Here are the big stories from Karnataka today

Karnataka Today newsletter: International flights operations at KIA to shift to Terminal 2, and more

With the construction of Bengaluru-Mysuru national highway (expressway), the Bangalore–Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project (BMICP) — promoted by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) — has become infructuous, former minister and Congress MLA T.B. Jayachandra has said.

A voluminous 392-page report submitted to the State Government in December 2016 by a legislature panel headed by Mr. Jayachandra had indicted NICE for violation of the Framework Agreement (FWA), excess land acquisition, levying toll without laying a concrete road, and illegal mining, among other issues.

Mr. Jayachandra, now Karnataka government’s Special Representative in Delhi, has suggested that the State take over the BMICP and implement the recommendations to provide justice to farmers who lost their agriculture land to the NICE Road project.

Vandalisation of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue at Gandhi Circle led to tension in Holehonnur, in Bhadravathi taluk of Shivamogga district, on August 21. As news of the incident spread, people gathered at the circle and also blocked vehicular movement on NH 13. Holehonnur police are examining CCTV footage to identify the accused. Additional policemen have been deployed in the town to avoid any untoward incident.

In Madikeri, a 50-year-old statue of General K.S. Thimayya fell following a collision with a KSRTC bus on August 21 early morning. The police said the KSRTC driver crashed into the statue in an attempt to avoid a collision with a pickup jeep approaching from the side. General K.S. Thimayya was the Chief of Army Staff from 1957 to 1961, and his statue was unveiled at the center of Madikeri town in Kodagu district on April 21, 1973.

All international flight operations at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) will be shifted to Terminal-2 (T-2) from August 31. Currently, all international flight operations are confined to the 15-year-old Terminal-1 (T-1). With this shift, T-1 will cater to only domestic operations.

Singapore Airlines SQ 508 would be the first flight to land at KIA after international flight operations shift to T-2 on August 31. Flight SQ 508 is scheduled to depart from Changi International Airport at 8.50 am and land at KIA at 10.55 am.