Bengaluru, Sep 7: Karnataka BJP's 'Janotsava' rally to mark the completion of the party being in power for three years and the Basavaraj Bommai-led government's one year in office, in Doddaballapura scheduled for Thursday, has been postponed to September 11 following the death of senior leader and Minister Umesh Katti.

This is the third such postponement of the event, which was to be attended by BJP national president J P Nadda.

"Due to the untimely demise of Minister Umesh Katti, the Janotsava that was scheduled to be held on September 8 at Doddaballapura has been postponed to September 11," BJP's Karnataka unit vice-president Nirmal Kumar Surana said.

The rally was originally planned on July 28 (the date marking Bommai's one year in office) at Doddaballapura, but the Chief Minister was forced to cancel it following outrage over BJP Yuva Morcha member Praveen Nettar's murder in Dakshina Kannada district on July 26.

It was then scheduled to be held on August 28, but was postponed to September 8, as the date is too close to the Gowri-Ganesha festival on August 30-31 and there were concerns about participation of people.

The party plans to hold six 'Janotsava' rallies in different parts of the state spread out this month and in October.

The event will be seen as a show of strength by the ruling party in the run-up to 2023 state assembly polls.

The BJP has been under pressure by its own leaders from different parts of the state to hold large-scale events, following senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah's massive 75th birthday bash at Davangere last month and the opposition party's mega 'Freedom March' in Bengaluru to commemorate 75 years of independence on August 15.

The assembly polls are likely to be held in March or April next year.

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.



Bengaluru, Nov 1: ISRO on Friday said its analogue space mission has taken off at Leh in Ladakh, where it will simulate life in an interplanetary habitat as India prepares to send a human to the moon.

The initiative is a collaborative effort of the Human Spaceflight Centre, ISRO, AAKA Space Studio, University of Ladakh, IIT Bombay, and supported by Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council.

The month-long mission, kicked off mid-October, comes in the wake of India's plans to set up lunar habitats, which could provide a base to launch inter-planetary missions.

The geographical features of Ladakh are considered to closely resemble Martian and lunar landscapes and are an ideal training ground for scientific missions aimed at exploring planets "India's first analog space mission kicks off in Leh...this mission will simulate life in an interplanetary habitat to tackle the challenges of a base station beyond Earth," ISRO said in a post on X.

The team of AAKA Space Studio is testing environment suits and conducting geological studies in Leh's low-oxygen environment, simulating space-like conditions, studies that could be crucial for future space missions.

The team is also studying how the human body adapts to the harsh weather conditions in Ladakh that could be useful in understanding how astronauts could get used to space like conditions.