Former mining baron Janardhana Reddy wins, his wife and two brothers lose in Karnataka polls
Bengaluru, May 13: Former mining baron and ex-minister G Janardhana Reddy who had a few months ago floated his party -- Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha (KRPP) -- won in Gangavathi while his wife, and two brothers who fought on BJP ticket lost in the Karnataka Assembly elections for which the results were announced on Saturday.
In a classic case of 'when two fight, the third wins', in Ballari city, Congress candidate Nara Bharath Reddy won while Janardhana Reddy's wife Aruna Lakshmi (KRPP) and his estranged brother G Somasekhara Reddy lost. While Bharath Reddy got 80,744 votes, Lakshmi Aruna bagged 46,171 votes and Somasekhara Reddy secured 35,491 votes.
In Harapanahalli, independent candidate M P Latha Mallikarjun defeated Janardhana Reddy's another brother G Karunakara Reddy (BJP) with a margin of 13,845 votes.
It is alleged that the KRPP backed Latha Mallikarjun, who is former deputy chief minister late M P Prakash's daughter.
Transport Minister B Sriramulu and his nephew T H Suresh Babu who were once the close confidants of Janardhana Reddy also lost the elections.
While Sriramulu faced the defeat at the hands of Congress candidate B Nagendra in Ballari, Suresh Babu was humbled by J N Ganesh in Kampli.
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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."
