Deputy CM G. Parameshwar defends move to revive steel bridge
Bengaluru, Jan 3: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara Thursday defended the state government's decision to revive the multi-billion steel bridge project here which was shelved earlier following massic public protests.
Speaking to reporters, he said there was a need for the infrastructure project to tackle the growing traffic problem in the city.
Citing a projection that the city population may swell to two crores in 10 years, he said planning must be made keeping in mind the requirements for next 20 years.
Presently, around 75 lakh to 80 lakh vehicles plied on the city roads.
The government was only trying to find alternatives such as suburban rail, Metro Rail second and third phase and elevated roads, Parameshwara said adding the steel grade separator would definitely be useful.
Parameshwara had on January 1 announced the decision to revive the project.
The previous Siddaramaiah government had cleared the steel bridge from Chalukya Circle to Esteem Mall at an estimated cost of Rs 2,200 crore, but abandoned it after a public outcry over allegations of lack of transparency.
Calling it a 'steel monstrosity', critics of the project have said that the government would end up spending more on painting the structure to avoid it getting rusted.
They also said the flyover would take away the aesthetics of Bengaluru.
State BJP President B S Yeddyurappa had opposed the 'arbitrary' decision of the government to go ahead with the project, when environmentalists, urban experts and even H D Kumaraswamy, as state JD(S) president, had objected to it.
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First direct US-Venezuela commercial flight in 7 years to land in Caracas
Caracas (Venezuela) (AP): The first direct commercial flight between the United States and Venezuela is scheduled to land on Thursday in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, seven years after the US Department of Homeland Security ordered an indefinite suspension, citing security concerns.
The resumption of a commercial flight between the two countries comes in the wake of the US capture of Nicolás Maduro in a stunning nighttime raid on his residence in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, in early January.
It also comes a month after the US formally reopened its embassy in Caracas following the restoration of full diplomatic relations with the South American country.
Flight AA3599 operated by Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines, was scheduled to depart from Miami at 10:16 a.m. local time and arrive three hours later in the Venezuelan capital, returning to Florida later in the afternoon.
Earlier, the airline said a second daily flight between Miami and Caracas will start on May 21.
In late January, US President Donald Trump said he informed Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez that he would open up all commercial airspace over Venezuela, allowing Americans to visit.
“American citizens will be very shortly able to go to Venezuela, and they'll be safe there,” Trump said at the time.
The flights mark the resumption of nonstop travel between the US and Venezuela for the first time since diplomatic ties were severed in 2019. For the past seven years, passengers have relied on international airlines and indirect routes through neighbouring Latin American countries.
In January, when the airline announced the resumption of flights it said it would give customers the opportunity to reunite with families and pursue new business opportunities.
American Airlines was the last US airline flying to Venezuela. It suspended flights in 2019 between Miami and Caracas, as well as flights to the oil hub city of Maracaibo. Delta and United Airlines pulled out in 2017 amid a political crisis that forced millions to flee the country.
