THE HEADLINES:-
- Counting of votes begin for Assembly elections in Assam, West Bengal, Keralam, Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Puducherry.
- Counting also underway for Bypolls in seven Assembly Constituencies.
- India rejects Nepal’s objection to Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through Lipulekh pass, calls it unjustified.
- IMD forecasts thunderstorms accompanied with Hailstorm over North India including Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand today.
- United States to launch ‘Project Freedom’ to guide stranded ships safely out of Strait of Hormuz.
- And in IPL Cricket, Gujarat Titans defeat Punjab Kings by four wickets in Ahmedabad last night.
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Counting of votes began for the Assembly elections in Assam, West Bengal, Keralam, Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Puducherry this morning. Counting began at 8 am with postal ballots taken up first which will be followed by Electronic Voting Machines, EVMs. Early trends are expected to emerge by noon. The Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements to ensure peaceful and transparent counting.
Counting of votes is being conducted for 293 seats in West Bengal, 126 Assembly seats in Assam, 140 in Keralam, 234 in Tamil Nadu and 30 seats in Puducherry.
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The counting of votes for seven Assembly bypolls in five states is also being taken up this morning. The seven seats are Umreth in Gujarat; Bagalkot and Davanagere South in Karnataka; Rahuri and Baramati in Maharashtra; Koridang in Nagaland, and Dharmanagar in Tripura.
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India has rejected Nepal’s claim over Lipulekh Pass terming it as a long standing route for the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra since 1954 and that the Yatra through this route has been going on for decades. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in a social media post said this is in response to the claims related to border issues made by Foreign Ministry of Nepal in context of the annual Kailash Manasarovar Yatra. He stressed that India’s position in this regard had been consistent and clear and this is not a new development. Mr Jaiswal pointed out that India has consistently maintained that such claims are neither justified nor based on historical facts and evidence. He stressed that such unilateral artificial enlargement of territorial claims is untenable. The spokesperson added that India remains open to a constructive interaction with Nepal on all issues in the bilateral relationship, including on resolving the agreed outstanding boundary issues through dialogue and diplomacy.
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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate a North Tech Symposium, on the theme ‘Raksha Triveni Sangam – Where Technology, Industry & Soldiering Converge’, in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh today. The Ministry of Defence informed that the symposium will serve as a vibrant platform to showcase and integrate state-of-the-art indigenous technologies to overcome operational challenges.
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Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar interacted with the Indian community in Jamaica. In a social media post he said that the Prime Minister of Jamaica spoke about the Indian community’s contributions. Both leaders discussed the transformation underway, especially in infrastructure, human development and technology driven governance and entrepreneurship. They also discussed the recent developments in Indian-jamaica ties. Dr Jaishankar is on an official visit to Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago till 10th of this month.
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The United States will launch Project Freedom to “guide” countries with ships stranded in the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump said this effort will help hundreds of vessels and some 20,000 seafarers. In a social media post, he said that neutral and innocent countries have been affected by the Iran war, and the US has told these Countries that Washington will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business.
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Three people have died and three fell ill after a suspected Hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship en route from Argentina to Cape Verde. According to the World Health Organization, Hantavirus is a rodent-borne virus that can cause fatal respiratory illness.
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The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast thunderstorms accompanied with Hailstorm over Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand for today. Similar weather conditions are also likely to prevail over parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.
It also predicted heavy rainfall at isolated places over Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya,Kerala, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
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In IPL Cricket, Gujarat Titans defeated Punjab Kings by four wickets in Ahmedabad last night. Chasing a target of 164 runs set by Punjab Kings, Gujarat Titans scored 167 for six with one ball to spare. Today, Mumbai Indians will face Lucknow Super Giants at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The match will begin at 7:30 this evening.
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TODAY’S NEWSPAPERS:-
- The dailies have mentioned about the 3-tier security system in place for election results today with all eyes on counting centres. “Verdict day arrives for high-stakes elections” writes Hindustan Times while The Pioneer says “From Bengal to Kerala, high voter turnout set the stage for a dramatic result today.”
- “Government explores EU-like law to safeguard firms against third countries’ sanctions,” cites The Indian Express.
- In its editorial page Hindustan Times talks about UAE’s exit from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. It reflects the new security architecture being built around Abu Dhabi. The choice of New Delhi is to be a participant in shaping the new order, or be a price-taker once it is built.
- The Times of India mentions about the relief after UAE airline resume operations. A headline in the paper also says “Iran proposes 30-day plan to end war, says it has received US reply.”
- And finally, A headline in The Tribune states “Artificial intelligence to create 6 million healthcare jobs in India by 2030.”
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In counting for assembly elections, early trends have started coming in for Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal.
In Kerala trends are available for eleven seats. Congress is leading in five seats, CPIM in three seats, BJP, RSP and Independent in one each.
In Tamil Nadu trends are available for two seats; DMK and TVK are leading in one each.
In Assam trends are availbale for ten seats, BJP is leading in nine constituencies and AGP in one.
The first trends have also started coming in from West Bengal. BJP is leading in all three constituencies for which trends are available.
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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN:-
- Counting of votes begin for Assembly elections in Assam, West Bengal, Keralam, Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Puducherry.
- Counting also underway for Bypolls in seven Assembly Constituencies.
- India rejects Nepal’s objection to Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through Lipulekh pass, calls it unjustified.
- IMD forecasts thunderstorms accompanied with Hailstorm over North India including Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand today.
- United States to launch ‘Project Freedom’ to guide stranded ships safely out of Strait of Hormuz.
- And in IPL Cricket, Gujarat Titans defeat Punjab Kings by four wickets in Ahmedabad last night.
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