At the heart of the RBI-government standoff is a proposal by the Finance Ministry seeking to transfer a surplus of Rs 3.6 lakh crore, more than a third of the total Rs 9.59 lakh crore reserves of the central bank, to the government. The ministry has suggested that this surplus can be managed jointly by the RBI and the government.

As the counting of votes has begun, Anitha Kumaraswamy is leading in Ramanagara Assembly constituency. While BY Raghavendra is leading in Shimoga, JDS candidate Shivaramegowda is leading in Mandya Lok Sabha constituency.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu returned from his six-day three-nation tour of Africa on Tuesday and described it as an "extremely productive" visit.

The results for the three Lok Sabha and two assembly constituencies in Karnataka, which went to bye-elections on Saturday, will be declared on Tuesday. Even as all eyes are on the counting of votes at the five centres, which began at 8 am, both sides - the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) alliance, have called the bypolls a semi-final before the 2019 general elections.

“A message is being circulated in Whatsapp since Monday evening that pork meat is being served in hotel Ocean Pearl in the city. But this is totally baseless and it is a conspiracy to tarnish the image of this prestigious hotel. It is fictitious”, said Ocean Pearl chairman Jayaram Banan,  in a statement to Vartha Bharati.

“I am fed up with the electoral politics. I will be in politics. But I will not be in electoral politics”, former chief minister Siddaramaiah reiterated.

 Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) general secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa Monday lodged a complaint with police accusing actor Shahrukh Khan and others of "hurting religious sentiments" of the Sikh community through a poster of his upcoming movie 'Zero'.