Sr Congress Dr Shakeel Ahmad file an Independent Madhubani

Mahagathbandhan of Opposition parties got a jolt when senior Congress leader and former Union minister Dr Shakeel Ahmad filed his nomination papers from Madhubani constituency in Bihar as an Independent candidate.

Dr Ahmad was unhappy after his traditional seat of Madhubani went to the Vikassheel Insaan Party under the Mahagathbandhan’s seat-sharing formula.

Ashok Yadav, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav’s son, is the BJP candidate in Madhubani.

“If we allow the Mahagathbandhan candidate to contest the election in Madhubani, then the BJP will win this seat easily,” Dr Ahmad

India Pakistan discuss Kartarpur Corridor

DD NewsOn Tuesday, India and Pakistan have held a meeting to discuss various issues related to the speedy completion of the proposed Kartarpur corridor from Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in Punjab to  Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s Narowal.

Sources said that India had proposed the meeting and Pakistan agreed to it. They  added that the implementation of the project is progressing with speed.

Experts and technicians from both countries discussed the timing of the completion of the bridge, alignment of roads and engineering aspects of the proposed crossing points.

Kartarpur is located in Pakistan’s Narowal district across the Ravi, about four km from the Dera Baba Nanak. The first meeting to finalise the modalities for the corridor took place on the Indian side of the Attari-Wagah border on 14th of March.

Death toll 60 Rain storm lightening

The death toll due to rain, thunderstorm and lightning in several partsof Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra has risen to 60.

Rajasthan Relief Secretary Ashutosh A T Pednekar said twenty-five deaths occurred in the state. In Madhya Pradesh, senior police officials confirmed 22 deaths. 

Gujarat government’s Director of Relief G B Manglpara said that at least 10 people have died due to rain and dust storms. 

In Maharashtra, three persons died in rain related incidents. The Met department said in New Delhi yesterday that several parts of north and northeast India are likely to witness thunderstorm and rainfall over the next 24 hours.

Polling phase II of LS polls begin

AIR PICPolling for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls is underway. Ninety-five constituencies, spread over 11 States and one Union Territory are  going to the polls today. 

Earlier, 97 constituencies were scheduled to be covered in the second phase. But election to Vellore seat in Tamil Nadu was cancelled over allegations of excess use of money power and polling to Tripura (East) has been postponed to the third phase, over law and order concerns.

Polling is being held in 38 constituencies in Tamil Nadu, 14 in Karnataka, 10 in Maharashtra, eight in Uttar Pradesh, five each in Assam, Bihar and Odisha, 3 each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, two in Jammu and Kashmir and one each in Manipur and Puducherry. 

In Tamil Nadu, voting in 38 Lok Sabha seats and 18 Assembly constituencies is underway. Polling is going on smoothly and peacefully, as elaborate arrangements have been made for over 5.99 crore voters to exercise their franchise freely. Polling will go on till 6 pm in all constituencies except in Madurai where electors can vote till 8 pm as a two-hour extension has been given in view of the famous Kallazhagar festival there. 

Several political party leaders have exercised their franchise in their respective polling booths. Five-tier security arrangements have been made in front of polling stations. Special measures have been made in more than 8200 booths that are identified as either sensitive or critical. 

In Karnataka  voting is being held in 14 parliamentary constituencies. There are 241 candidates in the  fray in this phase. Our Correspondent gives us the poll s from Bengaluru. In Uttar Pradesh   polling for eight  Lok Sabha seats is underway. They are Mathura, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Amroha, Bulandshaher, Nagina, Hathras and  Aligarh. There are around one crore 41 lakh voters including nearly 65 lakh women. Over 6.5 lakh voters will exercise their franchise for the first time. Elaborate security arrangements have been made to ensure free and fair polls in the areas with deployment of Uttar Pradesh police personnel and Paramilitary forces.

In Chhattisgarh, polling is in progress in three Maoist affected Lok Sabha constituencies of the state.  In Bihar, polling is underway in five parliamentary constituencies Kishanganj, Purnia, Katihar, Bhagalpur and Banka  amidst tight security. More than 86 Lakh electors would decide political future of 68 candidates. 

AIR correspondent reports that strict vigil is being maintained along the Indo- Nepal Border area in Kishanganj parliamentary constituency. To ensure free, fair and peaceful elections patrolling has been intensified.  In Odisha  voting is being held in 5 Lok Sabha and 35 Assembly constituencies. There are 35 candidates for  Lok Sabha and 244 candidates for  Assembly seats.  Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is contesting from Hinjili and Bijepur Assembly constituencies. 

In Jammu and Kashmir over 29.81 lakh voters will decide the fate of 24 candidates contesting for Udhampur and Srinagar Parliamentary seats in the 2nd phase of Lok Sabha elections today. A total of4,426 polling stations have been set up in the two constituencies. 12 candidates are in the fray in Srinagar. 

National Conference  President and three time Chief Minister and three time Parliament member  Dr Farooq Abdullah is among the 12 candidates. Congress has not fielded any candidate for the Srinagar seat. Dr. Jitendra Singh of the BJP   is seeking re-election from the  Udhampur constituency. In Asaam, polling in five constituencies began this morning.

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Stefan: EU for common immigration policy

Stefan Löfven has threatened to sanction others who don’t share the same attitude.

Stefan Löfven says he’s ready to impose sanctions on EU countries that oppose the reception of refugees, such as Hungary.“Yes, I am ready to do this”, Löfven said in an interview with the daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter, addressing the possibility of sanctions.

“Because sooner or later we have to take joint responsibility for receiving migrants. One, two or three countries cannot bear it, we need to help with this.”“If they are not ready to take responsibility, then it will come at a cost, it will not be possible to receive EU funds in the same way as today”, Löfven continued.“Hungary is one of the countries that gets the most. It is unacceptable that the country that receives the most support from the EU says: ‘No, we do not take responsibility for immigration’.”Löfven stressed his readiness to put his foot down and stressed that several other countries are prepared to follow suit.In conclusion, Löfven expressed hope that the EU will be able to work out a common immigration policy, which clearly isn’t the case now.Löfven has long urged for the fair distribution of migrants, calling on fellow EU members to pull their weight. Several East European nations, such as Poland and Hungary, have rejected the notion that they must receive asylum seekers from other EU countries.During Europe’s migrant crisis, Sweden emerged as one of the most generous EU countries. In 2015 alone, during the peak of the crisis, a record 163,000 asylum seekers arrived in Sweden, a nation of 10 million.Following this record, the highest per capita in Europe, Sweden has been taking in over 100,000 asylum seekers per year – and will continue to do so.According to the Swedish Migration Agency’s prognosis for 2018-2021 the country will accept another 500,000+ migrants during this period.On top of that, tens to hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants are believed to reside in Sweden.Hungary, a similar-sized country, has effectively opposed non-white immigration, which has landed Budapest on a collision course with Brussels.While over a quarter of the Swedish population have an immigrant background, Hungary remains 93 percent Hungarian.

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Kuchipudi by Meenu Thakur, Odissi by Purnashree Raut, Bharatanatyam by Rashmi Aggarwal & more April 16, Tue at 7:00 pm Venue: The Stein Auditorium | Entry Free DETAILS Meghnad Badh Kabya A musical solo of Michael Madhusudan Dutta's epic Bengali poem by theatre exponent Gautam Halder. April 17, Wed at 7:00 pm Venue: The Stein Auditorium | Entry Free DETAILS

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Kim Jong Un says he's open to another summit with Trump

File Pic: BBC

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says he is open to having the third summit with President Donald Trump if the United States could offer mutually acceptable terms for an agreement by the end of the year. Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) has said, Kim's speech came during a session of North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament. 

During the speech, Kim has blamed the collapse of his summit with Trump in February due to unilateral demands by the United States. But he said his personal relationship with the American president remains good. On the other hand, the United States has said the summit broke down because of the North's excessive demands for sanctions relief in return for limited disarmament measures. 

KCNA reported yesterday that Kim was re-elected as chairman of the State Affairs Commission, the nation's most important decision-making body, during a session of the Supreme People's Assembly. KCNA also reported that Kim Jae Ryong was chosen as premier of the cabinet, replacing Pak Pong Ju.