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Opinion: Lok Sabha Elections: Why A 2004-Like Scenario Is Unlikely

Four of the seven phases of India's general elections have been concluded, covering 380 seats and hundreds of candidates. Voters have sealed the mandates for roughly 70% of the total Lok Sabha seats . Both social and traditional media are abuzz with poll studies and analyses, though a common observation between them all is that the electoral contest, which initially appeared to be a done deal, has proved to be tighter than anticipated, with local factors taking precedence over national issues.  A few analysts claim the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may not come back to power. Some others predict that the party may not be able to touch 272 seats on its own, though with allies it might manage to cross the halfway mark. The slightly lower voter turnout has added to the anxiety, and supporters of both the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the INDIA bloc are perplexed.  Pollsters Enjoy The Spotlight Those conducting exit polls are having a field day as they are quizzed o

Lok Sabha Candidate Kanhaiya Kumar Assaulted While Campaigning In Delhi

In a shocking incident, Kanhaiya Kumar, the Congress' Lok Sabha candidate from the North East Delhi District, has been assaulted by seven to eight people and had black ink thrown at him while campaigning in the national capital.  Videos of the assault, which took place in East Delhi's New Usmanpur area on Friday, have now gone viral. Two of the alleged attackers have also released videos boasting that they assaulted the Congress leader and said they did so because he had raised slogans on breaking up the country and had spoken against the Indian Army.    In a complaint, Chhaya Gaurav Sharma, the AAP councillor from Brahmapuri, said she and Mr Kumar were leaving the party's office in Kartar Nagar when seven to eight people garlanded Mr Kumar, threw ink on him and then thrashed him. She said three to four women were also injured, and a woman journalist fell into a drain.  Ms Sharma alleged the attackers also dragged her to a corner using her stole and threatened to kill he

'Pioneer Of Digital Democracy': India 1st Country In The World To Use EVMs

It is a well-known fact that India is the world's largest democracy, but not many know that it is India that perfected and deployed mass electronic voting for the first time anywhere in the world. So, the country, in a way, was also the pioneer of digital democracy. It was on May 19, 1982, that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were used in Kerala as a pilot project in the North Paravur constituency, where 50 out of the 84 polling stations used the first-ever secure direct digital vote recording device in the world. The second country to try EVMs was the Netherlands, almost a decade later in the 1990s, according to data from the Atlantic Council, a US-based think tank. "EVMs and India have a fascinating history; they came well before the Information Technology revolution. IBM had just introduced personal computers in the USA a few months earlier when India got EVMs," explains Professor Rajeeva L Karandikar from the Chennai Mathematical Institute, adding, "They are

"Brilliant": Rashmika Mandanna Praises PM Modi's 'Decade of Development'

Indian film superstar Rashmika Mandanna recently praised the newly inaugurated Atal Setu Bridge, calling it a game-changer for transportation in Mumbai. The 22-kilometre bridge, India's longest sea link, connects Mumbai to its neighbouring city, Navi Mumbai. Speaking to ANI, Mandanna highlighted how the bridge significantly reduces travel time, cutting a previously two-hour journey to just 20 minutes. She further applauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the infrastructure project, stating, "Everything about it is simply brilliant." Watch the video here:    #WATCH | Mumbai: On the Mumbai-trans Harbour Link (MTHL) Atal Setu, Actor Rashmika Mandana says, "Who would have thought that something like this would have been possible. Now we can easily travel from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai. India is moving very fast and growing at a fast pace.… pic.twitter.com/ACwSoSNaa7 — ANI (@ANI) May 14, 2024 The Atal Setu bridge opened to the public in January this year and has be

Lecturing India On Human Rights Won't Work: Indian American Lawmakers

Reiterating that they would continue to raise the issue of human rights in India with its leadership, Indian American lawmakers on Thursday, however, said that lecturing New Delhi on this issue is unlikely to work and they favoured entering into a conversation with the Indian leadership on their concerns with them. "India was colonized for over 100 years. So, when we're having a conversation about human rights, and you're having a conversation with (External Affairs Minister S) Jai Shankar or someone else, you have to understand that just coming in from a perspective of lecturing India. When they say that we've had colonial powers lecture us for hundreds of years is not going to be productive," Congressman Ro Khanna told members of the Indian American community during the "Desi Decides" Summit of Indian American Impact. Khanna, who is also co-chair of the Congressional India Caucus, was joined by three other Indian American lawmakers -- Shri Thanedar,

In Top Court's Order On Acquiring Private Property, A "Procedure" Caveat

Compulsory acquisition of private properties will be unconstitutional if proper procedure is not established or followed before depriving a person of their right to property, the Supreme Court said on Thursday. In a significant verdict, the top court said even the statutory scheme of payment of compensation in return for acquisition of private properties will not be justified if the due procedure is not followed by the state and its instrumentalities. While making the observations, a bench comprising justices PS Narasimha and Aravind Kumar dismissed the appeal of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The civic body had approached the top court challenging the judgment of a division bench of the Kolkata High Court which had quashed acquisition of a property at Narkeldanga North Road in the city for constructing a park. The high court had held that the civic body had no power under a specific provision to go for compulsory acquisition. "We are of the considered opinion that the Hi

Scientists Spot 7 Stars That Show Signs of Hosting Alien Civilisations

There is always a question about life forms other than humans out there in the Universe. Recently, an international team of researchers, based in Sweden, India, the US and the UK, have devised a way to search for unimaginably complex extraterrestrial megastructures, known as Dyson spheres, according to a report by Science Alert.  A Dyson sphere is a hypothetical engineering project that only highly advanced civilizations could build. These Dyson spheres would allow a civilization to harness all of a star's energy. To find Dyson Spheres, or rather their technosignatures, the ''Project Hephaistos'' was created. The team of scientists published their results in the  Monthly Notices of the Royal Academy of Sciences . The team believes that they've identified seven of these lurking in the cosmos after filtering through millions of potential space objects. Scientists believe that only civilisations capable of such a project are those who measure Level II on the Kard

'PoK Will Be Merged With India If BJP Gets 400 Seats': Himanta Sarma

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma spoke of a fresh to-do list if the NDA gets 400 seats in the ongoing general election. Countering the Opposition allegations of a change in Constitution, Mr Sarma said today that the focus would be on making Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir a part of India. His list also has two building projects -- temples at Krishna Janambhoomi in Mathura and in Varanasi's Gyanvapi. "You think Hindus would be satisfied with Ram Janmabhoomi alone," he questioned. As for Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, Mr Sarma, speaking at a rally in Jharkhand's Ramgarh, said it was a natural progression of the party's plans. "When we crossed 300 (seats) we scrapped Article 370, built the Ayodhya temple. Once we cross 400, we will ensure that Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir merges with India," he said. "The real game will start after crossing 400. For the last few days, slogans of freedom are being raised in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Crossing 400 means re

"Mom Says Thank You": Twinkle Reacts To Zeenat Aman's Post On Dimple Kapadia

Veteran actress Zeenat Aman dedicated a lovely post to Dimple Kapadia on Tuesday afternoon and tagged Twinkle Khanna, hoping that the actor turned writer would pass on the message to her mom, who is not on social media. Twinkle Khanna, who regularly entertains fans on Instagram with her quirky posts, indeed passed on Zeenat Aman's message to her mom. It so happened that Zeenat Aman on Tuesday, documented, in a post, how Dimple Kapadia stood by her during tough times. Hours later, Twinkle Khanna reshared the post and wrote, "What a lovely picture and Mom says thank you for your gracious words." See Twinkle Khanna's post: Now coming back to Zeenat Aman latest Instagram entry, sharing a black and white BTS picture from the film Chhailla Babu featuring herself, director Joy Mukherjee and Dimple Kapadia, the Satyam Shivam Sundaram actor wrote, "I can't recollect where this picture was taken, but it quite certainly had something to do with the film Chhailla Ba

OpenAI Releases New GPT-4o, A Faster And Free AI Model For All Users

OpenAI on Monday released a higher performing and even more human-like version of the artificial intelligence technology that underpins its popular generative tool ChatGPT, making it free to all users. The update to OpenAI's flagship product landed a day before Google is expected to make its own announcements about Gemini, the search engine giant's own AI tool that competes with ChatGPT head on. "We're very, very excited to bring GPT-4o to all of our free users out there," Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati said at the highly anticipated launch event in San Francisco. The new model GPT-4o -- the "O" stands for omni -- will be rolled out in OpenAI's products over the next few weeks, the company said, with paid customers having unlimited access to the tool. The company said the model could generate content or understand commands in voice, text, or images. "The new voice (and video) mode is the best computer interface I've ever used. It

Job Applicant Gets Rejected For Telling Recruiter "You Wasted My Time"

Job hunting can be a stressful and frustrating process. Most working professionals looking for new jobs spend hours perfecting their resumes and job applications. They also go through multiple rounds of interviews, sometimes spread across days or weeks. However, this too doesn't guarantee a job. The whole process can be frustrating for the applicant and getting ghosted by the Human Resources (HR) team can further add to this frustration. Now, a job applicant recently shared an email they received, informing why they haven't been chosen for the job.  "After weeks of consideration we have decided to go with another candidate who is better suited to our needs at this time," the email read. It further explained why the applicant was not selected. "It was noted during your interviews, you told both our recruiter and the hiring manager that "they wasted your time because they were late" and "you took time off from work just to hear a low ball offer and

Sushil Modi, Former Deputy Chief Minister Of Bihar, Dies At 72

Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP, Sushil Modi, died at Delhi's All-India Institute of Medical Sciences this evening. He was 72. Sushil Modi was battling cancer and was admitted in the intensive care unit of AIIMS for the last one month. He had opted out of the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections also on account of his health from NDTV News- Special https://ift.tt/z48pfeP

He Boarded 200 Flights In 110 Days, Stole Jewellery Worth Lakhs From Fliers

He boarded 200 flights last year and travelled thousands of kilometres in the country for over 100 days to execute robberies at airports, stealing valuables from several passengers in 2023. The Delhi Police busted the new style of theft when a woman travelling from Hyderabad to Delhi claimed last month that jewellery worth Rs 7 lakh was stolen from her handbag. The cops received another complaint from a man from the US reporting that valuables worth Rs 20 lakh were stolen from his cabin bag.  The police scanned several hours of footage from airports and arrested a man, Rajesh Kapoor. The Modus Operandi Rajesh Kapoor was arrested from Delhi's Paharganj after cops scanned CCTV footage from Delhi, Hyderabad, and Amritsar airports. The accused told the cops how he executed the crime for a year in one of the most highly secured areas in the country - airports - and managed to escape. Deputy Commissioner of Delhi Police, Usha Rangrani, said the man targeted passengers who took conne

BJP vs NOTA, World Cup-Winning Cricketers: Phase 4 Interesting Facts

Ninety-six Lok Sabha constituencies across 10 states and Union territories including all seats in Andhra Pradesh, where assembly elections are also being held concurrently, and Telangana will go to polls today. In the fourth phase, polling will be held in 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, 25 in Andhra Pradesh, 13 in Uttar Pradesh, five in Bihar, four in Jharkhand, eight in Madhya Pradesh, 11 in Maharashtra, four in Odisha, eight in West Bengal and one in Jammu and Kashmir. The fourth round will be witness to some interesting battles and the fate of several high-profile candidates will be decided in this phase - World Cup-winning cricketers Yusuf Pathan and Kirti Azad, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and AIMIM boss among others. The phase will also see a curious battle between the BJP and NOTA. Here Are Some Interesting Facts About Phase 4: 1. High-Profile Candidates: The phase will see several high-profile candidates - former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, Mahua M

Italian Tennis Star Secretly Quits Sport, Flees To US Amid Tax Dispute

Camila Giorgi, Italy's tennis star, who secretly quit the sport has fled the country with her family to avoid a dispute with tax authorities, New York Post reported. The 32-year-old Italian pro was listed on the International Tennis Integrity Agency's (ITIA) retired players list on Tuesday. According to investigations of the Florence Prosecutor's Office, the former Wimbledon star and her family have several ''gaps'' regarding tax returns, which have never been submitted. The WTA has been unable to reach Ms Giorgi or her family, and was unaware of her retirement, according to Corriere della Sera , an Italian newspaper. Another top sports newspaper  La Gazzetto dello Sport  said Guardia di Finanza, the country's top police force for financial crime, is looking into her tax affairs. The outlet further reported that Ms Giorgi has left Italy for the United States since abruptly quitting tennis. She is said to have been joined by her father Sergio, mother