Highlights of the day: Delhi records maximum temperature of 37.2 degrees Celsius

From the events of the ongoing general elections to EV-maker Tesla's dwindling market-cap, catch all the latest news from around the world here. Stay tuned

8:50 PM

Delhi records maximum temperature of 37.2 degrees Celsius

Delhi on Saturday recorded a maximum temperature of 37.2 degrees Celsius, normal for this time of the year, the India Meteorological Department. The minimum temperature settled at 23.3 degrees Celsius, two notches above the season's average. The humidity level oscillated between 34 per cent and 60 per cent.

7:01 PM

Iraq's PMF force says base was attacked

A huge blast at a military base in Iraq early on Saturday killed a member of an Iraqi security force that includes Iran-backed groups. The force commander said it was an attack while the army said it was investigating and there were no warplanes in the sky at the time. Two security sources had said earlier that an airstrike caused the blast, which killed a member of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and wounded eight others at Kalso military base about 50 km (30 miles) south of Baghdad.

6:32 PM

Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar faces police case for alleged bribery over 'water for votes' video

A police case has been filed against Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar for allegedly breaching the model code during campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections. The case centers around a video featuring the Congress leader, where he purportedly promised Bengaluru voters a water supply from the Cauvery river if they voted for his brother DK Suresh, who is contesting from Bangalore Rural.

 

In a video circulating on social media, DK Shivakumar was reportedly heard telling residents of a housing society in his brother's constituency that he was there for a "business deal," hinting that voting for his brother would ensure Cauvery river water supply to them.

6:32 PM

Vinesh Phogat earns Paris Olympics quota

Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat earns Paris Olympics quota in women's 50kg category by winning three bouts at Asian Olympic Qualifiers

6:26 PM

In earlier govts, SC, ST, & OBC families were made to live in slums, says PM Modi

In earlier governments, SC, ST, and OBC families were made to live in slums, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a public rally in Chikkaballapur, Karnataka.

 

"The biggest beneficiaries of the Modi government are SC, ST, and OBC families. In earlier governments, SC, ST, and OBC families were made to live in slums, they did not have access to electricity and water. They had lost all hope in the government. Your lost faith has been reinstated in the Modi government because of Mod's guarantee. In the last 10 years, 25 crore people have come out of poverty," the PM said.

5:05 PM

Cong against OBC, BJP will not let anyone do away with reservation: Amit Shah

Accusing the Congress of being against the Other Backward Classes, Union Home Minister Amit Shah Saturday said even if the opposition party wants to do away with the reservation given to SC, ST and OBCs, the BJP will not allow that to happen.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi belongs to the OBC community, he said, adding that it was Modi who implemented schemes for people of small backward classes.

 

Shah was addressing an election rally in support of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, the BJP's candidate and sitting MP from the Kota Lok Sabha seat.

 

"Even if the Congress party wants to remove SC, ST and OBC reservation... we will not allow it. This is Modi's guarantee," he asserted.

 

The Congress is a party which opposes Other Backward Classes (OBC), Shah alleged.

4:03 PM

Modi govt cares only for super rich, posing threat to Constitution: Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday charged the BJP-RSS combine and a handful of billionaires with posing a threat to democracy and the country's Constitution, to which "Dalits, tribals and the poor owe all that they have".

 

Addressing an election rally at Bhagalpur, his first in Bihar, Gandhi also drew a contrast with the previous UPA government headed by his party, claiming the amount of debt written off under the Narendra Modi regime was 25 times the farmers' loans we had waived.

 

I would like to give you some startling statistics. The country has 22 individuals who own wealth that is equivalent to the holdings of 70 crore people. There are 70 crore people in the country who are surviving on less than Rs 100 a day," claimed Gandhi.

3:54 PM

Rahul Gandhi has been launched as many as 20 times but has failed every time, says Amit Shah

“People have two options in front of them; on one side is Narendra Modi who has experience serving the country for the last 23 years, and on the other side is Rahul Gandhi, who has been launched as many as 20 times, but he has failed every time," said said Union Home Minister Amit Shah while addressing a public rally in Rajasthan’s Kota.

3:31 PM

Cal HC to pronounce judgement on school jobs scam on Monday

The Calcutta High Court will on Monday pronounce its judgement on petitions and appeals relating to alleged irregularities in the selection of candidates in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided secondary and higher secondary schools through a 2016 recruitment process. The CBI, which investigated the case on an order of the high court, arrested former state education minister Partha Chatterjee and some functionaries who held positions in the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) during the occurrence of the alleged scam.

3:30 PM

Congress is an anti-development party, says Amit Shah

Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 1 News Live: Addressing the Vijay Sankalp Mahasammelan in Kota, Rajasthan, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, "If you had voted for Congress in 2019, Kota would have become the house of PFI. You voted for PM Modi and he ended PFI and put them behind bars...They say that they will lift the ban on PFI. Congress is an anti-development party. For five years there was Gehlot-government but they did not let the Eastern Rajasthan Canal project move ahead for five years. After the Bhajanlal Sharma government came to power, within three months we signed the agreement for the Eastern Rajasthan Canal project."

3:16 PM

HDFC Bank Q4 results: Profit jumps 37% to Rs 16,512 crore, NII up 24.5%

India's largest private sector lender HDFC Bank on Saturday reported a 37.1 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase in its standalone profit at Rs 16,512 crore in the March quarter.

 

Its net interest income (NII) during the quarter grew by 24.5 per cent to Rs 29,077 crore.

 

While announcing its quarterly numbers, HDFC Bank also declared a dividend of Rs 19.5 per share for FY24.

 

2:55 PM

LS polls 2024: MVA to win over 50% seats in Maharashtra, says Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party (SP) Chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday claimed that the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra will win more than 50 per cent of the Lok Sabha seats in the state.

 

2:37 PM

LS elections 2024: Two Punjab Cong leaders including national secy join BJP

Two Punjab Congress leaders, including its national secretary Tajinder Pal Singh Bittu, joined the BJP here on Saturday as the ruling party at the Centre bolsters its ranks in the state ahead of the Lok Sabha polls there, PTI reported.

2:31 PM

Food delivery firm Zomato gets Rs 11.82 crore GST related tax demand notice

Food delivery firm Zomato has received a tax demand and penalty order of Rs 11.82 crore related to GST on export services provided to its subsidiaries located outside India from July 2017 to March 2021, reported PTI.

 

1:37 PM

Congress a vine, sucks dry those who lend support to it, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked Congress on Saturday and said that it does not have any roots of its own and survives on external support. Like a vine, it sucks power from whoever supports it.

1:27 PM

INDIA bloc to foil BJP's attempt to scrap Constitution, says Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused the ruling BJP at the Centre of trying to "scrap" the Constitution, but vowed that the opposition bloc INDIA would foil its attempt.

 

1:08 PM

India growing when world is in stress: CII president-designate Sanjiv Puri

Sanjiv Puri, president-designate of prominent industry body CII, said that India is growing when the world is going through a phase of stress. Speaking at an event here on Friday night, Puri, also the chairman and managing director of ITC Limited, said that the present juncture is an interesting moment for the Indian economy.

 

1:03 PM

Boys outshine girls in class 10 board exam in Assam, pass rate at 75.7%

The overall pass percentage in the High School Leaving Certificate (HSCL) examination held in February-March this year was 75.7 per cent, the Board of Secondary Education, Assam, (SEBA) said, PTI reported.

 

12:58 PM

LS polls 2024: After Amethi, Rahul Gandhi will lose Wayanad, says PM Modi

Taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that that in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, "Congress' sahabzade" will lose from Wayanad constituency in Kerala and he will have to look for a safer seat after that.

 

12:52 PM

BJP to win all 25 LS seats in Rajasthan, Vaibhav Gehlot will lose by huge margin, says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said Rajasthan is going to give all 25 Lok Sabha seats to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third time.

 

12:31 PM

Cash-strapped Pak makes formal request to IMF for another bailout

Pakistan has submitted a formal request to the IMF seeking the next bailout package in the range of $6 to $8 billion with the possibility of augmentation through climate financing, a media report said on Saturday, reported PTI.

 

12:22 PM

India visit delayed due to Tesla obligations, says Tesla CEO Elon Musk

American tech billionaire Elon Musk on Saturday said his proposed visit to India has been postponed due to "very heavy Tesla obligations", reported PTI.

 

12:04 PM

India set for considerable overhaul of criminal justice system with newly enacted laws: CJI

Praising the enactment of the new criminal justice laws as a watershed moment for society, Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Saturday said India is set for a significant overhaul of its criminal justice system.

 

10:59 AM

Even Pak politicians want PM Modi as their country's leader: MP CM Yadav

Praising PM Modi, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav stated that even politicians in Pakistan say they wish their country had a leader like him.

10:44 AM

A third of China's city dwellers face danger of land sinking, says study

China's urban area below the sea level could triple by 2120, potentially affecting 55 to 128 million residents, the study found.

 

10:35 AM

LS polls 2024: Voter turnout in Tamil Nadu at 69.46 per cent, says EC

The Election Commission of India has revised the voter turnout in Tamil Nadu for the Lok Sabha polls held on Friday to 69.46 per cent, from the earlier 72 per cent.

 

10:07 AM

Tajinder Singh Bittu, AICC Secretary in-charge Himachal Pradesh resigns from Congress

Tajinder Singh Bittu, AICC Secretary In-Charge Himachal Pradesh & close aide of Priyanka Gandhi resigns from primary membership of Congress Party, reports ANI.

 

9:57 AM

We are looking at granular level of development in global landscape: IMF director

We are looking at a more granular level of what developments in the global landscape mean for the region, what it means for a country like India...We talk a little bit about corporate risks and so on, it will be an expansion of what I talked about yesterday (In the press conference). We are doing a lot more work on transformations in Asia from a medium-term perspective that we will showcase in September during the annual meetings."

9:37 AM

Role played by India during G-20 presidency appreciated at IMF meeting: Top official

During the annual Spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank there was considerable appreciation of the role played by India during its G-20 presidency in building consensus on a range of key global issues.

 

9:24 AM

LS polls: PM Modi to campaign in Bengaluru, Chikkaballapura today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Bengaluru and neighbouring Chikkaballapura district for the Lok Sabha poll campaign on Saturday, April 20.