Bharath Joshi

During the meeting, the Dalit group lashed out at the Congress top brass for asking Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara to postpone a meeting he had convened on January 8 to discuss SC/ST issues.

Chouhan, on a two-day state visit, said this after holding a review meeting with Agriculture Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy, Rural Development Minister Priyank Kharge and Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda.

The state has 106 islands along its 320-km coastline, according to the Karnataka Maritime Board (KMB).

'A senior BJP lawmaker is accusing his party's president of duplicating a chief minister's signature. This is a serious allegation. I'm shocked at the nature of the allegation, Priyank Kharge said, adding that it amounted to corruption, forgery, money laundering and extortion.

Extending the tenure of an additional chief secretary-rank officer on a contractual basis is believed to be unprecedented at least in the recent past.

The RDPR Department has signed an agreement with the British Council for this purpose.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has picked Harvard alumnus Ritesh Kumar Singh to head the finance department ahead of the 2025-26 Budget, which may cap expenditure on the flagship 'guarantee' schemes to create room for infrastructure spending, including outlays for Bengaluru.

Sriramulu's outburst comes at a time when infighting has hurt the BJP with a parallel team led by MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal publicly taking on Vijayendra.

The new policy is being drafted by the Indian Institute of Human Settlements (IIHS), an urbanisation-focussed research organisation co-founded by billionaire tech mogul Nandan Nilekani, veteran banker Deepak Parekh and others.

Siddaramaiah, however said the government will not stop microfinance companies from lending and recovering loans.