Karnataka Assembly passes resolution to rename 4 airports
Bengaluru: The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution recommending to the union government to rename four airports in the state after prominent personalities.
According to the resolution, the Hubballi airport will be named after Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna, Belagavi airport after Kittur Rani Chennamma, Shivamogga airport after Rashtrakavi Dr K V Puttappa (Kuvempu) and Vijayapura airport to be named after Sri Jagajyothi Basaveshwara. Rani Chennamma (1778–1829), the queen of erstwhile princely state of Kittur in Belagavi district, had fought against the British, and is remembered as a folk hero in Karnataka Sangolli Rayanna (1798-1831) was the army chief of the erstwhile Kittur Kingdom ruled by Rani Chennamma and fought against the British who hanged him to death from a Banyan tree near Nandagad in Belagavi district in 1831.
Kuppali Venkatappa (KV) Puttappa, one of the foremost personalities of Kannada literature. Popularly known as 'Kuvempu', he was first among the Kannada writers to be awarded with the prestigious Jnanpith Award for his work 'Sri Ramayana Darshanam'. Basaveshwara was a 12th century philosopher, social reformer and statesman who attempted to create a casteless society and fought against caste and religious discrimination. Popularly known as Basavanna, Lingayats -- one of Karnataka's politically dominant communities -- which is said to constitute about 17 per cent of the state's population, finds its origins with him. Piloting the resolution in the Assembly, Industries and Infrastructure Development Minister M B Patil said the new names for the airports will be recommended to the union government. Meanwhile, BJP MLA V Sunil Kumar asked the government to include a proposal to name the Mangaluru airport after Koti Channaiah. However, Speaker UT Khader, who is MLA from Mangaluru said, there were also demands to name the airport after Veera Rani Abbakka, a Tuluva Queen of Ullal who fought the Portuguese in the latter half of the 16th century, and ''let's discuss this later...'' The Assembly also adopted a resolution urging the state government to construct a memorial to mark the centenary of the 39th session of the Congress held in Belagavi, under the Presidency of Mahatma Gandhi on December 26, 1924.
Responding to this private member's resolution moved by Belgaum Dakshin BJP MLA Abhay Patil, Backward Classes Welfare and Kannada & Culture Minister Shivanand Tangagadi said the government would make a provision for this in the 2024-25 Budget, and centre will also requested to release funds for the same.
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EC demands extra security as unrest grips Bangladesh afresh
Dhaka (PTI): The Election Commission (EC) has demanded extra security for its chief, other commissioners and officials as fresh unrest visibly gripped Bangladesh after gunmen shot an upcoming parliamentary polls candidate and frontline leader of last year's violent street movement dubbed 'July Uprising'.
"The EC has written to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) urging comprehensive security arrangements for the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Election Commissioners (ECs), senior officials of the Election Commission Secretariat," the state-run BSS news agency reported on late Saturday.
The EC simultaneously sought the extra security for its field-level offices ahead of the 13th national election, as two of them came under attack in southeastern Lakshmipur and southwestern Pirojpur by unidentified miscreants after the announcement of the schedule for the upcoming polls on Thursday.
The commission demanded an additional escort vehicle for the CEC, while one such police escort with a vehicle was currently in place for him. It asked for round-the-clock police escorts for the four commissioners and the senior secretary.
The letter said the enhanced security measures were "urgent and necessary," while EC officials said their 10 regional offices, 64 district election offices and 522 sub-district level offices would store important documents and election materials.
The EC on Thursday said the upcoming parliamentary election would be held on February 12 next year, while a day later, Sharif Osman Hadi was shot from a close range in the head, critically wounding him, as he initiated his election campaign from a constituency in the capital.
Critically ill former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) simultaneously asked Muhammad Yunus' government to provide security for all candidates in the upcoming election after the attack on Hadi, who leads a radical right-wing cultural group called Inquiab Mancha.
"We demand that the real culprit be identified immediately and brought under the law, and we call upon this government to ensure the security of all candidates without delay," BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.
Hadi was also a frontline leader of last year's student-led violent uprising that toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024.
His Inquilab Mancha was also at the forefront of a campaign to disband the Awami League, which the interim government complied with in May this year, disqualifying the party from contesting the polls.
The government on Saturday ordered a nationwide security clampdown called 'Operation Devil Hunt 2' amid escalated fears over the law and order situation and promised to issue firearms licenses for election candidates for their own security.
Home adviser (retd) Lieutenant General Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said the government had taken steps to ensure special security for the "frontline fighters" of the July Uprising and promised to issue firearms licenses for the election candidates.
He emphasised that the second phase of the 'Devil Hunt' was aimed at helping ensure public safety and combat the growing threat of illegal arms.
The operation was initially launched in February this year following protests over an attack on the private house of a former minister of the ousted government in the northern suburb of the capital, when it targeted alleged "henchmen" and supporters of the now disbanded Awami League.
