Jan 16 News Live |TVK forms 10-member election panel ahead of TN polls

Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday (January 16) lashed out at Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge, asking him to focus on the condition of his own party instead of commenting on others. The remark comes after Kharge’s comment on relevance of JD(S).

Kumaraswamy said the Congress has no authority to "issue certificates" to his party and claimed that the Congress’ arrogance had cost it dearly. "Before talking about JD(S), look at the condition of your so-called national party in Bihar and Maharashtra," the JD(S) second-in-command said.

The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) on Friday (January 16), announced a 10-member campaign committee ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu. The committee includes prominent names, including party general secretary N. Anand, election strategist Aadhav Arjuna and veteran K.A. Sengottaiyan, a former AIADMK minister who joined TVK last November.

Other members include A Parthiban, B Rajkumar, K V Vijay Thamu, S P Selvam, Pitchairathinam Karikalan, Seravu Mohideen, and J Catherin Pandian, according to the statement released by the TVK chief Vijay.

The Supreme Court on Friday (January 16) sought the response of Karisma Kapoor on a plea of Priya Sachdev Kapur seeking a certified copy of the divorce settlement arrived at in 2016 in the top court between her late husband Sunjay Kapur and the Bollywood actor.

The development assumed significance as Priya Sachdeva Kapur, widow of industrialist Sunjay Kapur, is fighting a legal battle in the Delhi High Court.

In September last year, the two children of actor Karisma Kapoor moved the high court seeking shares in their late father Sunjay Kapur's assets and challenged his March 21, 2025 will, which purportedly leaves his entire personal estate to their step-mother, Priya Sachdev Kapur.

Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal on Friday (January 16) said the state’s first “work-near-home” (WNH) project, as it is being called, will be launched on January 19.

Balagopal said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the first WNH centre in Kottarakkara.

The project, initially introduced in a previous state budget, is being implemented in cooperation with Technopark and Cyberpark to bridge the gap between rural talent and global employment opportunities, the minister said.

The "first WNH centre" has been set up in a refurbished BSNL office building in Thiruvananthapuram, offering a "plug-and-play" environment where professionals can access world-class workstations without commuting to major cities, he added.

Balagopal said the initiative is part of a broader vision to provide five lakh village-based employment opportunities across Kerala, specifically catering to educated youth and homemakers looking to re-enter the workforce.

Following the launch, the government plans to expand the project to other rural locations, including Kalamassery, Ramanattukara, and Taliparamba.

To maintain global standards, the centres will be equipped with uninterrupted electricity and high-speed internet.

Balagopal noted that the success of the model is already evident, as the international IT firm Zoho Corporation has begun operations in Kottarakkara, demonstrating that rural towns can support major tech hubs.

The minister also highlighted the ‘expand your office’ project, which encourages existing IT firms to set up branches in rural areas.

Balagopal said the Kerala Development and Innovation Strategic Council (K-DISC) has received an interest-free loan from Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board to support infrastructure, allowing the WNH centres to provide premium facilities at affordable rates.

Cricketer Virat Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma have bought 1.36-hectare land at Alibag near Mumbai for Rs 37.86 crore, according to CRE Matrix.

Real estate data analytic firm CRE Matrix, which has reviewed the property registration document, said that the former Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli and actress Anushka Sharma have bought two land parcels totalling 21,010 sq metres at Alibag, Raigad.

The registration was done on January 13, 2026.

The size of the first plot is 14,740 square metres, while the size of the second plot is 6,270 square metres. The total deal value is Rs 37.86 crore and around Rs 2.27 crore was paid towards stamp duty.

As per the CRE Matrix, the seller is Sonali Amit Rajput. Samira Land Assets is the confirming party.

Post-Covid pandemic, there has been a surge in real estate transactions by film stars, cricketers, big corporates, and other ultra-high net worth individuals (ultra HNIs) in the Mumbai Metroplitan Region (MMR).

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday (January 16) alleged that migrant labourers were being tortured for speaking Bengali in BJP-ruled states.

Banerjee, who headed for north Bengal to attend administrative programmes, accused the BJP of "planning to incite riots in the state", as "the party realised that it would not be able to win the 2026 assembly elections".

Referring to a protest in Murshidabad's Beldanga over attacks on migrant workers outside West Bengal, she said the anger of the minority community was “legitimate”.

The protest stemmed from repeated incidents of violence against migrant workers, she said.

“Migrant labourers from Bengal are being tortured only in BJP-ruled states. We stand by their families,” she claimed.

Locals in Murshidabad blocked National Highway 12 and burnt tyres on Friday to protest against the alleged attacks on migrant workers from the district in other states, disrupting vehicular movement on the thoroughfare, police said.

The demonstrators alleged that migrants from the district have been facing atrocities in other states for speaking Bengali.

The Beldanga protest erupted after news spread about the death of a Murshidabad native who had migrated to Jharkhand for work, an officer said.

The chief minister also hit out at the Election Commission for introducing changes in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bengal, claiming that "around 100 people had lost their lives due to anxiety" related to the voter list revision exercise.

"Protect dignity, impartiality of your chair, only then people will respect you," Banerjee told the chief election commissioner, amid the SIR controversy.

Police have registered a case against Fenni Ninan, a close associate of expelled Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, for allegedly revealing the identity of a victim whose complaint led to the legislator's arrest.

Ninan, who is also a Youth Congress leader, disclosed the details of the case in a Facebook post on Friday (January 16).

According to Ninan, Pathanamthitta cyber police have booked him under non-bailable offences, alleging that he revealed the complainant’s identity and posted objectionable content on social media. "Anyone who has read my posts will understand that I neither revealed the complainant’s identity nor made any obscene remarks about her," he said.

On Thursday, Ninan had shared WhatsApp chats on his social media accounts, claiming they were exchanges between him and the victim, and raised allegations against her.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday (January 16) launched 'Samriddhi Yatra', his first state-wide tour after returning to power with a thumping majority.

The yatra was launched in remote West Champaran district from where Kumar has commenced most of the yatras in his over two-decade tenure.

Kumar was accompanied by Cabinet colleagues Samrat Chaudhary, Vijay Kumar Sinha and Dilip Jaiswal.

Addressing the gathering, the CM said, "We have been working for the upliftment of women in the state since 2005, when we came to power. We introduced a 50 per cent reservation for women in panchayat and municipal elections for the first time in the country. We implemented a 35 per cent reservation for women in police." The CM will also inspect the ongoing projects in West Champaran on Friday. Kumar, in December 2024, had launched his state-wide 'Pragati Yatra' which continued till February 2025.

The Hot Air Balloon Festival took off near the historic Golconda Fort at the Golf Club premises in Hyderabad on Friday (January 16), adding a new attraction to Telangana’s expanding tourism calendar.

State Tourism and Culture Minister Jupally Krishna Rao formally inaugurated the festival and later undertook a hot air balloon ride as part of the opening celebrations, an official release said.

The minister spent nearly one-and-a-half hours in the air, covering a distance of about 13 kilometres. The ride began near the Golconda Golf Club and concluded at the outskirts of Appajiguda, offering aerial views of Hyderabad and its surrounding landscapes.

Describing the experience as "truly memorable," Rao said the initiative marked a new chapter in the state’s tourism journey.