K. Shivakumar congratulates Bhatkal MLA Mankal Vaidya, who was unanimously elected as Deputy Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, on August 18, 2026.
Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar congratulates Bhatkal MLA Mankal Vaidya, who was unanimously elected as Deputy Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, on August 18, 2026. | Mr. Vaidya represents the Bhatkal Assembly constituency in Uttara Kannada district. Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar proposed his name, while Cooperation Minister Laxman Savadi seconded the proposal.Speaker G. S. Patil announced the unanimous election of Mr. Vaidya as Deputy Speaker of the House.Mr. Vaidya was first elected to the Assembly in 2013 as an independent, and subsequently joined the Congress. He lost the 2018 Assembly election but returned to the Assembly in 2023 on a Congress ticket. He served as Minister for Ports and Fisheries in the Siddaramaiah government for three years. He has served as a member of the zilla panchayat and as vice-president of the Uttara Kannada Zilla Panchayat.The principal opposition BJP facilitated the unanimous election of Mr. Vaidya. The party had boycotted the election, alleging that his candidature had been recommended by the Congress high command.Mr. Vaidya’s election as Deputy Speaker comes after he was denied a Cabinet berth during the second phase of the Cabinet expansion. His name had figured in the list of legislators expected to be inducted, but S.S. Mallikarjun, MLA from Davangere North, was inducted at the last moment instead.Congratulating the newly elected Deputy Speaker, Mr. Shivakumar said Mr. Vaidya, who comes from a fishing community, should not feel that the Deputy Speaker’s post is a lesser position. “He should not feel degraded by occupying the post of Deputy Speaker,” he said.Leader of Opposition R. Ashok urged Speaker G.S. Patil to give Mr. Vaidya an opportunity to preside over the Assembly proceedings regularly so that he could gain experience in conducting the business of the House.Mr. Ashok recalled that former Speaker U.T. Khader used to preside over the proceedings for the entire day, leaving little opportunity for then Deputy Speaker Rudrappa Lamani, who is now a minister, to chair the House.Former minister R. V. Deshpande and BJP MLA Dinkar K. Shetty, who also hail from Uttara Kannada district, spoke on the achievements and experiences of Mr. Vaidya. BJP MP Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri, who also hails from Uttara Kannada, served as the Speaker during the previous BJP government. Published - August 18, 2026 01:42 pm IST
Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan during an interview with ‘The Hindu’ in Mumbai on August 17, 2026. | Mr. Chavan said that although his votes and vote share had increased in the 2024 Assembly polls compared to the 2019 elections, he had lost the election. After conducting an analysis of the voters’ lists for himself and for five other surrounding Assembly constituencies, he claimed that there were 56,118 duplicate voters in the region.“I feel cheated. Does the Election Commission want a free and fair election at all? While vote chori is happening in other parts of the country, there is an effort to enumerate the same voter several times here,” he said during an exclusive interview with The Hindu on Monday (August 17, 2026).“In my constituency alone, there are 21,132 voters who have been registered 48,741 times,” he said, adding that voters with the same first name, middle name and surname appeared for as many as 15 times in the same constituency. “I have submitted all this data to the District Collector, requesting that the electoral roll be cleaned during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) at the very least,” he added.“Take the example of Rani Kate from Karad. She is 29 years old and has been enumerated twice in the same constituency, with different EPIC numbers. Even Adke Sakshi Ashok, age 18 years, appears twice in the list, with all other details being the same except for the EPIC numbers. The name ‘Patil Sachin Shivaji’ appears 15 times, while the name ‘Patil Sanjay Shankar’ appears 14 times. There are several voters whose names appear anywhere from twice to 15 times,” he said.“How many Narendra Damodardas Modi will you find in the same constituency? Then how come people with the same name, the same father’s name and the same surname appear in such large numbers in the same constituency?” Mr. Chavan asked.He has filed an election petition in the Bombay High Court. When asked why he raised the issue in 2026, less than two years after the election, he explained that the ECI no longer provides machine-readable voters’ lists. “It only gives the voters’ list in pdf format. We have painstakingly converted the entire data Excel sheets and thereafter analysed voters,” he said.Thousands of papers bundled constituency-wise were kept around him. He took out sheets showing names and the number of times they had appeared.Pointing at Amit ShahHe pointed a finger at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, showing a newspaper report that stated the Minister had instructed his party workers to increase votes by 10% at every booth.This was after the dismal performance of the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, during the period between the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha elections.“The average annual growth rate of voters in India is 0.9%. Between the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections, there was a period of five months in between. The average natural growth rate should have been 0.4%. This was their winning strategy in Maharashtra. Amit Shah instructed his cadres in September 2024 in Nagpur that there should be a 10% increase in voters at every booth. On a wholescale level, they registered voters twice. After elections, upon filing an election petition, I decided to look into it. In 2019, I had got 92,296 votes, which increased by 9,130 votes in the 2024 elections. I garnered 1,00,150 votes. And yet, I lost. They have cheated me,” he said. Published - August 18, 2026 12:20 am IST
Japan's Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi. | According to sources in the Ministry of Defence, Mr. Koizumi will arrive in Mumbai on August 19 and is expected to visit an Indian naval facility before travelling to New Delhi. His three-day visit comes shortly after India and Japan signed their first agreement for the joint development of the UNICORN naval radio antenna system, marking a significant step in bilateral defence technology cooperation.During his meeting with Mr. Singh, Mr. Koizumi is expected to discuss cooperation on defence equipment, including Japan’s planned export of the UNICORN stealth communication system.The two Ministers are also likely to review plans for the joint development of defence equipment, including drones, with a focus on strengthening maritime security and operational capabilities.The visit follows the eighth India-Japan Defence Policy Dialogue held in Tokyo on July 13, co-chaired by Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh and Japan’s Vice Minister of Defence Kano Koji.The dialogue reviewed bilateral cooperation in emerging domains such as cybersecurity, space, advanced military technologies and defence industry collaboration.The two countries have stepped up defence and security engagement in recent years, with greater emphasis on maritime security and maintaining a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific. Their cooperation also includes regular military exercises and exchanges between the armed forces.Mr. Koizumi’s visit comes nearly seven weeks after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s visit to New Delhi for the India-Japan Annual Summit, where the two sides agreed to deepen defence and security cooperation, with a focus on maritime security, defence equipment and technology cooperation under the ‘Make in India’ framework. Published - August 17, 2026 09:17 pm IST
The State government has decided to utilise the upcoming Southern Zonal Council meeting on August 20 to impress upon the Central Government against forcing SCCL to participate in auction of mining blocks. | The State government has decided to utilise the upcoming Southern Zonal Council meeting on August 20 to impress upon the Central Government against forcing SCCL to participate in auction of mining blocks. The government has resolved to raise the issue during the SZC meeting to be chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah or Union Home Secretary asserting that SCCL is a public sector undertaking with State and Central Government participation and it should be given the first priority in allocation of blocks.The State government has lined up several issues for the 31st meeting of the SZC being held after a gap of four long years at Mahabalipuram on August 20. A strong team headed by Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Ministers Tummala Nageswara Rao and D. Sridhar Babu will participate in the meeting. It will be assisted by officials from major departments like Finance, Irrigation and Energy led by Chief Secretary Sanjay Jaju to present a strong case in support of Telangana’s demands.The government has also decided to convey its reservations against the Andhra Pradesh government’s moves to seek Centre’s intervention in the apportionment of assets and liabilities of Schedule IX and X institutions as well as institutions not listed anywhere in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. The neighbouring State has been frequently referring to Section 66 of the Act dealing with the power of Central Government to order allocation or adjustment in certain unresolved cases between the two States.Officials said the State was firm on implementation of provisions mentioned in Section 47, 48 and 49 of the Act for apportionment of assets and liabilities and there was no need for Centre’s intervention. “They (A.P. government) demanded apportionment of 32 institutions not listed anywhere and the number subsequently came down to 19, 12 and 6 at present. The Attorney General clarified that division of assets will be on location basis and these institutions belong to Telangana as all are located here,” a senior official told The Hindu.The State has decided to seek implementation of assurances on setting up of new educational institutions like IITs, IIMs, NITs, Central Universities and IISER as assured in the Section 93 of the AP Reorganisation Act. The issue has been included in the agenda after the Central Government has recently said it has no plans to approve a new IIM for Telangana as the State already had 604 institutions offering management courses and numerous premier central universities.Another issue of attention will be the irrigation projects over river Krishna which is likely to witness a heated debate if allowed. The Telangana government has decided to raise its concerns over ‘unauthorised’ projects taken up by Karnataka and the neighbouring State sought to express its reservations over construction of projects like Palamuru-Rangareddy and Nakkalagandi by Telangana for taking water from the fore shores of Srisailam project.The agenda of the SZC circulated to the member States, including Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala and Union Territory Puducherry, however makes mention of only three issues pertaining to Telangana. They are: Irrigation issues with reference to Section 3 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act 1956, unauthorised projects taken up by Karnataka across Krishna river and conferment of national status to Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme and Kaleshwaram projects. Published - August 17, 2026 06:54 pm IST
M. B. Patil, Minister and Congress leader. File | B. Patil, Minister and Congress leader, said on Saturday (August 16, 2026)."BJP leader Subramanya Swami has said that in the last 12 years, the union government has waived off loans of industrialists of over ₹10 lakh crore. But it is not inclined towards waiving off just ₹2 lakh crore of farmers' loans.Farmers, police clash in Hansi during protest against Haryana CM’s Independence Day eventFormer PM Manmohan Singh was the only national leader in this country who waived off farmers' loans", he said.MLA Shivanand Patil also complained that the central government was not protecting the interests of farmers. "Due to its anti farmers policies, even NABARD is not giving loans to farmers", he said.They were speaking after inaugurating the grain godown of the Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society in Shirbur village of Babaleshwar taluk in Vijayapura district on Saturday.M. B. Patil said that whenever farmers were facing a crisis, cooperative institutions had come as a boon to farmers.Farmer, worker groups to intensify protests against Centre’s policies"Farmers are facing a serious crisis. The state is facing a severe drought. Farmers have sown two or three times, but lost money and inputs. In such a situation, cooperative societies are supporting farmers'', he said."The only long term solution to such climate vagaries is to increase the impounding capacity of the Almatti dam by increasing it height to 524.256 m.“Farmers in irrigated areas are switching to commercial crops and are becoming financially self-reliant," the Minister said."In order to increase the height, over 70 thousand acres of land need to be submerged and 20 villages have to be relocated. Earlier, the compensation paid to land losers was around thirty thousand crores. However, the amount paid to submerged farmers has increased to sixty thousand crores now", he said.M. B. Patil assured that he would work towards reviving the Nandi Cooperative Sugar Factory in Vijayapura district."I will work with coperation Minister Laxman Savadi and MLA Shivanand Patil, to save the factory, which is facing financial problems," he said "This godown will help farmers protect their grains till they get fair prices", he said. He praised Shivanand Patil for his contribution to the cooperative sector.DCC Bank president and MLA Shivanand S. Patil said that the cooperative movement was secular and non-partisan. He said around 250 of the 272 rural cooperative societies in Vijayapura district had their own offices. They are giving loans of an average of ₹80,000, which is the highest in the state. The Vijaypura district cooperative bank has an annual transaction of ₹6,000 crore.He said the bank was supporting rural dairies. "Women of Takkalaki village are collecting 3,000 liters of milk a day due to DCC Bank support, he said. The bank is giving low interest loans for farm house construction," he said.Sri Siddalinga Swamiji of the Virakta Math in Basavan Bagewadi, society president Ramanagouda Patil, M. D. PadasalagiDeputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies S. K. Bhagyashree, DCC CEO S. A. Dhavalagi, Assistant Registrar Chetana Bhavikatti, Training Coordinator R. M. Banagar and others were present. Published - August 16, 2026 03:10 pm IST
A day after Union Minister of State for Planning and BJP’s Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit Singh publicly questioned the manner in which the party’s Partition Day programme was organised, senior party leader and former MP Kuldeep Bishnoi on Saturday came out in his support, stressing that the experience of senior leaders must be respected while creating opportunities for the younger generation.Mr. Singh, speaking at the BJP programme commemorating the horrors of Partition in Gurugram on Friday, had expressed displeasure over the exclusion of local leaders from the event and said he objected to the fact that people from different areas had been invited while local representatives had not.Mr. Bishnoi subsequently took to “X” to back Mr. Singh, underlining the importance of respecting senior leaders who have spent decades building the party and maintaining a public connect.“The decades of political experience of senior leaders is the party’s invaluable asset,” Mr. Bishnoi said, adding that such leaders had witnessed political ups and downs, managed the organisation during difficult periods and earned their position through years of work among the people.He cautioned that ignoring senior leaders or sending any message that they were not being accorded due respect could weaken the organisation rather than strengthen it.Referring specifically to Mr. Singh, Mr. Bishnoi said the Union Minister had a “very significant stature” in Haryana politics and enjoyed a broad public base and respect. He added that he personally held him in high regard and admired his political experience, struggles and contribution to the State.“The BJP is a strong organisation, and its strength lies in better coordination between the experience of senior leadership and the energy of young leadership. Respect for seniors and opportunities for the new generation -- both must go hand in hand,” said Mr. Bishnoi, son of late Chief Minister Bhajan Lal.Mr. Bishnoi’s intervention comes against the backdrop of earlier tensions within the Haryana BJP over remarks concerning his family. A few months ago, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Rekha Sharma had triggered controversy by alleging at a public rally that former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal and his son Chander Mohan had won elections through “badmashi” (malpractice).The remarks sparked a political row, following which Mr. Bishnoi had cautioned the BJP leadership against arrogance and disrespect towards senior leaders. Published - August 16, 2026 01:25 am IST
Minister Eshwar B. Khandre saluting the national flag after hoisting it during the 80th Independence Day celebrations at the Nehru Stadium in Bidar on Saturday. | Khandre on Saturday said the new Anubhava Mantapa being built at Basavakalyan in Bidar district would be inaugurated by the coming Basava Jayanti.Hoisting the national flag at the 80th Independence Day celebrations in Bidar, Mr. Khandre said the Anubhava Mantapa project had an estimated cost of ₹750 crore and around 80% of the work had been completed.“As much as ₹480 crore had already been spent. The government will release ₹200 crore shortly so that the project will be completed within the stipulated time,” Mr. Khandre said.Recalling the contribution of freedom fighters, Mr. Khandre said the country would never forget those who had sacrificed their lives for India’s freedom. He said the independence movement, from the 1857 uprising to 1947, had involved several struggles, movements, and satyagrahas.He also recalled the contribution of Bidar freedom fighters, including Prabhurao Kambliwale, R.V. Bidappa, Ramachandra Veerappa and his father, Bhimanna Khandre.Describing Bidar as a land of peace, fraternity and social harmony, Mr. Khandre said the district had given the world the concept of democracy, equality and social justice through the Vachanas composed by Sharanas and the Anubhava Mantapa. He said the Anubhava Mantapa had provided equal status to people of different castes and communities as well as women, as early as the 12th century.On the drought-like situation in Bidar, Mr. Khandre said the district had suffered significant crop damage due to deficient rainfall, with green gram and black gram crops affected by about 95%.“Soybean and pigeon pea crops have also suffered damage. The government is prepared to tackle the situation. It will provide compensation for crop losses,” he said.Mr. Khandre said 13.8 lakh saplings had been planted in Bidar district over the past three years when he was Forest Minister and briefed the gathering about projects in the pipeline for Bidar.“The Inchuru Tree Park would be inaugurated shortly, and six more tree parks are being developed. A new Forest Bhavan would be constructed at a cost of ₹5 crore, while an ecotourism project at Honnikere, taken up at a cost of ₹17 crore, would also be completed shortly,” Mr. Khandre said.Speaking on the development works taken up by the Kalyana Karnataka Regional Development Board (KKRDB) in Bidar, Mr. Khandre said that 5,814 works costing ₹3,145.85 crore had been taken up in Bidar district and 4,767 of them had been completed at a cost of ₹2,270.01 crore, while 642 works costing ₹643.50 crore were in progress.“Another 404 works costing ₹345.79 crore were yet to commence. For 2026-27, the KKRDB has sanctioned ₹430.49 crore for the district,” he said.The Independence Day celebrations were marked by a cultural presentation by more than 350 students of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Residential School at Godampalli on the theme of ‘Bharat Jodo’. Published - August 15, 2026 07:56 pm IST
Minister of Handlooms M. Vijay Balaji inspects remote tribal hamlets atop Alleri hillock in Vellore district on Friday. Collector P.S. Leela Alex is also seen. | Vijay Balaji inspected remote tribal hamlets atop Alleri hillock, which is part of Jawadhu Hills, on Friday after residents demanded basic amenities. Accompanied by Collector P.S. Leela Alex and M. Vijay Chandran, District Health Officer (DHO), Mr. Balaji interacted with tribals in the hamlets. They also inspected government facilities, including a school and a fair price shop, which were functioning in a rented building. “We have informed about the need for basic facilities like road, health centre, borewells, and regular power supply in the hills,” said K. Veeran, a tribal.At present, Alleri hillock has three big tribal villages namely Peenjamanthai, Jarthankollai, and Palampattu villages. Alleri tribal hamlet was part of Peenjamanthai village panchayat before the hamlet was bifurcated to become a seperate panchayat in 2025. The hamlet has around 300 families.DRDA officials said that the proposed bitumen road will connect Varadalampattu with Nelli Marakollai village, a distance of 8 km, in the hills. Of the total eight km, five kilometres of the stretch will be laid in Alleri Reserve Forest. The new stretch will help residents of eight remote hamlets of Alleri village panchayat. The new road will be at least five-metre-wide. The new stretch will have at least 15 culverts to discharge excess rainwater and prevent damage to the carriageway during monsoon. The entire work, which will be completed in six months once started, will cost ₹17 crore.Another long-standing demand of residents was a full-fledged government health centre. The Minister said that a special tribal health centre will be set up. The proposed centre will have two duty doctors and staff nurses. Separate wards for treatment, especially for snake bites will be set up. Laboratory facilities, fully furnished pharmacies with adequate stock will also be available.At present, Peechamandai and Aravatla along the Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh border are the only two tribal hamlets that have government health centres in the district. Both hamlets are accessible by bitumen roads. Published - August 14, 2026 11:48 pm IST
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari holds the national flag during ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ rally organised as part of the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign, in Kolkata on Monday. | Also Read : Independence Day LIVE updatesHoisting the national Tricolour on Independence Day, Mr. Adhikari said West Bengal is the land of nationalism and freedom fighters such as Khudiram Bose and Matangini Hazra."The Vikshit Bharat dreams of our Prime Minister by 2047 will be realised through Viksit Paschim Banga by that year," he said.Describing Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee as the architect of West Bengal, Mr. Adhikari said the State wants to fulfil his dreams."Our two luminaries, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and Rabindranath Tagore, composed the national song Vande Mataram and the national anthem Jana Gana Mana respectively, which stirred the entire nation," he said.The Chief Minister who inspected a guard of honour before hoisting the national flag awarded medals to police officers in commendation of their services.On the 150th year of Vande Mataram, the song was played along with the national anthem.Amid the parade by Kolkata Police on the occasion, colourful tableaux including one to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Syama Prasad Mookerjee rolled down the Red Road. Published - August 15, 2026 12:23 pm IST
Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary participates in the Tiranga Yatra on the eve of 80th Independence Day, in Munger on August 14, 2026. | Students and the general public participated in the ‘Tiranga Yatra’ in both Bihar and Jharkhand.Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary led the Tiranga Yatra in Haveli Kharagpur as part of the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign-2026 in Munger district. Carrying the Tricolour and chanting “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”, the participants conveyed a message of national unity, integrity, and patriotism. Mr. Choudhary paid tributes by offering flowers and garlanding the statues of the late Nandalal Bose, Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.Ministers of the Bihar Government, MLAs, MLCs, and social and political activists were part of the procession. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Choudhary said that the Tricolour is a symbol of the country’s unity, integrity, and pride.“The ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign is a significant initiative aimed at fostering respect for the nation, patriotism, and a sense of national unity among citizens,” Mr. Choudhary said.He called upon the people to transform this initiative into a true mass movement.Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai also participated in the Tiranga Yatra from the Mohiuddinnagar Assembly constituency to the Morwa Assembly constituency within the Ujiarpur Lok Sabha constituency.Hundreds of party workers and youths participated in the procession, riding motorcycles and carrying the Tricolour in their hands, while chanting slogans of “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram.”Mr. Rai said that, following the call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ initiative has evolved into a powerful campaign driven by public participation.Also after the meeting of Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLD) district presidents, party supremo Upendra Kushwaha, Bihar Government’s Panchayati Raj Minister Deepak Prakash, MLAs Alok Kumar Singh and Snehlata Kushwaha, and other state office-bearers participated in the Tiranga Yatra in Patna.Jharkhand Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi also participated in the Tiranga Yatra organised by the BJP in Medininagar (Daltonganj). Palamu MP B.D. Ram, Chatra MP Kalicharan Singh, MLA Shashi Bhushan Mehta were also present along with the district president and party workers.Similarly, the 209 CoBRA Battalion (CRPF) organised a motorcycle Tiranga Yatra to foster patriotism, national integration, and respect for the Tricolour. Led by Commandant Sorabh Bhatnagar, the rally showcased the force’s unwavering commitment to national pride.Starting from the Battalion Headquarters (Khunti district), the motorcycle convoy carrying the National Flag travelled through Tupudana Chowk (Ranchi) to Bridgeford School, ODM Sapphire School, Kalamati High School, and PM Shri Kasturba Gandhi Vidyalaya (Kalamati). At each stop, the rally received a warm and enthusiastic welcome from students, educators, and the public.CoBRA personnel interacted directly with students, distributed National Flags and chocolates. The troops also spoke regarding civic responsibilities, the paramount importance of national unity, and proper respect for the National Flag.On the other hand, nine police officers from Jharkhand have been selected for the President’s Police Medal on the occasion of Independence Day 2026, including the President’s Medal for Distinguished Service (PSM) to Shailendra Kumar Sinha, IPS, Inspector General of Police, Bokaro.The Bihar Police has also been awarded the prestigious President’s Colour Award this year. Bihar DGP Vinay Kumar said that 18 police personnel from Bihar will be awarded by the President.They will be awarded in three different categories of gallantry medal, meritorious medal and distinguished service medal, while seven police personnel will be awarded by ₹51,000 by the State government on the
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