THE HEADLINES:
Campaigning ends for seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha elections. 57 Parliamentary Constituencies across seven states and a Union Territory to go to polls on Saturday.
- Assembly elections to 42 seats in Odisha along with by polls to six assembly constituencies in Himachal Pradesh to be also held in this phase.
- At least 20 people killed after bus carrying pilgrims falls into gorge in Jammu.
- RBI forecasts real GDP growth at 7 per cent for current fiscal year; Says outlook remains bright for the Indian economy.
- IMD announces onset of Southwest Monsoon in Kerala; To cover remaining parts of South India in next few days.
- And, in Badminton, Indian Women’s Doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand advance to quarterfinal of Singapore Open.
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Campaigning has ended for the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha Elections. With this, curtains have come down on the poll campaign for the General Elections.
57 Parliamentary Constituencies across seven states and a Union Territory will go to polls in this phase on Saturday. These include 13 seats each in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, 9 in West Bengal, 8 in Bihar, 6 in Odisha, 4 in Himachal Pradesh, 3 in Jharkhand and one seat in Union Territory of Chandigarh. A total of 904 candidates are in the fray in this phase of Lok Sabha polls.
Campaigning has also concluded for assembly election to 42 seats in Odisha along with byelections to six assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh which will be held on the same day.
Top leaders of various political parties today intensified their efforts with last-minute rallies and roadshows.
“Today, on the last day of the Lok Sabha election campaign, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed an election rally in Hoshiarpur while BJP National President JP Nadda held road shows and public meetings at Amritsar, Faridkot, and Roopnagar. Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reached Khatkarkalan in Nawanshahr. Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal held a road show in Sangrur, the home town of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann. Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal also remained busy with the campaign. District Electoral Officers in all the districts have taken several measures at polling stations under the heatwave management system due to scorching heat conditions. Shishu Sharma Santhal, Akashvani News, Jalandhar“
“These 13 seats of the seventh phase are spread over the Purvanchal region of the state. Keeping this in mind, tight security arrangements have been made. Especially in Sonbhadra district, which shares its borders with – Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Apart from this special vigilance is being maintained on the borders with Bihar. SSB jawans are conducting intensive checking on the international border of Gorakhpur and Kushinagar districts with the neighbouring country Nepal. The prestige of many big candidates is at stake which include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers Mahendra Nath Pandey, Pankaj Chaudhary and Anupriya Patel, film star Ravi Kishan, the main opposition candidates Ajay Rai, Afzal Ansari, Sushil Chandra Tiwari, Akashvani News Lucknow.”
“Today, senior BJP leader and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari held a rally in the Karsog region of the Mandi parliamentary constituency. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addressed a rally in the Kullu region where senior party leader and former Chief Minister Jairam Thakur was also present. Yogi Adityanath also campaigned in the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency alongside BJP candidate and Union Minister Anurag Thakur. On the other side, senior Congress leader and Party’s national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held a roadshow in Solan. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu also accompanied her. Himachal Pradesh is one of those places where there is a direct contest between the BJP and Congress. Durgesh Bhadauria for Akashvani News, Shimla.”
In Jharkhand, now political parties including the BJP, JMM, Congress, RJD and left parties have started door to door campaign, requesting people to cast their votes in favour of their candidates. Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar said a number of measures have been taken at polling booths in view of intense heat. Heavy deployment of security forces has been made to ensure free and fair polls.
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The Election Commission has refuted the rumours being spread ahead of the final phase of voting for the Lok Sabha polls. Talking to Akashvani, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that the rumour over increasing the percentage of voter turnout data was spread across the country. Dismissing the claims, Mr Kumar said no one can tamper with voter turnout data in the country as the candidates and agents were provided with the copy of form 17C which has the record of voter turnout.
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After wrapping up the Lok Sabha elections campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Kanyakumari this evening on a three-day visit to Tamil Nadu. Mr. Modi is meditating at Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari. He will meditate at the Memorial till Saturday. Earlier, Mr. Modi offered prayers at the Bhagavathi Amman Temple at the shore town.
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In Jammu and Kashmir, at least 20 people lost their lives while 15 others were injured after a bus carrying pilgrims rolled down into a deep gorge in the Tungi Morh area of Akhnoor sub division in Jammu district this afternoon. Akashvani Jammu Correspondent reports that the injured have been shifted to sub district hospital Akhnoor, from where the critically injured were referred to Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu. The bus was on its way from Jammu to Shiv Khori Cave in Reasi district and was carrying pilgrims mostly from Uttar Pradesh.
President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have expressed grief at the loss of lives in the accident in Jammu.
Prime Minister Modi also announced an ex-gratia of two lakh rupees to the next of the kin of each deceased and 50 thousand rupees to the injured.
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In Chhattisgarh, security forces have arrested 16 Maoists from different places of Bijapur district. Police claimed that the arrested Maoists were involved in cases of IED blast and digging up of roads to prevent movement of security forces in the area.
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Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar has emphasized the need for farmers to embrace technological advancements to enhance every facet of their agricultural operation. The Vice President was speaking at Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand.
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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has projected real GDP growth at 7 per cent for the current financial year, with risks evenly balanced. In its annual report, the central bank said the Indian economy expanded at a robust pace in fiscal year 2023-2024, with real GDP growth accelerating to 7.6 percent from 7 percent in the previous year. According to the annual report, the outlook for the Indian economy remains bright, underpinned by a sustained strengthening of macroeconomic fundamentals, robust financial and corporate sectors, and a resilient external sector.
The income of the RBI in the financial year 2023-24 rose around 17 percent year-on-year due to significant rise in interest income from foreign securities, as per the central bank’s report.
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India has expressed concern over the loss of civilian lives in Rafah, the Palestine city in southern Gaza. Briefing media in New Delhi today, Ministry of External Affairs’ spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, the Israeli side has already announced an investigation into the incident.
Speaking on Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s comments on the Lahore Declaration, Mr. Jaiswal said, an objective view is emerging in Pakistan on this particular matter.
Responding to a query on suspended JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna, Randhir Jaiswal said, the Ministry of External Affairs has initiated action for revocation of his diplomatic passport.
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The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has announced the onset of Southwest Monsoon over Kerala and its advancement into most parts of Northeast India today. Monsoon has arrived two days ahead of the normal onset date of first June. Talking to Akashwani News, IMD Director General, Mrityunjay Mohapatra said the Monsoon will cover the remaining parts of South India in the next two to three days.
Heavy rain continues to last Kerala with severe waterlogging being reported in many districts. Orange alert has been issued in Alappuzha, Kottayam and Ernakulam while all other districts remain under yellow alert. The State Disaster Management authorities have issued warning of landslides in hilly regions. Fishermen have been asked not to venture into the sea.
On heatwave, the IMD Director General said, intensity of heatwave conditions is likely to reduce from today.
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The flash flood continues to wreak havoc in Manipur. Imphal City has been badly affected by the flood. Most of the roads leading to Imphal town have been submerged. The Raj Bhavan and surrounding areas have also been submerged in the water. The Manipur Police, Army, Assam Rifles, NDRF and SDRF have been pressed into the rescue operations. The State Government announced a two-day holiday for all Government offices. The State Higher and Technical Education also ordered the closure of the higher educational institutes till Saturday.
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In Badminton, Indian Women’s Doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand entered the quarterfinals at the Singapore Open today.
The Commonwealth Games bronze medal list duo defeated World Number two, Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee of South Korea . The Indian pair will take on Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong of South Korea tomorrow for a place in the semi-finals.
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In Boxing, Sachin Siwach has entered the quarterfinals of the World Qualification Tournament in Bangkok, Thailand. Sachin defeated Batuhan Ciftci of Turkey with a unanimous 5-nil victory, in the Men’s 57 kg category.
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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN.
Campaigning ends for seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha elections. 57 Parliamentary Constituencies across seven states and a Union Territory to go to polls on Saturday.
- Assembly elections to 42 seats in Odisha along with bypolls to six assembly constituencies in Himachal Pradesh to be also held in this phase.
- At least 20 people killed after bus carrying pilgrims falls into gorge in Jammu.
- RBI forecasts real GDP growth at 7 per cent for current fiscal year; Says outlook remains bright for the Indian economy.
- IMD announces onset of Southwest Monsoon in Kerala; To cover remaining parts of South India in next few days.
- And, in Badminton, Indian Women’s Doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand advance to quarterfinal of Singapore Open.
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