Newly elected independent MLA from Harapanahalli extends support to Cong in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala on Sunday said Latha Mallikarjun, who has got elected as an independent from Harapanahalli Assembly segment has extended unconditional support to the Congress party in the State.
Latha Mallikarjun, is daughter of veteran leader and former Deputy Chief Minister, late M P Prakash.
"She has extended unconditional support to the Congress Party in Karnataka considering her ideological roots and commitment to Congress ideals. I thank her, her husband Mallikarjun and all the supporters and well wishers. We will serve the 6.5 Crore Kannadigas together," Surjewala said in a tweet.
Latha Mallikarjun has won the Harapanahalli seat by defeating BJP's G Karunakara Reddy by a margin of 13,845 votes.
M P Prakash was a veteran socialist and Janata Parivar leader. In his last days, he had joined Congress which was continued by his son, M P Ravindra, who died in 2018.
In the May 10 elections to the 224-member Assembly, the Congress scored an emphatic victory with 135 seats, while the ruling BJP and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) secured 66 and 19 seats, respectively.
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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."
