South First

All you need to know about South India, all in one place! The South First faithfully & fearlessly reports news on varied issues that matter to you.

5 crore ACs sold in Kerala? Sunny Joseph links surge to power demand Kerala has witnessed an unprecedented rise in electricity consumption, with 5 crore air conditioners reportedly sold this year, Congress leader Sunny Joseph said. Addressing the media at Indira Bhavan, he linked the surge in power demand to increased AC and electric vehicle usage. He also spoke about efforts to address the state's record peak demand deficit of 738 MW, including exploring electricity purchases from Himachal Pradesh and other states. Sunny Joseph said Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan was intervening to find a solution and reduce the cost of power purchases. youtube.com/shorts/QTyZAm2yL…

#QuickCuts: Bengaluru Police say sting video targeting Siddaramaiah is ‘fabricated' The evidence gathered so far prima facie indicates that the allegations of sexual abuse portrayed in the video is part of a fabricated and deliberately constructed narrative. The statements recorded and evidence collected so far do not substantiate any such incident as depicted in the video, police said. youtube.com/shorts/HZxZQXslN…

At Telangana’s Mulugu GMC, lack of adequate hostel beds leaves the 2026 batch sleeping on the floor thesouthfirst.com/telangana/…

If YSRCP didn’t get ya, TDP will: Andhra Pradesh’s brand image under siege from both sides thesouthfirst.com/opinion/if…

Guardians in need of life support: Study finds one in 10 Kerala police personnel having suicidal thoughts thesouthfirst.com/keralam/gu…

Dhanush, TVK and the politics of film stardom thesouthfirst.com/opinion/dh…

Attappadi infant deaths: Minister to visit as expert teams begin probe; CPI demands accountability thesouthfirst.com/keralam/at…

Minister Satish Jarkiholi denies endorsing SIR, says remarks were misinterpreted thesouthfirst.com/karnataka/…

VD Satheesan meets family of Jayabalakrishnan killed in Cheranalloor accident Kerala Chief Minister VD Satheesan met the family of Jayabalakrishnan, who was killed in a road accident at Maraparambu on Container Road in Cheranalloor on 25 October. A car allegedly driven by a 17-year-old hit his scooter around 2 am youtube.com/shorts/HjV5YVjvS…

A helicopter carrying five passengers reportedly from #Karnataka and a pilot crashed near #Joshimath in #Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on Friday, after losing contact while flying from Badrinath to Dehradun. The wreckage was reportedly located near Chayi village, close to Joshimath. The helicopter, operated by Trans Bharat Aviation Pvt Ltd under call sign VT-HCX, took off from Badrinath at around 1.14 pm and lost communication while flying over the Joshimath valley. Its tracking signals also disappeared, prompting an emergency search operation. The five passengers have been identified as Prathapa, Arun, Shankar Gowda, Sudheer K and H.S. Natraja. The pilot has been identified as Captain Himanshu. The passengers are reportedly from Karnataka. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami confirmed the crash and said a rescue operation involving the district administration, SDRF and disaster management teams had been initiated. The Indian Army and other agencies were also mobilised. Authorities have grounded the operational fleet of Trans Bharat Aviation as a precautionary measure. Adverse weather conditions, including poor visibility and rainfall, have complicated rescue efforts. Further details awaited

As R. Premkumar, chairman of the Bharath Lajna Multi-State Housing Co-operative Society (BLM), was produced before a magistrate court and subsequently taken into the custody of the Crime Branch team investigating the alleged multi-crore financial fraud, here's a look at who is R Premkumar? thesouthfirst.com/tamilnadu/…

#Karnataka Public Works Minister #SatishJarkiholi on Friday clarified his remarks on #SIR, saying his statement had been misinterpreted and that he was referring to the #Congress's fight against alleged attempts to delete eligible voters through Form 7 applications, not endorsing the SIR exercise itself. In a clarification posted on X, Jarkiholi said, "My statement to the media regarding SIR has been misinterpreted. My intention was to say that the BJP's conspiracy to delete the names of Congress supporting voters from Karnataka's electoral rolls through Form 7 was foiled through the struggle of our national leader Rahul Gandhi and under the guidance of CM D K Shivakumar. However, I did not make any statement suggesting that the SIR process itself was correct." He added, "In Karnataka, we successfully foiled attempts to delete the names of eligible voters through Form 7. We began this fight in our Belagavi district and successfully countered these attempts." Reiterating his position, he said, "My stand against any attempt to deprive eligible voters of their rights has been firm from the beginning. I strongly oppose attempts to illegally remove the names of eligible voters from the electoral rolls." The clarification came after Jarkiholi defended Karnataka's SIR exercise during a media interaction on Thursday, saying, "We are not talking about Karnataka. We are talking about other states such as West Bengal, Maharashtra and Bihar." He had also said, "There have been so many protests and controversies here, but the process has been conducted properly in Karnataka. Our argument is that the same should happen in other states as well." Defending the deletion of names, he said voters removed from the rolls were people who had died, shifted residence or had duplicate registrations. His remarks drew a response from Home Minister Priyank Kharge, who cited an alleged instance in Chittapur where 40 voters from one community were targeted through Form 7 applications at a single polling booth. Kharge said pre-printed forms had been submitted in bulk and alleged that the person who filed them did not know why they had been submitted. "We will get to the bottom of it," Kharge said.

Cheranalloor accident: Court pulls up prosecution, victim’s family for revealing juvenile accused’s identity thesouthfirst.com/keralam/ch…

AP urban local body polls: Campaigning ends at 5 PM; EC tells HC candidate details to go online thesouthfirst.com/andhraprad…

Opposition postpones ‘public impeachment’ of CEC to October 31 due to rain; invites people to join Ramlila Maidan march thesouthfirst.com/beyond-sou…

#Keralam: R. Premkumar, chairman of the Bharath Lajhna Multi-State Housing Co-operative Society (BLM), was produced before a magistrate court and subsequently taken into the custody of the Crime Branch team investigating the alleged multi-crore financial fraud. Premkumar, who was arrested from his residence in Chennai on October 29 is currently at the Crime Branch office under the Kozhikode range. The Economic Offences Wing of the Crime Branch arrested him in connection with allegations of financial fraud and fund diversion.

At Telangana’s Mulugu GMC, lack of adequate hostel beds leaves the 2026 batch sleeping on the floor thesouthfirst.com/telangana/…

Expired Nipah medicine allegation: Health Minister backtracks, says facts yet to be verified thesouthfirst.com/keralam/ex…

Three key issues arising from the arrest of economist Kalaiyarasan: MP Dr D. Ravikumar thesouthfirst.com/tamilnadu/…