BJP announces candidates for Sandur, Shiggaon; Channapatna undecided
Bharat Bommai, son of former CM, is BJP candidate for Shiggaon
Bengaluru: Out of the three Vidhan Sabha constituencies bound for by-elections, BJP had announced the names of candidates for Shiggaon and Sandur on Saturday. However, the candidate for Channapatna is yet to be decided.
Bharat Basavaraj Bommai, son of the former CM Bommai, is the candidate for Shiggaon constituency. As Basavaraj Bommai, the previous legislator from the constituency, was elected an MP, the seat had become vacant.
From Sandur, BJP has named Bangaru Hanumanthu as its candidate. Previous Congress MLA E Tukaram had been elected an MP from Ballari Lok Sabha constituency.
Reports state that BJP high command has decided to handover Channapatna constituency to JDS, as it has already claimed the other two constituencies for itself. Earlier, H D Kumaraswamy was an MLA from Channapatna. As he had won the Lok Sabha elections from Mandya, the constituency is going for vote again.
However, BJP MLC C P Yogeshwar has posed a threat to Kumaraswamy's ambition to field a candidate from his party in the constituency. Yogeshwar is bent upon getting a ticket from Channapatna. He has already conducted a series of meetings with party workers and leaders regarding this.
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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."
