Archives for July 2025

Gadag (Karnataka) BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavarj Bommai on Sunday condemned Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s statement on the Mahadayi river project, as he also questioned the Congress’ moral right to speak on the issue.

He claimed that whatever progress has been made on the Mahadayi issue, it happened under the BJP government.

Addressing the Goa Assembly last week, Sawant claimed that the Centre would not approve the Mahadayi project.

He also said the Goa government would file a contempt petition in the Supreme Court against Karnataka for carrying out activities aimed at diverting Mahadayi river water.

Bommai said, “There is no need to politicise the Mahadayi project issue. We are all united as this is an issue concerning the state. I condemn the statement made by the Chief Minister of Goa. There is no need to play such a big political game over one state’s interests. He must act in accordance with the law, and hence I condemn his remarks.”

Speaking to reporters here, he questioned the moral standing of Congress leaders in Karnataka on the Mahadayi issue.

“Congress leader Sonia Gandhi herself during the Goa polls said that not a single drop of Mahadayi water would be given to Karnataka. What moral right does Congress have to speak on this issue?” he asked.

Dubbing the Goa CM’s statement an “insult to the people of Karnataka”, CM Siddaramaiah had earlier hit out at the BJP stating “Why has the Centre not officially communicated its concerns? Is this how federalism works under the BJP? Are we being punished for not surrendering to the BJP?”

Bommai accused the Congress party of building a barrier to prevent Mahadayi water from flowing into the Malaprabha river, thereby obstructing the interlinking canal work initiated during the BJP regime and this was the only “contribution” Congress made to the Mahadayi project.

“Whatever progress has been made on the Mahadayi issue, it happened under the BJP government. The Congress, which constituted the tribunal, did not even provide it an office for four years. It was the BJP government that gave it an office. Though the tribunal gave a verdict, it was not notified. The NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued the notification,” he said.

It was the central NDA government that prepared the DPR for the Mahadayi project and got it approved. “It was also the BJP government that secured environmental clearance. The only thing the Congress did was to block the interlinking canal works started during the BJP tenure by constructing a barrier to prevent Mahadayi water from reaching the Malaprabha river,” he said.

Goa has been opposing Karnataka’s Kalasa-Banduri project in the Mahadayi river basin.

The Kalasa-Banduri project by the Karnataka government proposes diverting Mahadayi river water into the Malaprabha river to enhance the drinking water supply in parts of Dharwad, Belagavi, Bagalkote, and Gadag districts.

The Mahadayi river flows through Karnataka and Goa before joining the Arabian Sea. Known as the Mandovi in Goa, it is one of the state’s two major rivers.

The diversion of Mahadayi water has long been a point of contention between Karnataka and Goa, with the latter claiming “it would severely impact the state’s flora and fauna.”

Speaking about the urea shortage in the state, Bommai said the government could have averted the crisis.

“Rainfall began early this year, and fertilizer should have been supplied where needed. Buffer stock should have been maintained, the management has not been proper,” he said.

Noting that the state government has now submitted to the Centre for additional urea fertilizer supply, he said, “We (BJP) too will speak with the Union Minister for Agriculture and Fertilizers to get more supply. But more importantly, the fertilizer that is already arriving must be distributed properly by the Agriculture Department and the concerned ministers.”

New Delhi: India’s largest IT services firm, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), is set to lay off about 2 per cent, or 12,261 employees, of its global workforce this year, with the majority of those impacted belonging to middle and senior grades.

As of June 30, 2025, TCS’s workforce stood at 6,13,069. It increased its workforce by 5,000 employees in the recently concluded April-June quarter.

The move is part of the company’s broader strategy to become a “future-ready organisation”, focusing on investments in technology, AI deployment, market expansion, and workforce realignment, TCS said in a statement.

“TCS is on a journey to become a Future-Ready organisation. This includes strategic initiatives on multiple fronts, including investing in new-tech areas, entering new markets, deploying AI at scale for our clients and ourselves, deepening our partnerships, creating next-gen infrastructure, and realigning our workforce model.

“Towards this, a number of reskilling and redeployment initiatives have been underway. As part of this journey, we will also be releasing associates from the organisation whose deployment may not be feasible. This will impact about 2 per cent of our global workforce, primarily in the middle and the senior grades, over the course of the year,” it said.

TCS will provide appropriate benefits, outplacement, counselling, and support to the impacted employees, it added.

Batumi (Georgia): International Master Divya Deshmukh gave nothing away and held higher-ranked Grandmaster and compatriot Koneru Humpy to an easy draw on Sunday to force the final into a tie-breaker where games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.

Divya, who did not make utmost use of her promising opening in the first game of the match, was far more composed against a Queen pawn opening and faced little trouble playing with black pieces.

Humpy, got the optical advantage with her pair of bishops out of the opening but Divya knew that if she placed her knights perfectly, white will not be able to create many problems. As it happened in the game after two minor pieces, the pair of rooks also changed hands and the queen-and-minor-piece endgame only offered little hope.

Humpy tried to make some headway with a pawn sacrifice in the endgame but in the process her bishop pair was gone, and though a pawn plus, Divya had to cover some weaknesses.

After the dust settled, Humpy recovered the pawn back and Divya repeated the position through checks to sign peace in 34 moves.

The tiebreaker will see two games of 15 minutes each with a 10 second increment after every move is played.

If the scores are still level, the players will play another set of 10 minutes per game with a 10 second increment. If the tie doesn’t get resolved, it will be two more games of five minutes plus three second increment.

Should the deadlock continue, one game will be played with three minutes to both players with a two second increment unless one player ends up winner.

In the play-off for the third place between China’s Zhongyi Tan and Lei Tingjie, the match looked headed towards a draw.

Results: Koneru Humpy (Ind) drew with Divya Deshmukh (Ind); Lei Tingjie (Chn) playing Tan Zhongyi (Chn).

Thiruvananthapuram: The Congress in Kerala on Sunday vehemently criticised the BJP and the Sangh Parivar over the reported arrest of two Catholic nuns from the state by police in Chhattisgarh.

According to media reports, the Kerala-based nuns were arrested at a railway station in Chhattisgarh recently on charges of human trafficking and forced conversation raised by right-wing activists.

AICC general secretary K C Venugopal and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly V D Satheesan cited it as the latest example of attack against minorities in the BJP-ruled states.

In a post on ‘X’, Venugopal said attacks on minorities have seen a rampant increase under BJP-ruled states, be it Chhattisgarh, Odisha or Madhya Pradesh.

“The latest attacks by Bajrang Dal goons on two Catholic nuns in Durg, Chhattisgarh point to a tacit support for such hate crimes from the ruling establishment,” he alleged.

Venugopal said he has written to the Union Home Minister and Chhattisgarh CM demanding strict punishment against these culprits and the urgent need to uphold the Constitution so that fundamental rights of minorities are not threatened under their rule.

Echoing similar sentiments, Satheesan said witch-hunt in the name of religion or caste is unacceptable.

In a Facebook post, he alleged that the Kerala nuns became victims of a brutal police witch-hunt.

A “mob trial” was held against the nuns and a false case was filed against them, he alleged.

“The rights guaranteed by the Constitution are for everyone. It is not the generosity of the BJP or the RSS. The nuns arrested in a false case in Chhattisgarh should be released immediately,” Satheesan said.

Alleging that the Sangh Parivar are “wolves in sheep’s clothing”, the Congress leader said that they would come to the churches and Christian homes in Kerala with cakes. “In other places, they will disrupt all the celebrations of Christians. They will attack them brutally. The latest example of this was seen in Chhattisgarh,” he alleged.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge

Vijayapura (Karnataka): Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said he has no information on the actual reason for Jagdeep Dhankhar resigning as the Vice President.

Dhankhar has to tell what really happened as the matter is between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said.

Noting that Dhankhar always took the government’s side, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha said he never allowed the opposition, whenever it tried to raise issues, whether it was concerning farmers or poor or on foreign policy issues.

“I don’t know all those details. He (Dhankhar) was always on the government’s side. He should say what happened,” Kharge said in response to a question whether Dhankhar was forced to resign as he spoke in favour of farmers.

Speaking to reporters here, Kharge said, “When we raised several issues concerning farmers, poor, international issues or foreign policy, he never used to give us an opportunity (in Rajya Sabha as its Chairman).”

“When we tried to raise issues by giving notices on issues regarding the poor, atrocities against women, dalits and downtrodden, and incidents like Hindu-Muslim clashes, he did not give us an opportunity. It (reason for Dhankhar’s resignation as Vice President) is between him and Modi. We don’t have any information on that,” he added.

In a sudden move, Dhankhar on July 21 evening resigned from his post as Vice President, citing medical reasons, triggering speculation in political circles.

In his resignation letter to President Droupadi Murmu, Dhankhar said he was stepping down with immediate effect to “prioritise health care”.

Responding to a question about changing the Karnataka Congress president, Kharge said, “All those things cannot be said now. Will speak later.”

Currently, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar is holding the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president post on an extended tenure.

There have been voices within the ruling Congress in the state to replace him, citing him holding two key positions.

Mysuru: A MDMA drug manufacturing facility was raided here by Maharashtra police in coordination with the Mysuru City police, police sources said on Sunday.

MDMA or ecstasy was reportedly being manufactured at the facility. A large quantity of the drug was seized during the raid on Saturday, they said.

Four persons have been arrested and have been taken to Mumbai, police sources said.

Home Minister G Parameshwara confirmed the raid by the Maharashtra police in coordination with Mysuru police.

Speaking to reporters in Davangere, he said, “In Mysuru an MDMA manufacturing facility was raided by Mumbai police. Based on the information they got from a person arrested by them, they came and requested our police. They have caught some people. This is really worrying. Further action is being taken.”

Parameshwara said an investigation will be conducted and, based on the information gathered, action will be taken.

Karnataka police will also investigate. “This has happened in our state. Where have all they supplied? How long have they been functioning? Was it newly started? All those things will be looked into. It is said that they were functioning for 20 days. Maybe they were active earlier too. Our police will also inquire,” he said.

Lucknow: The wife of a constable posted at Bakshi ka Talab police station in Uttar Pradesh has committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling fan in the house, police said on Sunday.

They said the matter came to light through a video she posted on Instagram.

“On Sunday, it was learnt through an Instagram video that Saumya Kashyap committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling fan in the house. Saumya is the wife of constable Anurag Singh, who is currently posted in Eagle Mobile at Bakshi Ka Talab station,” the police said in a statement.

In the video Saumya posted before her death, she talked about her in-laws trying to get her husband married for the second time and her brother-in-law threatening to kill her, the statement said.

Police said they have informed the deceased’s family, who have left from their Mainpuri house.