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Mangaluru, Sep 20: The bye-election for the MLC seat, vacated by Kota Srinivas Poojary after his election as an MP, will take place on October 21. The election covers 6,037 voters from 392 local bodies across Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner and election officer Mullai Muhilan provided details at a press conference held at the DC office on Thursday.

Key Election Dates:

Nomination Period: September 26 to October 3
Verification of Nominations: October 4
Last Date for Withdrawal of Nominations: October 7
Election Day: October 21 (Polling from 8 AM to 4 PM)
Vote Counting: October 24

Code of Conduct:

The model code of conduct came into effect on September 19 and will remain in place until October 28 in both Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. During this period, government development projects cannot be announced, and foundation stone-laying ceremonies are prohibited. Political banners and hoardings are also banned. Government officials are restricted from participating in public programs or meetings. The Election Commission will oversee all political events, and the regulations that apply to MP and MLA elections will also govern this MLC bye-election.

Election Management:

Additional DCs of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi will assist as election officers. While no election-related check posts will be set up, flying squads and video surveillance teams will monitor compliance. Political party buntings and hoardings will be removed immediately.

Voter and Polling Information:

Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts fall under the Dakshina Kannada local body authority. In this bye-election, eligible voters include members of gram panchayats, city corporations, city municipalities, town municipalities, town panchayats, as well as MLAs, MLCs, and MPs.

Dakshina Kannada: 3,551 voters, 234 polling booths
Udupi: 2,486 voters, 158 polling booths

Officials Present:

The press conference was attended by ZP CEO Dr. Anand, Additional DC Dr. Santhosh Kumar, Police Commissioner Anupam Agarwal, SP Yatheesh, MCC Commissioner Anand C L, and Assistant Commissioner Girish Nandan.

This election marks a significant political event for both districts, with voters from various local bodies participating in the process.

Indore: Two Army officers were thrashed and one of their two women friends was allegedly gang-raped by armed miscreants when they were out on a picnic in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district in the wee hours of Wednesday.

Additional SP Rupesh Dwivedi said on Wednesday night that six suspects had been identified, two of whom have been detained from the jungles.
Both Army officers were injured in the mob attack. One of them managed to dial his senior officers but by the time police arrived from Mhow, 30km away, the woman had already been gang-raped.

The two Armymen are undergoing the Young Officers course at Infantry School, Mhow, SP Rural Hitika Vasal said.

According to the complaint filed by one of the lieutenants, the four of them had driven to Ahilya Gate near Jam Gate on Mhow-Mandleshwar road on Tuesday night. Built in 1791 by Rani Ahilyabai Holkar, Jam Gate is a popular picnic spot for its stunning views of the valley below, and the temple near Ahilya Gate draws a lot of devotees.

Around 2.30am, one of the officers and his female friend were in the car when 6-7 men attacked them. The other pair was atop a nearby hillock then and rushed down on hearing the confrontation.

The complaint says that the attackers held the pair they had attacked in the car hostage at gunpoint. They asked the other officer to bring Rs 10 lakh in ransom. This gave the officer - who was accompanied by the other woman - a chance to inform his seniors at Mhow, who in turn alerted police.

A large police force was dispatched to the spot but the attackers had escaped into the forest by then. All four of them were brought to Mhow Civil Hospital around 6.30am where a medical examination confirmed one of the women had been gang-raped. As per the duty doctor, there were injuries on both officers' bodies. "The complainant has alleged that the woman who was with him was raped, and they were looted as well," SP Vasal said.

Badgonda police registered a case under BNS sections 70 (gang-rape), 310-2 (dacoity), 308-2 (extortion) and 115-2 (voluntarily causing hurt), plus sections of Arms Act.

Forces from four police stations combed the jungles near Chhoti Jaam village and picked up two suspects.

Hezbollah has launched a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv for the first time, triggering sirens in the city and elsewhere including Netanya, the Lebanese resistance group says. 

Warning sirens sounded in Israel’s economic capital Tel Aviv as a single surface-to-surface missile was intercepted by air defense systems after it was detected crossing from Lebanon, the Israeli military said.

There were no reports of damage or casualties and the military said there was no change to civil defense instructions for central Israel.

The Israeli military said that for the "first time ever" a missile fired by Hezbollah reached the Tel Aviv area. "It is the first time ever a Hezbollah missile reached Tel Aviv area."

Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging deadly fire since early October last year, shortly after the regime launched a genocidal war against the Gaza Strip following a surprise operation by Hamas.

Earlier, Hezbollah targeted the Israeli Ilaniya military base at the northern side of the occupied territories with a salvo of Fadi-1 rockets. 

The base is reportedly affiliated with the 146th Reserve Division of the Israeli military, which is part of the Northern Command.

The group announced in a brief statement that the operation was carried out in defense of Lebanon and its people. 

Hezbollah also said it targeted a military base near Safad twice with salvos of rockets.

The group stated that it targeted “the Dado base near Safad – the headquarters of the Israeli military’s Northern Command – with a total of 90 rockets in defense of Lebanon and its people.”

Hezbollah said in a separate statement that it unleashed a squadron of attack drones on the headquarters of the Israeli army’s Special Naval Task Force at the Alit Base.

The group said the attack on the Alit base, south of the major port city of Haifa, targeted “the locations of [Israeli] officers and soldiers” and achieved direct hits.

The Lebanese resistance movement has vowed to keep up its retaliatory attacks as long as the Israeli regime continues its Gaza war, which has so far killed at least 41,467 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

Hezbollah officials have repeatedly said they do not want a war with Israel while stressing that they are prepared in case it occurs.

Two Israeli wars waged against Lebanon in 2000 and 2006 were met with strong resistance from Hezbollah, resulting in the retreat of the regime in both conflicts.