Here are the big stories from Karnataka today

Karnataka Today newsletter: Bengaluru gets largest Boeing aerospace engineering facility outside US, and more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Boeing India Engineering and Technology Center (BIETC) campus in Bengaluru on January 19. The state-of-the-art BIETC is built with an investment of ₹1,600 crore. Located in a 43-acre campus, it is the American aerospace major’s largest such investment outside the U.S.

Mr. Modi also launched the Boeing Sukanya Program that aims to support the entry of more girl children from across India into the country’s growing aviation sector. For young girls, the programme will create STEM labs at 150 planned locations to help spark interest in STEM careers.

Archaeologist and retired associate professor T. Murugeshi has yet again found a unique Veera Sthambha (pillar dedicated to a hero), this time at Chitteri in Ulturu Mudabettu village of Kundapura taluk in Udupi. According to Mr. Murugeshi, a Veera Sthambha is a rare type of hero-stone found across India.

Located in front of Nandikeshwara temple at Chitteri, the 6-feet-tall Veera Sthambha has four faces. Each face has three panels of 2 feet length depicting heroes equipped with swords and other sharp weapons attacking enemies riding horses and elephants. Sword-fighting, horse-fighting, an apsara (angel) taking a hero to heaven are also depicted.

Two labourers were killed and 20 others have been injured after an under-construction building, identified as the site of St. Agnes School, collapsed at Byadarahalli in Anekal in south Bengaluru. It is feared that a few workers are stuck under the rubble.

According to the initial findings of the Anekal police, labourers were carrying out centring work on the top when a part of the building collapsed. The workers fell down, along with the structure.

Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) has been recognised as the Best Airport of the Year at Wings India Awards 2024. At the award ceremony held in Hyderabad on January 18, the airport was also conferred with the ‘>25 MPPA Traffic Award’ under the airports category.