7 phases poll fest to kick off on April 19
·
The Election Commission ( EC) on
Saturday announced the poll schedule for the General election .
·
Elections in India will be held in
seven phases from April 19 to June 1 .
·
Simultaneous assembly polls will
be held in Andhra Pradesh ( A.P.) ,
Sikkim , Odisha and Arunachal Pradesh Of the 96.8 crore electors eligible to
cast votes , 1.82 crores are first timers .
·
The dates for polling for the Lok
Sabha are on April 19 , April 26 , May 7 , May 13 , May 20 , May 25 and June 1.
·
In Bihar , UP and voting will take
place in all seven states .
·
The counting of votes will take
place on June 4
·
Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim will
go for Assembly polls on April 19 ,while Andhra Pradesh will go for Assembly
polls on May 13 .
·
Odisha’s assembly polls will be
held in four phases with voting on May 13 ,May 20 ,May 25 and June 1 .
·
This will be the second longest
polling exercise in India’s polling history .
·
This is the first time in a
general election that people above the age 85 years as well as those with more
than 40% disability will be able to vote from their own homes .
Model
Code of Conduct ( MCC) : With the announcement of polling
dates , Model Code of Conduct has come into force . CEC flagged the challenge
of ‘ four Ms’ : Muscle Power , Money
Power , Misinformation and MCC violations .
Standing
on cusp of history – PM Modi said that he was ready for the polls . He said that the
contest was between NDA that ushered a “
glorious turnaround “ and the opposition that was “ rudderless “ .
Set to
take on and ‘ unseat ‘ BJP , says INDIA
leaders
The parties in the Opposition bloc welcomed Lok Sabha poll dates and said
they were ready to take on the BJP to unseat it from power .
On
Elections in J&K – CEC Rajiv Kumar said that Assembly
Elections in J&K will not be
possible at this point of time due to security requirements .
But he indicated Assembly elections to be
performed soon after the
Indian Navy warships rescues 17 crew members of hijacked
merchant vessel ;35 pirates surrendered
·
Indian Navy on March 14
rescued vessel named Ruen from pirates .
·
Maltese based vessel Ruen was was
hijacked on December 14 and taken to Somalian waters , was turned into pirate
vessel as was being used as a pirate ship .
·
The vessel was intercepted by
Pirate ship INS Kolkata about 2600 km from Indian Coast . Pirates were
forced to surrender . Vessel has been sanitised and crew members rescued .
BRS leader Kavitha sent to ED custody in Electoral bond case
·
A Delhi Court remanded K Kavitha
for 7 days of custody . K Kavitha ,
daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K chandrashekhar Rao has been accessed to
be involved in Excise scam case by ED .
Kerala
moves SC for stay on citizenship act and it’s rules
Home Ministry bans several outfits in J&K under UAPA
·
Union Home Ministry of Jammu and
Kashmir banned Jammu and Kashmir Freedom League ( JKFL ) , and Jammu and
Kashmir People’s league ( JKPL )
associated with the seapratist conglomerate Hurriyat Conference under
Unlawful Activities Prevention Act ( UAPA ).
·
The ministry said that these
othanisations were involved in incitong
terror and abetting secessionism in Jammu and Kashmir .
Gulmarg vying to become global winter sports venue
·
Gulmarg in Kashmir is vying to
become venue of International events
such as Asian Games this year . It is hoping to get certified by International
ski snowboard Federation ( FIS ) to be the training ground of ski
mountaineering
·
Ski Mountaineering will make its
debut in Olympics in 2026 Italy .
·
Khelo India Winter Games is being
organized in Gulamarg for last four times .
·
The major sports that can be perforemed in
Gulanrg are Snowboarding , Alpine Skiing , Nordic Skiing and Ski Mountaineering
.
World
Kyiv strikes rock Russia on second day of Presidential
polls
·
As Russia is going polls , the attack by
Ukriane has increased . Two persons died in Russia ‘s Belogorod .
·
Attack has prompted officilas to
close , schools and shopping centers in Belogorod .
UN agency laments plight of children in Northern Gaza
·
One in three children under three
years of age is of the modern Gaza is acutely malnourished and famine is
looming , the main UN agency operating in the Palestinian enclave said on
Saturday .
·
“ Children Malnutrition is
approaching fast and reaching unprecedented levels in Gaza“,UNRWA ( UN Reliefs
Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees )
said.
·
Western countries have called
Israel to do more to allow in aid , with the UN saying it faced “
overwhelming obstacles “ , including
cross closures , onerous vetting and restrictions and unrest inside Gaza .
Saudi crown prince affirms full support for crisis hit
Pakistan
·
Saudi crown prince and defacto
leader Mohammad Bin Salman on Saturday , assured newly elected Prime Minister
Shahbaz Sharif of full support for
Pakistan , which has been ongoing a tough economic phase .
·
Earlier Saudi Arabia has supported
Pakistan in maintaining its FoRex Reserves .
·
Saudi Arabia rolled over 3 billion dollar in deposits at the state
Bank of Pakistan .
FAQ
With
Agni V test , India makes the MIRV capability
·
On March 11, PM Narendra Modi
announced on social media the successful flight test of Agni V ballistic
missiles with Multiple Independent Target
Reentry Vehicle ( MIRV)technology
by DRDO ( Defense Research Development Organization ) , under “ Mission
Divyastra “ . It placed India within small group of countries with this
technology .
·
Currently US, Russia , China ,
France and UK has this technology .
·
With MIRV a missile can deploy
multiple warheads and hitting multiple
targets independently .
Who
will benefit from the new CAA rules
·
On March 11 , The ministry of Home
Affairs in a notofied Citizenship amedment
Act ( CAA ) to get implemented .
·
According to the rules six
existing communities Hindu, Sikh , Christian , Buddhist , Parsi and Jain from
three courtied Pakistan , Afghanistan and Bagladesh , who are reading in India will be given
citizenship.
·
The process of application is
online , however verification in citizens will be done by Intelligence Bureau (
IB ) . The applicant has to show at least one proof that clarifies that they
were citizens of either three countries
in the past .
Implication
of CAA in different states
·
Many Hindus and Sikhs from
Afghanistan and Pakistan had their Visas and Passport expired and their
application for citizenship pending for long . The population of such Hindus is
around 80,000 .
·
In West Bengal , a section of
Matua sect who had migrated from Bangladesh , celebrated the implementation of
CAA . There are about 2.8 crore people but first they will have to show their
proof of connection with Bangladesh .
·
In Assam too there are about 19 lakh Hindus who had came from
Bagladesh . Earlier while Preparing NRC of Assam 19 lakh Hindus were left out .
These will be potential beneficiaries .