Page 857 - Politics
LS polls: Voting on in 8 UP seats
Brisk voting was on in eight of the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday in the second phase of the staggered Lok Sabha elections.
LS polls: 11 pc voter turnout in C'garh till 9 am
Around 11 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the first two hours of polling in three Lok Sabha constituencies of Chhattisgarh on Thursday, an official said. Voting in the second phase of polling in the state began at 7 am in Kanker, Rajnandgaon and Mahasamund Lok Sabha seats, all having Naxal presence, amid tight security, the official at the state election office said. "Around 11 per cent voting has been recorded till 9 am," he said. A massive security blanket of around 60,000 personnel, and drones, has been thrown around the three constituencies for polls. A large part of the Kanker Lok Sabha constituency is Naxal-affected where security forces are maintaining extra vigil to ensure peaceful polling, the official said. Some pockets of Rajnandgaon and Mahasamund are also struggling with the Maoist menace. The Kanker Lok Sabha constituency has eight Assembly segments and of these, polling in four - Antagarh, Keshkal Bhanupratappur and Kanker - will be held from 7 am ..
Imran Khan to embark on four-day China trip next week
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will embark on a four-day visit to China next week to attend the Belt and Road Forum and hold bilateral talks with the Chinese leadership on the new phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and other issues of mutual interest, the Foreign Office announced.
Voting underway in 14 Karnataka seats; Deve Gowda, grandsons in fray
Voting is underway in 14 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, where the contest is mainly between the ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition and the BJP, in the second phase of parliamentary polls. Prominent contestants in this phase include former prime minister H D Deve Gowda (Tumkur), his grandsons Prajwal Revanna and Nikhil Kumaraswamy from Hassan and Mandya respectively, as also Union minister Sadananda Gowda (Bangalore North), and senior Congress leaders Veerappa Moily (Chikkaballapura) and K H Muniyappa (Kolar). As the polling began, people stood patiently in queues at 30,164 polling stations, most of them in the southern part of the state, covering almost the entire old Mysuru region and a few coastal districts. Many voters arrived early to avoid the summer heat. A total of 2,67,51,893 voters are expected to vote to elect their representative in parliament from among 241 candidates in the fray during this phase. The rest 14 seats in the state are to go to polls in the third phase .
US targets Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua with new sanctions
US President Donald Trump's administration has targeted Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua with a wave of new sanctions that also further restricted travel and remittances to the three countries.
Vote, for strong democracy: Akhilesh
Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday urged voters to exercise their right to strengthen democracy.
Fair polls impossible with Yogi's actions: Mayawati
BSP chief Mayawati on Thursday said it was impossible to hold free and fair Lok Sabha elections if Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath kept visiting temples and houses of Dalits despite curbs on him by the Election Commission.
Polling on for Maharashtra's 10 LS seats
Polling was underway on Thursday for the 10 Lok Sabha seats spread mainly in Maharashtra's Vidarbha and Marathwada regions in the second phase of elections in the state despite glitches in VVPAT-EVMs in some areas.
Interesting nuggets about phase-2 of polls
Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections is underway. Here are some interesting nuggets about this phase. * 95 Lok Sabha constituencies across 11 states and one UT to go to polls. * Nearly 15.80 crore voters to decide fate of 1,629 candidates. * More than 1.81lakh polling booths set up for the purpose. * Tamil Nadu, where all the seats, except one, is going for polls, 67,664 polling booths have been set up. The state has the most number of booths in poll going states Thursday. * With 970, Puducherry has the least number of polling booths in this phase. * Election in Vellore constituency of Tamil Nadu was cancelled by EC as it felt excessive use of money power has vitiated the poll process. No fresh date has been announced as yet. * Fearing law and order issues, election to Tripura (East) has been postponed to April 23. * Out of the total electors, 8,02,60,815 are men, 7,76,62,567 women and 11,136 are transgenders. EC identifies them as 'others'. (Source: Election
LS phase-II: Voting on in 8 Uttar Pradesh seats
Voting is underway in eight parliamentary constituencies in Uttar Pradesh in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
Polling underway in Srinagar Parliamentary seat
Amidst tight security, polling was underway Thursday in Srinagar Parliamentary constituency of Jammu and Kashmir to decide the fate of 10 candidates, including National Conference president Farooq Abdullah who is seeking a re-election from here. Polling began at 7:am in the constituency, officials said. They said all arrangements were in place to ensure smooth conduct of the second phase of Parliamentary polls. Adequate security arrangements were in place to secure the polling stations and to instill a sense of confidence among voters for ensuring free, fair, transparent and smooth conduct of elections in the constituency, they said. Police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed in strength in and around polling stations in all three districts -- Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal -- of the constituency, the officials said. However, they said most of the polling booths in the city wore a deserted look. In some booths like 116 and 117 in Old Barzulla area of Amira Kadal assembly ...
One week after Bashir ouster Sudan 'revolution' unfinished
Sudan on Thursday marks one week since the army ousted president Omar al-Bashir after protests against his 30-year rule, but the "revolution" remains unfinished as demonstrators campaign against their new military leaders. On April 11, the army removed Bashir as tens of thousands of protesters camped outside its headquarters in central Khartoum demanding support in toppling the veteran ruler. "This is the first week in my life that I have lived without Bashir," said Tariq Ahmed, 28, an engineer from Khartoum. "I'm proud of what my generation has done to the dictator." Bashir, 75, swept to power in an Islamist-backed coup in 1989, and headed a brutal regime for three decades. His rule saw conflicts across the country, the south splitting away to become a separate nation, and regular arrests of opposition leaders, activists and journalists. Protests initially began on December 19 in response to the tripling of bread prices, but swiftly turned into nationwide rallies against the ...
PM urges youth to vote to strengthen democracy
As polling for the phase two of Lok Sabha elections began Thursday morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the youth to cast their vote. "Phase 2 of the Lok Sabha polls start today. I am sure all those whose seats are polling today will strengthen our democracy by exercising their franchise," he tweeted. On election days, Modi usually takes to Twitter urging people to turn up at polling stations. "I hope more youngsters head to the polling booths and vote," he said. Polling began Thursday morning for 95 Lok Sabha seats spread across 11 states and the Union Territory of Puducherry with Tamil Nadu witnessing contest in 38 constituencies. Voting was also underway in 35 assembly constituencies in Odisha and in 18 assembly seats in Tamil Nadu.
Sitharaman, Chidambaram cast votes in 2nd phase of polling
As the second phase of polling commenced on Thursday amid heightened security, political bigwigs came out to cast their votes for constituting the 17th Lok Sabha.Among those who took to their respective polling booths were former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, actor-turned-politician Rajinikanth, BJP candidate from Bengaluru South Tejasvi Surya, and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, among others.At Sivaganga, Chidambaram said he has voted for the Secular Democratic Front formed by Congress, DMK and allied parties."The Tamil people want a change of government both at the centre and in the state and that is why there is overwhelming support for secular democratic front formed by the DMK, Congress and allied parties," he told reporters here."I have voted and appealed people to vote for preserving our independence, sovereignty, democracy, self-respect, fight against superstition and false belief. We have to uphold the pride of Indian people as well as the nationality that are in ...
Who does one believe, banks or PM: Mallya
Fugitive Businessman Vijay Mallya on Thursday cited a statement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi while taking a dig at him as well as banks over contradictory statements made in British courts regarding recovery of money he owed PSUs."None other than the Prime Minister of India specifically says in an interview that his Government has recovered more money than I allegedly owe PSU Banks and the same Banks claim otherwise in English Courts. Who does one believe? One or the other is lying" he tweeted.In an interview to Republic Bharat news channel on March 29, Modi had expressed satisfaction over the fact that Mallya's extradition process was in the last stage and the government has recovered money from him."We brought in a law that enabled the Indian government to confiscate the property of fugitives in any part of the world. You must've seen in the case of Vijay Mallya. He owed banks Rs 9000 crore but the government has confiscated his properties worth Rs 14,000 crore from across ..
Voting muted in Srinagar, brisk in Udhampur
Voters kept away from polling stations in Srinagar city but voted in large numbers in Kathua, Reasi and Udhampur as balloting was on in the Srinagar and Udhampur Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.
N. Korea tests tactical weapon: State media
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has supervised the test-firing of a new tactical guided weapon, calling its development an "event of very weighty significance" in beefing up its military power, state media reported on Thursday.
Tamil Nadu CM queues up to vote
Voters in a polling booth here were in for a pleasant surprise on Thursday when they spotted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami queuing up like other citizens to vote.
N.Korea's Kim oversees test of new weapon with 'powerful warhead'
North Korea's Kim Jong Un has supervised the test-firing of a new tactical weapon with a "powerful warhead", state media reported Thursday, in the first test of its kind since nuclear negotiations with Washington stalled. The test marks a ratcheting up of tensions weeks after a summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump collapsed without agreement. It also comes after satellite imagery suggested heightened activity at a nuclear test site. Wednesday's test was "conducted in various modes of firing at different targets" the Korean Central News Agency reported, adding that Kim "guided the test-fire". The report said Kim described its development as one "of very weighty significance in increasing the combat power of the People's Army". The "advantages" of the weapon were "the peculiar mode of guiding flight and the load of a powerful warhead", KCNA said. Its report gave no details of the weapon. South Korea had not detected anything on radar so it was unlikely to have been a ...
Saudi Arabia to host G20 summit in 2020
Saudi Arabia on Wednesday announced that it will be hosting the G20 summit in November 2020 in its capital Riyadh.This would be the first G20 summit in the Arab world, according to Saudi news outlet Al Arabiya.Saudi announcement comes even as Japan is all geared to host this year's summit in Osaka in June end.Last year's G20 meeting was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had represented the Kingdom. He held several engagements with world leaders, including meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.