Midday News -

THE HEADLINES:

Severe cyclonic storm Remal weakens into cyclonic storm; West Bengal continues to be on high alert following forecast of heavy to very heavy rainfall; Relief and rescue operations in full swing.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel orders immediate suspension of seven officials in Rajkot TRP game zone fire incident; Death toll rises to 30.
Campaigning gains momentum for seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha elections.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal files appeal in Supreme Court seeking seven-day interim bail extension.
Sensex hits seventy six thousand mark for first time, Nifty also scales a fresh peak.
And India defeat Argentina 5-4 in European leg of FIH Hockey Pro League in Belgium.

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After making a moderate impact in some areas of West Bengal, Severe cyclonic storm Remal has weakened into a cyclonic storm. The Met department today said that the cyclonic storm is expected to weaken further in the day. The state administration continues to be on high alert following forecast of heavy to very heavy rainfall. Officials said, there had been reports of the uprooting of several trees and the collapse of mud houses from certain coastal belts in the state. Coastal areas of South and North 24 Parganas, Sunderban, Kolkata, Howrah and Hooghly are receiving heavy rainfall. More from our correspondent:

“Severe cyclonic storm Remal played havoc in North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas in West Bengal. Rain continues in several districts of South Bengal, including Kolkata. Some areas are still waterlogged and without electricity. Works are on to remove the uprooted trees and drain out excess water from the affected areas. One old woman of 80 years died at Mausuni island of South 24 district last night when a tree fell on her mud-house. Another person died in Kolkata last night when a part of a building collapsed and fell on him. However, some local train services have been restored and air services at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose international airport has been resumed. Campaigning by the political leaders for the last phase of Lok Sabha election in the state have also been affected. Meanwhile, some parts of North Bengal are witnessing rainfall. SUSMITA MANDAL, WITH KALYAN LAHA FOR AKASHVANI NEWS, KOLKATA.”

Meanwhile, relief and rescue operations are in full swing in affected areas. Officials said, over one lakh people have been evacuated from vulnerable areas, especially in the coastal belts. Train services of Sealdah have been restored in South section and Barasat – Hasnabad line. Howrah – Amta local has been cancelled in the Howrah division. The truncated Metro Rail service is being operated between Dakshineswar and Girish Park, as well as between Mahanayak Uttam Kumar and Kabi Subhash. The flight services at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport have also resumed.

Talking to media, DIG of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Mohsen Shahidi said, the wind speed which was earlier about 110 to 120 kilometres per hour during landfall, now has come down to 60 to 70 kilometres per hour. Mr Shahidi said, it is expected that by evening today, this will further change into a deep depression. The DIG said, restoration work is in progress and 14 teams of NDRF are deployed in major affected areas in West Bengal and six SDRF teams are also deployed to assist.

The Indian Coast Guard has also deployed its assets for any emergency. Ports, Railways and Highways have been kept on high vigil to avoid any untoward incident.

Meanwhile, the sea conditions off the coast of northern Odisha have become rough to very rough with high waves and strong winds. The India Meteorological Department has predicted thunderstorms and gusty winds with moderate rain in some areas of Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts of the state. Many areas in these districts experienced heavy rain yesterday under the impact of cyclonic storm Remal. However, there are no reports of any damage due to rains or thunderstorms.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday chaired a meeting in New Delhi to review preparedness for cyclone “Remal” over North Bay of Bengal. IMD is also extending information support to Bangladesh with regular updates.

In Bangladesh, coastal areas are experiencing heavy rainfall due to the influence of cyclonic storm Remal. Bangladesh State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Md. Mohibur Rahman said, more than eight lakh people have been evacuated from the coastal areas. A large area of Sundarbans is inundated due to tidal surge, causing threat for wild animals.

India Meteorological Department Director General, Dr Mrutunjay Mohapatra informed in New Delhi that the adverse weather will continue to normalise in West Bengal. He added that heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected only today in eastern districts of the state and there is no forecast of extreme rainfall today.

It had weakened into a cyclonic storm this morning and was centred around 24 kilometres from Bangladesh’s Mangla in the forenoon. Its centre is located 90 kilometre away from Kolkata in the east direction and is progressing towards Assam and Meghalaya.

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The Gujarat government has suspended seven officials including two police officers, in connection with the Rajkot based TRP game zone fire case. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel ordered the immediate suspension of seven officials for alleged negligence in their work that led to the fire tragedy. Meanwhile, The Gujarat Government had taken suo Motu cognizance of the incident. The Special bench of Gujarat High Court comprising Justice Biren Vaishnav and Justice Devan Desai is currently hearing the matter.

Our correspondent reports that at least 30 people are suspected to have lost their lives in the tragic incident that took place on Saturday. The Five member Special investigation Team (SIT) headed by Additional Director General of Police Subhash Trivedi has been formed to probe the incident.

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In our series of key constituencies for Lok Sabha polls, today we bring you a report on Jaynagar parliamentary constituency in West Bengal.

Jaynagar Lok Sabha Constituency will go to poll on 1st June under the 7th and last phase of General Election to the Lok Sabha 2024. There are seven assembly segments in this constituency. They are Gosaba, Basanti, Kultali, Jaynagar, Canning Paschim, Canning Purba and Magrahat Purba. All come under South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. Jaynagar is a reserved seat for Scheduled caste. Eleven candidates including 4 independents are fighting in this seat. There are more than 18 lakhs forty thousand electors in this constituency of which nine lakhs 3 thousand one hundred 84 are female. Jaynagar’s sitting MP is Trinamool’s Pratima Mondal. Trinamool Congress has fielded her again in this election. She has held the seat since 2014. BJP’s candidate is Ashok Kandari and Left Front’s candidate is Samarendra Nath Mondal of Revolutionary Socialist Party. Sunderban Mangrove Forest and Tiger Reserve come under this Lok Sabha constituency. Kalyan Laha, Akashvani News, Kolkata.

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Campaigining intensifies for the seventh and last phase of Lok Sabha elections as leaders of various political parties are holding raillies.

In Bihar, Addressing a public meeting in Khusrupur in Patna Sahib constituency former Congress President Rahul Gandhi said NDA government has failed to provide employment to two crore youths every year. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should answer this in his report card of his government. Mr. Gandhi is also scheduled to address public meetings in Paliganj and Arrah in Pataliputra and Arrah parliamentary constituencies. Polling will be held in these constituencies under seventh phase of Lok Sabha elections on 1st June.

RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav held a public meeting in Ghoshi in Jehanabad parliamentary constituency. Senior BJP leader and Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Dr. Mohan Yadav is holding public meeting in Maner (मनेर) in Patna in support of BJP nominee of Pataliputra parliamentary constituency.

JD(U) President and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will also hold election rally in Nalanda parliamentary constituency.

In Odisha, BJD supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik held a public meeting at Barua under Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituencies. The prestigious Kendrapara Parliamentary constituency is all set to witness a fierce electoral battle in this phase of polls between two-time Lok Sabha MP and BJP’s National Vice-President Baijayant Panda and BJD’s Anshuman Mohanty.

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Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah said that the NDA will achieve 400 plus seats on June 4 and Narendra Modi will secure his position once again as the Prime Minister, while Rahul Gandhi will hold a press conference blaming the EVMs for the defeat of the I.N.D.I.A. block. He said that following the June 4 results, responsibility for the Congress’ defeat will likely be placed on its national president, Mallikarjun Kharge, leading to his resignation. Mr. Shah said this while addressing a public meeting in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh in favor of party candidate.

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Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal has filed an application before the Supreme Court seeking a seven-day extension of interim bail to undergo medical examinations. The top court had ordered the release of Mr. Kejriwal on interim bail in the money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam case till June 1 and directed him to surrender on 2nd June.

Aam Aadmi Party said, Mr. Kejriwal’s health has deteriorated since he was arrested in the alleged Delhi excise scam.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last week moved an application before a Delhi court seeking a 14-day extension of judicial custody of the AAP chief upon the expiry of the Supreme Court interim bail order on June 2.

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A retired employee of Akashvani was killed by a speeding car in Noida. 64 year old Janak Dev Shah was reportedly going to buy milk from a market near his home when a speeding car hit him from the front at an intersection in the area yesterday morning.

Noida Police said a passerby called the emergency helpline number and informed them about the accident. After that a police response vehicle rushed to the scene and took Shah to a nearby private hospital, where he was declared brought dead. The Police has registered a complaint against the unidentified vehicle driver and is investigating the matter. Director General of Akashvani has condoled the demise of Janak Dev Shah.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi today paid homage to former Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on his death anniversary. In a social media post, Mr Modi paid tributes to Mr Nehru.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior party leader Sonia Gandhi along with others today paid tributes to Mr Nehru on his 60th death anniversary at his memorial at Shanti Van in Delhi.

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The BSE benchmark Sensex hit the historic 76,000 mark for the first time in today’s afternoon session and the NSE Nifty also scaled an all-time peak in tandem with a rally in global markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 599 points to an all-time peak of 76009.68 in afternoon trade. The NSE Nifty went up by 154 points to hit a new lifetime high of 23,111.

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In Hockey, India defeated Argentina 5-4 in their fourth match of the European leg of FIH Hockey Pro League at Antwerp in Belgium. For India, Araijeet Singh Hundal in 7th minute, Gurjant Singh in 18th minute and Harmanpreet Singh in 29th, 50th and 52nd minute were on target.

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Dipa Karmakar scripted history clinching India’s first-ever gold medal at the Asian Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The 30-year-old Olympian registered an average score of 13.566 in the women’s Vault final.

This is the first time that an Indian gymnast has won a gold medal in any event at the Asian Championships.

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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN::

Severe cyclonic storm Remal weakens into cyclonic storm; West Bengal continues to be on high alert following forecast of heavy to very heavy rainfall; Relief and rescue operations in full swing.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel orders immediate suspension of seven officials in Rajkot TRP game zone fire incident; Death toll rises to 30.
Campaigning gains momentum for seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha elections.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal files appeal in Supreme Court seeking seven-day interim bail extension.
Sensex hits seventy six thousand mark for first time, Nifty also scales a fresh peak.
And India defeat Argentina 5-4 in European leg of FIH Hockey Pro League in Belgium.