Abhimanyu to make a grand return to Mysuru Dasara Jambu Savari

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Mysuru: Elephant Abhimanyu, who carried the iconic golden howdah six times consecutively, is set to make another appearance in the 2026 Mysuru Dasara Jambu Savari, offering fans an opportunity to see the celebrated tusker in the grand procession once again.

Abhimanyu was retired from regular service after turning 60, leaving many Dasara enthusiasts disappointed over the possibility of his absence from the 2026 Jambu Savari.

Following his retirement, fans had urged the state government to allow Abhimanyu to participate in the Jambu Savari one final time as a Nishane elephant and give him a ceremonial farewell similar to the farewell accorded to elephant Arjuna.

Responding to the demand, Forest Minister Ramalinga Reddy has directed the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests to take necessary steps to facilitate Abhimanyu’s participation in the 2026 Jambu Savari along with the Dasara elephant squad.

Abhimanyu has played a significant role in the Mysuru Dasara tradition for several years. Known for his discipline, courage and composure, he earned widespread admiration for successfully carrying the golden howdah during the historic procession.

A felicitation ceremony was also recently organised to honour his long service to the Dasara festivities. However, his fans continued to demand that he be given one final opportunity to participate in the Jambu Savari.

With the latest direction from the state government, the demand appears to have been fulfilled. Abhimanyu is now set to return to the Dasara procession, giving thousands of devotees and elephant lovers an opportunity to witness the celebrated tusker once again.

His participation is expected to add an emotional touch to the 2026 Jambu Savari and pave the way for a grand and respectful farewell to one of the most iconic elephants associated with Mysuru Dasara.

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Bengaluru, Feb 8 (IANS) Karnataka Infrastructure Development Minister M.B. Patil has submitted representations to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, seeking approval for a Vande Bharat Sleeper Express train from Bengaluru to Vijayapura, a high-speed rail corridor between Bengaluru and Mumbai, and a daily special train service on the Bengaluru-Vijayapura route.

After launching an electronics manufacturing facility in the Hi-Tech Hardware Park at Bagalur on Saturday, the Minister met Vaishnaw at the venue and handed over the representations. The Railway Minister assured him that the proposals would be examined positively.

Describing Bengaluru as the country’s technology capital and Mumbai as its financial capital, Patil said it was essential to connect the two cities through an efficient and modern transport system. He urged that the high-speed rail corridor announced between Mumbai and Pune be extended up to Bengaluru. Vaishnaw responded positively to this request as well.

The State Minister pointed out that the distance between Bengaluru and Vijayapura is around 530 km and that the current train journey takes nearly 15 to 16 hours. He said this travel time should be reduced to about 10 hours. To achieve this, he suggested limiting halts between Bengaluru and Hubballi and operating trains via the Hubballi and Gadag bypasses. He also sought the introduction of a Vande Bharat Express service on this route.

Patil further requested the introduction of a daily special train service between Bengaluru and Vijayapura. In his representation, he stated that all three proposed services would bring significant social, industrial and economic benefits to several districts of central and north Karnataka. According to Patil, the Railway Minister responded positively to all three demands.

Senior railway officials, including South Western Railway General Manager Ajay Sharma, were present during the meeting.

Earlier, speaking after the inauguration of the manufacturing facility, Minister Patil said the new unit marked a significant strengthening of India’s capability to design, build and deliver high-reliability electronics for mission-critical applications.

He said the facility had been purpose-built to cater to critical sectors such as defence, aerospace and automotive electronics, where quality, precision and reliability are non-negotiable. With advanced manufacturing lines, clean rooms and a world-class environmental stress-testing laboratory, the unit positions itself at the high-value end of electronics manufacturing, he added.

Patil also pointed out that the state is investing over Rs 4,000 crore to extend assured Cauvery water supply to industrial areas in and around Bengaluru. This, he said, is in addition to sustained investments in roads, power and logistics to ensure long-term reliability for manufacturing units.

–IANS

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Bengal SIR: ECI sets target of seven lakh hearings per day to complete process by Feb 7

Kolkata, Jan 18 (IANS) With less than a month left for both completion of the hearings on claims and objections to the draft voters’ list in West Bengal as well as the publication of the final voters’ list, the Election Commission of India (ECI), has now set a target to complete 7,00,000 hearings a day through 6,500 hearing centres scattered all over the state.

The Commission is of the view that this is neither an unachievable target nor a herculean task, considering that the electoral officers in each hearing centre will have to handle around 107 hearing cases a day, roughly, said sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal.

The deadline for hearings to claims and objections on the draft voters’ list is February 7, following which the final voters’ list will be published on February 14.

Shortly after the publication of the final voters’ list, the ECI is expected to announce the polling dates for the crucial Assembly elections in the state later this year.

Recently, the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, interacting with the media persons in Kolkata, said that the polling and counting will be over by the end of April.

The process of hearing the “unmapped” voters, which is currently underway, is almost complete, and by next week, the “logical discrepancy” cases will be heard.

Unmapped voters are those who were unable to establish any link either through “self-mapping” or through “progeny-mapping” with the voters’ list for 2002, the last time when the voters’ list revision exercise was conducted in West Bengal.

On the other hand, “logical discrepancy” cases relate to those voters in whose cases weird family-tree data had been detected in the course of “progeny mapping”.

Already, the Commission had directed that there would be a two-stage verification and authentication of supporting identity documents to be furnished by the voters summoned for hearing.

Electoral registration officers (EROs) will conduct the first stage of verification and authentication, and District Magistrates, who are also District Electoral Officers, will conduct the second stage of verification.

The Commission had already made it clear that domicile certificates issued by the state government and admit cards of Madhyamik, the secondary examination conducted by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, will not be considered authentic identity-proof documents.

–IANS

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