THE HEADLINES:
- Prime Minister and Senior BJP leader Narendra Modi to address four election rallies in West Bengal today; Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to jointly address public meeting at Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh.
- ISRO successfully tests new liquid rocket engine at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu.
- Portals of famous Badrinath shrine open for pilgrims in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.
- IMD predicts heavy rain in Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka during next three days.
- Aman Sehrawat becomes first Indian male wrestler to qualify for 2024 Paris Olympics.
- In IPL Cricket, Kolkata Knight Riders defeat Mumbai Indians by 18 runs in Kolkata.
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Campaigning intensifies for fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections as political leaders are holding back to back rallies in various states.
Senior BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take part in public meetings in support of party’s candidates in the coming phases of Lok Sabha election today in West Bengal. Mr. Modi will address four public meetings and participate in a public meeting at Jagatdal of North 24 Parganas in support of party’s Barrackpore candidate Arjun Singh.
After that, he will participate in three public meetings at Panchla of Howrah, Chinshura and Purshura of Hooghly district. The Prime Minister and Senior BJP leader will also hold a road show in Patna today.
Senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will campaign in Uttar Pradesh today. He will address political rally in Raebareli from where former Congress president Rahul Gandhi is contesting. Senior BJP leader and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath will campaign in Sitapur Bahraich and Amethi district constituencies.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and former Congress President Rahul Gandhi will jointly address a political rally in favour of INDI alliance candidate in Barabanki.
Akhilesh Yadav will later campaign in Mohanlalganj constituency which falls in Lucknow district. Congress election incharge of Uttar Pradesh Avinash Pande will hold party functionaries meetings in Faizabad and Ambedkar Nagar districts. Senior Congress leader and Former Chief minister of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel will campaign for Rahul Gandhi in Raebareli constituency.
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Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Arjun Meghwal addressed public gatherings in support of BJP candidates Yogendra Chandoliya who is contesting from the North West Delhi Lok Sabha seat and Kamaljeet Sehrawat from West Delhi Constituency. In his address, Mr Meghwal said, the Lok Sabha elections determine the next Prime Minister and the entire nation wants to see Mr Narendra Modi once again as the Prime Minister. He said, people have got the benefit of various central schemes whether it is Ujjwala Yojana, Jan Dhan Yojana, Startup, or other schemes.
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In a transformative leap towards fostering inclusive democracy, the Election Commission of India, ECI has introduced the pioneering Vote from Home initiative in Kargil.
Akshvani Kargil reports that the first day witnessed an overwhelming response, with 47 votes cast out of 295 eligible voters.
The Vote from Home initiative stands as a testament to the ECI’s unwavering dedication to promoting electoral inclusivity and accessibility.
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A total of 65.68 per cent of voter turnout was recorded in the third phase of Lok Sabha Elections which was held on 7th of this month. Among them there were nearly 66.89 per cent of males, 64.41 per cent of females and 25.2 per cent of third persons gender.
According to Election Commission, the female voter turnout was highest in Assam at 85.34 per cent followed by West Bengal with 83.01 per cent. Uttar Pradesh recorded the lowest female voter turnout of 56.01 per cent followed by Gujarat with 56.56 per cent. In case of third gender voters, Goa recorded the highest voter turnout of 75 per cent.
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In the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections, voting will be held on 14 seats of Uttar Pradesh on May 20. This also includes the important seat of Amethi, once considered a Congress stronghold. BJP has fielded Union Minister Smriti Irani, who defeated Rahul Gandhi in 2019. While Rahul Gandhi went to Rae Bareli, Congress has fielded KL Sharma, close to the Gandhi family from this seat. BSP has made Nanhe Singh its candidate. Apart from these, ten other candidates are also trying their luck in the election field.
“The Amethi parliamentary seat, which was once considered a Congress stronghold, had sent top Congress leaders like Sanjay Gandhi, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to Parliament. This time the Congress has fielded its close and old party worker, K. L. Sharma, instead of a member of the Gandhi family. Since Sonia Gandhi became MP, KL Sharma has been taking up the responsibility of getting the groundwork done on the Amethi and Rae Bareli seats. But it will not be easy for KL Sharma to win back the old stronghold seat of Congress as he will face the BJP’s Union Minister Smriti Irani. Smriti Irani had defeated former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on this seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by 55 thousand 120 votes. This time Nanhe Singh is also in the fray from BSP but the main contest is believed to be between Congress and BJP. There are five assembly constituencies in Amethi parliamentary constituency. These include Tiloi, Salon, Jagdishpur, Gauriganj and Amethi. 14 lakh 28 thousand 316 voters of this parliamentary constituency will decide the fate of 13 candidates on May 20. Om Awasthi, Akashwani News, Lucknow.”
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The Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO successfully tested the new liquid rocket engine manufactured through Additive Manufacturing technology. The test was successfully carried out on May 9th at ISRO Propulsion Complex in Mahendragiri in Tamilnadu. This new redesigned PS4 engine has brought down the number of parts from 14 to a single piece and eliminated 19 weld joints. Our correspondent reports that the new engine will significantly save on the raw material usage per engine, reduce metal powder from 565 kgs to 13.7 kgs and reduce the production time by 60 percent.
“This new redesigned engine will be used for the fourth stage of PSLV launch vehicle and also in the Reaction Control System of the First Stage in PSLV. ISRO is planning to induct this PS4 engine into the regular PSLV program. Additive Manufacturing technology means 3D printing of PS4 engines. The Private partner Wipro 3D joined hands with ISRO to successfully carry out the hot testing of the 3D printed PS4 engine. This will usher in a new era of advanced 3D manufacturing technique of India’s space programme. Sudhindra Akashvani News Bengaluru.”
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External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar discussed the emerging landscape, its challenges and opportunities and changing practices with Indian Foreign Service Officer Trainees. He attended the valedictory ceremony of the Indian Foreign Service Officer Trainees of the 2023 batch and Bhutanese diplomats in New Delhi yesterday. He said that the Officer Trainees will help shape India’s journey to Viksit Bharat. The External Affairs Minister welcomed them to a life in diplomacy and wished them the best in times ahead.
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In Uttarakhand, the portals of the famous Badrinath shrine located in Chamoli district are opening this morning for devotees. Prior to the grand opening, the sacred site has been embellished with vibrant marigold flowers.
The process of devotees reaching Badrinath Dham has already commenced. Extensive arrangements have been made at the administrative level to facilitate smooth darshan for the devotees at Badrinath Dham.
Meanwhile, on the first day of the Char Dham Yatra, more than 43,000 devotees visited Kedarnath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri Dham.
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Mother’s Day is being celebrated across the world today. It is celebrated on second Sunday of May every year. Mother’s Day holds immense significance as it celebrates their existence, to honour and express gratitude for the hardships they bear and things they do.
Mother’s Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia in the United States.
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Isolated heavy rainfall is very likely over Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam, Telangana, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal and Karnataka over the next two to three days.
“India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast thunderstorm, lightning and squally winds over Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and most parts of India including Southern and North East region for the next two to three days. Thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds are very likely over Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh-Gilgit-Baltistan-Muzaffarabad, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand over the next two days. IMD further said duststorm and thunderstorm with gusty winds are very likely to prevail at isolated places over Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan today. The Weather office informed that hot and humid weather is very likely to prevail in isolated pockets over coastal parts of Saurashtra and Kutch during next 5 days.
Meanwhile, Delhi is likely to witness thunderstorm with rain today. Minimum and maximum temperatures are likely to hover around 25 and 38 degree Celsius respectively. AISHWARYA RAI NIGAM, AKASHWANI NEWS, DELHI.”
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Aman Sehrawat has become the first Indian male wrestler to secure a quota place for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Asian champion Sehrawat secured a Paris quota in the men’s 57kg freestyle category at the World Wrestling Olympic Qualifiers in Istanbul, Turkiye.
All of the previous five quotas were obtained by the Indian women wrestlers.
The Istanbul meet is the final opportunity for wrestlers to obtain a quota for the upcoming Summer Games.
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In Para Power Lifting, India’s Sakina Khatun clinched two bronze medals at the Para Powerlifting World Cup 2024 in Pattaya, Thailand yesterday. She secured the medals in the Best Lift and Total Lift categories, with a formidable lift of 93 Kgs in the women’s up to 55 kg event.
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In IPL Cricket, Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Mumbai Indians by 18 runs in Kolkata.
Put into bat first KKR scored 157 runs for seven wickets in 16 overs, after four overs were reduced due to rain.
Today, Chennai Super Kings will lock horns with Rajasthan Royals at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai at 03:30 PM, while in the second match of the day, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will face Delhi Capitals at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru at 07:30 PM.
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TODAY’S NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES:-
- ‘Stars power Phase 4 polls’, headlines The Pioneer, with 5 Union Ministers, 2 World-Cup winning cricketers, and 2 Tollywood stars in the fray for 96 Lok Sabha constituencies.
- ‘1,00,000 hands to be trained to put solar panels in homes’, reads the top headline in The Economic Times. Government is also looking to train 50,000 vendors for entrepreneurship, writes the paper.
- A CEC report has revealed that rampant encroachments and land diversions threaten Delhi Ridge, the national capital’s lungs, reports The Hindu.
- Flash floods have killed over 300 people in Afghanistan, reports The Times of India. Hindustan Times shows a photograph on its front page of uprooted trees in Delhi, with the caption, ‘3 dead, houses damaged in storm; yellow alert in place,’ referring to the storm that struck Delhi-NCR on Friday night.
- And finally, The Tribune carries stunning photographs of the northern lights across the world, including one of Ladakh, where the solar storm has been described as a rare stable auroral red arc event.
THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN:-
- Prime Minister and Senior BJP leader Narendra Modi to address four election rallies in West Bengal today; Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to jointly address public meeting at Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh.
- ISRO successfully tests new liquid rocket engine at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu.
- Portals of famous Badrinath shrine open for pilgrims in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.
- IMD predicts heavy rain in Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka during next three days.
- Aman Sehrawat becomes first Indian male wrestler to qualify for 2024 Paris Olympics.
- In IPL Cricket, Kolkata Knight Riders defeat Mumbai Indians by 18 runs in Kolkata.
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