PM Modi addresses rally, Congress releases manifesto as Himachal poll campaign heats up
Addressing a poll rally at Sundernagar in Mandi district, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the people of Himachal Pradesh had made up their minds to retain the BJP in power, saying rapid progress and a stable government were necessary in the hill state. He also attacked the Congress and said the party always ignored Himachal Pradesh as the state was small and sent only “three to four MPs” to the Lok Sabha. Meanwhile, the Congress, which is aiming to wrest power, released its manifesto. Congress promised free electricity up to 300 units monthly to all households and financial assistance of ₹1,500 monthly to women between 18 to 60 years of age.
T20 World Cup | Australia eliminated as England beats Sri Lanka; enters semifinals
Ben Stokes hit a gutsy unbeaten 42 as England made the Twenty20 World Cup semi-finals with a tense four wicket win over Sri Lanka, shattering the hopes of defending champions Australia whose title defence is now over. England needed to win to make the last four from Group 1 alongside already-qualified New Zealand, and they achieved the feat in a nail-biting finish with two balls to spare.
Excise policy case | ED questions Delhi Deputy CM Sisodia’s PA
The Enforcement Directorate conducted raids at 5 locations in Delhi-NCR in connection with the case. The agency is questioning Devendra Sharma, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s personal assistant, and recording his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), according to officials. His premises were searched and later he was brought to the ED office in central Delhi for questioning, officials said. Mr. Sisodia claimed in a tweet the ED foisted a “false” case against him after which it raided his PA’s house and “arrested” him.
ED summon to Hemant Soren | JMM, Congress take to the street; RJD skips
Differences within the ruling UPA in Jharkhand came to the fore as coalition partners Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Congress took to the streets in Ranchi against the Enforcement Directorate’s summons to Chief Minister Hemant Soren but the Rashtriya Janata Dal stayed away. The RJD, which has only one member in the State Assembly, said it had not received any official communication on the protest. Hundreds of JMM workers marched to Raj Bhawan on Saturday and raised slogans against the BJP and ED. They staged a dharna, which was participated by several senior Congress leaders.
Siddharth Chatterjee, a former Indian military officer helms the U.N. in China
Siddharth Chatterjee’s rise to becoming the U.N. Resident Coordinator for China — one of the agency’s key global positions given Beijing’s rising importance in the U.N. system — leaves a former Indian soldier in an unlikely position — the equivalent of a former PLA soldier guiding the U.N.’s agencies in India. In his job, Mr. Chatterjee engages every day with senior Chinese Communist Party officials and assists China in achieving its development targets.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge criticised PM Narendra Modi over unemployment, saying that the PM was handing over some thousand appointment letters while “millions of youth search for jobs”. Mr. Kharge said Mr. Modi came to power with a promise of two crore new jobs every year, but forget creating two crore new well-paying jobs, it took eight years for the BJP-led Centre to even think of filling 10 lakh existing Central Government vacancies. PM Modi is holding ‘Rozgar Melas’, handing out appointment letters, and has addressed the melas giving 75,000 letters in Delhi, 13,000 in Gujarat, and 3,000 in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr. Kharge said.
MBBS in Hindi along with English from next academic session in Uttarakhand: State Education Minister
When implemented, Uttarakhand will be the second State to do so after Madhya Pradesh. State Medical Education Minister Dhan Singh Rawat said the decision has been taken in view of the special importance being given by the Centre to Hindi. His department has constituted a four-member expert committee in this regard. The panel is headed by Dr CMS Rawat, principal of Government Medical College, Srinagar in Pauri district, the Minister said. The committee will prepare a draft of new syllabus for colleges after studying the MBBS Hindi syllabus in government colleges of Madhya Pradesh. The MBBS course in Hindi will begin in the next academic session after receiving the panel’s draft and completing formalities.
‘You are Pakistan’s hero’, says Imran Khan as he meets his saviour
Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan met with Ibtisam, who foiled an attack on Mr. Khan during a protest march and apprehended the shooter, at the Shaukat Khanum Hospital here where he is being treated for the bullet wounds which pierced through his lower limbs, causing a fracture. “You are Pakistan’s hero. You showed immense courage. It felt very nice,” Mr. Khan told Ibtisam. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman also signed an autograph for his saviour on the same shirt that he wore while apprehending the shooter who is currently in the custody of Punjab Police.
North Korea fires more missiles as U.S. flies bombers over South
North Korea added to its recent barrage of weapons demonstrations by launching four ballistic missiles into the sea on Saturday, as the United States sent two supersonic bombers streaking over South Korea in a duelling display of military might that underscored rising tensions in the region. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the four short-range missiles fired from a western coastal area around noon flew about 130 kilometres (80 miles) toward the country’s western sea.
Ukraine war | Iran acknowledges sending drones to Russia for first time
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian acknowledged for the first time that his country has supplied Russia with drones, insisting the transfer came before Moscow’s war on Ukraine that has seen the Iranian-made drones divebombing Kyiv. The comments come after months of confusing messaging from Iran about the weapons shipment, as Russia sends the drones slamming into Ukrainian energy infrastructure and civilian targets. Previously, Iranian officials had denied arming Russia in its war on Ukraine. Just earlier this week, Iran’s Ambassador to the U.N. Amir Saeid Iravani called the allegations “totally unfounded” and reiterated Iran’s position of neutrality in the war.
‘No choice’, says Musk on worldwide Twitter layoffs
Amid massive layoffs at Twitter across the world, including in India, and the subsequent backlash, the site’s new owner Elon Musk justified the move, saying there was “no choice” when the company was losing millions of dollars daily. “Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately, there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day,” Mr. Musk tweeted. “Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required,” he added.
Djokovic and Tsitsipas reach Paris Masters semis, Alcaraz retires
Novak Djokovic stayed on course for a record-extending seventh Paris Masters title by dispatching Lorenzo Musetti 6-0, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. Djokovic, who has titles in Israel and Kazakhstan this season, is chasing a record-extending 39th Masters title. Djokovic next faces Stefanos Tsitsipas after the fifth-seeded Greek won 6-2, 6-4 against unseeded American Tommy Paul, who knocked out Rafael Nadal in the second round. Earlier, top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz was stopped by unseeded Holger Rune of Denmark, who reached his first semis at Masters level. In a match pitting 19-year-old former junior doubles partners, Rune was leading 6-3, 6-6 and 3-1 in the tiebreaker when the U.S. Open champion Alcaraz retired, a few minutes after having treatment on an abdominal muscle at the changeover.
