Lok Sabha polls 2024 | NDA finalises seat-sharing agreement in Bihar
The NDA, on March 18, finalised the seat-sharing agreement for the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar. The announcement was made by BJP Bihar in-charge Vinod Tawde in New Delhi. According to the seat-sharing agreement, the BJP will fight in 17 seats while JD(U) will contest in 16. Chirag Paswan-led Lok Jan Shakti Party (Ram Vilas) will contest in five seats.
Supreme Court orders ‘complete disclosure’ on electoral bonds from SBI
The Supreme Court on March 18 asked the State of Bank of India to be “candid and fair” and not selective while directing it to make a “complete disclosure” of electoral bonds’ data, including their unique hidden alphanumeric and serial numbers, to the Election Commission of India for publication.
2024 Lok Sabha polls | ECI orders large-scale transfer of bureaucrats
Seeking to ensure level-playing field in Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission of India on March 18 ordered the removal of Home Secretaries of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, sources said. It also ordered the removal of the West Bengal director general of police, they added. Also, the secretary of the general administrative departments of Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh have been removed.
BRS leader K Kavitha and some others “conspired” with top AAP leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, to get favours in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy by paying ₹100 crore to the political party that rules Delhi, the Enforcement Directorate alleged on March 18. Forty-six-year-old Ms. Kavitha, the MLC daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, was arrested by the federal agency last week from her Hyderabad home and she is in the ED custody till March 23.
Lok Sabha polls | Vivek Sahay is new West Bengal DGP after ECI removes Rajeev Kumar
Following the instruction of the Election Commission of India, the West Bengal government on March 18 appointed Vivek Sahay as the new DGP of the State.. The appointment was made within hours after the poll panel removed Rajeev Kumar as the director general of police. Mr. Sahay, a 1988-batch IPS officer, was the Director General and Commandant General (Home Guards).
NCP received its largest single-day donation of electoral bonds while in power
On March 17, new documents revealing the names of companies and individuals that made contributions to the Nationalist Congress Party till May 7, 2019, through the electoral bonds route were made public by the Election Commission of India. The Nationalist Congress Party received ₹37.5 crore, via the electoral bond route, between January 10, 2019 and May 7, 2019. Originally, this information was provided to the Supreme Court in sealed envelopes. The Supreme Court directed the commission to release these details to the public. Details of electoral bonds encashed by the NCP beyond May 7, 2019 were disclosed by the election authority last week. The party had received ₹28.5 crore, after May 7, 2019, for which the donor information is still not available.
The Supreme Court on March 18 refused to stay the order of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker disqualifying six Congress rebels, who had cross-voted in the recent Rajya Sabha polls in the State. A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta issued notice to the office of H.P. Assembly speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania and sought its response to the plea in four weeks.
CM Arvind Kejriwal skips ED summons in money-laundering case linked to Delhi Jal Board
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on March 18 skipped the Enforcement Directorate summons in a money-laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board. The Aam Aadmi Party also termed the summons “illegal” and accused the BJP government at the Centre of using the ED to target Mr. Kejriwal.
Telangana Governor Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan has tendered her resignation and sent the letter to the President Droupadi Murmu on March 18. Sources said that she is likely to contest Lok Sabha polls either from Tamil Nadu or Puducherry. A press communique from Raj Bhavan said: “The Hon’ble Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Dr. Smt.Tamilisai Soundararajan has tendered her resignation with immediate effect. The resignation has been submitted to the Hon’ble President of India.”
‘Shakti’ I spoke about not religious, but power of unrighteousness, corruption and falsehood: Rahul
Under attack for his “fight against Shakti” remark made at a rally in Mumbai, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi clarified on March 18 that he was not talking about any religious power but the shakti of unrighteousness, corruption and falsehood. At a rally in Mumbai, Mr. Gandhi commented that the “fight against Modi is not on a personal level since Modi is a ‘mask’ who works for a ‘shakti’ (power)“.
AgustaWestland: SC refuses to entertain bail plea of alleged middleman Christian Michel James
The Supreme Court on March 18 refused to entertain a fresh bail plea of Christian Michel James, an alleged middleman who is being probed by the CBI and the ED in the alleged ₹3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper scam cases relating to the purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters. It was argued that Mr. James cannot be charged under any other offences apart from those mentioned in the extradition decree and he be granted the benefit of the doctrine of speciality. He was arrested in December 2018 after being extradited from Dubai.
Court directs Tihar officials to take Sanjay Singh to Parliament on Mar 19 for oath as RS MP
A Delhi court has directed Tihar Jail officials to take Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh, who is arrested in the Excise scam case, to Parliament on March 19 to enable him to take oath as a Rajya Sabha member. Special Judge M.K. Nagpal directed the jail superintendent to ensure adequate security during Mr. Singh’s movement.
Complaint against PM Modi for violating MCC by using IAF helicopter in election rally
Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale on March 18 filed a complaint against Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Election Commission of India for violating the Model Code of Conduct for using an Indian Air Force helicopter to attend an election rally in AC 96-Chilakaluripet in Palnadu, Andhra Pradesh, on March 17. The rules prohibit the use of state machinery for campaigning. Indira Gandhi was disqualified in 1975 specifically for this reason. If BJP paid for renting the IAF chopper, then EC should let us all know along with the grounds for why an IAF chopper was essential, Mr. Gokhale said.
Israel launches another raid on Gaza’s main hospital, charging that Hamas has regrouped there
Israeli forces launched another raid on the Gaza Strip’s largest hospital early on March 18, saying Hamas militants had regrouped there and had fired on them from inside the compound, where Palestinian officials say tens of thousands of people were sheltering. The army last raided Shifa Hospital in November after claiming that Hamas maintained an elaborate command centre within and beneath the facility. The military revealed a tunnel leading to a bunker, as well as weapons it said were found inside the hospital, but the evidence fell short of the earlier claims, and critics accused the army of recklessly endangering the lives of civilians.
Vladimir Putin declared winner of a presidential race that was never in doubt
President Vladimir Putin basked in an election victory that was never in doubt, as officials said on March 18 that he had won his fifth term with a record number of votes, underlining the Russian leader’s total control of the country’s political system. After facing only token challengers and harshly suppressing opposition voices, Mr. Putin was set to extend his nearly quarter-century rule for six more years. Even with little margin for protest, Russians crowded outside polling stations at noon on March 17, the last day of the election, apparently heeding an opposition call to express their displeasure with the president.
Pakistani airstrikes target suspected Pakistani Taliban hideouts in Afghanistan: Officials
“Pakistani airstrikes targeted multiple suspected hideouts of Pakistani Taliban inside Afghanistan early Monday (March 18), two days after insurgents killed seven soldiers in a suicide bombing and coordinated attacks in the northwest,” two security officials said. There was no immediate comment by Pakistan’s military and the Taliban government in Afghanistan denounced the strikes, which are likely to further increase tension between the neighbouring countries.
The U.N. food agency says “famine is imminent” in northern Gaza, where an estimated 70% of the population faces catastrophic hunger. The World Food Programme on March 18 released the latest findings of its Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, an international process for estimating the scale of hunger crises. It said virtually everyone in Gaza is struggling to get enough food, and around 2,10,000 people in northern Gaza are in Phase 5, the highest, which refers to catastrophic hunger.
IOA dissolves ad-hoc committee for wrestling, WFI to take charge
The Indian Olympic Association on March 18 dissolved the ad-hoc committee for wrestling, saying “there is no further need” for it to run the sport after revocation of the suspension on the national federation, which now gets complete administrative control. The IOA said that the decision was also guided the successful conduct of the selection trials for next month’s Olympic qualifying tournament for which the panel collaborated with WFI.
