An air alert was sounded in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, Samajwadi Party tweeted a video to back the claims of "manipulation of voting machines" ahead of the election results in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar cabinet has approved changes to the state’s liquor prohibition law and other top news in this bulletin. An air alert was sounded on Wednesday in and around Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and residents were urged to reach shelters on an urgent basis. Taking to social media platform Telegram, regional administration head Oleksiy Kuleba said there was a threat of a missile attack. “Kyiv region – air alert. Threat of a missile attack. Everyone immediately to shelters,” he wrote. The development came amid reports of Russia breaching agreements for safe evacuation of citizens for the third time. The city of Mariupol, which sits on the Azov Sea, has been surrounded by Russian soldiers for days and a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the encircled city of 4,30,000. Meanwhile, a humanitarian corridor out of the besieged city of Sumy would continue for the day, said regional governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyy said. He separately said the city’s residential area had been bombed overnight, with at least one bomb killing 22 civilians. Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party on Wednesday tweeted a video to back the claims of “manipulation of voting machines” ahead of the election results in Uttar Pradesh. In the video, an official is heard admitting a protocol lapse. “There was a lapse in the protocol in the movement of electronic voting machines. But I can assure you that taking away voting machines is impossible. There is a three-level security. There is only one entry point (where machines are kept) where CCTV cameras have been put. If the representatives of political parties want, they too can maintain vigil,” Varanasi commissioner Deepak Agarwal is heard saying in the video. Reports of “fiddling with the EVMs have come across from several parts,” the Samajwadi Party alleged on Twitter: “At whose behest is all this happening? Are the officials working under the pressure of the CMO. The Election commission should please clarify.” The allegations come just hours ahead of the counting in the critical state of Uttar Pradesh where the BJP is eyeing a second term and Akhilesh Yadav is the key challenger. Exit polls, however, have predicted a win in majority of seats for the BJP. On Tuesday, the Samajwadi Party chief accused the BJP of trying to “steal the votes”. “The Samajwadi Party is winning Ayodhya, that is why BJP is scared. Election Commission officials are tampering with the EVMs,” he said. Congressional leaders reached a bipartisan deal early Wednesday providing $13.6 billion to help Ukraine and European allies plus billions more to battle the pandemic as part of an overdue $1.5 trillion measure financing federal agencies for the rest of this year. Though a tiny portion of the massive bill, the money responding to the Russian blitzkrieg that’s devastated parts of Ukraine and prompted Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II ensured robust bipartisan support for the legislation. President Joe Biden had requested $10 billion for military, humanitarian and economic aid last week, and Democratic and Republican backing was so staunch that the figure grew to $12 billion Monday and $13.6 billion just a day later. “We’re going to support them against tyranny, oppression, violent acts of subjugation,” Biden said at the White House. Party leaders hoped to whip the 2,741-page measure through the House on Wednesday and the Senate by week’s end, though that chamber’s exact timing was unclear. Lawmakers were spurred by the urgency of helping Ukraine before Russia’s military might makes it too late. The Bihar Cabinet has approved changes to the state’s liquor prohibition law to make it less stringent for the first-time offenders and those caught carrying liquor in lesser quantities in smaller non-commercial vehicles, officials aware of the matter said. The modified sections will come into force after the state assembly approves them. The law was enforced in April 2016, banning the manufacturing, sale, and consumption of liquor. It provides for up to life imprisonment for serious offences and confiscation of houses, vehicles, and other properties from where liquor is seized. The Bihar government has drawn flak over the poor implementation of the prohibition law, which has been blamed for hooch tragedies that have claimed dozens of lives. Chief minister Nitish Kumar has faced criticism even from his alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the hooch tragedies. Former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s party, which is a part of the government, has demanded a repeal of the law. The Supreme Court too has criticised the law saying it was impacting the functioning of the judiciary with 14-15 Patna high court judges only hearing the bail pleas relating to arrests made under it. On Tuesday, the state government told the Supreme Court the law would be modified. The court said the Bihar government brought the law without any legislative impact study. It said almost every bench in the Supreme Court is dealing with petitions arising out of the prohibition. As a first major step towards “Atmanirbharta” vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Defence Ministry has approached the Union Cabinet to green light the setting up of an independent nodal umbrella body to meet the wide-ranging testing and certification requirements of weapon systems developed and manufactured by the Indian private sector. While the independent testing and certification body was envisaged in the Union Budget this year, the move is a huge step towards decoupling the Indian private defence sector industry from the clutches of the humongous veto exercising military bureaucracy on the Raisina Hill. By painting the private players as mere profiteers, the Indian military industrial complex has been at the mercy of these mandarins who are fantastic in promise but very low on delivery. The new independent authority will ensure that private sector is not at the mercy of government’s laboratories and testing ranges for getting their equipment approved for both domestic sales and exports. With 68 per cent of defence capital procurement budget earmarked for domestic industry this financial year, it is time that the private defence sector took advantage of this move and started towards manufacturing high end products likes armed drones, autonomous combat vehicles, aircraft engines and submarines by setting up SPVs with western defence majors who are willing to set up shop in India. That’s all from us for now. We will be back with the morning news bulletin.
The ICMR asked all states to which it sent the kits, sourced from China, to return them, No spectators would be able to attend the British Grand Prix due to the COVID19 but the rac ... Read more
The ICMR asked all states to which it sent the kits, sourced from China, to return them, No spectators would be able to attend the British Grand Prix due to the COVID19 but the race is still scheduled to go ahead & other top stories in your morning news brief. Read more
India to begin some economic activity, RBI eases liquidity pressures on mutual funds, Spain let children go outside to play, Nadal is pessimistic about the full resumption of the t ... Read more
India to begin some economic activity, RBI eases liquidity pressures on mutual funds, Spain let children go outside to play, Nadal is pessimistic about the full resumption of the tennis circuit, Kanika Kapoor to give a written statement Read more
PM to interact with CMs on the next move in India's fight against Covid-19, suggestions to increase the top income tax rate to 40%, rejected; Field tests of the quick-result blood ... Read more
PM to interact with CMs on the next move in India's fight against Covid-19, suggestions to increase the top income tax rate to 40%, rejected; Field tests of the quick-result blood tests, inconclusive; I-League side East Bengal terminates player contracts. Read more
Pakistan has doubled the number of terrorists waiting to infiltrate into Kashmir, India has provided medicines to other countries in the fight against COVID-19, Singapore has one o ... Read more
Pakistan has doubled the number of terrorists waiting to infiltrate into Kashmir, India has provided medicines to other countries in the fight against COVID-19, Singapore has one of the highest infection rates in Asia, Arsenal to set a date for players training. Read more
Delhi decided to open all neighbourhood stores, even those selling non-essentials, India's tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases shot past the 26,000-mark on Saturday with the biggest ... Read more
Delhi decided to open all neighbourhood stores, even those selling non-essentials, India's tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases shot past the 26,000-mark on Saturday with the biggest single-day spike in infections, & other top stories in your morning news brief. Read more
The Delhi government is taking a hard look at a strong recommendation to require people to install the Aarogya Setu app, Catching COVID-19 once may not protect you from getting it ... Read more
The Delhi government is taking a hard look at a strong recommendation to require people to install the Aarogya Setu app, Catching COVID-19 once may not protect you from getting it again, says WHO & other top stories making news through the day. Read more
Saturday marks a month since India was put under a lockdown, a period in which it has substantially slowed the growth of the Covid-19 outbreak, officials said on Friday. Human safe ... Read more
Saturday marks a month since India was put under a lockdown, a period in which it has substantially slowed the growth of the Covid-19 outbreak, officials said on Friday. Human safety trials for a corona vaccine, Mathias Boe's retirement & other top stories making news through the day. Read more
The initial results of plasma therapy conducted on four COVID-19 patients in the city have given satisfactory results, India has opened new all-weather access in a disputed part of ... Read more
The initial results of plasma therapy conducted on four COVID-19 patients in the city have given satisfactory results, India has opened new all-weather access in a disputed part of its border with China & other top stories making news through the day. Read more
The country’s prophylactic measures have led to a reduction in the coronavirus disease doubling rate, remittance flows into India may decline by 23 percent in 2020 to $64 billion & ... Read more
The country’s prophylactic measures have led to a reduction in the coronavirus disease doubling rate, remittance flows into India may decline by 23 percent in 2020 to $64 billion & other top stories in your morning news brief. Read more
Congress president Sonia Gandhi said the Centre doesn't appear to have a clear idea on how the situation will be managed after May 3, additional dearness allowance due to the centr ... Read more
Congress president Sonia Gandhi said the Centre doesn't appear to have a clear idea on how the situation will be managed after May 3, additional dearness allowance due to the central government employees from January 1, 2020, will not be paid due to the COVID-19 crisis & other top stories making news through the day. Read more
The Website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. If you continue browsing you will be providing your consent to our use of these.