Karnataka State Correspondent for The Hindustan Times
In the erstwhile South Canara region, the home of five of the biggest banks in the country, complex caste based associations with financial institutions has ensured that a bank merger has become a question of community pride, with the Bunts claiming they
Hindustan Times / April 2019
While Nikhil Kumaraswamy and Sumalatha Ambareesh slug it out in the high voltage Mandya poll banking on the legacies or their families, for workers of the Congress and JD(S) the coalition is difficult to digest considering their bitter rivalry in the regi
Hindustan Times / April 2019
Alliance partners Congress and JD(S) hope their combined vote share will help them put a brake on the BJP's dominance of the state in LS polls. The numbers from previous elections, though, present a more complex picture suggesting that there is no automat
Hindustan Times / April 2019
Farmer suicides continue in Karnataka despite the loan waiver announced by chief minister HD Kumaraswamy as the scheme fails to address the complex problem of agricultural credit and the dependence on informal networks to access capital
Hindustan Times / February 2019
A pilgrimage to the Kicchugathi Maramma temple ended tragically for the followers of the Om Shakti cult, most of whom were Dalits from nearby villages, as they came in the crossfire of a fight over control over the shrine
Hindustan Times / December 2018
Many cabs attached with Ola and Uber are lying unused in parking lots and garages, seized by financial institutions and private moneylenders from those who could not repay vehicle loans.
Hindustan Times / October 2018
The paper Gauri Lankesh Patrike will be run by the Gauri Media Trust, formed by activists who came together in the aftermath of Lankesh’s killing
Hindustan Times / September 2018
Although the progress in Lankesh probe was initially slow, the SIT widened its chase to uncover a nameless outfit, which it has linked to other murders.
Hindustan Times / September 2018
A month after treated waste water from Bengaluru was let into three lakes in Kolar district, villagers have turned skeptical of the Rs 1,342-crore project, fearing that “toxic water” was being supplied to the region’s three lakes under the project
Hindustan Times / July 2018
Karnataka elections results showed that the gains made by the BJP were largely at the expense of the Congress, while the JD(S) managed to not only consolidate but also increase its tally.
Hindustan Times / May 2018
The Congress had banked on the support of the influential mutts (monasteries) of the community to back its decision and help sway a significant chunk of Lingayat votes in its favour.
Hindustan Times / May 2018
Ahead of the Karnataka polls, Siddaramaiah commissioned four surveys, apart from the surveys commissioned by the Congress, all of which pointed to a clear victory for the party
Hindustan Times / May 2018
G Parameshwara said he was not able to go to the Koratagere constituency frequently due to which he lost in the 2013 elections but has made it up this time.
Hindustan Times / May 2018
Anger against Anjaneya has been brewing over the past five years for his failure to fulfil a promise to implement internal reservations for the Scheduled Caste (SC) Left communities.
Hindustan Times / May 2018
The five Jarkiholi brothers in Karnataka’s Belagavi district — Ramesh, Satish, Balachandra, Bhimshi and Lakhan — have amassed fortunes and harnessed political power by sticking together in spite of shadow boxing with each other from different political pa
Hindustan Times / May 2018
In Babaleshwar, there is little mention of the move to categorise Lingayats and Veerashaivas as a minority religion. The issue in the predominantly rural constituency is water.
Hindustan Times / May 2018
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has a battle on his hands as he is pitted against B Sriramulu of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Badami. is the second seat from where Karnataka chief minister Siddaramiah is contesting.
Hindustan Times / April 2018
The Dalits’ incredulity on the alliance ahead of Karnataka elections is based on impression -- BSP as a pro-dalit party and JD(S), of the powerful, dominant, land owning, upper caste Vokkaligas.
Hindustan Times / April 2018
High exposure to informal credit sources and failure of crops led to around 200 farmers ending their lives in Mandya District in 2015 and 2016, the highest among districts in the state.
Hindustan Times / April 2018
CP Yogeshwar, a Vokkaliga leader, who is with the BJP now, has previously been with the Congress and the Samajwadi Party.
Hindustan Times / April 2018
BJP faces a tough challenge in Molkalmuru because its incumbent legislator S Thippeswamy is angry over the party’s decision to not field him from the constituency.
Hindustan Times / April 2018
In an interview, former BJP minister Gali Janardhana Reddy answers questions related to the upcoming Karnataka polls among others.
Hindustan Times / April 2018
Located on the periphery of Bengaluru with ambitions of becoming a satellite town, the Kanakapura constituency has been a “pocket borough” of energy minister and Vokkaliga strongman DK Shivakumar.
Hindustan Times / April 2018
Frustrated by the failure of the three principal political parties to ensure the diversion of the Mahadayi river water to their region, farmers in the Mumbai-Karnataka region have decided to campaign against all three parties
Hindustan Times / February 2018
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa says his party is confident of winning 150 out of 224 seats in the upcoming assembly polls
Hindustan Times / January 2018
Spurred on by a similar campaign in Kerala, the Bajrang Dal and the Sangh organisations attempt to replicate the model of mobilisation based on the perceived conspiracy of Muslim men to 'steal' Hindu women
Hindustan Times / January 2018
Former CM and JD(S) state president HD Kumaraswamy says his party will no longer play the kingmaker’s role, rather it will get majority on its own and form the next government
Hindustan Times / January 2018
Heading into the Karnataka assembly elections, state Congress president G Parameshwara says his party is all set to sail through in the polls as the opposition BJP was left only with the communal pitch
Hindustan Times / January 2018
Dealers use Aadhar numbers and data of unsuspecting customers to sell SIM cards on the black market
Hindustan Times / January 2018
The dispute between the forensic sciences labs (FSLs) of Mumbai, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad over the analysis reports of cartridges recovered from their murder scenes has delayed the handing over of the cartridges
Hindustan Times / January 2018
Farmers from the Mumbai-Karnataka region protest outside the BJP's office in Bengaluru, accusing BS Yeddyurappa of not fulfilling his promise of getting Goa to agree to sharing of Mahadayi river water sharing
Hindustan Times / December 2017
The decision of the Congress’ Karnataka unit chief G Parameshwara and chief minister Siddaramaiah to tour the state separately just six months ahead of the assembly elections has added fuel to speculations about a rift in the party
Hindustan Times / December 2017
An app-based cab hailing service, Namma TYGR, was launched in Bengaluru, culminating a series of protests by cab owners and drivers against US-based Uber and Bengaluru-headquartered Ola
Hindustan Times / November 2017
Friends and associates say the journalist’s career has been as colourful and fast-paced as the city’s underworld that he covered with aplomb
Hindustan Times / December 2017
Every year, women who menstruate during Diwali are sent out of villages as they are considered unfit to take part in the festival’s rituals
Hindustan Times / October 2017
The Congress government has come under criticism from a former administrator for “promoting a monolithic view of Hindu culture”
Hindustan Times / October 2017
According to the National Sample Survey’s 2015 report, 81.7% of the state’s urban residents avail of private healthcare facilities, the highest in the country, while the figure stands at 73.2% for rural areas, the fourth-highest
Hindustan Times / November 2017
Ahead of the assembly elections in Karnataka next year, BJP chief seemingly has a tall order to a squabbling state unit battle ready
Hindustan Times / August 2017
With foam blanketing the roads and neighbourhoods and stench becoming unbearable, many residents being forced to drive through the carcinogenic froth that causes respiratory difficulties
Hindustan Times / August 2017
Pro-Kannada organisations were up in arms against the DMK and other Tamil organisations last year over sharing of Cauvery water
Hindustan Times / July 2017
The Congress leader has positioned himself at the forefront of the Kannada identity fight and against the Centre’s perceived attempt to impose Hindi
Hindustan Times / July 2017
Reeling from three consecutive years of deficient rainfall, farmers turn to weather helpline
Hindustan Times / July 2017
The expansion of concrete roads and pavements is preventing the recharge of groundwater aquifers. Dying lakes are only a part of the problem. The bigger worry is the polluted water in lakes that survive
Hindustan Times / June 2017
Kerala’s Mohammed Shihab and Samira Abdul Rahman, from Pakistan, married in Qatar and fled to Bengaluru to escape their parents
Hindustan Times / May 2017
Kottihalli Dalits in Karnataka claim village fair was stopped abruptly and they were ostracised. Forward caste Hindus stop interacting with Dalits, but deny social boycott.
Hindustan Times / May 2017
Around 3,000 women in Mandya district, who are busy reviving lakes, ponds and irrigation tanks in 31 villages. These women have come together to force the administration to give them designated work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guara
Hindustan Times / May 2017
The Karnataka govt declared that only farmers who have a fodder ration booklet will be given subsidised fodder, a lifeline for the dairy farmers battling a crippling shortage in cattle food
The Hindustan Times / May 2017
In Karnataka’s parched Kolar district, poor rainfall has led to a sharp fall in fodder supply and the worst hit are the state’s dairy farmers
The Hindustan Times / April 2017
From reaching out to Congress dissidents to asking for votes projecting himself as future chief minister, Yeddyurappa had gone all out win the two seats in bypolls that he termed as semi-final before next year’s assembly polls
The Hindustan Times / April 2017
Dalits are hung from a tree as part of a ritual in Hariharpur village in Karnataka to atone for the "sins" of their ancestors
The Hindustan Times / March 2017
Bengaluru’s Varthur lake has been a festering body of pollutants for a decade now, a product of the city’s rapid expansion and a civic body’s inability to cope with the boom
The Hindustan Times / March 2017
The supply in Asia’s biggest market for tender coconuts, located in Maddur, about 80 km southwest of Bengaluru, has taken a severe beating this year
The Hindustan Times / March 2017
A south American plant that was introduced in the 19th century is proving to be disastrous for our forests
The Hindustan Times / March 2017
An armoury of Tipu Sultan, the 18th century warrior-king who forged his reputation fighting British colonialists, is being moved to make way for new railway tracks between Bengaluru and Mysuru
The Hindustan Times / March 2017
Hair saloons in Manchanabale village in Karnataka shut shop after Dalits demand an end to the practice of being denied haircuts within the village
The Hindustan Times / March 2017
As incentives have become hard to come by, drivers attached with app-based cab aggrgators Ola and Uber, who are part of the new share economy, are being forced to come together to make the companies and the Karnataka government address their concerns
Hindustan Times / February 2017
A Karnataka panel proposes 100 per cent reservation in private sector jobs, but this time it calls for the IT-BT sector to not be exempted from these rules
Hindustan Times / February 2017
Bengaluru's inability to deal with the solid waste generated in the city has resulted in waste being illegally dumped in peripheral towns
Hindustan Times / December 2016
The worst northeast monsoon in Karnataka in 45 years, and a deficient southwest monsoon, have left the resident of Kolar district without even drinking water, let alone for irrigating their crops.
Hindustan Times / December 2016
For five days, Dominic Roy, the driver of a logistics van that ferries cash to ATMs who made away with Rs 1.37 crore in cash, led the Bengaluru police on a chase across four southern states till he was caught without a penny on him
Hindustan Times / December 2016
Caste tensions flare over access to barbers in two Karnataka villages.
The Caravan / January 2015
Conflict between Karnataka and Goa and the precarious lives of the residents of Baina Beach.
The Wire / May 2015
Located in Varuna Hobli, 25 kilometres away from Mysuru city in Karnataka, Kuppegala is a village that, at a cursory glance, has nothing to distinguish it from most other villages.
Vantage, Web exclusive from The Caravan / April 2015
While the recent spate of farmers' suicides in Karnataka has been attributed to the failure of the sugarcane crop, farmers in Mandya district say the simultaneous crash in prices of other crops has exacerbated the distress.
The News Minute / August 2015
Over 300,000 marginal and landless cultivators have been caught in the net of the Karnataka government’s recent drive to recover government land that has been “encroached” upon over the last few decades.
Review of Agrarian Studies / May 2015
Vantage (Web Exclusive)
The Caravan / March 2015
Is affirmative action the correct policy to emancipate historically marginalised communities? Can capitalism still be viewed as a progressive force capable of emancipating marginalised groups?
The Wire / July 2015
A look at how Bengaluru handles its waste and the consequences of this on communities in the city's periphery that are forced to live near landfills.
Business Standard / December 2015
A review of B R Ambedkar's book Riddles in Hinduism, which was recently published by Navayana
The Business Standard / June 2016
A Bengaluru restaurant chain mired in legal battles.
The Caravan / June 2015
A review of the book Government a practice by Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya on the performance of the Left Front government in West Bengal
The Business Standard / May 2016
Caste, Discrimination and Exclusion in Modern India (Book Review)
Business Standard / March 2016
A review of the book Bread,Wine, Chocolate by Simran Sethi
Business Standard / February 2016
It has been over a year since the Government of India, directed the states to ensure the release of eligible undertrial prisoners under Section 436 A of the Cr. PC. However, it has been found that the implementation has not been uniform.
The Hindu / September 2014
Mental Health Care Bill decriminalises suicide attempts, but treats it as a mental health issue
The Hindu / January 2014
P.V Srividya & Vikram Gopal
The Hindu, Op-ed / January 2013
(Vikram Gopal, Aruna Iyer) Night shelter for homeless remains locked; corporation plans to use it for migrant labourers with outside support from NGO.
The Hindu / December 2012
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