Election Commission of India to announce poll schedule on March 16
The Election Commission of India (ECI) will on March 16 announce the schedule for elections to the Lok Sabha and some State Assemblies. The current Lok Sabha’s term ends on June 16 and a new House has to be constituted before that. The term of the Assemblies in Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Odisha is coming to an end on different dates in June.
DMK, Congress will never succeed in developing T.N., will only scam, loot public: PM Modi
BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 15, 2024, charged that the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, comprising parties such as the DMK and Congress, could never succeed in developing Tamil Nadu. “Their history is of scams, and their policies are focussed on coming to power to loot the public,” he claimed at a BJP public meeting in Kanniyakumari district. Mr. Modi said he was seeing a huge transformation coming up in the State. “I am confident this time that the performance of the BJP in Tamil Nadu will break apart the arrogance of the DMK and Congress’s I.N.D.I.A. bloc,” he said.
India rejects U.S. remarks on Citizenship Amendment Act
India on March 15 strongly trashed the criticism against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), including by the United States, and said “vote-bank politics” should not determine views about a “laudable initiative” to help those in distress. Rejecting the charges made by the U.S. State Department, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said “Lectures by those who have a limited understanding of India’s pluralistic traditions and the region’s post Partition history are best not attempted.”
The first ship to use a new sea route approaches Gaza with 200 tons of aid
A ship carrying 200 tons of aid approached the coast of Gaza on March 15 in a mission to inaugurate a sea route from Cyprus to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the enclave five months into the war between Israel and Hamas. The ship, operated by the Spanish aid group Open Arms, left Cyprus on Tuesday towing a barge laden with food sent by World Central Kitchen, the charity founded by celebrity chef José Andrés. It could be seen off Gaza’s coast Friday morning.
BRS MLC K. Kavitha’s Hyderabad residence raided by ED
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 15 searched the residence of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) Kalvakuntla Kavitha in connection with the Delhi Liquor Policy scam case. Around noon today, three vehicles of ED and IT teams reached the residence of Ms. Kavitha. Her security staff was asked to stay out and staff phones have also been taken by officials, sources close to the matter informed.
ED and IT had conducted searches on many firms which purchased electoral bonds
An analysis of firms which feature among the top purchasers of electoral bonds throws up many curious patterns. One of the common links is that a significant number of companies in the top donor list were under the Enforcement Directorate’s or the Income Tax Department’s scanner at some point of time in the past five years. In some cases, a chunk of the bonds were bought by these firms, in the days following such searches.
The stop clock system, which is currently on trial, will be made a permanent feature of all full-member ODIs and T20Is from the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024, the ICC said on March 15. The ICC had introduced the stop clock rule in December 2023, and now it has been incorporated into the standard playing conditions which will be in vogue from June 1, 2024. “The stop-clock is set to become permanent in all ODIs and T20Is from June 2024, starting with the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and USA,” the ICC said in a statement after its Annual Board Meeting.
Lotus to bloom in Kerala this time, says PM Modi during visit to State
Kicking off the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) Lok Sabha election campaign in Kerala, Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on March 15 (Friday) expressed confidence that “the lotus is going to bloom in Kerala in this Lok Sabha elections.” He urged the voters to break the cycle of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) forming governments in order to “save Kerala from its current slide.”
Mauritius is ensuring transparency in the financial services sector and there are no shell companies there, Mauritian minister Soomilduth Bholah has said as he pitched the island nation as the platform for Indian companies to tap the African market. In an exclusive interview to PTI in the national capital, Mr. Bholah said that Mauritius is looking for investments from India, which he described as an economic powerhouse.
One Nation, One Election: the Kovind panel’s recommendations | Explained
The High-Level Committee (HLC) on ‘’One Nation, One Election,” headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, submitted its report on the feasibility of conducting simultaneous polls to President Droupadi Murmu on March 14. The 18,626-page report contains 11 chapters along with annexures and has been prepared after extensive consultations with stakeholders and experts over a period of 191 days. The panel unanimously recommended simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and State Assemblies as the first step followed by synchronised local body polls within 100 days, highlighting that such a mechanism will augment development and social cohesion and deepen the “foundations of the democratic rubric.”
There is only one MSD, I am happy to be Dhruv: Jurel on comparisons with Dhoni
He might be drawing comparisons with Mahendra Singh Dhoni, but wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel on March 15 said nobody can quite match up to the former India captain and he would rather focus on carving his own niche in international cricket. Jurel, who made his Test debut during the recently-concluded series against England, was sharp behind the wickets, solid with the bat and quite instinctive while guiding captain Rohit Sharma during DRS calls.
Pudukkottai, Namakkal, Tiruvannamalai and Karaikudi set to become Municipal Corporations
In line with the announcement by Minister K.N. Nehru in the Assembly in March last year, the Tamil Nadu government has issued orders upgrading Pudukkottai, Namakkal, Tiruvannamalai and Karaikudi into municipal corporations. While Pudukkottai Municipality and 11 neighbouring village panchayats would form parts of the Pudukkottai Municipal Corporation, Tiruvannamalai Municipality and 18 village panchayats would constitute the new Tiruvannamalai Corporation.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge demanded a Supreme Court-monitored special investigation into the electoral bonds scheme through which the ruling BJP encashed ₹6,065 crore over five years, and said the bank accounts of the BJP must be frozen till completion of the probe. He claimed that several companies purchased electoral bonds soon after they faced raids by Central agencies, such as the Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax Department. While the BJP has received the highest amount in electoral bonds from corporates, the bank account of the Congress, which received donations from party workers, was frozen.
Supreme Court refuses to stay appointments of two new Election Commissioners
The Supreme Court refused to stay the appointments of Election Commissioners (ECs) Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Gyanesh Kumar on Friday even as petitioners argued that the hurry and lack of transparency shown by the government has sent a wrong message that the two retired IAS officers are “favourable” to the regime in power. Appearing before a three-judge Bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, the petitioners, represented by senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Vikas Singh and advocate Prashant Bhushan, said the two appointments were made on March 14 in accordance with a new law, the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act of 2023.
CAA only serves to legitimise Islamophobia: T.N. CM Stalin
DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday contended that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) only served to “legitimise Islamophobia”. He made this observation on a social media post on the occasion of the UN International Day to Combat Islamophobia, on March 15, 2024. “Since 2014, Union BJP Government’s reign has torn apart India’s secular fabric, fostering intolerance and endorsing discrimination against our Muslim community. Their implementation of unconstitutional acts like #CAA only serve to legitimise #Islamophobia,” Mr. Stalin charged.
Lok Sabha polls | Former MP, former AIADMK MLA join DMK
About 500 people, including former MP P.D. Elangovan and former AIADMK legislator V.T. Kalaiselvan joined the DMK, in the presence of DMK president M.K. Stalin at Anna Arivalayam in Chennai on Friday, March 15, 2024.
