Morning News -

THE HEADLINES:

Campaigning for seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha elections reaches its last leg.
Women voters outnumber men by 3 percent in sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls.
SBI Research says, India’s GDP growth likely to touch 8 percent in financial year 2024.
Infiltration by Pakistan Army in Jammu and Kashmir was responsible for 1999 Kargil war, says former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Major Radhika Sen of Indian Army to receive prestigious UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award.
Indian Arm Wrestlers contingent wins seven medals, including one gold and six bronze, at Asian Championship 2024 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

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Campaigning for the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha elections reaches its last leg as only two days are left for canvassing. Voting in this phase will be held for 57 Parliamentary Constituencies across seven states and a Union Territory on the 1st of June. A total of 904 candidates are in the fray in this phase.

In Odisha, high voltage campaigning for 7th and last phase of Lok Sabha elections continued in six Parliament constituencies – Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur, and 42 Assembly seats. Prime Minister and Senior BJP leader Narendra Modi is set to address three election rallies in the state today. Mr Modi is scheduled to address his first public meeting at Baripada under Mayurbhanj parliamentary constituency, followed by a public meeting at Remuna under Balasore parliamentary constituency. His last public meeting will be held at Barua in Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituency. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is also scheduled to campaign today in Odisha.

In Bihar, several senior leaders and star campaigners of NDA and Grand Alliance will take a whirlwind tour today for campaigning in poll bound areas of seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha elections. Senior BJP leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will hold three election rallies in Arrah, Buxar and Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituencies. RJD chief Lalu Prasad will campaign in different parts of Pataliputra parliamentary constituency in support of her daughter and the RJD candidate. RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav will hold public meetings in Sasaràm, Karakat Buxar and Pataliputra parliamentary constituencies.

In Uttar Pradesh, only 2 days are left for the campaigning for the last and final phase of Lok Sabha elections.

“Union Home Minister and Senior BJP leader Amit Shah will address 4 rallies in Uttar Pradesh. Today he will be in Maharajganj, Deoriya, Ballia Sonbhadra and Ghazipur. In Ghazipur he will hold a road show in favour of Party candidate. Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath will campaign in Kushinagar, Deoriya and Gorakhpur. On the other hand Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav will campaign for Party candidate in Dudhi assembly constituency where by-polls will be conducted in the final phase of elections. He will later address rallies in Robertsganj and Mirzapur Loksabha constituencies also. Dimple Yadav, wife of Akhilesh Yadav will hold a road show in Kushinagar today. Sushil Chandra Tiwari, Akashvani News, Lucknow”

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Women voters have outnumbered men by 3 per cent in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections. This was disclosed by the Election Commission yesterday. The poll panel released the absolute number of voters who voted in the sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls which was held on Saturday. According to the report, 64.95% of eligible female voters exercised their franchise, compared to 61.95% of eligible male voters. Moreover, the turnout among the third gender recorded at 18.67%, indicating a diverse engagement in the electoral process. Women’s participation was higher than men in Bihar, Jharkhand, Ladakh, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. Notably, West Bengal emerged with the highest turnout at 81.62%, showcasing robust electoral enthusiasm among its populace.

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The Election Commission of India has suspended senior IPS officer DS Kutey who was working as special secretary to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. It also directed Ashish Kumar Singh, IG of Police for Chief Minister’s security who is on medical leave, to undergo a medical examination by a team of doctors from AIIMS, Bhubaneswar. Both the senior IPS officers have been charged of directly exerting undue influence on the conduct of simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha.

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In Punjab, the Jalandhar reserved Lok Sabha constituency is among the most prestigious constituencies in the country. Jalandhar is known as a sports goods city. With a total of 9 assembly segments, this constituency has 16 lakh 54 thousand three voters. These include 8 lakh 59 thousand 687 males, 7 lakh 94 thousand 272 females, and 44 third gender voters.

“Jalandhar reserved Lok Sabha constituency falling in the Doaba region of Punjab has been the stronghold of the Congress party for a long time but in the by-elections held last year after the sudden death of Santokh Singh Chaudhary the then Congress MP, Aam Aadmi Party’s Sushil Kumar Rinku won when he joined the Aam Aadmi Party, saying bye to Congress. But this time, Sushil Rinku is the BJP candidate. Apart from this, former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi is in the fray from the congress side but is facing difficulties due to being an outsider. The Aam Aadmi Party has expressed its confidence in Pawan Kumar Tinu, who left Shiromani Akali Dal on the eve of the election, while senior congress leader Mohinder Singh KP joined Shiromani Akali Dal after being angry over not getting the ticket, and is now Akali Dal candidate. Balwinder Kumar of Bahujan Samaj Party is also trying his luck. Prominent candidates of many major parties have come from one party to another, so in such a situation, only their own influence and active support from party cadre will decide the path to their success. Shishu Sharma Shantal, Akashvani News, Jalandhar.”

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The State Bank of India (SBI) yesterday released a report anticipating India’s GDP growth at 7.4 percent in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2023-24, while the overall growth could touch 8 percent. The report released by the SBI’s Economic Research department highlights the potential impact of global economic resilience on India’s growth trajectory. The report identifies a consistent growth trend across both urban and rural sectors in India.

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Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has admitted that Islamabad ‘violated’ an agreement with India in 1999. His revelation came to light at a Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) general council meeting yesterday.

During the meeting, Sharif said the then-Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Lahore, and signed the Lahore Declaration on February 21, 1999. The agreement aimed to promote peace and stability between India and Pakistan. However, shortly after the signing, Pakistani troops infiltrated the Kargil district in Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the Kargil War, Sharif said.

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Indian Army Major Radhika Sen has been selected to receive the 2023 UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award. The award recognises her advocacy for women and girls while serving as a peacekeeper. Congratulating her, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called her a true leader and role model. Her service was a true credit to the United Nations as a whole, he said. The Spokesperson for Guterres, Stephane Dujarric said that Guterres will present Sen with the Award on Thursday, which is observed as the International Day of UN Peacekeepers. The award recognises the efforts of a military peacekeeper in promoting the principles of the 2000 Security Council resolution, that calls for protecting women and girls from conflict-related sexual violence and sets gender-related responsibilities for the UN.

According to the UN, Sen served with the Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), where she helped create the Community Alert Networks in North Kivu as a platform that brought in community leaders, young people, and women “to voice their security and humanitarian concerns”.

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The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast that heat wave to severe heat wave conditions prevailing over Northwest and Central India are likely to reduce gradually from tomorrow. These conditions are very likely to prevail in Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Odisha till tomorrow. No significant change in maximum temperatures is predicted over Northwest and Central India for today. The temperature prevailing over these regions are expected to fall by 2-3 degrees Celsius in the next few days.

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Blistering heat continues to sweep Haryana, with Sirsa recording the hottest day of the season at 50.3 degrees Celsius yesterday. Sirsa was the hottest place in the state.

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Normal life has come to a grinding halt in Northeast India due to extremely heavy rainfall under the impact of Cyclone Remal.

The Cyclone wreaked havoc in parts of the Northeast yesterday, killing at least 28 people in Mizoram, three persons in Assam and one in Meghalaya. The rains, accompanied by gusty winds, uprooted trees, electric poles, triggered landslides and disrupted power and internet services.

We spoke to Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) CEO Gyanendra Dev Tripathi.

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Indian mountaineer Satyadeep Gupta has scripted history by becoming the first person to scale Mt. Everest and Mt. Lhotse twice in one season. He also set another record by being the first Indian to traverse from Mt. Everest to Mt. Lhotse in 11 hours and 15 minutes.

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In Arm Wrestling, the Indian contingent has clinched a total of seven medals including one gold and six bronze at the Asian Championship, 2024 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Shrimant Jha, who participated in two categories, was the top performer for India. He won the gold medal in the left-hand para category, while he won the bronze medal in the right-hand para category.

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TODAY’S NEWSPAPERS HEADLINE:

A headline on the front page of Hindustan Times says, “No urgent Supreme Court hearing for Kejriwal’s bail extension”.
Government has set the ball rolling on second round of ease of doing business reforms as part of a multi-pronged strategy to catalyse the private investment cycle, reports Financial Express.
“Porsche crash: Doctors got 3 lakh rupees for replacing teen driver’s blood sample”, writes The Statesman.
“31 killed as rain, landslips wreak havoc in northeast”, notes The Hindu.
Quoting PM Modi, The Tribune writes, “TMC tricked OBCs for vote jihad”.
“Over one-fourth of Capital’s nursing homes unregistered”, says a headline in Hindustan Times.
And finally, in a grim reminder of global warming, an all-time-high temperature of 49.9 degrees celsius was recorded in the national capital yesterday, says The Times of India.

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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN:

Campaigning for seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha elections reaches its last leg.
Women voters outnumber men by 3 percent in sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls.
SBI Research says, India’s GDP growth likely to touch 8 percent in financial year 2024.
Infiltration by Pakistan Army in Jammu and Kashmir was responsible for 1999 Kargil war, says former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Major Radhika Sen of Indian Army to receive prestigious UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award.
Indian Arm Wrestlers contingent wins seven medals including one gold and six bronze at Asian Championship 2024 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

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