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.
Rahul Gandhi's ‘political Narendra Modi function’ barb at Ram temple consecration ceremony, CBI, ED, NIA may head to UK for extradition of Vijay Mallya, other fugitives, North Kore ... Read more
Rahul Gandhi's ‘political Narendra Modi function’ barb at Ram temple consecration ceremony, CBI, ED, NIA may head to UK for extradition of Vijay Mallya, other fugitives, North Korea's Kim Jong Un warns of war against South Korea: ‘Occupy and reclaim’, ‘Rohit Sharma deserves credit for a lot of my best performances’: Shikhar Dhawan on India captain, Vikram-starrer Thangalaan release date postponed, film's team shares update and new posters. Read more
Top news of the day: IndiGo passengers refused to board airline coach; sat on tarmac after landing at Mumbai airport, Ram Mandir ceremony: MS Dhoni receives invitation for ‘Pran Pr ... Read more
Top news of the day: IndiGo passengers refused to board airline coach; sat on tarmac after landing at Mumbai airport, Ram Mandir ceremony: MS Dhoni receives invitation for ‘Pran Pratishtha’ event, Donald Trump wins Iowa Republican caucuses, Iran strikes targets in northern Iraq and Syria as regional tensions escalate, Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s personality cannot be compared to present-day politicians, says Pankaj Tripathi. Read more
Amid flight delays at Delhi airport, aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia shares action plan, Telangana Governor slams DMK MP over Ram Mandir remark: 'Priests built temples, king ... Read more
Amid flight delays at Delhi airport, aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia shares action plan, Telangana Governor slams DMK MP over Ram Mandir remark: 'Priests built temples, kings celebrated', Russia to build on Putin-Kim agreements as North Korean minister visits Moscow, Tendulkar too falls prey to 'deepfake'; angry over video, Hrithik Roshan praises 12th Fail but doesn't mention Vikrant Massey; internet reminds him 'he is the soul’ Read more
Top news of the day: Delhi airport issues dense fog alert, over 100 flights impacted, ISRO is gearing up to launch INSAT-3DS satellites on-board the Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle, ... Read more
Top news of the day: Delhi airport issues dense fog alert, over 100 flights impacted, ISRO is gearing up to launch INSAT-3DS satellites on-board the Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle, its more advanced rocket that uses liquid propellant , North Korea said it had successfully test-fired a new ballistic missile tipped with a hypersonic maneuverable warhead,
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube smashed half-centuries as India thrashed Afghanistan by six wickets in the second Twenty20. Read more
'Parasite' Director, Others Urge Probe Into Handling Of Actor's Suicide Case, India includes four spinners in squad for opening tests against England, US military strikes another H ... Read more
'Parasite' Director, Others Urge Probe Into Handling Of Actor's Suicide Case, India includes four spinners in squad for opening tests against England, US military strikes another Houthi-controlled site after warning ships to avoid parts of Red Sea, Voting begins in Taiwan's critical elections watched closely by China, INDIA bloc leaders to virtually meet tomorrow; discussion on seat-sharing dynamics Read more
Modi to undertake set of rituals ahead of Ram Temple consecration, Mukesh Ambani's net worth crosses $100 billion, dethrones Gautam Adani as Asia's richest man, Trend of record hig ... Read more
Modi to undertake set of rituals ahead of Ram Temple consecration, Mukesh Ambani's net worth crosses $100 billion, dethrones Gautam Adani as Asia's richest man, Trend of record high temperatures may remain during January & February: Copernicus, Prepare to pay a heavy price’: Houthi's strong words to US, UK after airstrikes, Suchana Seth case: Taxi driver reveals chilling details of 10-hour trip with her son's body in bag Read more
Top news of the day: Jaishankar, Blinken discuss maritime security amid ‘reckless’ Houthi attacks in Red Sea , VHP denied discord between the Ram Temple trust and Hindu seers over ... Read more
Top news of the day: Jaishankar, Blinken discuss maritime security amid ‘reckless’ Houthi attacks in Red Sea , VHP denied discord between the Ram Temple trust and Hindu seers over the consecration ceremony at the Ayodhya temple on January 22, The United States and the United Kingdom joined forces to launch a retaliatory attack against Iran-based rebel group Houthis in Yemen ,Actor Pankaj Tripathi has voluntarily stepped down as 'National Icon' of the Election Commission of India. Read more
Tremors In Delhi, Parts Of North India After 6.1 Earthquake In Afghanistan, Group of men barge into hotel room, thrash interfaith couple in Karnataka; 3 arrested, Bengaluru CEO Suc ... Read more
Tremors In Delhi, Parts Of North India After 6.1 Earthquake In Afghanistan, Group of men barge into hotel room, thrash interfaith couple in Karnataka; 3 arrested, Bengaluru CEO Suchana Seth messaged husband before killing her son, ‘Xenophobic’: Indian-origin CEO in Maldives ‘appalled’ over remarks against PM Modi, South Africa accuses Israel at World Court of genocidal acts in Gaza Read more
Top news of the day: Rajnath Singh cites Chinese mouthpiece to assert Beijing's changing perspective on India, Navy gets its first India-made medium-altitude, long-endurance drone, ... Read more
Top news of the day: Rajnath Singh cites Chinese mouthpiece to assert Beijing's changing perspective on India, Navy gets its first India-made medium-altitude, long-endurance drone, Elon Musk's X shed 1,000 employees across team tasked to combat online hate, Rohit-Jaiswal combination to continue at opening slot: Rahul Dravid, Koffee With Karan: Neetu Kapoor recalls how Rishi Kapoor ‘was never a friend to his children’ Read more
India to become developed nation in 25 years: Modi at Vibrant Gujarat Summit, Manipur govt declines permission for ground to launch Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Vibrant Gujarat Summit ... Read more
India to become developed nation in 25 years: Modi at Vibrant Gujarat Summit, Manipur govt declines permission for ground to launch Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2024: Adani to invest Rs 2 lakh crore in state in 5 years, create 1 lakh jobs, Bengaluru CEO Suchana Seth planned murder? Goa police probing 'cough syrup, cloth or pillow' angle, SC adjourns until Jan 24 hearing of ex-JNU student leader Umar Khalid’s pleas 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.