Udupi: In the backdrop of heavy rains and red alert issued by the IMD, Udupi Deputy Commissioner Vidyakumari has issued an order declaring a rain holiday for educational institutes on July 16.

According to the media release from the DC office, all Anganwadi centers, government, aided and private primary, high schools and Pre-University colleges in Udupi district will remain closed on July 16, owing to intensified monsoon in the district.

Get all the latest, breaking news from Mangaluru and Dakshina Kannada in a single click. CLICK HERE to get all the latest news from Mangaluru.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a fabricator of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj that recently collapsed at a fort in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district, triggering a huge political row, an official said on Friday.

Fabricator Parmeshwar Ramnaresh Yadav, who was arrested from Uttar Pradesh, had used substandard material while shaping the 35-foot-tall statue of the Maratha warrior king, he said.

A resident of Mirzapur in UP, Yadav was taken into custody on Thursday after his role in the statue collapse came to light, the official said.

Yadav had been tasked with creating the Shivaji statue by welding separate parts, he said.

Police said the fabricator used inferior material to form the structure and did not join the parts properly through welding.

During a technical analysis, it was found that the collapsed steel statue had rusted in some places, indicating the use of low-quality material, he said.

After his role in the case was established, Yadav was also made an accused and was subsequently placed under arrest on Thursday. He was produced in a court which remanded him in police custody for three days, the official said.

The statue of the 17th-century Maratha empire founder, unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rajkot fort in Malvan tehsil of Sindhudurg district on December 4 (Navy Day) last year, collapsed on August 26 amid strong winds.

The statue’s sculptor-contractor Jaydeep Apte and consultant Chetan Patil were later arrested.