Lok Sabha elections | Election Commission transfers top officials across five States
The Election Commission of India on April 2 issued transfer orders for top officials in five States namely Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. The poll body also appointed special observers in the states of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar which have a population of more than 7 crore. Both steps have been taken to ensure a level playing field during the upcoming elections.
SBI refuses to disclose SOP for sale, redemption of electoral bonds in RTI reply
The State Bank of India has refused to disclose its standard operating procedure for the sale and redemption of the electoral bonds that were issued to its authorised branches, citing the exemption given under “commercial confidence”, according to an RTI response. In an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, transparency activist Anjali Bhardwaj sought the details of the standard operating procedure issued to the SBI’s authorised branches on the sale and redemption of the electoral bonds.
AAP’s Sanjay Singh gets bail after six months in Delhi Excise policy case
The Supreme Court on April 2 granted bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh, arrested in the Delhi excise policy scam case. The top court was hearing Mr. Singh’s plea challenging his arrest and remand in the money laundering case.
Supreme Court closes proceedings on Mukhtar Ansari’s appeal against conviction in case
Taking note of Mukhtar Ansari’s death, the Supreme Court on Tuesday closed its proceedings on a plea filed by the jailed gangster-turned-politician against an order of the Allahabad High Court sentencing him to five-year jail term in a 24-year-old case. “The petitioner is no more. The proceedings shall be abated,” said the bench comprising justices Bela M. Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal after taking note of the statement that Ansari passed away.
Sand mining case | ED can summon ‘any person’ for ‘any information’, Supreme Court tells Tamil Nadu
The Supreme Court on April 2 endorsed the sweeping powers of the ED, saying the Central agency could call “anybody for any information” even as it castigated four Tamil Nadu District Collectors for failing to appear in person in response to a summons issued to them by the anti-money laundering body. The Tamil Nadu government and the Collectors informed a Bench headed by Justice Bela M. Trivedi that they had written to the ED expressing their inability to appear in person owing to the fact that the General Elections in Tamil Nadu was due on April 19 and they needed more time to collect the information sought by the Central agency about sand mining sites in their respective districts.
Atishi should provide proof or face action: Delhi BJP chief
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva on April 2 slammed AAP leader Atishi challenging her to provide details of her allegation that she was approached to join the saffron party or be prepared for a legal action. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Mr. Sachdeva said that his party will take legal action against Atishi if she fails to provide proof to her claim that the BJP approached her to join it through her close friend.
Building up tempo for the BJP’s poll battle for Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka, Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the Chief Minister and Deputy CM of neglecting the interests of the State due to their power tussle, and trying to politicise the issue of drought assistance from the Centre. Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has questioned Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s moral right to seek votes from the people of Karnataka without releasing Central aid for drought relief.
India firmly rejects ‘senseless attempts’ by China to rename places in Arunachal
India on April 2 outrightly rejected as “senseless” China renaming some places in Arunachal Pradesh, and asserted that assigning “invented” names does not alter the reality that the state “is, has been, and will always be” an integral part of India. India’s reaction came in response to Beijing announcing Chinese names for 30 more places in Arunachal Pradesh which the neighbouring country claims as southern part of Tibet.
Odisha | BJP, Congress release lists of candidates for Lok Sabha, Assembly elections
The BJP and the Congress on April 2 released their candidates lists for the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Odisha. The BJP has named candidates for 112 out of 147 Assembly seats. The party has retained almost all MLAs in the forthcoming elections and fielded more than 40 new faces in the list of 112 candidates. Three sitting MLAs of Nilagiri, Malkangiri and Brahmagiri Assembly constituencies have been dropped for different reasons. Of the 112 candidates, eight are women. Meanwhile, the Congress has announced candidates for 49 out of 147 assembly seats and eight out of 21 Lok Sabha seats. Congress has fielded father-son duo Bhakta Charan Das and his son Sagar Charan Das from two different Assembly seats in Kalahandi district. Similarly, Bhujabal Majhi has been nominated for Nabarangpur Lok Sabha seat while his daughter Lipika Majhi will contest from Dabugaon assembly seat.
Andhra Pradesh Congress chief Y.S. Sharmila Reddy will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election from the Kadapa seat which had been won four times by her late father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy or YSR, a popular former Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh. Ms. Reddy was one of 17 names in a fresh list of Lok Sabha candidates announced by the Congress on April 2.
The Supreme Court on April 2 questioned the government for “shutting its eyes” while Patanjali Ayurved “tom-tommed” its wares as panacea during the COVID-19 pandemic. The court also turned the heat a notch higher on Baba Ramdev, self-styled yoga guru and Patanjali’s co-founder, by threatening him with perjury proceedings on top of the contempt action hanging over him.
Benjamin Netanyahu admits ‘unintentional’ Israel strike killed Gaza aid workers
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted on April 2 that its armed forces “unintentionally” killed seven aid workers in an air strike in Gaza. “Unfortunately, in the last day there was a tragic case of our forces unintentionally hitting innocent people in the Gaza Strip,” he said as he left hospital in Jerusalem after a hernia operation. “It happens in war, we will investigate it right to the end... We are in contact with the governments, and we will do everything so that this thing does not happen again.”
Finland school shooting | 12-year-old opens fire, killing fellow student and wounding two others
A 12-year-old student opened fire at a secondary school in southern Finland on April 2 morning, killing one and seriously wounding two other students, police said. The suspect was later apprehended. Heavily armed police cordoned off the Viertola school — a large educational institution including lower and upper secondary schools with a total of about 800 students — in the city of Vantaa, just outside the capital, Helsinki, after receiving a call about a shooting incident at 9:08 a.m. local time.
Eight reasons for Vistara’s massive flight cancellations
Vistara cancelled another 61 flights on Tuesday, a day after it witnessed 49 flight cancellations due to pilot “unavailability”, leading to the aviation safety regulator cracking the whip on the airline and asking it to submit daily figures of cancellations and delays. The airline announced on April 1 that it will temporarily reduce the number of flights to deal with the problem of crew unavailability and also deploy larger aircraft like the B787-9 Dreamliner and A321neo on select domestic routes to combine flights or accommodate more number of customers.
Twenty20 World Cup | Ben Stokes pulls out; says it’s his sacrifice to remain an all-rounder
England’s star player Ben Stokes on April 2 pulled out of the upcoming T20 World Cup, saying the “sacrifice” will help him focus on regaining his fitness to bowl full throttle and be the “all-rounder I want to be for the foreseeable future”. The country’s Test captain has informed the England & Wales Cricket Board about his decision, two months ahead of the showpiece that will be held in the USA and West Indies.
Kolkata Knight Riders’ home IPL game against Rajasthan Royals was on April 2 advanced by a day to April 16, while Gujarat Titans-Delhi Capitals fixture in Ahmedabad was also rescheduled by the BCCI which did not give any reason for the move. PTI on April 1 reported that the KKR-RR tie in the 2024 Indian Premier League was set to get rescheduled due to Ram Navami, but the Board did not specify any reason for the rescheduling of matches on these two dates.
