Senior Karnataka police officer among three contenders for CBI Director post
New Delhi (PTI): A high-level committee comprising the Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha met on Saturday evening and shortlisted three senior IPS officers for the post of CBI Director, sources said.
"The committee met and has sent three names to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet which will select one of them for the post," Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury told PTI over phone.
Sources said that names of senior IPS officers from Karnataka, Delhi and other states were discussed during the meeting.
CBI Director Subodh Kumar Jaiswal's fixed tenure of two years is coming to an end on May 25.
The name of Karnataka DGP Praveen Sood, a 1986-batch IPS officer from the state cadre, is doing the rounds as the frontrunner for the post, the sources said.
Former Mumbai Police Commission Jaiswal, a 1985-batch IPS officer from Maharashtra cadre took over the reins of the CBI on May 26, 2021.
The CBI Director is selected by a committee comprising the Prime Minister, CJI and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha for a fixed tenure of two years. The tenure can be extended up to five years.
During the meeting, the possible candidates for appointment as new Central Vigilance Commissioner and member Lok Pal were also discussed, the sources 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."
