1. Delayed start of winter session of Karnataka Legislative Assembly draws flak
The delayed start of the Legislative Assembly on the first day of the winter session at Belagavi’s Suvarna Vidhana Soudha on December 4, 2023 drew flak from a few members. Though the session was scheduled to begin by 11 a.m., the House assembled only after a delay of one hour by 12 noon.
Soon after Speaker U.T. Khader took his seat, BJP MLA S Suresh Kumar and Congress MLA Basavaraj Raya Reddi, both expressed their disappointment over the delay as it would send a wrong message to the people and reflect badly on the entire north Karnataka region.
Meanwhile, BJP’s Basanagouda Patil Yatnal urged the Speaker to accord priority to discussing problems of North Karnataka during the early days of the Legislature session. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is in Belagavi for the session, also told the media that the decision to remove the portrait of Hindutva ideologue V.D. Savarkar from the Assembly hall — which was heavily criticised by the Congress in 2022 — would be taken by the Speaker.
2. Elephant Arjuna of Dasara fame dies after being attacked by wild tusker in Sakaleshpur
Sixty three-year-old Arjuna, the elephant that carried the golden howdah during the Mysuru Dasara procession for eight years until 2019, died in a fight with a wild tusker near Yeslur in Sakaleshpur on December 4.
The Forest Department had been conducting an operation to capture troublesome tuskers in the Sakaleshpur, Alur, Belur and Yeslur ranges of Hassan. During the operation, a wild tusker attacked Arjuna, who succumbed to injuries he suffered in the stomach, according to preliminary reports. The incident has forced the department to stop the operation.
3. Cyclone Michaung | 31 flights diverted from Chennai to Kempegowda International Airport
Heavy rains in Chennai, due to cyclonic storm ‘Michaung’, caused around 31 flights to be diverted to the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on Monday. The Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) said the diverted flights — both domestic and international — included two flights which took off from KIA but had to return to Bengaluru due to adverse weather conditions in Chennai.
The flights diverted from Chennai to Bengaluru belong to Indigo, SpiceJet, Etihad, Gulf Air, Fly Dubai, Air India, Lufthansa and British Airways, BIAL officials said.
4. Car gutted after rear-end collision with BMTC bus in freak accident in Bengaluru
Passengers of a parked BMTC bus narrowly escaped injury when a speeding car crashed into it before bursting into flames at Chandra Layout bus stand on December 4 morning. However, no one was hurt as the passengers jumped out immediately along with the occupants of the car.
While the bus was partially damaged, the car was completely gutted. A fire tender rushed to the spot and put out the fire before cordoning off the area.
