubai Airshow.
The latest accident comes at a time when Tejas maker Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has missed several deadlines to supply the Tejas Mark 1A variant of the aircraft to the IAF.
In February 2021, the defence ministry sealed a Rs 48,000 crore deal with HAL for the procurement of 83 Tejas Mk-1A jets for the IAF.
The delivery of the jets is facing delays primarily due to GE Aerospace missing several deadlines for the supply of its aero engines to power the jets.
The defence ministry in September last year sealed another deal worth Rs 62,370 crore with HAL to procure 97 Tejas MK-1A light combat aircraft for the IAF.
Tejas is a single-engine multi-role fighter aircraft capable of operating in high-threat air environments.
It has been designed to undertake air defence, maritime reconnaissance and strike roles.
