THE HEADLINES :
- Campaigning for second phase of Lok Sabha Elections to end this evening; Polling in 89 constituencies in 13 states and UT of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday.
- Leaders of major political parties holding back to back rallies and road shows to woo voters.
- President Droupadi Murmu to attend convocation ceremony of Indian Forest Service Probationers in Dehradun today.
- DRDO develops lightest Bullet Proof Jacket of country for protection against highest threat Level of BIS ammunition.
- Fifteen flights diverted from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport due to bad weather.
- In IPL Cricket, Lucknow Super Giants beat Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in Chennai.
<><><>
Campaigning for the second phase of Lok Sabha Elections will end this evening. Top leaders of all political parties are busy in intense campaigning by holding back to back rallies and road shows to woo voters in their favour. All twenty seats in Kerala, 14 of 28 in Karnataka, 13 of 25 seats in Rajasthan, eight each in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, seven in Madhya Pradesh, five each in Assam and Bihar, three each in West Bengal and Chhattisgarh and one each in Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir will go to polls in this phase on Friday. Voting in 13 Assembly segments of Outer Manipur Parliamentary Constituency of Manipur will also be held on same day.
<><><>
Senior BJP leader and Prime Minister, Narendra Modi will be on a tour of Madhya Pradesh today. After public meetings in Sagar and Harda, he will hold a road show in Bhopal.
Meanwhile, in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections, voting will be held in six Lok Sabha constituencies of Madhya Pradesh on 26th April. Election campaigning will end in these areas at 6 pm today.
“In the second phase of Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh, voting will be held in Tikamgarh, Damoh, Khajuraho, Satna, Rewa and Hoshangabad seats.
Election campaign is at its peak in Madhya Pradesh.
Senior BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a public meeting at Bartooma in Sagar Lok Sabha constituency. After that, Mr Modi will address a public meeting in Harda in Betul Lok Sabha constituency. At seven pm in the evening, the Prime Minister will hold a road show of about one kilometer of distance in Bhopal.
On the other hand, State Congress President Jitu Patwari, former Union Minister Arun Yadav and MP Vivek Tankha will campaign in Jhabua and Dhar seats. NSUI has also taken up the campaigning in between youth for Congress candidates. BSP and independent candidates are also busy campaigning with full force.-Sanjeev Sharma, Akashvani News, Bhopal”.
<><><>
Union Home Minister and BJP senior leader Amit Shah held a road show in Bengaluru South constituency yesterday. He blamed the State Congress Government for corruption and appeasement politics. He charged that the Chief Minister’s inaction in addressing law and order has emboldened the radical elements across the state. He said Congress support to organisations linked to extremist activities has led to law and order issues in the state. Amit Shah sought voters’ support for the development oriented governance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BJP leader B S Yediyurappa, the leader of the Opposition in legislative Assembly R Ashok and Bengaluru South BJP candidate Tejasvi Surya among others were present during the road show.
<><><>
Mr. Amit Shah will address a rally in favour of BJP candidate and sitting MP Navneet Rana, in Amravati city of Maharashtra. Congress Leader, Rahul Gandhi will also address a rally at Paratwada in Amravati district this afternoon. Congress Candidate Balwant Wankhede is contesting Amravati Lok Sabha seat for the first time.
A total of 37 candidates are in the fray for this constituency, which is reserved for Scheduled Castes.
Grandson of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, Anandraj Ambedkar is also contesting the seat. He is supported by the Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi. Bahujan Samaj Party has also fielded Sanjay Gadge as a candidate. This constituency will go to polls on the 26th of this month.
<><><>
In Kerala, all three major political fronts are in a heated campaign mode with the presence of national leaders. Senior BJP leader Amit Shah will campaign for NDA in Alappuzha today. Congress leader, Priyanka Gandhi is in Wayanad to campaign for United Democratic Front. Senior left front leaders including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will campaign for Left Democratic Front.
The State Chief Electoral Officer, Sanjay Kaul has informed that the State is fully prepared for the election and directed everyone to strictly adhere to the code of conduct. The southern most state of India has over 2.77 crore voters, who will be casting their votes in 25,358 polling booths across the State on Friday.
<><><>
In our series, covering profiles of key constituencies across States and Union Territories during the Lok Sabha elections, today we bring a report on Mysore Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka.
“Mysore is the culture capital of Karnataka known for its palaces and arcades. It also has a vibrant electoral history. The Mysore Lok Sabha constituency consists of six assembly segments in Mysore district and two from Kodagu district. Out of these eight assembly segments, two in Kodagu and three in Mysore are held by Congress MLAs, two by JD(S) and one by BJP. There are 18 candidates in fray from here. Apart from Congress and BJP candidates, there are eight from Registered Unrecognised parties and eight others are Independents. There are over 20 lakh 72 thousand voters in the constituency. Pratap Simha from BJP represented the seat in 2014 securing 43.46 percent of the votes and in 2019 securing 52.27 percent votes. However this time Pratap Simha has been replaced by Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamraja Wadiyar, the scion of the Wadiyar royal family that ruled Mysore earlier. Yaduveer is taking on the Congress candidate Lakshman M. JD(S) is in coalition with BJP and has not fielded its candidate from the constituency. Sudhindra, Akashvani News, Bengaluru.”
<><><>
President Droupadi Murmu, currently on a two-day visit to Uttarakhand, will be attending the convocation ceremony of the Indian Forest Service Probationers as the Chief Guest at the Forest Research Institute-FRI in Dehradun today.
99 probationers from the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, along with two trainee officers from the friendly nation of Bhutan, will be graduating from the academy’s 2022-24 batch.
The state of Madhya Pradesh is going to get the maximum number of 15 officers from the current batch while Uttarakhand will get the services of three officers.
<><><>
Defence Research and Development Organisation, DRDO has successfully developed the lightest Bullet Proof Jacket in the country for protection against highest threat Level 6 of BIS ammunition. Recently, this bullet proof jacket was successfully tested at TBRL, Chandigarh. Ministry of Defence in a statement said, this jacket is based upon new design approach, where novel material along with new processes have been used. It added that the front Hard Armour Panel (HAP) of this jacket defeats multiple hits. The ergonomically designed front HAP is made up of monolithic ceramic plate with polymer backing which enhances the wearability and comfort during the operation.
<><><>
In a decisive move, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested the key accused in the 2022 Attari border narcotics haul case. The Agency confirmed the arrest of the accused Tahseem alias Mota who is a resident of Shamli, Uttar Pradesh. NIA said that Customs officials intercepted around 103 kilograms of heroin, valued at approximately seven hundred crore rupees in April 2022 after it was smuggled into India from Afghanistan through Attari, Amritsar. The case relates to a major conspiracy hatched by the international drug cartel to circulate drugs in India through various distributors and channelize the proceeds to the foreign-based masterminds.
<><><>
University Grants Commission organised a workshop on Institutional Development Plan, IDP for higher educational institutions in New Delhi. The workshop aimed at empowering Higher Educational Institutions for their academic and professional excellence, in the light of UGC Guidelines on Institutional Development Plan. Aligning with the National Education Policy, the IDP provides the institutions a clear roadmap to develop their vision, mission and goals for a future-ready education system.
<><><>
The Bombay High Court has held that Mufaddal Saifuddin, the 53rd Dai is the rightful leader of the Dawoodi Bohra community. Dismissing a nine year old suit challenging his leadership, a single judge bench of Justice Gautam Patel opined that the original plaintiff Khuzaima Qutbuddin could not prove his appointment as the Syedna.
<><><>
External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar has said that India truly believes that a strong and unified Association of South East Asian Nations, ASEAN, can play a constructive role in the emerging regional architecture of the Indo-Pacific. Speaking at the First ASEAN Future Forum virtually, Dr. Jaishankar said that the synergy between India’s Indo Pacific Ocean’s Initiative and the ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Pacific provides a strong framework of cooperation addressing challenges to comprehensive security.
<><><>
Due to unfavourable weather conditions in the National Capital, 15 flights have been diverted from the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Out of these flights, nine were diverted to Jaipur, two each to Amritsar and Lucknow, and one each to Mumbai and Chandigarh.
The National Capital experienced a sudden change in weather as rain lashed several parts of Delhi last evening. According to the Meteorological Department, the maximum temperature in Delhi dropped to 36.8 degrees Celcius which is slightly below normal. Along with the rain, gusty winds were also experienced.
<><><>
Widespread light to moderate rainfall and snowfall accompanied with isolated thunderstorm is expected over North east India till the 29th of this month. India Meteorological Department has forecast rainfall over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Odisha and Sikkim for the next two to three days.
<><><>
In IPL Cricket, Lucknow Super Giants defeated Chennai Super Kings by six wickets at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai last night. Lucknow overhauled the target of 211, reaching 213 for four, in 19.3 overs. Marcus Stoinis with his unbeaten century of 124 runs in just 63 balls led them to victory.
Earlier, put in to bat first, Chennai scored 210 runs for the loss of four wickets in 20 overs. Skipper Rituraj Gaikwad scored his second IPL hundred with 108 runs in 60 balls, while Shivam Dube made 66 off just 27. Currently, Lucknow stands at fourth position in the points table, while Chennai is at fifth.
Today, Delhi Capitals will take on Gujarat Titans at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The match will start at 7.30 PM IST.
<><><>
India has announced a 15-member relay team for the next World Athletics Relays 2024 tournament. The competition, serving as a qualifying event for the upcoming Paris Olympics, will take place in Nassau, Bahamas on 4th and 5th of next month. The team will represent India in the 4×400 metre relays for the Men’s, Women’s and the Mixed categories.
<><><>
TODAY’S NEWSPAPERS HEADLINE:
- The Pioneer headlines, “Modi takes Hanuman Chalisa dig at Congress.”
- “Kejriwal and Kavitha to stay in jail till May 7,” reports The Hindu and all dailies. All papers have also noticed update on Mr. Kejriwal’s health. The Times of India writes, “Kejriwal given insulin in jail on Monday night after spike.”
- In an important directive by the DGCA, the aviation watchdog,DGCA has asked all airlines to ensure children upto the age of 12 years are seated with their parents. The Statesman writes, “Ensure children below 12 are seated with their parents says DGCA.”
- And finally, All dailies have covered the spell of rain in the capital after blazing afternoons. Hindustan Times carries a picture of India Gate with the rainbow arch above it. The caption says, “Capital gets evening rain after dust storm.”
<><><>
THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN.
- Campaigning for second phase of Lok Sabha Elections to end this evening; Polling in 89 constituencies in 13 states and UT of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday.
- Leaders of major political parties holding back to back rallies and road shows to woo voters.
- President Droupadi Murmu to attend convocation ceremony of Indian Forest Service Probationers in Dehradun today.
- DRDO develops lightest Bullet Proof Jacket of country for protection against highest threat Level of BIS ammunition.
- Fifteen flights diverted from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport due to bad weather.
- In IPL Cricket, Lucknow Super Giants beat Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in Chennai.
<><><>