Evening News -

THE HEADLINES: –

Campaigning for seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha Elections reaches top gear; Political leaders leaving no stone unturned to woo the voters.
Election Commission says, Jammu and Kashmir registers over 58 per cent polling in General Elections; Highest in last 35 years.
Cyclone Remal loses power; To weaken into deep depression by tonight.
Meteorological Department forecasts above normal monsoon this year.
Papua New Guinea revises death toll to around 2000 in Friday’s landslide; External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar expresses grief.
Sensex hits an all time high of 76000 mark today.

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Campaigning for the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha Elections has reached top gear as only three days are left for it to end. Top leaders of all political parties are touring different constituencies braving the weather to woo the voters in their favour.

In Uttar Pradesh, senior BJP leader Amit Shah addressed public meetings in Kushinagar, Salempur and Chandauli today. Mr. Shah said, this election is for development and for securing the country. He said, it is for the welfare of the poor.

BJP National President, J.P. Nadda also addressed several meetings in Varanasi. State Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Yogi Adityanath addressed public meetings in Ballia, Robertsganj, Ghosi and Varanasi.

On the other hand, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav addressed a political gathering in Ghazipur and Chandauli today. The SP Chief claimed that BJP and BSP have joined hands internally.

In the seventh and last phase of Lok Sabha elections, voting will be held on 13 seats of Uttar Pradesh on June the 1st.

In Bihar, several senior leaders and star campaigners of NDA and Grand Alliance campaigned today. Polling will be held in 8 Constituencies on the first of June.

Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi held three election rallies in Patna Sahib, Pataliputra and Arrah Lok Sabha constituencies.

RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav also held election rallies in Jehanabad, Paliganj Jagdishpur and Bihta in different parliamentary constituencies.

JD(U) President and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar held a road show in Hilsa in Nalanda parliamentary constituency. Addressing a public meeting there Mr. Kumar claimed that his government will achieve the target to provide 10 lakh government jobs by next year.

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi held rallies at Chaugan Maidan in Chamba and Chambi in the Shahpur Assembly constituency under Kangra parliamentary area. She said the I.N.D.I.A. block will empower women of poor families with the Mahalakshmi Scheme.

In Odisha, BJD supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik held a public meeting at Barua under Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituency.

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Prime Minister and senior BJP leader Narendra Modi has said, under the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision, the aim is to promote indigenous talent and increase employability. In an interview to a news agency, Mr. Modi emphasized that ‘nation first’ is at the centre of the government’s every decision.

Highlighting the investigations by state machineries, he said, the aim of the government is based on ‘zero tolerance’ and ensure evidence based action and not on perception.

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In a massive stride for India’s electoral polity, Jammu and Kashmir witnessed the highest poll participation in the last 35 years by registering 58.46 per cent voter turnout in the ongoing General Elections. The Union Territory comprises five Parliamentary constituencies, Srinagar, Baramulla, Anantnag Rajouri, Udhampur and Jammu. Udhampur recorded over 68 per cent and Jammu recorded over 72 per cent voter turnout. Srinagar recorded over 38 per cent, Baramulla more than 59 per cent and Anantnag-Rajouri registered a voter turnout of nearly 55 per cent. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar complimented the voters for this achievement.

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In the seventh phase of Lok Sabha elections, voting will be held on 13 seats of Uttar Pradesh on June 1st. This also includes the Ghosi Lok Sabha seat, which is one of the important seats of Purvanchal. On this seat, the NDA alliance has nominated Arvind Rajbhar, national general secretary of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party. Apart from him on this seat 28 Candidates are trying their luck. A report:

“Ghosi Lok Sabha seat of Purvanchal is formed by combining Mau and Ballia districts. There are five assembly constituencies in this Lok Sabha seat. This includes Madhuban, Mau, Muhammadabad Gohna and Ghosi of Mau district and Rasra Assembly of Ballia district. So far, Congress and Communist Party of India have won five times each and Bahujan Samaj Party three times. In the 2014 Modi wave, BJP candidate Harinarayan Rajbhar gave the party its first victory on this seat, but in the 2019 elections, he lost this seat again as a BJP candidate. BSP’s Atul Rai had managed to win here. This time, the NDA alliance has nominated Arvind Rajbhar, the national general secretary of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party and son of the national president of Subhaspa and state government cabinet minister Omprakash Rajbhar. Samajwadi Party’s national secretary and spokesperson, Rajeev Rai is in the electoral fray from the India Alliance. Apart from these, Bahujan Samaj Party has made former BSP MP Bal Krishna Chauhan its candidate. Om Awasthi, Akashwani News, Lucknow.”

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The Gujarat government today ordered the transfers of Rajkot City Police Commissioner and Municipal Commissioner. Rajkot city Commissioner of Police, R Bhargava will be replaced by IPS Brajesh Kumar Jha and Municipal Commissioner Anand Patel will be replaced by DD Desai. The government has also ordered transfers of Additional CP and Deputy CP of Rajkot city.

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The Meteorological Department has said that the Cyclonic Storm “Remal” is likely to move north-northeastwards, and gradually weaken further into a Deep Depression by tonight. The Cyclonic Storm over Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal moved slowly northwards, with a speed of five kilometre per hour during the past six hours. More from our Kolkata Correspondent:

“Rainfall has already stopped in South and North 24 Parganas districts of West Bengal and in Kolkata and adjoining districts after 4pm in the afternoon. The met office has informed there will be no rainfall tomorrow in South Bengal due to Remal’s effect but weather will remain cloudy. Malda, Dakshin Dinajpur, Alipurduars, Jalpaiguri and Coochbehar districts of North Bengal will receive heavy to very heavy rainfall today and tomorrow. Districts of North Bengal will also receive rainfall from 29th of May but there is no link of this with Remal. It will be the effect of Monsoon. Meanwhile the state government will review the damages caused by Cyclone Remal. Districts have been asked to submit reports. Total 4 persons have died due to the cyclone. One in Kolkata one at Mausuni Island of Sagar and two in East Bardhaman district. Kalyan Laha, Akashvani News, Kolkata.”

Meanwhile, the sea conditions off the coast of northern Odisha have become rough to very rough with high waves and strong winds.

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In Bangladesh, at least 10 people have been killed and over 30,000 homes destroyed after cyclone Remal smashed into low-lying areas of Bangladesh last night. Our Dhaka correspondent has filed this report:

“Hundreds of shrimp enclosures have been washed away while many villages on coastal areas were also submerged by the tidal surge and heavy rain. The violent storm disrupted power supply to southern districts of Bangladesh, leaving over 2 crore people without power supply since Sunday night leading to disruption of mobile networks and internet services. Navalsang Parmar, Akashwani News, Dhaka.”

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The India Meteorological Department, IMD has forecast above normal rainfall over the country as a whole during the monsoon season this year. Director General, IMD Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said this while releasing the second Stage of Long Range Forecast of Southwest Monsoon.

Dr Mohapatra further informed that conditions are favourable for onset of monsoon over Kerala and North-Eastern states in the next five days.

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In Rajasthan, people are not getting any relief from the scorching heat wave conditions. Temperature has reached record high at many places. In the last 24 hours, the maximum temperature of 49.8 degrees Celsius was recorded in Phalodi and mercury was measured above 47 degrees in ten cities.

Many patients suffering from heat stroke are being admitted to hospitals. The Health Department has set up a state level control room to deal with heatwave treatment and relief services.

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In Haryana, in view of the severe heat and heat wave summer vacation has been declared in all the schools of the state from Bal Vatika to Class 12 from tomorrow till June 30. Strict action will be taken against those educational institutions which do not follow the guidelines.

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In Papua New Guinea, around 2000 people are feared to have been buried by a massive landslide that hit the remote hillside village in Enga province of the country early morning on Friday. The National Disaster Centre gave the new number in a letter to the United Nations. The latest figure is a sharp rise from earlier estimates.

The rescuers have been struggling to find any survivors as heavy equipment and aid have been slow to arrive due to the remote location. The area continues to pose an extreme risk as rocks continue to fall and the ground soil is exposed to constant increased pressure.

External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar has expressed grief over the loss of lives in the Island country. In a social media post, Mr Jaishankar said that India’s thoughts are with the Government and the people of Papua New Guinea. Dr. Jaishankar said that India stands in solidarity with the friends at this difficult time.

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Powerful storms killed at least 20 people, injured hundreds and left a wide trail of destruction across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kentucky after tornadoes and severe weather struck the central United States. More than 120 million people remain at risk of severe weather today, concentrated over the East Coast.

On the other hand, in Afghanistan, at least 16 people have lost their lives in the recent floods in Baghlan and Badakhshan provinces. According to local officials in these provinces, 500 houses have been completely or partially destroyed in the floods.

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Director General of National Disaster Response Force, Piyush Anand has said that the Force is 24×7 ready and the relief teams are dispatched within 30 minutes after receiving the emergency call. In an exclusive interview to Akashvani News, the DG appealed to the citizens to come forward and volunteer for the noble cause.

The interview will be broadcast immediately after this news bulletin in the Spotlight programme on Akashvani Gold and other frequencies. It will also be available on our social media platforms.

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India’s benchmark stock indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 jumped to hit new all-time highs today.

The Nifty 50 peaked at an intra-day high of 23,110, while the Sensex surged to 76,009.

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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN: –

Campaigning for seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha Elections reaches top gear; Political leaders leaving no stone unturned to woo the voters.
Election Commission says, Jammu and Kashmir registers over 58 per cent polling in General Elections; Highest in last 35 years.
Cyclone Remal loses power; To weaken into deep depression by tonight.
Meteorological Department forecasts above normal monsoon this year.
Papua New Guinea revises death toll to around 2000 in Friday’s landslide; External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar expresses grief.
Sensex hits an all time high of 76000 mark today.

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