‘We fielded RS candidate only after consent from Sonia’: JDS expresses shock over Cong’s 2nd candidate

News Network
May 31, 2022

Bengaluru, May 31: Fielding former MP D Kupendra Reddy as its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls from Karnataka, JD(S) on Tuesday claimed that Congress national President Sonia Gandhi and other party leaders had consented to support him.

Expressing surprise over Congress fielding a second candidate “all of a sudden”, senior JD(S) leader and former Minister H D Revanna requested the national party for support to keep the “communal forces” out of the race.

“Sonia Gandhi on Friday spoke to Deve Gowda (JDS patriarch), following her consent we have fielded our party candidate today. In the same way H D Kumaraswamy (JDS leader) has spoken to K C Venugopal (Congress General Secretary) stating that JD(S) may fall short of a few votes and requested for support, after they agreed we have fielded the candidate,” Revanna said.

Speaking to reporters here, Gowda’s elder son said Kupendra Reddy himself had met state Congress President D K Shivakumar, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha M Mallikarjun Kharge, and other Congress leaders like R V Deshpande, B K Hariprasad and Ramalinga Reddy seeking support.

“He (Kupendra Reddy) also wanted to meet Siddaramaiah and had sought his appointment….but don’t know what happened, in a sudden development they (Congress) have fielded second candidate, despite not having numbers to win the seat,” he said, adding that Congress leaders had not expressed any intention to field second candidate.

A candidate needs 45 votes to win, and based on their strength in the Legislative Assembly, the BJP can win two seats and the Congress one, in the June 10 Rajya Sabha polls for four seats.

Despite not having adequate number of votes to win the fourth Rajya Sabha seat from the State Assembly, all the three political parties in the state — BJP, Congress and JD(S) — have fielded candidates for the seat, forcing an election.

In an unexpected move, the Congress on Monday fielded its state general secretary Mansoor Ali Khan as a second candidate; following this, the ruling BJP on Monday night announced the candidature of outgoing MLC Lehar Singh Siroya as its third candidate for the polls.

The Congress has to cooperate with the JD(S) if it really wants to keep the “communal forces” away from the race, Revanna said, as he requested Sonia Gandhi, Venugopal, Kharge, Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar and other party leaders for support.

“We all should together try to keep communal forces away. The decision is left for them (Congress).

There is a couple of days’ time (for withdrawal of candidature), let’s wait and see,” he said.
Revanna made it clear that Congress did not seek JD(S)’ support for its second candidate.

He also claimed that some Congress leaders had threatened not to vote in support of JD(S) if it fielded a candidate from a minority community. “…will reveal it when time comes.”

JD(S) state President C M Ibrahim too said, Gowda had spoken to Sonia Gandhi before deciding to field candidates.

“Before fielding candidate Deve Gowda spoke to Sonia Gandhi. Kupendra Reddy spoke to Kharge, after their consent, candidate was fielded. They (Congress) told us to field candidate and they will support….but now by fielding second candidate, their plan may be to help BJP,” he alleged.

After electing two Rajya Sabha candidates (Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and actor-politician Jaggesh) based on its own strength in the Assembly, the BJP will be left with an additional 29 votes.

The Congress will be left with 24 extra votes after electing Jairam Ramesh, while the JD(S) has only 32 votes, which is not sufficient to win a seat.

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coastaldigest.com news network
March 20,2025

Mangaluru International Airport (MIA), Karnataka’s second busiest airport, has seen 148.5kg of gold smuggled between 2019 and December 2024, with 90% arriving from the UAE. Customs officials recorded 346 cases, averaging 30kg of gold seized per year (2.5kg per month). Most smugglers are from Kerala and Bhatkal.

A senior customs officer revealed that MIA sees at least five gold smuggling cases per month. Numbers dropped during the pandemic but surged after flights resumed. Many offenders are first-time carriers, while some are habitual smugglers. With fewer flights, customs thoroughly checks passengers, making smuggling harder.

Smugglers constantly innovate concealment methods. Hiding gold in the rectum remains common, but gold is also found in trolley bags, mobile covers, chocolate boxes, milk powder, biscuit packets, and clothing layers. Electronic devices like car speaker magnets, LED bulbs, AirPods, wristwatches, and ballpoint pens have been used.

Unusual tactics include hiding gold in a woman’s hairband, a baby’s diaper, and even a kheer mix packet (347g). In one case, a passenger attempted to smuggle 100g in his mouth under a mask but was caught.

Officials note that while the UAE remains a key source, smugglers now bring gold from other Gulf countries, continuously adapting to evade detection.

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Agencies
March 26,2025

The airstrikes led by the United States have killed at least 25 civilians in Yemen over the past week, marking the deadliest week of bombing on the country since the final months of the Washington-backed Saudi war in January 2022.

In a report released on Tuesday, the Yemen Data Project said the 25 civilians were the victims of 38 US-led aerial assaults on March 15-21, adding that 28 people were also injured in the attacks.

The independent tracker also said that 21 out of the 38 US air raids hit non-military, civilian targets.

“Civilian targets hit included: a medical storage facility, a medical center, a school, a wedding hall, residential areas, a cotton gin facility, a health office, Bedouin tents, and Al-Eiman University,” it said.

The deadliest US strike in the first week of US bombing campaign struck a residential area in Yemen’s northwestern Sa'ada province, killing 10 civilians and wounding 11 others, among them children.

The US began bombing Yemen on March 15, a few days after Yemen resumed its operation against Israeli-linked ships in response to Israel’s Gaza aid blockade that violated a ceasefire with the Hamas resistance group.

The Yemeni Armed Forces began their anti-Israel naval campaign in November 2023, a month after the occupying regime waged a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

The Yemeni forces halted their attacks in solidarity with the Palestinians in January, when Israel accepted a three-phase Gaza ceasefire.

Two months later, however, Israel unilaterally broke the Gaza truce and resumed its brutal onslaught on the besieged territory.

On Tuesday, Yemeni media reported 17 US strikes on Sa'ada and two more on the nearby 'Amran province.

The reports said American warplanes carried out "aggressive air raids... causing material damage to citizens' property," but gave no details of casualties.

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News Network
March 27,2025

nandini.jpg

The Karnataka government has announced that Nandini milk will become ₹4 costlier per litre starting April 1, 2025. This is the second price hike this year.

The decision was made during a cabinet meeting led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Karnataka Cooperation Minister K N Rajanna and Animal Husbandry Minister K Venkatesh said the increase is meant to support dairy farmers by covering the rising costs of producing and processing milk.

Officials also said that:

>> The extra money from the price hike will go directly to the milk producers.

>> The earlier ₹2 price hike (announced on June 26, 2024) will be withdrawn.

>> The new price hike of ₹4 will apply to both 500 ml and 1-litre packets.

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