Veekshitha Arasa wows all with Zumba on the Beach

Udupi: A vigilant Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable, Aparna K T, demonstrated remarkable presence of mind when she rescued a student who slipped while trying to board a moving train at Udupi Railway Station on Friday morning.

The incident occurred as passenger train number 06602 arrived at the station around 7:30 AM. The student, traveling from Mangaluru to Gokarna, had briefly alighted to purchase snacks. However, as the train began moving, she hurried back towards the carriage with the snacks in hand. In her rush, she lost her footing, slipping dangerously between the platform and the moving train.

Constable Aparna, who had been closely monitoring the passengers, immediately sprang into action. “I saw her running towards the train and alerted everyone by blowing my whistle. She slipped, and her legs were caught between the platform and the train. Without hesitation, I pulled her out with the help of others nearby,” she recalled.

Thanks to Aparna’s quick thinking and the swift response of the railway staff, the train was stopped in time. Railway personnel, including the guard and loco pilot, were immediately informed, and they acted promptly to halt the train using both flag signals and a walkie-talkie.

RPF Inspector Madhusoodhanan PV arrived at the scene shortly after to check on the passenger's condition. The shaken but uninjured student was given water and helped back onto the train to safely continue her journey.

In an added measure of care, the RPF post at Bhatkal was notified to follow up on the passenger’s well-being during her journey. The student, fortunately, reached her destination without further incident.

The heroic rescue was captured on CCTV and has since gone viral on social media, earning widespread praise. In recognition of her bravery, Regional Railway Manager (RRM) Karwar awarded Constable Aparna a cash reward of ₹5,000, commending her quick action that averted a potentially tragic accident.

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday dismissed the petition filed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah against Governor Thawarchand Gehlot's decision to sanction the complaint and investigation against him in the alleged Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam case.

Justice M Nagaprasanna said the facts narrated in the petition would undoubtedly require an investigation.

The court has also said that the Governor's order approving sanction to investigate against Siddaramaiah under section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act does not suffer from application of mind, instead has abundance of application of mind.

Meanwhile, the court rejected the request made by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi to stay the order of the court. The court has vacated the interim order passed on August 19. In the interim order the trial court was directed not to take any precipitative action against Siddaramaiah. On August 17, Governor had approved sanction under section 17 A  of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 218 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita ( BNSS), citing three applications.

The court said the private complainants were justified in registering the complaint and seeking approval from the governor.

Insofar as private complainants seeking sanction under section 17A, the court said the provision nowhere requires only a police officer to seek sanction from a competent authority. The court further said it is in fact the duty of the private complainants to seek such approval.

Earlier, The High Court had completed its hearing in the case on September 12, and reserved its orders. It had also directed a special court in Bengaluru to defer further proceedings and not to take any precipitative action against the Chief Minister.

The case pertains to allegations that compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife B M Parvathi in an upmarket area in Mysuru that had higher property value as compared to the location of her land that had been "acquired" by MUDA.

Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao reminded that V D Savarkar was not against cow slaughter as he himself was non-veg eater, PTI reported on Thursday.

"As a Brahmin he was eating meat, and he was openly propagating eating meat," said the minister at an event in Bengaluru.

Reacting to Gundu Rao's claim, BJP MP Anurag Thakur called Congress a "factory of lies" as he warned that India won't tolerate any disrespect towards Savarkar.

"By disrespecting Veer Savarkar they have shown that they don't respect freedom fighters. During the Congress government, Sardar Bhagat Singh was termed a separatist in textbooks...By making those who want to break the nation join the congress party, Rahul Gandhi is taking forward the ideology of 'tukde tukde' and he is a 'modern Jinnah' who speaks ill of the country abroad...," he said.

Meanwhile, a court in Maharashtra's Nashik district summoned Congress MP Rahul Gandhi earlier this week in a defamation case filed against him for his alleged objectionable remarks against the Hindutva ideologue.

The complainant, who is the director of an NGO, claimed he watched a press conference addressed by Gandhi in Hingoli and also a speech made by the Congress leader in November 2022.

He alleged that Gandhi, on the two occasions, by his words and visual representations knowingly harmed the reputation of Veer Savarkar and also tried to defame the latter's image in the society.

According to the complainant, Gandhi said "Savarkar is BJP and RSS jin" which was defamatory in nature.