THE HEADLINES:
- Notification for second phase of Lok Sabha elections to be issued today.
- Army Commanders’ Conference 2024 to begin today in New Delhi in hybrid mode.
- Delhi High Court refuses to grant immediate interim relief to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with excise policy scam.
- Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to arrive on a two-day visit to India today.
- Indo- Australian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden to play their Men’s Doubles Semi Final match in Miami Open Tennis today.
- And in Cricket IPL, Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Mumbai Indians by 31 runs.
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The notification for the second phase of Lok Sabha election will be issued today. 88 Lok Sabha seats in 12 States and Union Territories along with the remaining part of the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency will go to polls in this phase on 26th of next month. Last date for filing of nominations is 4th of April.
The filing of nominations for the first phase of Lok Sabha Elections along with single-phase Assembly polls in two north-eastern states ended last evening. In Bihar, today is the last day for filling of papers for the first phase of parliamentary Elections. We spoke to Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar H. R. Srinivas
In the first phase, 102 Lok Sabha seats in 17 States and four Union Territories along with 32 Assembly constituencies in Sikkim and 60-member House in Arunachal Pradesh will go to polls on 19th of next month. Among states going to polls in a single phase for the Lok Sabha polls are Tamil Nadu, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Lakshadeep, Anadaman and Nicobar Islands and Puducherry.
The scrutiny of nominations will take place today and the last day for the withdrawal of candidatures is Saturday.
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Several prominent candidates across the country filed their nomination for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls on the last day yesterday. Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, filed his papers for Nagpur Lok Sabha Constituency in Maharashtra. In Tripura, BJP nominee from Tripura West Lok Sabha constituency, Biplab Kumar Deb and his nearest rival from Congress Ashish Saha have filed their nominations.
Congress also released another list of 14 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls on the last day of filing the nominations. The party has fielded Dolly Sharma from Ghaziabad Lok Sabha seat while Nakul Dubey will fight from Sitapur seat in UP. Party leader Kalicharan Munda will contest from Khunti Lok Sabha seat in Jharkhand. Pratap Bhanu Sharma has been given ticket from Vidisha and Rao Yadvendra Singh from Guna Parliamentary constituency in Madhya Pradesh.
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More than 150 nominations have been filed for the first phase of voting in Madhya Pradesh. Notification for another seven Lok Sabha seats will be issued today in the second phase.
“A total of 153 nomination papers have been filed by 113 candidates in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh. Voting will be held on 19 April in six seats of the state, namely Sidhi, Shahdol, Jabalpur, Mandla, Balaghat and Chhindwara, in the first phase. On the last day of filing nomination papers, yesterday , 64 candidates filed 89 nomination papers . Maximum 33 nominations have been filed in Jabalpur while minimum 14 in Shahdol. On the other hand, since the implementation of the model code of conduct, the teams of the Election Commission have seized materials worth about 32 crore rupees. This includes cash of more than 1 crore 58 lakh rupees. Sanjeev Sharma, Akashvani News, Bhopal.”
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The Notifications have been issued today for the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies of Rajasthan under the second phase of the election. With the notification, nomination process will start in Tonk Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Pali, Jodhpur, Barmer, Jalore, Udaipur, Banswara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Bhilwara, Kota and Baran- Jhalawar seats today. Meanwhile, the nomination process was completed yesterday for the 12 Lok sabha seats of the state for the first phase of election.
“A total of 131 Candidates have filed nominations at the 12 Lok Sabha constituencies for the first phase of election. Maximum 17 candidates have submitted their nomination papers on Jaipur Rural Lok Sabha seat whereas Just Four candidates have filed nominations for Karauli Dholpur Lok Sabha Seat. Sixteen candidates each have filed nominations on Churu, Sikar and Jaipur Lok Sabha Seats. Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place today. Meanwhile, the election campaign has been kicked off with the nominations and candidates have set up their offices for campaigning. WITH Jitendra Dwivedi, CHIRAG JHA FOR Akashwani News, Jaipur.”
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In Arunachal Pradesh also, the filing of nominations for the simultaneous elections for two Lok Sabha and 60 Legislative Assembly seats ended last night.
15 candidates have filed nominations for the two parliamentary seats. For Arunachal West seat, 8 nominations were filed and for Arunachal East seat, 7 nominations were filed.
In the state Assembly elections, 197 candidates have filed nominations for the 60 Legislative Assembly constituencies. The office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Arunachal Pradesh have informed that only one nomination each were received in 5 Assembly constituencies.
All the candidates who have filed nominations in these 5 Assembly seats are from BJP. They are Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Techi Ratu, Jikke Tako, Nyato Dokam and Mutchu Mithi.
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In Punjab, preparations are in full swing for the Lok Sabha elections, along with other parts of the country. A notification will be issued on the 5th of May for the seventh and last phase of voting in the State on the 1st of June. Thus, most of the political parties are still considering the names of the candidates. The turnout was recorded at 65. 9-4 per cent in the 2019 General Elections. The office of the Chief Electoral Officer is running a special campaign to make people aware to use their franchise to achieve the target of surpassing 70 per cent voter turnout i.e. ‘Is baar-70 Paar’.
“The 13 Lok Sabha constituencies, including four reserved for the Scheduled Caste category are spread over the Doaba, Majha and Malwa areas of Punjab. The total number of voters is 2 crore 12 lakh 71 thousand 246, which is 3 Lakh 78 thousand 573 more than 2019 Lok Sabha elections. 4 lakh 89 thousand 631 young voters will exercise their franchise for the first time. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party has announced its candidates for eight constituencies so far and five are state cabinet ministers. All other major political parties, including the BJP, Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal, are still considering the names of candidates. In the 2019 general elections, the Congress-led UPA won in eight while the NDA alliance won in four constituencies and Aam Aadmi Party opened its account in the Lok Sabha by winning in one constituency. This time almost all the major political parties have not been able to form an alliance and multi-cornered contests will be seen. Shishu Sharma Shantal, Akashvani News, Jalandhar.”
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Army Commanders’ Conference 2024 will start in hybrid mode in New Delhi today. During the conference, Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh will address the gathering and interact with senior military leadership on 2nd of next month.
On the first day of the conference, Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj Pande will interact with Army Commanders’ participating in virtual mode from their Command Headquarters.
On the last day of the conference, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar and the Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari will address the gathering. The event will be attended by the Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane and other senior officials from the Ministry of Defence.
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The Delhi High Court refused to grant immediate interim relief to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal yesterday. The High Court issued notice to the ED on a plea moved by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate and six days of remand in the money laundering case related to the alleged liquor policy scam case. He is under the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with case.
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Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena assured the citizens of the national capital that the Delhi government will not be run from jail. His remarks came on the backdrop of statements by AAP leaders that Arvind Kejriwal will continue as Chief Minister even if he is behind bars.
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Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will be arriving in New Delhi today for a two-day official visit to India at the invitation of External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar. During his visit, Mr Kuleba will have several engagements, including official meetings with the External Affairs Minister and Deputy National Security Adviser. The External Affairs Ministry said that both Ministers will discuss matters about the bilateral partnership and cooperation on regional and global issues of mutual interest. The Ukraine Foreign Minister is also expected to interact with the business community.
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The Centre has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in eight districts and 21 Police Stations in five other districts of Nagaland with effect from 1st of April, this year. The AFSPA has been in force in certain districts and police station areas in Nagaland for many years now and it is extended periodically. In a notification, the Union Home Ministry said that a further review of the law and order situation in the state of Nagaland has been undertaken. Six police stations each in Mokokchung and Zunheboto districts, four in Kohima, three in Wokha and one in Longleng are declared as disturbed areas.
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All universities have been directed to use NET score for admission to PhD programmes instead of conducting separate entrance tests, starting from the academic session 2024-2025. University Grants Commission Chairman M. Jagadesh Kumar in a social media post said that from the academic session 2024-2025, all universities can use NET score for admission to PhD programmes.
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In Miami Open Tennis, top seeded, India’s Rohan Bopanna and his Australian companion Matthew Ebden will face the pair of Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina, seeded fourth, in the Men’s Doubles Semi Final today. The match is scheduled to begin at 10.30 PM, IST.
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In Madrid Open Badminton, Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu has advanced to the Women’s singles Pre-quarters yesterday. She is scheduled to face Huang Yu-Hsun of Taiwan today.
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In IPL, Rajasthan Royals will take on Delhi Capitals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur Today, Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by 31 runs in a high scoring match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad last night. Put in to bat first, Hyderabad created history by posting a huge total of 277 for three in the stipulated 20 overs.
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TODAY’S NEWSPAPERS HEADLINE:
“Amit Shah moots troops’ reduction in Kashmir” leads The Statesman.
Business Standard quoting Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as saying “Reforms momentum will continue”.
The Asian Age quotes PM Modi as saying “Will ensure 3K-crore rupees ‘looted’ from West Bengal is returned”.
On the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, The Tribune writes “Biden hails Indian crew for timely alert; 6 who fell from bridge presumed dead”.
“26/11 hero Sadanand Date is new NIA chief” informs Hindustan Times.
“Election Commission issues notices to Supriya Shrinate, Dilip Ghosh for ‘offensive’ remarks” states The Hindu.
And finally, “BJP ‘upgrades’ from chai to coffee. Well, The Times of India reports that “It’s no more Chai Pe Charcha, it is now ‘Coffee With Youth’. BJP has made a subtle transition as it looks to woo youth in urban areas across the country”.
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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN.
- Notification for second phase of Lok Sabha elections to be issued today.
- Army Commanders’ Conference 2024 to begin today in New Delhi in hybrid mode.
- Delhi High Court refuses to grant immediate interim relief to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with excise policy scam.
- Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to arrive on a two-day visit to India today.
- Indo- Australian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden to play their Men’s Doubles Semi Final match in Miami Open Tennis today.
- And in Cricket IPL, Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Mumbai Indians by 31 runs.
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