Tension over Flag on Shankaracharya statue in Sringeri
Bengaluru: A flag was found atop the canopy over a statue of Sri Adi Shankaracharya in the temple town of Sringeri in Chikkamagaluru district on Thursday, police said.
While the police said it was a flag which did not belong to any political party or religion, local BJP leaders alleged it was that of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).
"There is a Shankaracharya statue and above it is the gopuram (canopy). The flag was found there. It is neither a party flag nor Islamic flag. It is some blue red and green flag," a police officer said.
The statue is located at the Shankaracharya Circle (road junction) in the town.
He added that some miscreant had thrown it on the gopuram, which got stuck there. "There is no damage to the statue. Morning when we got to know we removed it. An FIR has been registered," he added.
The local BJP leaders lodged a complaint about the mischief. BJP MLA and former minister S A Ramadass too condemned the act.
"It has come to the knowledge that SDPI's flag was put on Shankaracharya's statue. I have asked the officials concerned to arrest the culprit. Our government will not tolerate such anti-social elements," he tweeted, posting a picture of the flag atop the canopy.
Sringeri is one of the four seats of spiritual learning set up by the Adi Shankaracharya about 1,300 years ago. Swami Sri Bharati Teertha is the present Shankaracharya of the Sringeri mutt.
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Air India's A350 aircraft enroute to London faces tech issue; returns to Delhi
New Delhi (PTI): Air India's A350 aircraft enroute to London Heathrow returned to the national capital due to a technical issue on Thursday afternoon after being airborne for nearly seven hours.
The same A350-900 aircraft VT-JRF had faced a technical issue on March 15, following which the plane operating the flight from New York to Delhi was diverted to the Irish town of Shannon, sources said.
An Air India spokesperson said its flight AI111, operating from Delhi to London on Thursday, made a precautionary air-return to the national capital following a suspected technical issue.
"The aircraft landed safely and consistent with Air India's high safety standards, it is currently subject to extensive technical evaluations, which will require additional time to complete," the spokesperson said in a statement.
According to the sources, noises were heard in the aircraft following which it was diverted.
The spokesperson also regretted the inconvenience caused to the passengers due to the unforeseen situation and said the airline was making every effort to ensure passengers are able to continue their journey to London at the earliest.
Details about the number of passengers onboard could not be ascertained.
The aircraft operating the flight AI111 was airborne for around four hours before the decision was taken to divert the plane when it was in the Saudi Arabia airspace. In total, the plane was airborne for nearly seven hours before landing back in the national capital, as per information available on flight tracking website Flightradar24.com.
The flight had taken off from Delhi around 6 am on Thursday and landed back at about 12.30 pm.
Air India started operating A350-900 planes from January 2024.
