THE HEADLINES::
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, BJP government will take bigger decisions against corruption in first 100 days in its third term; Describes Congress’ manifesto as a bundle of lies.
- Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge hits out at BJP saying his party is fighting to save democracy and Constitution in the country.
- Communist Party of India releases its election manifesto.
- CBI busts infant-trafficking network in Delhi and Haryana; Three infants rescued.
- And, Indian shuttlers Anupama Upadhyaya and M. Tharun clinch their singles titles at Kazakhstan International Badminton Challenge tournament.
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Terming Congress’ manifesto as a bundle of lies, Prime Minister and Senior BJP leader Narendra Modi today announced that his third term is not far off and the BJP government is going to take bigger decisions in the first 100 days against corruption. Mr. Modi was addressing an election meeting this afternoon in Pushkar of Rajasthan. He said the action that took place in the last ten years is a trailer. There is a lot that needs to be done. He termed the Congress manifesto as a bundle of lies and said that each of its pages smells of dividing the nation.
He said today’s Congress has neither principles nor policies left. It seems that Congress has given everything on contract. Such a Congress cannot do any work in the interest of the country. Making a scathing attack on the Congress, he said it is a family based party and also a corrupt party. He said the BJP is committed to building a new India. Speaking on his guarantees, he said that Happiness, respect, security and prosperity of women power is Modi’s guarantee.
Later, in the evening the Prime Minister held a roadshow at Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. The roadshow was organised from Maliwara Chowk in Naya Ganj to Chaudhary Mod in Gandhi Nagar. A large number of people gathered on both sides of the road, welcomed Mr Modi enthusiastically. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was also present on the occasion. The polling will be held in the second phase on the 26th of April.
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Defence Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh today assured the countrymen that the country’s borders are completely safe. Addressing a public meeting in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh, he said that during the Congress government, terrorist incidents used to take place in one state or the other, but our government has strongly stopped them.
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Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge has said the Congress is fighting to save democracy and the Constitution in the country. Addressing an election event of the party in Jaipur this afternoon in which the party launched its manifesto ‘Nyay Patra’, the Congress chief said the Congress worked for development in 55 years of its rule, created infrastructure, and setup institutions like IIT and IIM but the BJP was only taking credit by flagging off trains on tracks laid by the Congress governments.
Addressing the rally Senior Congress leader and former president of the party Sonia Gandhi claimed that for the last 10 years, the country has been in the hands of a government that left no stone unturned to promote unemployment, inflation, economic crisis and inequality. She said the country is not the property of a few people, it belongs to everyone.
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The Congress today released a list of six candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The party has fielded Ramakant Khalap from the North Goa constituency and Capt Viriato Fernandes from the South Goa constituency. Satyapal Singh Sikarwar will contest from Morena in Madhya Pradesh, and Praveen Pathal will fight from the Gwalior constituency.
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The Congress Party kicked off its general election campaign in Telangana with a grand public meeting titled “Jana Jatara,” at Thukkuguda, Ranga Reddy district 40 kilometers from the State capital Hyderabad this evening. AICC Leader Rahul Gandhi, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and other ministers were present on the occasion. Notable leaders of the Mahakutami alliance and the Congress also occupied the stage. During the meeting, the Congress National Manifesto was released in Telugu. The manifesto, comprising 23 points related to Telangana, pledged to grant national status to Medaram tribal Festival and the Palamuru Rangareddy irrigation project.
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The Communist Party of India (CPI) today released its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections. It was released by the Party General Secretary D Raja in New Delhi. In its manifesto, the party has said that it will work towards complete restoration of the Old Pension Scheme, abolishment of Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and will fight to promote the public sector with equality of opportunity along with ensuring reservations in the private sector. The CPI will also strive for increasing minimum wages to 700 rupees under MGNREGA and increasing the available work days to 200 in a calender year.
Addressing the media, D Raja said that this General Election has become very crucial for the country and its future. He also accused the Narendra Modi government of not fulfilling the promise of Acche din.
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In Uttar Pradesh, voting will be held on eight seats in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections. Pilibhit is one of the important seats in this phase. BJP has fielded State Public Works Department Minister Jitin Prasad on this seat. Samajwadi Party has given ticket to former MLA and minister Bhagwat Saran Gangwar and Bahujan Samaj Party has again nominated former Bisalpur MLA and former minister Anees Ahmed Khan alias Phoolbabu. Apart from these, seven other candidates are also contesting the elections. Akashvani correspondent reports:
“There are five assembly constituencies in Pilibhit Lok Sabha constituency. It includes four assemblies of Pilibhit district namely Puranpur, Bisalpur, Barkheda and Pilibhit. One Bahedi assembly of Bareilly district is also included in this. Here 18 lakh 31 thousand 699 voters will decide the future of 10 candidates on April 19. Of these, 9 lakh 78 thousand 577 are male voters. The number of women voters is 8 lakh 53 thousand 82, while there are 40 third gender voters. After being denied ticket, sitting MP Varun Gandhi has not yet come to Pilibhit and has not protested in any way, yet all eyes are on his next step. SP and BSP candidates are making the contest interesting. There is also a myth associated with the Pilibhit Lok Sabha seat that mostly people from outside the district have been elected as MPs here. Interesting thing is that out of the 10 candidates contesting this time, 5 belong to other districts.Om Awasthi, Akashvani News Lucknow.”
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BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda and five other newly elected members of the Rajya Sabha took oath today. Vice-President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Jagdeep Dhankhar administered the oath to them as members of the Rajya Sabha in Parliament House. Ashokrao Shankarrao Chavan and Chunnilal Garasiya of BJP, Susmita Dev and Mohammad Nadimul Haque of AITC and Anil Kumar Yadav Mandadi of Congress took oath as Rajya Sabha members. Later all the members also took a group photograph with the Rajya Sabha Chairman.
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The Central Bureau of Investigation, CBI has busted a network of infant traffickers involved in buying and selling of infants across India. As part of the operation, the CBI conducted searches at seven locations across Delhi and Haryana. One male infant, just one and a half day old, another just 15 days old and a one- month old female child have also been rescued by CBI during the operation. Incriminating articles including 5.5 lakh rupees cash and other documents have been recovered during searches. CBI also arrested seven accused.
CBI registered a criminal case against ten accused on allegations that a network of infant traffickers are involved in buying and selling of infants across India for the purpose of adoption as well as for other illegal purposes.
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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested two key conspirators in West Bengal’s Bhupatinagar blast case that killed three persons in December 2022. The NIA in a statement today said the accused were arrested amid stiff resistance from an unruly crowd in the state’s East Medinipore district. One team member of the NIA suffered minor injury and the agency’s official vehicle was also damaged as some miscreants in the crowd assaulted them.
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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) today raided multiple locations in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the CPI (Maoist) anti India conspiracy case. NIA teams carried out searches at the premises of accused and suspected persons at 11 locations in Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh and one location in Kaimur district of Bihar, in connection with the case registered originally by the Anti Terror Squad of Uttar Pradesh. The Agency in a statement said that several digital devices, including mobile phones, SIM cards and memory cards, along with incriminating documents like pamphlets of the proscribed Naxal outfit were seized during today’s searches.
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In Chhattisgarh, three Maoists were killed in an encounter with security forces. The exchange of fire took place near Dolliguda jungles in Usoor area of Bijapur district. This area is near the Chhattisgarh- Telangana inter State border.
After the encounter, security personnel recovered bodies of three male Maoists along with one Light machine gun, one AK 47 rifle and huge quantity of arms and ammunition from the spot.
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A Delhi court has extended the judicial custody of Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia till the 18th of this month in the alleged money laundering case related to the Delhi Excise Policy Scam case. Special Judge Kaveri Baweja of Rouse Avenue Court extended the AAP leader’s judicial custody today after he was produced before the court on the expiry of his judicial custody granted earlier. AAP leader Sanjay Singh, a co-accused in the case, also appeared before the court for the proceedings. Sanjay Singh recently got bail from the Supreme Court in the case.
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External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar today said 17 Indian workers who were lured into unsafe and illegal work in Laos, are on their way back home. In a social media post, Dr Jaishankar lauded the Indian Embassy in Laos and thanked Lao authorities for their support in the safe repatriation.
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Mexico has suspended relations with Ecuador after the arrest of former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas by Ecuadorean authorities from the Mexican embassy in Quito last evening. Jorge Glas, convicted twice for corruption, had been holed up in the embassy in Quito since seeking political asylum in December, arguing he was being persecuted by the attorney general’s office.
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Indian shuttlers Anupama Upadhyaya and M. Tharun have clinched the Women’s and Men’s singles titles, at the Kazakhstan International Badminton Challenge tournament in Astana.
However, in mixed doubles, Sanjai Srivatsa Dhanraj and Maneesha K lost to Malaysia’s Wong Tien Ci and Lim Chiew Sien in the summit clash.
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In Hockey, Australia defeated India 5-1 in the opening Test of the five-match series in Perth today. Australia scored at least once in each quarter.
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In IPL Cricket, Royal Challengers Bengaluru have set a target of 184 runs for Rajasthan Royals at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Royal Challengers Bengaluru scored 183 runs for 3 wickets in stipulated 20 overs. For Bengaluru, Virat Kohli scored an impressive century with 113 not out off 72 balls. Earlier, Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field. Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in Hyderabad last night.
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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, BJP government will take bigger decisions against corruption in first 100 days in its third term; Describes Congress’ manifesto as a bundle of lies.
- Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge hits out at BJP saying his party is fighting to save democracy and Constitution in the country.
- Communist Party of India releases its election manifesto.
- CBI busts infant-trafficking network in Delhi and Haryana; Three infants rescued.
- And, Indian shuttlers Anupama Upadhyaya and M. Tharun clinch their singles titles at Kazakhstan International Badminton Challenge tournament.
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