Monday, 23 December 2024
Monday, 23 December 2024
A hot and sultry Calcutta on Saturday morning moved towards a more tolerable afternoon with localised showers reported in some parts of the city, as the Bengal state administration braced for cyclone Remal that is likely to hit the coast by Sunday midnight. A bulletin issued by the IMD at 3pm on Saturday confirmed that the depression over the Bay of Bengal had converted into a deep depression.
Election Commission came out with Lok Sabha constituency-wise data on the number of votes cast in the first five phases of the elections and asserted that there is a pattern in creating false narratives and mischievous design to vitiate the electoral process. The poll panel came out with the absolute number of voters on its own a day after the Supreme Court refused to issue directions to it on an NGO's plea for uploading polling booth-wise voter turnout data on its website.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to thwart alleged attempts to rob Dalits and backward classes of reservations by the INDIA bloc which he accused of "enslavement" and performing "mujra" for Muslim vote bank. "Bihar is the land which has given a new direction to the fight for social justice. I wish to declare on its soil that I will foil the plans of the INDIA bloc to rob SCs, STs and OBCs of their rights and divert these to Muslims. They may remain enslaved and perform 'mujra' to please their vote bank," the PM said.
Encouraged by the voter turnout in Jammu and Kashmir in the Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commission will "very soon" initiate the process of holding assembly polls in the Union Territory, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said. Responding to a question on the turnout in various seats of Jammu and Kashmir and if assembly elections could be held soon, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kumar said the poll panel is very encouraged by people's participation in the parliamentary polls.
Senior BJP leader and its Jhargram candidate Pranat Tudu claimed his convoy was attacked in Garbeta area of West Midnapore district, following which security personnel escorting him were injured and had to be hospitalised. “All of a sudden, TMC goons who had blocked the roads started hurling bricks at my car. When my security personnel tried to intervene, they were injured. Two CISF jawans accompanying me received head injuries and had to be hospitalised,” Tudu said.
A court in Pune remanded the grandfather of the teenager involved in the Porsche crash case in police custody till May 28. The police arrested the grandfather for “wrongful confinement” of the family driver, an official said earlier.
Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan claimed that businessman Akhtaruzzaman Shahin is the key suspect in the murder of parliamentarian Anwarul Azim Anar and his ministry was working with India and the US to get and put him on trial for the alleged crime. Asked about the motive behind the murder, the home minister said, "We will reveal it soon."
Calcutta-born Anasuya Sengupta won Best Actress Award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first Indian to win a top acting award at annual film extravaganza. Sengupta's win for her role in Bulgarian director Konstantin Bojanov's Hindi-language movie, "The Shameless", marks a significant milestone for India at the prestigious film gala.
One of the final few main Competition titles to premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, Payal Kapadia’s "All We Imagine as Light" has instantly emerged as a frontrunner for the Palme d’Or. Universally applauded by critics at the festival due to end later today, the spellbinding, magnificently crafted drama about three women finding their way into and out of Mumbai, a city with which they have very tenuous relationships, has put India on the threshold of history.
One person was killed and at least six were injured in a blast at an explosives manufacturing factory, where rescuers also found body parts, in Chhattisgarh's Bemetara district, prompting the government to order a probe, officials said. Soon after being alerted, police and rescue teams were rushed to the site, he said.
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