National
All eyes on UP’s final phase as PM Modi seeks third term from Varanasi
Lucknow, May 31 (IANS) The stakes are high for the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh and the eyes of the entire nation will be fixed on this phase as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a third term from Varanasi.
There is no guessing who will emerge as the winner from this high-profile constituency. The campaign in the constituency has been marked by the presence of over a dozen union ministers, NDA alliance leaders and the well-wishers of the Prime Minister, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani.
Another constituency in the state which is grabbing eyeballs is Gorakhpur, the hometown of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Though the BJP candidate in Gorakhpur is actor-politician Ravi Kishan, it is the prestige of Yogi Adityanath which is at stake. The Chief Minister himself has actively campaigned in the constituency.
In the seventh phase, polling will be held in 13 Lok Sabha constituencies including Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Bansgaon (SC), Ghosi, Salempur, Ballia, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur and Robertsganj (SC).
A total of 144 candidates are in the fray in the seventh phase, according to Chief Election Officer Navdeep Rinwa.
The two BJP allies who will be on test in the final phase are the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaja Party (SBSP) and Apna Dal (S).
The SBSP is contesting the Ghosi seat as a BJP ally and SBSP Chief Om Prakash Rajbhar has fielded his son Arvind Rajbhar. The SBSP performance in Ghosi will determine the kind of influence that SBSP claims to wield on the Rajbhar community.
Apna Dal (S), President and union minister Anupriya Patel is seeking her third term from Mirzapur. A statement made by her against erstwhile Rajas, in particular reference to Jansatta Dal chief Raja Bhaiyya, has irked the Thakur community, making the road to victory tough for Anupriya Patel.
Other key candidates in the fray include Union Minister for Heavy Industries Mahendra Nath Pandey in Chandauli and Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in Maharajganj.
The fate of political heirs will also be decided in the seventh phase. They include Neeraj Shekhar son of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar. Neeraj Shekhar is contesting the Ballia Lok Sabha seat on the BJP ticket.
Apart from Arvind Rajbhar of SBSP, Ajai Pratap Singh a.k.a. Pintu Sainthwar, son of former MLA Janmejay Singh, is contesting on the SP ticket in Kushinagar. Shashank Mani Tripathi, son of BJP leader Prakash Mani Tripathi, is contesting the Deoria seat on the BJP ticket.
Among the INDIA bloc candidates, Uttar Pradesh Congress President Ajay Rai is contesting in Varanasi, Congress National Spokesperson Akhilesh Pratap Singh in Deoria, Afzal Ansari, brother of gangster-turned-politician the late Mukhtar Ansari, in Ghazipur on the SP ticket and Bhojpuri film actress Kajal Nishad (SP) in Gorakhpur.
The BJP faces a challenge from the INDIA bloc to retain the seats it won in 2019.
The BJP had bagged nine of these 13 seats while its ally Apna Dal (S) won two seats. The BSP bagged two seats.
The seventh phase has 2,50,56,877 voters including 1,33,10,897 men, 1,17,44,922 women and 1058 third gender voters.
The Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said that adequate preparations have been made for free, fair and peaceful polling and district election officers have been directed to ensure that there are no glitches at polling booths.
Rinwa said that the officials have been also instructed to provide necessary facilities to the voters and polling personnel at the booths. The polling parties have been provided medical kits to protect themselves from heat stroke.
–IANS
amita/dan
National
Defence Ministry: Year 2025 will be year of reforms
On Wednesday, the Defence Ministry announced that 2025 will be designated as the “Year of Reforms,” with a primary focus on establishing integrated theatre commands to enhance collaboration among the three branches of the military.
These reforms are aimed at transforming the armed forces into a technologically advanced, combat-ready force capable of executing multi-domain integrated operations, the ministry stated.
The initiative will emphasize emerging domains such as cyber and space, alongside cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, hypersonics, and robotics.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh described the “Year of Reforms” as a pivotal milestone in the modernization of the armed forces.
“It will set the stage for significant advancements in the nation’s defense capabilities, ensuring the security and sovereignty of India in the face of 21st-century challenges,” he said.
National
A 3.2 magnitude tremor struck Gujarat’s Kutch district on Wednesday morning
A 3.2 magnitude tremor struck Gujarat’s Kutch district on Wednesday morning, according to the Institute of Seismological Research (ISR).
The district administration reported no casualties or property damage following the quake.
The tremor occurred at 10:24 am, with its epicenter located 23 kilometers north-northeast (NNE) of Bhachau, as per the Gandhinagar-based ISR.
Last month, the region experienced four seismic events exceeding a magnitude of 3, including a 3.2 magnitude tremor just three days ago, with its epicenter also near Bhachau.
Earlier tremors in the area included a 3.7 magnitude earthquake on December 23 and a 3.2 magnitude event on December 7, according to ISR reports.
Kutch was also jolted by a 4.0 magnitude earthquake on November 18, 2024. On November 15, a 4.2 magnitude quake hit Patan in north Gujarat, based on ISR data.
Gujarat is considered a high-risk earthquake zone, having experienced nine major earthquakes over the past 200 years, according to the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA). The 2001 earthquake in Kutch, which occurred on January 26, was the third-largest and second-most destructive in India in the last two centuries, according to the GSDMA.
National
Diljit Dosanjh faces legal action over concert songs
Singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh’s much-anticipated New Year’s Eve concert in Ludhiana faced legal hurdles after a complaint was filed by Punditrao Dharenavar, an assistant professor from Chandigarh.
Following the complaint, the Deputy Director of the Women and Child Department, Government of Punjab, issued a formal notice to Ludhiana’s District Commissioner, urging them to prohibit Dosanjh from performing specific songs during his live show on December 31, 2024.
The notice specifically targets songs accused of promoting alcohol, including Patiala Peg, 5 Tara Theke, and Case (Jeeb Vicho Feem Labbiya), even if the lyrics are slightly modified. The complaint points to previous warnings issued to Dosanjh by various commissions advising against performing these controversial tracks.
Despite these warnings, the singer allegedly continues to perform the songs with minor alterations. Dharenavar raised serious concerns about the influence of such music on young audiences, especially when minors are present at live events.
Adding to the controversy, Dharenavar referenced a 2019 Punjab and Haryana High Court ruling, which directed law enforcement to ensure that songs promoting alcohol, drugs, or violence are not played at public events, including concerts. This ruling underscores the legal basis for the complaint and has further intensified the scrutiny surrounding the event.
National
UP Minister’s convoy overturns, 5 person injured
Five people sustained injuries when a vehicle in the convoy of Uttar Pradesh Minister and Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad overturned into a ditch near Januan village in the Khejuri Police Station area of Ballia district late last night.
Sanjay Nishad shared details of the incident, stating that the accident injured five party workers, including four women.
“I was traveling with the convoy to participate in the Constitutional Rights Yatra organized by the party on Tuesday night. Near Januan village in the Khejuri area, one of the vehicles following the convoy lost control while trying to avoid an animal and overturned into a ditch,” Nishad explained.
The injured individuals have been identified as Rakesh Nishad, Ramrati, Usha, Geeta, and Iravati Nishad.
Senior police and administrative officials quickly arrived at the scene following the incident to oversee the situation.
National
Suchir Balaji’s mother alleges Murder
The mother of Suchir Balaji, a 26-year-old former OpenAI researcher found dead after accusing the company of copyright violations, has alleged that her son was “murdered” and called for a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) probe.
Poornima Rao, Suchir’s mother, claimed her son’s death was a “cold-blooded murder” that authorities wrongly ruled as suicide. She further disclosed that a private autopsy report conflicted with the findings of the initial police investigation.
Rao alleged that her son’s apartment had been “ransacked” and cited evidence of a struggle in the bathroom, including bloodstains that suggested he had been assaulted.
“We hired a private investigator and conducted a second autopsy to uncover the truth. The private autopsy does not confirm the cause of death stated by the police. Suchir’s apartment was ransacked, there were signs of a struggle in the bathroom, and it appears he was hit based on blood spots. This is a cold-blooded murder being misclassified as a suicide. Lobbying in San Francisco won’t deter us from seeking justice. We demand an FBI investigation,” Rao wrote on X.
Elon Musk reacted to Rao’s post, commenting, “This doesn’t seem like a suicide.”
Balaji was discovered dead in his San Francisco apartment months after accusing OpenAI of violating copyright laws during the development of ChatGPT, as reported by Fox News. Despite these claims, the San Francisco Police Department found no evidence of foul play and ruled the death a suicide.
On October 24, shortly before his death, Balaji voiced doubts about the “fair use” defense in generative artificial intelligence. “I recently participated in a NYT story about fair use and generative AI, and why I’m skeptical ‘fair use’ would be a plausible defense for a lot of generative AI products,” he wrote on X.
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