THE HEADLINES:
- Electioneering reaches feverish pitch with one day left for campaigning for fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections.
- India says Chabahar port will provide connectivity to landlocked Central Asian countries.
- Government issues advisory to nationals travelling to Cambodia for jobs to be wary of fake agents.
- In Table Tennis Poymantee Baisya and Akash Pal clinch mixed doubles title at WTT Cappadocia Feeder in Turkey.
- In Thailand Open Badminton, men’s and women’s doubles pair advance to semi-finals.
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Electioneering has reached a feverish pitch with leaders of various political parties criss crossing states to garner support. Campaigning will come to an end tomorrow. Polling in this phase will be held on Monday in 49 constituencies from eight states and union territories. Prime Minister and senior BJP leader Narendra Modi addressed a rally at Dadar in Maharashtra. Before arriving at the venue the Prime Minister paid his tributes to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar at Chaityabhooomi and Swatantryaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar at Savarkar Smarak.
On the other hand INDIA alliance is holding a rally at Bandra-Kurla Complex Ground in Mumbai.
Earlier today the Prime Minister addressed rallies at Hamirpur, Barabanki and Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh. Speaking at a rally in Hamirpur he attacked the Congress party again on the issue of minority reservation.
In a major development Samajwadi Party MLA from Unchahar constituency in Raebareli Manoj Pandey today joined the BJP in the presence of senior party leader Amit Shah. Later,the senior party leader also addressed a political gathering in Unchahar and stated that if the I.N.D.I.A. block comes to power, they will lock the Ram temple again.
Senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh addressed a gathering in Ballia district, affirming that the BJP is poised to come to power for the third consecutive term.
Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav and former Congress President Rahul Gandhi campaigned jointly today in favour of Kishori Lal Sharma, the Congress candidate from Amethi, who is contesting against Smriti Irani. Samajwadi Party chief, Akhilesh Yadav said that once they will come to power the I.N.D.I.A. block will make law on MSP for the welfare of farmers.
Bahujan Samaj Party Supremo Mayawati addressed a political gathering in Pratapgarh district today and attacked on BJP and Congress. She said that both the parties indulged in corruption.
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In Odisha, heavyweight leaders of major political parties are on the campaign trail, seeking votes for their party nominees for the fifth phase of elections, scheduled to be held on the 20th of this month. Bargarh, Sundergarh, Bolangir, Kandhamal and Aska parliamentary constituencies and 35 Assembly seats under their purview are going for simultaneous polls in this phase. Senior BJP leader Amit Shah addressed a public meeting at Rourkela under Sundergarh parliamentary constituency and sought votes for party candidate incumbent MP and former Union Minister Jual Oram. BJP leader and Bollywood star Hema Malini also campaigned for the party and held roadshows at Cuttack under Cuttack parliamentary constituency, Pipili under Puri parliamentary constituency besides addressing a public meeting at Bhubaneswar.
BJD Chief and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is also on a marathon election tour to the western parts of the state. He held four public meetings at PHD Ground under Sambalpur parliamentary constituency, Naktideula in Bargarh parliamentary constituency, Angul town and Dhenkanal town under Dhenkanal parliamentary constituency. He criticised the opposition parties for propagating false information against his government and said, if voted back to power for sixth consecutive terms, the BJD government will give free electricity to the people.
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In Bihar, BJP has alleged that RJD nominee from Saran Lok Sabha constituency Dr. Rohini Acharya has concealed several facts in her affidavit but the returning officer validated the nomination papers in haste. Dr. Acharya is the daughter of RJD Chief Lalu Prasad and making her debut in electoral politics with Lok Sabha elections.
Talking to media persons in Patna, BJP leader S D Sanjay today said that the RJD nominee has concealed the facts related to the status of her citizenship, passport and residential status in the affidavit but these matters were overlooked by the returning officer.
He said BJP nominee from Saran Rajiv Pratap Rudy had raised the issue but it was ignored by the authorities.
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The Congress has alleged that the efforts made by the Central Government in the last 10 years regarding air pollution in Delhi are not showing any effect. Briefing media at the Delhi State Congress office today, Party General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said the environment plays a vital role in the Delhi elections, given that the city ranks amongst the highest in air pollution.
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Hazaribagh Lok Sabha Constituency in Jharkhand will witness a battle between the BJP and the Congress. We have more details on this from our correspondent.
“In Jharkhand, all eyes are on the Hazaribagh Lok Sabha seat which is all set to witness a hi-octane battle between the BJP and Congress. The BJP has replaced Jayant Sinha who is the sitting MP from this seat with Manish Jaiswal who is pitted against Congress’ INDIA Bloc nominee Jai prakash Bhai Patel. The Hazaribagh seat is considered one of the safest seats for the BJP as Jayant Sinha had won from here for two consecutive terms. Hazaribagh Lok Sabha seat is spread across three districts which include Ramgarh, Hazaribagh and Koderma. There are a total of five assembly segments that falls under Hazaribagh seat like Hazaribagh Sadar, Barhi, Badkagaon, Mandu and Ramgarh which have distinct topography and each segment has its own issues. There are more than 19 lakh voters in the Hazaribagh seat with above 9 lakh 68 thousand male voters and 9 lakh 31 thousand female voters. There 2 thousand 2 hundred and 54 polling booths and 44 thousand first time voters as well in the constituency. Coal which is found in abundance provides more employment to the locals after agriculture sector. From tourism point of view, Hazaribagh has Patratu Dam, Konar Dam, Hazaribagh waterfall. Besides, there is also wildlife sanctuary in the constituency. With Shilpi this is Kunal Shinde, Akashvani News, Ranchi.”
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Withdrawal of candidature for the seventh phase of the Lok Sabha polls ended today. A total of 57 Lok Sabha Constituencies in seven States and one Union Territory will go to poll in this phase on the 1st of next month.
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The Election Commission has issued a show cause notice to BJP Lok Sabha candidate in Tamluk, West Bengal, Abhijit Gangopadhyay for his alleged derogatory remarks against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The Commission said, his comments have been found improper, injudicious, beyond dignity in every sense of the term and in bad taste. It is also found to be prime facie violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
The Poll Body has sought his response by Monday evening on why action should not be taken against him.
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In Ladakh, the Election Authority today air lifted the polling parties deployed at two polling stations namely Dipling and Jingchen of Leh district.
Four sorties of helicopters, with the assistance of the Indian Army, have been arranged for the transportation of the polling parties and polling materials to reach these polling stations unconnected by road.
The Lone Ladakh Parliamentary and the Country’ s area wise largest Parliamentary Constituency will go to poll in the Fifth Phase on Monday.
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The External Affairs Ministry today said that India sees Chabahar port as India’s commitment towards realizing the potential of the place as a connectivity hub for Afghanistan and for landlocked central Asian countries. Briefing media in Delhi this afternoon, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the long term agreement between India and Iran is a major achievement.
The spokesperson informed that Secretary (Economic Relations) in the External Affairs Ministry, Dammu Ravi will pay a two day visit to Kazakhstan’s Astana on the 20th of this month to represent India in the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, SCO Council of Foreign Ministers. On the fourth Indian arrested by Canada in Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s murder, the spokesperson said India has not been formally conveyed this so far. He also said that no consular request has been received either.
Replying to a query on recent protests in Pakistan occupied Kashmir, he said the protests are a result of the policies over there. He added that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh will always remain an integral part of India.
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The External Affairs Ministry has issued an Advisory for Indian nationals travelling to Cambodia and the South East Asian region for jobs asking them to be wary of fake agents. The advisory issued by Indian Embassies in Cambodia and Laos said many fake agents operating in the region, along with agents in India, are luring people to scam companies, involved especially in cyber crimes. The Advisory stated that anybody who takes up a job in Cambodia should do so only through authorised agents approved by the External Affairs Ministry.
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The Supreme Court today reserved its verdict on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s petition challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise scam but granted him liberty to move the trial court for regular bail.
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The India Meteorological Department has said the south-west Monsoon is likely to set in over Kerala by the month end. The Met Department has issued orange alert in two districts of the state today. More from our Kochi Correspondent:
“The Met Department has issued Orange alert in Malappuram and Wayanad districts, indicating the possibility of heavy to very heavy rainfall. It has also issued yellow alerts in 10 other districts, including Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Kottayam and Ernakulam. Thunderstorm accompanied by gusty winds with speed reaching upto 50 kmph is very likely to occur in one or two places in the state. Squally weather with windspeed reaching up to 45 kmph is likely to prevail along and off South Kerala coast and Lakshadweep area. Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea. As per the latest weather forecast, rains will further intensify from Sunday onwards, and more districts are likely to receive very heavy to extremely very heavy rainfall next week. Raj Mohan, Akashavani News, Kochi.”
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The Indian table tennis duo of Poymantee Baisya and Akash clinched the mixed doubles title at World Table Tennis (WTT) Feeder tournament held in Cappadocia.
The duo secured their triumph after a fierce battle against fellow Indians Anirban Ghosh and Swastika Ghosh.
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The Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty advanced to the semi-finals of the 2024 Thailand Open today. Indian pair defeated Malaysia’s Junaidi Arif & Roy King Yap by a scoreline of 21-7, 21-14 in the men’s singles quarterfinal match.
Earlier, Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto made it through to the women’s doubles semi-final after a tense match against South Korea’s Lee Yu Lim and Shin Seung Chan.
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In IPL cricket, match between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Mumbai Indians is underway at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN: –
- Electioneering reaches feverish pitch with one day left for campaigning for fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections.
- India says Chabahar port will provide connectivity to landlocked Central Asian countries.
- Government issues advisory to nationals travelling to Cambodia for jobs to be wary of fake agents.
- In Table Tennis Poymantee Baisya and Akash Pal clinch mixed doubles title at WTT Cappadocia Feeder in Turkey.
- In Thailand Open Badminton, men’s and women’s doubles pair advance to semi-finals.
- For details of these stories and more, log on to our website www.newsonair.gov.in and News On Air App.
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