Aero India 2021: Bengaluru MP Tejasvi Surya flies on LCA Tejas

Aero India

A statement from the MP’s office said the sortie was to celebrate a Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) contract worth Rs 48,000 crore.

TNM Staff

Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya on Thursday took part in a special sortie alongside the regular crew on a LCA (light combat aircraft) Tejas aircraft during the Aero India show in the city. Surya flew onboard the LCA Tejas for 30 minutes and later expressed his gratitude to the Narendra Modi government for promoting indigenous manufacturing in defence. Photos and videos of the MP posing by the aircraft and sitting in the cockpit were shared by many of his supporters across social media platforms. Thursday was the second day of the three-day Aero India event, which is being held in Bengaluru following COVID-19 guidelines. A statement from the MP’s office said that the sortie was to celebrate the Rs 48,000 crore-contract won by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) from the Union government, to manufacture 83 indigenously-developed Tejas aircrafts for the Indian Air Force. “The sortie congratulated the Union government for its recent procurement order worth Rs 48,000 crore from Bengaluru-based Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). This order will give a significant boost to the Bengaluru Aerospace and defence sector. With the right blend of technology and production capability, Bengaluru is poised to be on the world stage in the aerospace and defence sector,” the MP’s office said in a statement. Sharing more pictures onboard the Tejas aircraft.#CelebrateLCATejas pic.twitter.com/UBMfbFySSb — Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) February 4, 2021 As earlier reported, the supply will consist of 73 LCA Tejas Mk-1A fighter aircrafts and 10 LCA Tejas Mk-1 Trainer aircrafts. The LCA Mk-1A variant is an indigenously designed, developed and manufactured state-of-the-art modern 4+ generation fighter aircraft. It will be equipped with critical operational capabilities of Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar, Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Missile, Electronic Warfare (EW) Suite and Air to Air Refuelling (AAR). Speaking on this development, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had recently said that Tejas is going to be the “backbone” of the fighter fleet of the Indian Air Force in the years to come.

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Frontrunner emerges for Biden’s Medicare and Medicaid chief

The next CMS administrator will oversee Biden’s efforts to expand Obamacare and erase much of Trump’s health care legacy.

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KS Bhagwan faces ink attack from Bengaluru woman who claims he's 'insulting' Hinduism

Controversy

Recently the BJP government in the state had dropped his book Rama Mandira Yeke Beda from govt libraries.

TNM Staff

Ink was thrown at rationalist and multiple award winning Kannada writer KS Bhagwan on Thursday as he was making way to a Bengaluru court. A video of the incident was shared on Facebook and Twitter by the city-based lawyer Meera Raghavendra who claimed that she threw ink as a form of punishment. According to Meera, Bhagwan deserved this for allegedly insulting Hindu religion.  Other videos of the event show other lawyers and police protecting Bhagwan from Meera as she is heard saying that “she is ready to do anything” or even go to jail if required for doing this.  "You are a professor and so old, yet you continue to speak trash about Hinduism and the Gods. Are you not ashamed of yourself," she is heard telling Bhagwan. The incident took place at the City Civil Court Complex in front of police personnel where Bhagwan was seeking bail related to a different matter.  Other than being critically acclaimed, Bhagwan has often attracted controversy and has been targeted by the BJP and fringe Hindu right organisations. Recently the BJP government in the state had dropped his book Rama Mandira Yeke Beda (Why we do not need the Ram Temple)’, opposing the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya from the public libraries run by the government. In January 2019, he was booked by Mysuru police for this same book under Section 295A (insulting religion and religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code based on a complaint by Mysuru district president of the Hindu Jagarana Vedike, Jagadish Hebbar K. At that time in an interview with TNM, he had said it was his duty to promote rationalism, scientific temper and reform humanism according to Article 51A(h) in the Constitution of India. He said his book has  made a comparative study between Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi based on Valmiki's text. Bhagwan was earlier booked in 2015 for allegedly insulting the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and in the process hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder of noted journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh suspected that Gauri’s killers had also conspired to target Bhagwan. Following this, he was provided security by the state government.

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Bengaluru's mobile schools yet to take off as BBMP faces lack of volunteers

Education

The BBMP’s proposed ‘Schools on Wheels’ scheme will have repurposed BMTC buses as mobile learning centres, to help children who are forced to work.

TNM Staff

Representative Image/PTI

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) aims to carry out a survey on the number of children out of school in the city, so as to provide them education under the Schools on Wheels schemes launched by them. A ward-wise home-based survey was to be conducted, with the assistance of NGOs and the public. However, the project is experiencing a setback—a shortage of volunteers to help carry out the survey. The Assistant Commissioner of Education Policy Nagendra Naik expressed his concerns over the smaller number of people turning up to volunteer for the cause, as it slowed the process of data collection. About 10 students have been deployed in each ward to conduct home-based surveys because of the shortage of volunteers, said Assistant Commissioner Naik. BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad announced the launch of the Schools on Wheels programme in January, at a workshop hosted by the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority (KSLSA).  As many as 10 old Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses are to be transformed into mobile schools, as part of the initiative to provide children from low-income backgrounds with an education. The Karnataka High Court had directed the state government to take action to aid children who are forced to beg and are not in school. After the verdict, the BBMP had decided to conduct a door-to-door survey and collaborated with NGOs of the city and others who were interested in assisting and contributing towards the cause carry out the survey. “The buses will go to children from low-income backgrounds in the city who are not enrolled in schools for a multitude of reasons such as financial constraints or have been forced to work or beg. The teachers will hold informal classes for three-four hours for these children,” the Commissioner said of the scheme, called Schools on Wheels.  Through the scheme, they hoped to not only educate students but also increase their interest in obtaining a formal education. The bus will be equipped with amenities such as writing boards and books, the Commissioner said. Teachers from BBMP schools will be deputed to teach at these centres. With the assistance from teachers, the rehabilitation of children who cannot attend schools will be possible and they will have a better future, the Commissioner added.

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Bengaluru boy misses class 10 prep exam, courtesy a road in shambles

Infrastructure

The student reached 15 minutes later than the scheduled time for exam owing to the bad conditions of the road.

Sanjana Deshpande

Twitter/WhitefieldRising

A student of grade 10, on January 22, was not initially allowed to appear for his preparatory exam because the said ward reached 15 minutes late than the scheduled time for the exam, reported ToI. The delay, according to his father, was caused by the poor condition of Borewell Road in Whitefield area. The road was dug by the authorities of Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewage Board for installation of the pipeline for Cauvery Water Supply Scheme and Sanitary pipeline change but was never restored. Though the school allowed the boy a chance later, the problem that the roads poses is still a relaity for many. The father-son duo left for the examination at 8 am hoping they will reach the centre which is on a short distance from their residence by 8.30 am. However, a goods vehicle, heading towards Nallurahalli was stuck causing a commotion. “The two-kilometre stretch is in a really bad condition. The authorities of BWSSB had dug it up three-four months earlier and never restored the road. This left only one side of the road usable. Owing to the bad condition of the road, a Tata ace vehicle carrying goods was stuck which further created a traffic choke. Clearing the road took nearly 30 minutes,” said Srinivas Reddy, the student's father. He added that due the choke, he could not even go back and navigate through alternative roads which caused them to reach the school by 8.45 am. Srinivas Reddy, father of the student and a resident of Borewell road, and others had shot and uploaded videos of the road on Twitter using the Whitefield Rising’s handle, a citizens’ organization of the region. The video garnered a lot of attention.   #nallurhallikapadi protest was a few years back. Promises made @ArvindLBJP yet to be fulfilled Situation remains grave, if not worse. Video 1: entrance to Borewell Road from Whitefield Main Rd. The dug up sections outside the Post Office remains unchanged for year+ pic.twitter.com/HGL0LAcEDs — Whitefield Rising (@WFRising) January 30, 2021   The residents had staged a campaign Nallurhalli Kapadi (Save Nallurhalli) because the roads were in a battered stage, drains were open due to negligence of authorities towards the area.  

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Water supply to be affected in parts of Bengaluru on Saturday: List of areas

Water

Some of the areas that will be affected are MG Road, Koramangala, Jayanagar, Adugodi, Ulsoor.

TNM Staff

Representational image

Water supply will be disrupted between 8 am and 6 pm in several parts of Bengaluru coming under Cauvery Stage I on Saturday, February 6. The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) said this disruption will be necessary because of  an upgradation work of electrical lines in a pumping station. Some of the areas that will be affected are MG Road, Koramangala, Jayanagar, Adugodi, Ulsoor (full list below).  In a release, BWSSB has said, “KPTCL major work division Ramanagara has requested line clear on 66 kV line for upgradation of the existing 66kV line which is connected to the 220 kV BWSSB substation stage 1 pumping station at Harohalli on 06-02-2021 from 08:00 am to 6:00 pm.” Full list of areas where water supply will be affected Jayanagar and surrounding places Tilak Nagar, SR Nagar Adugodi  Nethajinagar KP Agrahara  New Binny Layout  Raghavendra Colony   Tippu Nagar  Chamarajpet  Ramchandra Agrahara  Adarsh Nagar Padarayanapura  Anjanappa Garden  Binny Layout  Srinivasanagar Bank Colony ITI Layout Gururaja Layout  Vivekanada Nagar Kathriguppe  Thygaraja nagar  Basavanagudi  Shastrinagar,  N R Colony  Mount joy Extension Kumaraswamy Layout  ISRO Layout  Shrinapr, Vittal Nagar, Shanthalanagara Ambedkarnagara  Neelasandra  Austin town  Ejipura  Vivekanagara Ashok Nagara  Richmond Town MG Road Bridagc road  HAL 2nd Stage  Kodihalli  Ulsoor  Murphy Town  Jogupalya  Rajendra Nagar  Nanjappa Reddy Layout  Koramangala surrounding arca, KHB colony, Venkateshwara Layout, Kaveri Layout, Jogi Colony,  Domlur  Brundawana Nagar  Maruthi Nagar,  AK Colony  Netravati I to 10 blocks  Nanjappa Reddy layout  Bhovi Colony and surrounding places.

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Aero India 2021: USA flies heavy bomber B-1B with LCA Tejas in Bengaluru

Aero India 2021

Nicknamed 'The Bone', the B-1B has been deployed in combat operations over Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001.

IANS

Representative Image/ Aero India

The American B-1B Lancer heavy bomber was flown for the first time in India at Aero India 2021, the 13th edition of the biennial show on Wednesday, to showcase its capabilities. The long-range, multi-role bomber flew to Bengaluru a week prior to Aero India from the Ellsworth Air Force Base in USA’s South Dakota, to perform a fly-by at the defence exhibition and air show. In a statement, the US Consulate mentioned that the supersonic bomber is capable of carrying out missions worldwide from its bases in the United States, as well as from forward-deployed locations. "The Boeing's B1-Bomber flew along with the Made in India Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas during the flying display of various military aircraft at the inaugural event of the three-day air show at the Yelahanka base of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on the city's outskirts," a defence official told IANS. With the conventional payload of guided and unguided weapons in the US Air Force on board, the massive aircraft is considered the backbone of America's long-range bomber force. Powered by four General Electric F101-GE-102 turbofan engines with afterburner, the Bomber has 137 feet wingspan, 146 feet length, 34 feet height and weighs a whopping 86,183 kg. "The bomber's maximum take-off weight is 2,16,634 kg and it has a capacity to carry 1,20,326 kg and can fly at 900 miles per hour at over 30,000 feet," Boeing said in its factsheet. Nicknamed 'The Bone', the B-1 has been deployed in combat operations over Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001. As a major partner, the US is participating in the air show to strengthen its defence ties with India, reflecting its shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region. Leading US defence firms are participating in the maiden hybrid exhibition amid the pandemic. In the spirit of bilateral support, the US Air Force Band of the Pacific-based out of Hawaii is set to perform with ghatam artist Giridhar Udupa at Aero India. 

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