Probe into Krishi Bhagya scheme 'vindictive': Congress
Bengaluru: The Congress in Karnataka on Sunday termed as "vindictive politics" the probe ordered by the state government into the alleged irregularities to the tune of Rs 921 crore in the Krishi Bhagya scheme, when Siddaramaiah was the chief minister.
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had recently ordered the inquiry into the works carried out in the fiscal 2014-15 and 2017-18, chief secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar told PTI.
According to official sources, as many as 2,15,130 tanks were constructed in 131 taluks of the state at an expenditure of Rs 921 crore.
The objective of Krishi Bhagya scheme project was to sustain agriculture round the year in the arid zones of the state and ensure regular income to the cultivators.
However, the state government has doubts over the money spent on this project, and suspects that it was siphoned off, the sources said.
The inquiry has irked the Congress, which called it "vindictive politics."
"The entire governing culture of BJP is based on vindictiveness and digging the past and conducting the so-called inquiry," Congress spokesperson K E Radhakrishna told PTI.
Noting that there was nothing wrong in conducting inquiry if some serious lapses have taken place, the Congress leader cast doubts over the intentions behind ordering the investigation.
"They (BJP) don't have any alternative programme to offer, so they indulge in so-called inquiry activities," Radhakrishna alleged.
He claimed that all the programmes launched by Siddaramaiah such as Anna Bhagya, Krishi Bhagya and Ksheera Bhagya to the extent of almost 80 per cent have reached the beneficiaries.
"The BJP wants to stall all those (programmes) because they are running a morally bankrupt government," he said.
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ISRO successfully conducts second integrated air drop test for Gaganyaan mission
New Delhi (PTI): Space agency ISRO has successfully conducted the second integrated air drop test (IADT-02) for the upcoming Gaganyaan mission at the space station in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota.
The system is essential to ensure a safe recovery of the crew module -- the capsule in which astronauts sit during a human flight -- during re-entry and landing.
Union minister Jitendra Singh congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for successfully conducting the test.
"Congratulations #ISRO for the successful accomplishment of Second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) for #Gaganyaan, India's first Human Space flight scheduled next year. The second Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT-02) was successfully conducted at Satish Dhawan Space Station Sriharikota," Singh said in a post on X.
The IADT-02 follows the successful completion of the first IADT, which took place on August 24, 2025, at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
Air drop tests recreate the last leg of a spacecraft's return to Earth. An aircraft or helicopter drops the spacecraft from a height to test various systems under different scenarios.
These are the deployment of the parachute system in case the mission is aborted mid-flight, system performance when one parachute fails to open and the spacecraft's orientation and safety during splashdown etc.
In the IADT-02 test, a simulated crew module, weighing about 5.7 tonnes, was lifted by an Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter to an altitude of about three kilometres and released over a designated drop zone in the sea, near the Sriharikota coast.
In a statement, the ISRO said, "Ten parachutes of four types were deployed in a precise sequence during the descent of the crew module, gradually reducing the velocity for safe touchdown. Subsequently, the simulated crew module was successfully recovered in coordination with the Indian Navy."
