India

Itanagar, April 18 (IANS) Stage is set for simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and assembly in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday as the Election Commission has made elaborate security arrangements in the frontier state.

Officials on Thursday said that voting for the two Lok Sabha seats -- Arunachal West and Arunachal East -- along with 50 assembly constituencies will be held on Friday under a tight security cover.

Of the total 60 assembly constituencies in the state, elections will be held in 50 seats as BJP candidates including Chief Minister Pema Khandu (Mukto seat) and Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein (Chowkham seat), have won unopposed in 10 seats.

Election officials said that the first batch of over 40 election officials accompanied by security personnel along with election-related materials including Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), were airlifted by an MI-172 chopper to four remote polling stations in Arunachal Pradesh’s Kra Daadi district on April 15 to conduct voting on Friday.

However, the majority of the polling and security personnel left for their destinations on Wednesday and Thursday.

In all, 11,130 polling officials have been deployed to conduct the elections while 6,874 Electronic Voting Machines will be used for the polls.

On the advice of the Election Commission, the Union Home Ministry has provided 80 companies (7500 personnel) of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) while thousands of state security force personnel have been deployed to maintain the law and order situation.

A total of 8.92,694 voters, including 4,54,256 women, will decide the fate of 133 candidates contesting for the 50 assembly seats, and 14 candidates vying for the two Lok Sabha seats.

Of the 133 candidates, 50 have been fielded by the ruling BJP, 19 by the opposition Congress, 14 by the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar), 20 by the National People’s Party (NPP), 11 by the People’s Party of Arunachal and the remaining by the other local parties and Independents.

Though 14 candidates are contesting in the two Lok Sabha seats, the main contest is expected to be between Union minister Kiren Rijiju and state Congress President and former chief minister Nabam Tuki for the Arunachal West seat. In the Arunachal East seat, the main fight would be between the BJP’s sitting MP Tapir Gao and the Congress’ Bosiram Siram, a former minister and state Congress Vice-President.

The NPP led by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma put up 20 candidates in the Arunachal Pradesh assembly elections, and announced its support to the BJP Lok Sabha candidates in the state -- Kiren Rijiju and Tapir Gao.

Rijiju is seeking re-election for a fourth term.

In the Arunachal West Parliamentary seat, eight candidates are in the fray while six aspirants are vying for the Arunachal East Parliamentary seat.

The over-a-month-long hectic campaigning for the simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the northeastern state ended on Wednesday afternoon.

BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, NPP supremo and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma campaigned for their respective parties in Arunachal Pradesh.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi were scheduled to visit Arunachal Pradesh to campaign for the party candidates but they did not turn up.

Though the BJP has a solid base in the state and is ahead of the other parties in the electoral battle, two major issues -- the anti-incumbency factor and Christian organisations’ open support to the Congress candidates -- caused concern among the saffron party leaders.

The counting of votes for the Assembly elections will be taken up on June 2, while the results of the Lok Sabha elections will be announced on June 4.

--IANS

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Mumbai, April 18 (IANS) Two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto on Thursday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,011 crore for the fourth quarter of 2023-24, up from Rs 1,704.74 crore during the same period of the previous year.

The bike maker posted a revenue of Rs 11,554.95 crore in the January-March quarter, up from Rs 9,192.73 crore during the same period last year.

The company’s board approved a dividend of Rs 80 per share of face value of Rs 10 each on equity shares for the financial year ended March 31, 2024, according to its stock exchange filing.

The shares of Bajaj Auto rose 1.61 per cent to Rs 9,062 on the BSE on Thursday before the fourth quarter results were announced.

--IANS

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Mumbai, April 18 (IANS) The Congress on Thursday lodged a complaint against the ruling MahaYuti ally Shiv Sena for allegedly violating the model code of conduct by using some 1,000 Maharashtra state transport buses for a poll campaign, here.

Congress Chief Spokesperson Atul Londhe has written to the Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) pointing out the unauthorised use of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC)'s buses for displaying publicity material of the ruling MahaYuti alliance.

"The banners have a huge picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with the Bow and Arrow symbol of the Shiv Sena and photos of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. As per the Election Commission of India's letter no. 437/6/INST/2015-CCS dated 29.12.2015, the use of government and PSUs properties is banned for electoral campaigning. Despite this ban, the ST officials have allowed the illegal use of over 1,000 buses for the election campaign of Shiv Sena candidates," said Londhe's letter.

He called upon the CEO to take immediate and decisive action to address these violations, and cancel the candidature of all the LS candidates of Shiv Sena plus initiate appropriate disciplinary measures against the Shinde-led party.

Londhe also demanded action should also be taken against the senior officials of the Planning and Commercial Department of MSRTC for violation of Model Code of Conduct and ECI instructions in this regard to ensure the integrity of the election process.

--IANS

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New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) Two-wheeler manufacturer Suzuki Motorcycle India on Thursday said that it has reached the landmark of producing 80 lakh units in the country.

The company achieved this production landmark in the 19th year of its operation with the last one million units added in just one year.

It started its operations in the country in February 2006.

It achieved its first 40 lakh production milestone within 13 years and manufactured the next 40 lakh units in less than six years.

"I would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our workmen, engineers, and teams whose continuous efforts contributed to realising this achievement," Kenichi Umeda, MD, Suzuki Motorcycle India said in a statement.

"As we continue our journey, our focus remains on providing products that satisfy our customers both in India and in countries where we export our products," he added.

Suzuki Motorcycle India currently manufactures a diverse range of scooters and motorcycles for Indian as well as international markets.

The company offers scooters ranging from 125cc (Access 125, Avenis, Burgman Street & Burgman Street SX) to motorcycles ranging from 150cc and 250cc (Gixxer & Gixxer SF, Gixxer 250 & Gixxer 250 SF and V-Strom SX) as well as big bikes such as recently launched V-Strom 800 DE, Katana & Hayabusa.

--IANS

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Kottayam (Kerala), April 18 (IANS) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday told his predecessor and the country’s longest-serving Defence Minister A.K. Antony that he can understand the predicament of the latter.

Singh said this while addressing an election rally for the BJP candidate and son of Antony, Anil Antony, at Kanjirapally which comes under the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency, where Anil is fighting a poll battle against three-time sitting Congress MP Anto Antony and veteran CPI-M former finance minister Thomas Isaac.

“ All I have to tell Antony is even if he might not vote for him, he should bless him as a father. I was surprised by what Antony said, maybe he said like that due to the pressure from the Congress party,” said Singh.

Antony after almost six months broke his silence early this month when he said Anil should and will lose at Pathanamthitta and it was wrong for the children of Congress leaders to join the BJP.

“I have the highest regard for Antony and I see him as my elder brother. As Minister, Antony was a clean person, while other Congress leaders are not like that,” added Singh.

“ Anil has a bright future in the BJP,” said Singh and took a dig at Rahul Gandhi when he said the country’s Chandrayan Mission was a success, while the ‘Rahulyan’ mission, even after two decades, has not reached anywhere.

--IANS

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Bengaluru, April 18 (IANS) IT software giant Infosys on Thursday declared a 30 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 7,969 crore for the January-March quarter of 2023-24, up from Rs 6,128 crore in the same quarter of the previous year.

The company reported a revenue of Rs 37,923 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31, according to a stock exchange filing.

Infosys also declared a final dividend of Rs 20 per equity share and a one-time dividend of Rs 8 per share.

India’s second-largest IT services company also announced the acquisition of In-Tech Holding GmbH, an engineering, research and development services provider.

Infosys share price went up 0.34 per cent on Thursday to settle at Rs 1,419.25, ahead of the fourth quarter results.

--IANS

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New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged in a Delhi court on Thursday that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is deliberately eating mangoes and other high-carb food in Tihar Jail to raise his blood sugar level to build a case for bail.

Arguing the matter before Special Judge Rakesh Syal of the Rouse Avenue Court, special counsel Zoheb Hossain appearing for the ED said on the one hand CM Kejriwal is claiming high sugar levels, and at the same time he is eating mangoes, sweets, etc. in jail.

The Delhi Chief Minister is in judicial custody till April 23 for his alleged involvement in the excise policy case.

The ED has alleged that CM Kejriwal is consciously consuming items like tea with sugar, banana, sweets (1/2 pieces), poori, aloo sabji, etc. on a regular basis, despite being a Type 2 diabetes patient, “knowing very well that consumption of such items results in an increase in sugar levels”.

The agency also said that this is being done to create a medical emergency “to obtain sympathetic treatment from the court on medical grounds".

“Further, the jail authorities on Wednesday asked AIIMS to prescribe a diet chart for the Chief Minister after considering his sugar records and the fact that he is a Type 2 diabetes patient with chronic constipation and cough (chronic bronchitis), who is under regular treatment,” the ED counsel said.

However, advocate Vivek Jain, appearing for CM Kejriwal, opposed the federal agency’s submission saying the ED counsel is playing by the gallery and making statements for the media.

After a brief hearing, the court sought a medical report from Tihar Jail authorities on the CM’s diet and listed the matter for hearing on Friday.

While the ED’s allegations were made in court on Thursday, the issue has been doing the rounds on social media since Wednesday.

According to a post on X, one of the netizen's sources in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) revealed that CM Kejriwal is taking high-sugar food deliberately to increase his sugar level so that he can use it as a reason to get bail.

“He is not only forcing the jail authorities to give him sugar-laden high glycemic index drinks and food early in the morning, but his family is also sending him sugar and carb-laden food so that his blood sugar rises,” the post read.

CM Kejriwal’s lawyers had gone at length detailing his health conditions earlier, saying he was diabetic when he was sent to judicial custody.

Kejriwal's counsel had informed the court that his blood sugar level dropped to 46 and argued that in such circumstances, he should be allowed to consult his doctor three times a week via video conferencing.

However, special public prosecutor (ED) Simon Benjamin had contended that jail facilities are equipped to conduct medical examinations, suggesting that CM Kejriwal could be examined there, expressing his intent to file a reply on the application.

Meanwhile, another user posted: “Every day Kejru asks for high sugar food like juice, banana etc. and he gets high carb food! The plan is to show high sugar and get out of jail. This has been told by your top sources. Whether this is true will be known in a few days!”

Last week, alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar claimed in a press statement that Kejriwal is fooling the people with news of losing weight and falling sick.

“Everyone should know that he is luxuriously enjoying his salads and palak paneer,” claimed Chandrashekhar, who is also behind bars in a money laundering case.

--IANS

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Thiruvananthapuram, April 18 (IANS) Top Congress leaders and star campaigners, now in Kerala, on Thursday, wanted to know why Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is being treated softly by the BJP government.

This was asked by Rahul Gandhi while speaking at an election rally in Kannur, as well as by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar while campaigning in Wayanad.

“I am 24x7 attacking BJP and Vijayan is 24x7 attacking me and I don’t know why. Two Chief Ministers are now in jail and I know that if anyone attacks BJP, they attack back using ED, CBI and other agencies. But no one knows why BJP is not sending CBI and ED to question the Kerala CM,” said Gandhi.

At Wayanad, Shivakumar asked the same question: why the BJP government is not taking action against Kerala CM.

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, campaigning in the state capital also had the same thing to ask when he told a rally that BJP and CPI-M are hand in glove and that’s why the Kerala CM is allowed a free run.

Kerala goes to the polls on April 26 to elect 20 new Lok Sabha members to the Parliament.

--IANS

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Bulandshahr (UP), April 18 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Thursday that while SP, BSP and Congress used to run their governments on riot policy, the BJP runs it on the policy of development.

“BJP is necessary for faith, security and prosperity. People of SP, BSP and Congress are under curfew. During their rule, a curfew was imposed for months but today there is no curfew in the state. These people used to create chaos in the state by instigating riots. They used to run riot policy, we run the policy of development. In our government, the path of 'Ram-Ram' journey will remain open for the common people of the state and 'Ram Naam Satya' for the mafia criminals,” he said while addressing an election meeting in Bulandshahr.

The chief minister said that before 2014, terrorism was on the rise.

“Today, we all are in new India. People who witnessed the 2014 elections know what kind of India was at that time. They should tell the present generation and new voters that before that there was resentment and distrust among the people. Terrorism, Naxalism and separatism were becoming rampant in the country. Corruption was at its peak in all the institutions of the country. The youths were disappointed and the farmers were committing suicide,” he stated.

He said that in the past 10 years, people have seen a changing India. Problems like Naxalism and terrorism etc. have been solved.

“Congress gave the problem and the entire country including Jammu, was brought under the grip of terrorism. There were explosions every day, and innocent people died. Families were devastated, but Congress remained a spectator. Even once these people were not ready to speak against terrorism but today Article 370 has been abolished,” he said.

The chief minister further said that Asia's largest airport being built in Jewar is an example of development. Secunderabad and Jewar will benefit the most from this. He said that the economy of the country and the state has strengthened.

“We are going to provide a rapid rail facility. Metro is coming. Rail connectivity, the junction of the dedicated freight corridor in Dadri, the country's largest logistics centre is also going to be built here, where lakhs of jobs will be created,” he said.

Yogi Adityanath also enumerated the development schemes and said that the Ayushman card has taken care of the health issues that people face.

By solving the problems of builder-buyers in Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Authority, the cases pending for years are being closed and the buyers are being given rights.

He further said, “This election is between the family of selfishness and the family of PM Modi (India of 140 crore people).

People of SP, BSP and Congress cannot even think outside their families. Now there is a better environment for security investment. After 500 years, Ram Lalla got the opportunity to celebrate His birthday at His birthplace. You must have seen the consecration of Suryavanshi Ram with the tilak applied by the rays of Lord Surya. The entire Sanatan was glowing after seeing that aura.”

The chief minister gave the credit for the prosperity that India got to PM Narendra Modi and said that a development-oriented government will be possible only with lotus flower (BJP symbol).

--IANS

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New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) Over 16.63 crore voters in 1.87 lakh polling stations across the country will decide the fate of 1,625 candidates in the first phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on Friday.

Deploying over 18 lakh polling officials, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said that it has taken a "slew of decisive measures" for the peaceful and smooth conduct of the elections as Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu gave final touches to poll preparations at noon on Thursday.

While the remaining six phases of polls will continue till June 1 with around 97 crore voters lined up to exercise their right to franchise - the counting is scheduled for June 4.

Here are some facts detailed by the ECI about the first phase of polling:

- Polling for Phase-I of the General Elections 2024 will be held on April 19 for 102 Parliamentary Constituencies (PCs) in 21 States/UTs and 92 Assembly Constituencies in the State Assembly elections in Arunachal and Sikkim. It has the highest number of parliamentary constituencies among all phases.

- Voting begins at 7 a.m. and ends at 6 p.m. (closure of poll timings may differ PC-wise).

- Over 16.63 crore voters include 8.4 crore male; 8.23 crore female and 11,371 third-gender.

- 35.67 lakh first-time voters are registered to exercise their right to franchise. Additionally, there are 3.51 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years.

- 41 helicopters, 84 special trains and nearly 1 lakh vehicles have been deployed to ferry polling and security personnel.

- Webcasting will be done in more than 50 per cent of the polling stations along with the deployment of micro observers in all polling stations.

- 361 observers have already reached their constituencies, days before the polls. They serve as the eyes and ears of the ECI to exercise utmost vigilance.

- A total of 4,627 flying squads, 5,208 statistics surveillance teams, 2,028 video surveillance teams and 1,255 video viewing teams are deployed to strictly and swiftly deal with any form of inducement of voters.

- A total of 1,374 inter-state and 162 international border checkposts are keeping a strict vigil on any illicit flow of liquor, drugs, cash and freebies. Strict vigil is being maintained at sea and air route.

- There are over 14.14 lakh registered voters aged 85 plus and 13.89 lakh Persons with disabilities (PwD) in 102 PCs who have been provided the option to vote from the comfort of their homes. The optional Home Voting facility is already receiving tremendous appreciation and response.

- Those aged 85 plus and PwD voters, who decide to come to polling stations, will be provided with all facilities like pick and drop, signages, braille signage on EVM, volunteers. PwD voters can also book wheelchair facilities via ECI's Saksham App.

- Assured minimum facilities like water, shed, toilets, ramps, volunteers, wheelchairs, and electricity are in place to ensure that every voter, including the elderly and PwD, can cast their vote with ease.

- Model polling stations are being set up across the 102 PCs with local themes. More than 5,000 polling stations will be completely managed by women including security staff at over 1,000 polling stations by PwDs.

- The ECI has also provided 12 alternative documents other than Electors Photo Identification Card (EPIC) for identity verification at polling stations. If a voter is registered in the electoral roll, voting can be done by showing any of these documents.

--IANS

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