1. Tamil Nadu farmers put off stir till May 25
Tamil Nadu farmers, who have been protesting at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi for the past 39 days, have announced postponement of their agitation. According to news agency PTI, they have put off their stir till May 25, 2017.
Their announcement comes after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami met them in the morning.
2. ECI issues letter of intent for purchase of 16,15,000 VVPAT units
The Election Commission has issued letter of intent for purchase of 16.15 lakh Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail machines, following a clearance by the Union Cabinet on fund allocations.
The machines would be procured in 2017-18 and 2018-19 at an estimated cost of Rs. 3,173.47 crore, from public sector undertakings BEL and ECIL.
3. Bribery case: Dhinakaran questioned for second day
AIADMK (Amma) leader TTV Dhinakaran appeared before the Crime Branch for the second day on Sunday for being questioned on the alleged case of bribing an Election Commission official for retaining the “two leaves” party symbol.
Mr. Dhinakaran reached the Crime Branch Inter State Cell office in Chanakyapuri around 2 p.m. There was heavy security outside the residential compound that houses the office of the Inter State Cell.
4. Modi asks States to speed up infrastructure development
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called upon states to “speed up capital expenditure and infrastructure creation” to spur economic growth.
Addressing the third meeting of the Governing Council of Niti Aayog, Mr. Modi also said the think-tank’s long, medium and short term action plans would benefit all the states.
5. Indo-Israel ties more visible under Modi govt.: Israel
Appreciating that Indo-Israel ties were more “visible” after the Modi government has come to power, Israel said on Sunday that India’s policy of not having a “zero-sum game” while dealing with the Jewish nation and the Arab countries has sent a strong message.
You can never write MS Dhoni off. Having retired from Test cricket at the end of 2014, he has committed himself to the shorter formats for India and for his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise. But a very lengthy 2016-17 Test season led to Dhoni being away from the spotlight, therefore coming into the 2017 IPL a bit short on match practice.
7. 270 Delhi municipal wards go to the polls
Polling ends at 5.30 p.m., but those who entered the polling stations before the stipulated time have been allowed to vote. “The entire electoral exercise passed off peacefully. The turnout by 4 p.m. was around 45% and we are very hopeful that the final tally will be beyond 54%, the voting percentage in the 2102 civic body polls in Delhi,” State Election Commissioner S.K. Srivastava says.
8. Early French vote turnout slightly higher than 2012
urnout figures for the first round of the French presidential election showed a 28.54 percentage participation rate by midday local time (3.30 p.m. IST) the Interior Ministry said on Sunday, slightly above the corresponding rate in the 2012 vote.
The 28.54% compared to 28.29% in 2012 at the same hour, and compared to midday turnout rates of 31.21% in 2007 and 21.40% in 2002.
9. US accuses TCS, Infosys of violating H-1B visa norms
The US has accused top Indian IT firms TCS and Infosys of unfairly cornering the lion’s share of H-1B visas by putting extra tickets in the lottery system, which the Trump administration wants to replace with a more merit-based immigration policy.
1 0. Modi asks states to reach out to students from J&K
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today urged all state governments to reach out to the students of Jammu and Kashmir in their respective states.
Mr. Modi’s advice, which came after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti raised the point at a meeting of Chief Ministers here, assumes significance as it comes against the backdrop of thrashing of some Kashmiri students in Mewar in Rajasthan and a hoarding in Meerut asking Kashmiris to leave Uttar Pradesh.
