Bangalore Metro will be opened today

Bangalore's much-awaited Namma Metro has just chugged in.

All eyes are on the IT city today and not just on the trial court for the VVIP visit of neighbour Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. Around the time that Ms Jayalalithaa reached court in an impressive 20-car convoy to appear in a disproportionate assets case, many of the city's people had already gathered for a first ride on the Metro that promises to reduce the extreme traffic congestion in the city and make life easier for commuters. The Metro will be opened to the public at 3 pm today.

Union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath and Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi flagged off the first train at the Mahatma Gandhi Road station. Karnataka Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda was present as were senior BJP leaders Ananth Kumar and Arun Jaitley.

In the first phase, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) will run the services on a seven-km metro rail stretch from Mahatma Gandhi road to Byyappanahalli from morning to late evening. The service will connect the city centre to the eastern suburbs and will run on elevated tracks.

Built at a cost of Rs. 6000 crore, at least 20,000 people are expected to use the Metro service every day.

The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) are also jointly introducing common day passes that can be used both in metro and BMTC buses. According to a BMTC release, the Metro Bus Transit Day Pass for commuting in the metro and BMTC non-air-conditioned buses is priced at Rs. 70. The Metro Bus Transit Day Pass for using the metro and all BMTC services except Vayu Vajra costs Rs. 110.

Yeddyurappa in ICU, moves High Court for bail

Former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, arrested and jailed late last week in two corruption cases, petitioned the Karnataka High Court, Monday, for bail.

Yeddyurappa’s counsel Ravi Naik moved the petition on his behalf after the Lokayukta special court rejected his bail plea and sent the Bharatiya Janata Party leader to jail till Oct 22. The High Court had on Aug 29 rejected Yeddyurappa’s anticipatory bail plea.

68-year-old Yeddyurappa, who was arrested and sent to jail on Oct 15, complained of "discomfort" in the chest and was rushed to Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology, where he is under observation in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for 48 hours.

Dr CN Manjunath, heading the five-member team attending on Yeddyurappa, said that the former CM is also suffering from high blood pressure and some urinary problems, adding that ECG and blood tests have already been conducted on Yeddyurappa who suffered a mild stroke two months ago.

An angiogram would also be conducted soon, Dr Manjunath added.

The Special Lokayukta court had on Oct 15 rejected Yeddyurappa's bail plea and issued an arrest warrant against the former chief minister, who has been facing allegations of denotifying government land in violation of laws when he was the Chief Minister.

Yeddyurappa then surrendered before the court and was remanded to judicial custody till October 22.

Three fire accidents by a cylinder blast in Bangalore

The city witnessed three fire accidents, a day after a blaze triggered by a cylinder blast led to a building collapse in Sumanahalli resulting in two deaths. However, on Thursday, there were no casualties.

A fire broke out around 1 pm at Reliance Footprint, a footwear shop, located on the first floor of Ram Plaza building along 80 Feet Road, 5th Block, Koramangala.

More than 30 customers were in the shop when the incident happened.

A short-circuit probably triggered the blaze, police and fire personnel said. AR Infant, director general of police (fire and emergency service), said 17 fire tenders battled the blaze which was finally put out around 6pm.

A fire fighter said they got the alert around 1.06 pm and they immediately reached the spot in four vehicles. Smoke was billowing out of the building and the fire service dispatched more vehicles to the site. Fire fighters broke the windowpanes to clear the smoke before they entered the building to douse the fire.

BG Chengappa, director of Karnataka fire and emergency services, said shoes, slippers and school bags, plywood and some rubber products were destroyed in the fire.

Madiwala police kept the curious onlookers at bay to provide space for easy movement of fire engines and fighters. Police said the shop belonged to Reliance company but refused to comment on the losses. "We will come to know about it only after a complaint is lodged with us about the incident," police said.

Venkatesh, an employee of the footwear shop, said more than 30 customers were in the shop when the incident happened. The same time, on the ground floor, about 25 company workers were gathered for the meeting called by officials. Suddenly, they smelt burning rubber and rushed to the first floor and found that fire was spreading. They helped the customers and all ran away from the building and called the fire personnel.

Employees and visitors of a massage parlour located on the second and third floors of the building also ran to safety. The second fire incident happened in a steel factory Well Cast Steel Ltd located in Peenya. The fire, which broke out around 5 pm, was caused due to an electrical short circuit in one of the motors. Well Cast Steel said they incurred a loss of Rs1 lakh. Three fire tenders from Peenya fire department were pressed into service to douse the fire.

The third incident took place around 3.30 pm at Sattar Bedding House located on the second floor of a JP Nagar building. Three fire tenders were employed to fight the blaze. A short-circuit in an electrical duct of the shop sparked the fire. Cash of Rs20,000 was destroyed in the fire but the value of goods destroyed was yet to be estimated.

CBI begins searches in illegal assets of YS Jaganmohan Reddy

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday registered an FIR against YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy. CBI conducted searches in five cities including Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai in connection with disproportionate assets case against Jagan Mohan Reddy.

A team of 11 CBI officers started searching at the palatial residence of Jagan at Lotus Pond at Banjara Hills. Simultaneous search was also on at the residence of Prasad in Sainikpuri.

The first search began early in the day at the residence of Acharya in Mahindra Hills here. He was managing director of Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) when Dubai-based Emaar allegedly committed irregularities in developing a township project here.

CBI also conducted searches at Sakshi News Channel office, Jagan's residence at Banjara hills and his Bharti Cement office in Hyberabad.

Earlier the High Court directed the CBI to undertake a detailed investigation into Jagan's assets.

Prasad of Matrix Lab is one of the investors who pumped in big money in Jagan's businesses allegedly in a quid pro quo arrangement in return for the benefits they received from his father when he was chief minister.

The petitioners, including a minister belonging to Congress party and leaders of opposition Telugu Desam Party, alleged that Jagan amassed huge wealth by misusing power when his father was chief minister from 2004 to 2009.

During the by-polls to Kadapa Lok Sabha seat in May this year, Jagan had declared assets of Rs.365 crore, making him the richest MP in the country. In 2009 elections, he was worth Rs.77 crore.

Textiles Minister P. Shankar Rao, on whose letter last year the court took up hearing, claims Jagan was worth Rs.11 lakh prior to 2004 but now has assets worth Rs.43,000 crore.

The high court last week directed full-fledged probe against him and also in the alleged scam in Emaar project. The CBI earlier conducted preliminary investigations in both the cases and submitted its reports to the court.

Jagan Mohan Reddy meanwhile has approached the Supreme Court against the High Court's decision and has called it a political witch hunt by the Congress.