News highlights: Priyanka Gandhi wins in debut poll contest in Wayanad by a margin of over 410,000

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Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union government of protecting industrialist Adani, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC President DK Shivakumar on Friday called for his arrest to save the country's reputation. Addressing a press conference at the KPCC office, he said, "Our leader Rahul Gandhi has been highlighting corruption by industrialist Adani. Despite that, investigative agencies have not taken any action." "An American Court has indicted Adani in connection with irregularities in a green energy project. The Centre must take this seriously and bring him to book. The BJP government has arrested many Opposition leaders including chief ministers, why can't it arrest an industrialist," he questioned. 

The Supreme Court of India has provided partial relief in the ongoing legal tussle concerning the disqualification of Chief Parliamentary Secretaries (CPS) as members of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly. This comes in response to the High Court's earlier order declaring the appointment of CPS unconstitutional under Section 3D of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly Members (Removal of Disqualification) Act, 1971. The Supreme Court's order was issued during the hearing of a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the Himachal Pradesh government challenging the High Court's verdict. 

Protesters in Pakistan's restive northwest chanted anti-government slogans and tensions flared Friday after funeral prayers were held for 42 Shiite Muslims who were ambushed and killed by gunmen a day earlier in one of the region's deadliest such assaults in recent years. The victims were travelling in a convoy of several vehicles from the northwestern city of Parachinar to Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, when the attack took place Thursday. Those killed included six women and 20 others were injured.

 

 

 

4:09 PM

Look forward to being your voice in Parliament: Priyanka to people of Wayanad

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Saturday she looks forward to being the voice of the people of Wayanad in Parliament and thanked Rahul Gandhi for "showing her the way and having her back always". Her remarks came after she took an unassailable lead of over 4 lakh votes in the byelection to Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala.

3:35 PM

SP's Naseem Solanki wins UP's Sishamau seat, defeats BJP candidate by 8,564 votes

The Samajwadi Party on Saturday retained the Sishamau assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh with its candidate Naseem Solanki defeating her nearest rival by 8,564 votes. According to the Election Commission, Solanki secured 69,714 votes while the BJP's Suresh Awasthi got 61,150 and the Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) Virendra Kumar 1,410.

2:53 PM

Sri Lanka's new government gets IMF approval for fourth tranche of $3 billion

Sri Lanka's new NPP government on Saturday got the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approval for a staff-level agreement to secure the fourth tranche of the nearly $3 billion bailout facility. “Once the review is approved by the IMF management and completed by the IMF executive board, Sri Lanka will have access to about $333 million,” a statement issued by the international money lender here at the end of the third review said.

2:32 PM

US SEC summons Gautam Adani, nephew Sagar in bribery case

Adani group founder and chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar have been summoned to explain their stand on the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allegation of paying USD 265 million (Rs 2,200 crore) in bribes to secure lucrative solar power contracts. Summons have been sent to Adani's Shantivan Farm residence in Ahmedabad and his nephew Sagar's Bodakdev residence in the same city for a reply to SEC within 21 days.

1:53 PM

MP assembly bypolls: BJP leading in Budhni, Congress in Vijaypur

The Congress is leading by 4,747 votes after 18 rounds in the bypoll in Madhya Pradesh's Vijaypur assembly seat, while the BJP is ahead in Budhni constituency by 5,362 votes after the fifth round. The bye elections in Budhni and Vijaypur constituencies were held on November 13. According to an election official, BJP's Ramakant Bhargava is leading by 5,362 votes against his Congress rival Rajkumar Patel in Budhni after five rounds of counting.

12:45 PM

News update: Trinamool leader Sangita Roy wins Sitai bypolls

 

TMC candidate Sangita Roy defeats BJP's Dipak Kumar Ray in West Bengal's Sitai bypolls by 1,30,636 votes: EC.

10:59 AM

Cong leading in Gujarat Vav assembly bypoll in early trends

Congress candidate Gulabsinh Rajput is leading by a margin of 1,174 votes over his nearest rival and BJP candidate Swarupji Thakor in the by-election to the Vav assembly in Gujarat's Banaskantha district, officials said. The Congress candidate registered this lead at the end of the third round of counting, which is underway at the Government Engineering College in Palanpur amid tight security.

10:05 AM

Assam bypolls: Ruling NDA allies secure early leads

The ruling NDA alliance in Assam has secured early leads in four of the five assembly constituencies where bypolls were held recently, officials said on Saturday. In Behali, BJP's Diganta Ghatowal is leading by 1,091 votes over his nearest Congress rival Jayanta Bora while in Bongaigaon, AGP's Diptimayee Choudhury has taken a slender lead of 674 votes over her Congress opponent Brajenjit Singha.

9:28 AM

Delhi Police constable stabbed to death in Govindpuri

A Delhi Police constable was stabbed to death by unknown people on Saturday while he was on night patrolling duty in southeast Delhi's Govindpuri area, an official said. Constable Kiran Pal, aged around 28, was posted at the Govindpuri Police Station.

9:26 AM

Counting of votes in bypolls to Budhni, Vijaypur assembly seats begins

Counting of votes polled in by-elections to Budhni and Vijaypur assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, where the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress were the main rivals, began on Saturday morning. The counting process began at 8 am, an election official said.

 

8:16 AM

Counting of votes begin in Wayanad

Counting of votes cast in Wayanad Lok Sabha, Palakkad and Chelakkara assembly by-elections in Kerala begins.

8:08 AM

News update: Counting of votes began for bypolls to four assembly constituencies in Bihar

7:48 AM

COP29: Civil society protests climate finance proposal, calls for 'no deal' over 'bad deal'

Civil society members staged a silent march at the UN climate summit, condemning the developed nations' proposal to increase annual climate finance to a meagre $250 billion by 2035. "We urge you to stand up for the people of the Global South, and we insist: no deal in Baku is better than a bad deal, and this is a very, very bad deal because of the intransigence of developed countries," said Climate Action Network (CAN), a global coalition of more than 1,900 civil society organisations, in a letter to G77 and China, the largest bloc of developing nations.