The much-awaited day has arrived as the counting of votes for the Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023 has begun. The counting process started early this morning across various counting centers in the state amid tight security arrangements.

Here are the live and important updates from the counting centres across the state:

12:20: BJP Leader V. Sunil Kumar wins from Karkala seat

12:10: Independent candidate Arun Kumar Puthila blazing the lead with 119 votes in Puttur seat, Congress candidate Ashok Kumar Rai trailing.

12:10: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai wins from homebase Shiggaon.

12:05: BJP candidate Sunil Kumar Karkala slips from top spot, now trailing in Karkala seat.

12:00: Nikhil Kumaraswamy trailing in Ramanagar.

11:55: BJP candidate Yashpal Suvarna leading with 12,604 votes in Udupi constituency.

11:50: BJP candidate Sunil Kumar Karkala leading in Karkala constituency.

11:45: Congress candidate Jagadish Shettar trailing in Hubbali-Dharawad central seat.

11:40: Congress candidate UT Khader leading with 25,000 votes  in Mangaluru constiteuncy.

11:30: Vedavyas Kamath wins from Mangalore City South constituency defeat's congress candidate J.R Lobo.

11:30: Congress candidate Zameer Ahmed triumphs Chamaraja Pete seat.

11:30: Chamarajanagar: BJP's V. Somanna loses to Congress candidate Puttarangashetti.

11:25: BJP's Harish Poonja leading with 8442 votes in Belthangady seat, as 10th round of counting ends.

11:25: Congress vs Arun Kumar Puthila in Puttur:  Independent candidate Arun Kumar Puthila leading with 32226 votes, Ashok Kumar Rai trailing with 31,670 votes.

11:20: JDS candidate Swaroop triumphs Hassan seat.

11:15: Dakshina Kannada: Congress candidate UT Khader leading with 15,000 votes in Mangaluru seat.

11:15: Dakshina Kannada: BJP spearheads in 6 seats (Mangaluru North, Mangaluru South, Mudbidri, Belthangady, Sullia, Bantwal), Congress leading Mangaluru seat, alongside tough contest between Congress candidate Ashok Rai and Puthila.

11:10: Dakshina Kannada: BJP Candidate Bhagirathi leading in Sullia seat.

11:05: Karkala: BJP MLA Sunil Kumar leading with 1991 votes.

11:05: BJP"s Harish Poonja leading in Belthangady seat.

11:05: BJP ahead with 5,798 votes in 6th round of counting in Batwal constituency.

11:00: Puttur: Independent candidate Arun Kumar Puthila trailblazes ahead with 91 votes in 7th round of counting, tough contest between Puthila and Congress candidate Ashok Kumar Rai.

11:00: Congress candidate Tanvir Seth leading in Narasimharaja seat.

10:55: Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah leading in Varuna seat.

10:50: Congress candidate Ashok Rai leads from Puttur seat in fifth round of counting with 1221 votes.

10:50: BJP's Bharath Shetty leading in Mangaluru North seat with 10310 votes in fifth round of counting.

10:50: Mangaluru: UT Khader leading with 11,044 votes in fourth round of counting.

10:45: Dakshina Kannada: Congress candidate Ramanath Rai now trailing in tough contest by BJP's Rajesh Naik who is ahead with 5,198 votes.

10:35: Mangalore City South: BJP's Vedavyas Kamath darts ahead with 20,000 lead, Congress candidate JR Lobo trailing.

10:35: Congress candidate Makal Vaidya leading in  Bhatkal in seventh round of counting

10:25: Congress crosses magic number mark leading in early trends

10:25: Dakshina Kannada: Congress candidate UT Khader leading from his stronghold Mangaluru constituency.

10:25: Puttur: Fourth round of counting ends, Congress candidate Ashok Kumar Rai leading.

10:15: Mangalore City North: BJP's Bharath Shetty races ahead leading in third round of counting, Inayat Ali trailing now.

10:05: BJP's Yashpal Suvarna leading in Udupi seat.

10:05: Dakshina Kannada: BJP gets slight lead in Sullia constituency.

10:00: BJP's CT Ravi now leading in the third round of counting from Chikkamagaluru seat.

9:55: Coastal Karnataka: BJP leading ahead in 13 seats, congress in 6.

9:50: Belthangady: BJP's Harish Poonja leading in third round of counting.

9:50: Dakshina Kannada: Congress candidate Inayat Ali leading with 1,098 votes in Mangaluru North seat.

9:45: Big jolt for BJP's CT Ravi as he trails in the second round of counting from Chikkamagaluru seat.

9:40: Dakshina Kannada: Congress candidate Ashok Rai leading from Puttur.

9:40: BJP Trailing in CM Basavaraj Bommai's home district Haveri, except for Shiggaon seat were Bommai himself is leading.

9:35: Congress candidate Zameer Ahmed leading ahead with 20,000 votes in Chamrajpete constituency.

9:35: Mankal Vaidya leading by 300 votes in Bhatkal.

9:35: BJP state Vice President and BS Yeddyurappa's son B.Y Vijayendra trailing from Shikaripura seat

9:35: Congresss's Rizwan Arshad leading from Shivajinagar seat.

9:25: BJP deserter and Congress candidate Laxman Savadi leading from Athani seat

9:25: Congress candidate Tanvir Seth ahead from Narasimharaja constituency.

9:20: BJP's Sasikala Jolla trailing from Nippani seat.

9:20: Chamarajanagar: Somanna trailing by 4,000 votes.

9:20: Jagadish Shettar trailing in second round of counting from Hubbali-Dharwad central seat.

9:20: JD(S) candidate and Popular actor Nikhil Kumaraswamy leading ahead with 802 votes from Ramanagara constituency.

9:15: Congress candidate Anil ahead in HD Kote seat

9:15: BJP Candidate Basavaraj Bommai leading from Shiggaavi constituency.

9:15: Dakshina Kannada: BJP candidate Harish Poonja leading with a difference of 964 votes from Belthangady seat.

9:10: Congress breaches 100-seat mark for the first time, leads on 106 seats after first round of voting

9:05: Channapatna: 1st round of counting ends; Former CM HD Kumarswamy trailing in Channapatna.

9:00: Congress accelerates ahead leading with 82 seats, BJP trailing with 66 seats, JD(S) at 21

9:00: Chikkaballapur: BJP's Dr K Sudhakar trailing

9:00: Congress Candidate Vinay Kulkarni leading from Dharwad seat.

8:45: Uttara Kannada: RV Deshpande trialing from Haliyala seat

8:45:
 Former BJP leader Jagadish Shettar trailing from Hubbali-Dharawad seat.

8:40: BJP candidate M.P.  Renukacharya trailing behind from Honnali seat.

8:40: BJP Rebel and Independent candidate, Pro-Hindutva mascot Arun Kumar Puthila leading from Puttur seat.

8:30: Former BJP leader Jagadish Shettar who joined Congress ahead of the Karnataka elections, leading on Hubballi seat.

8:30: BJP's candidate from Udupi Yashpal Suvarna leading.

8:30: JD(S)'s Nikhil Kumaraswamy is trailing in Ramanagaram.

8:25: Congress candidate Mithun Rai leading in Moodabidri.

8:20: BJP takes early lead in the initial trends of the counting of votes. BJP is leading on 40 seats while the Congress is ahead on 33 seats.

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Washington: President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday warned BRICS countries against any move to replace the US dollar and has sought a commitment from the nine-member group that includes India, Russia, China, and Brazil.

BRICS, formed in 2009, is the only major international group of which the United States is not a part. Its other members are South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. Over the past few years a few of its member countries, in particular Russia and China, are seeking an alternative to the US Dollar or create own BRICS currency. India has so far not been part of the move.

On Saturday, Trump warned BRICS nations against such a move.

“The idea that the BRICS Countries are trying to move away from the Dollar while we stand by and watch is OVER,” the president-elect said in a post on Truth Social, a platform owned by him.

“We require a commitment from these Countries that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty U.S. Dollar or, they will face 100% Tariffs and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. Economy,” Trump warned.

“They can go find another 'sucker!' There is no chance that the BRICS will replace the US Dollar in International Trade, and any Country that tries should wave goodbye to America,” he said. At the 2023 summit in South Africa, BRICS countries committed to study the feasibility of a new common currency. A proposal in this regard was made by the Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva.

India, an important pillar of BRICS, has said it is against de-dollarisation.

"…ask you about de-Dollarization as a possibility for the world. At times India has expressed interest in alternative currency. It can serve as a reserve mechanism. I wonder how do you see that right now what you see as the role of the dollar and these discussions about your national policy," India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said during his appearance at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace this fall.

“I think you have us confused for someone else because we have never actively targeted the dollar. That's not part of either our economic policy or our political or our strategic policy. Some others may have,” Jaishankar said.

“What I will tell you is a natural concern there. We often have trade partners who do not have dollars to take. So, we now have to look at whether we forgo dealings with them or do we find some settlement which works otherwise. So, there's no, I can say malicious intent vis-a-vis the dollar in business. WE are trying to do our business,” he said.

“Sometimes you make it difficult in the use of dollars. We have some trade partners with whom trade in dollars becomes difficult because of your policies. We have to obviously look for workarounds. But for us, as we spoke about rebalancing, we spoke about multiple obviously all of this is also going to reflect on currencies and economic needs,” said the External Affairs Minister on October 1 this year.