A select list of stories to read before you start your day.
BJP will add to its 2014 tally, says Amit Shah
After five rounds of voting for the Lok Sabha, BJP president Amit Shah expressed confidence that the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be re-elected with an increased majority.
In an interview, on the campaign trail in Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Shah asserted that compared with 2014, the BJP would “increase our seats, improve our margins of victory as well, and also expand in terms of the areas that we represent.”
Supreme Court to hear Ayodhya title appeals on May 10
A five-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi will convene on Friday to hear the Ayodhya title dispute appeals even as an apex court-appointed mediation committee has sent its interim report.
The Bench had sent the Ayodhya dispute for mediation on March 8 in a bid to heal minds and hearts.
Long wait for power in Odisha after Cyclone Fani snaps transmission lines
Hot and humid weather has compounded the woes of the cyclone-affected people in Odisha, with the government facing a gigantic task of restoring power to houses in Puri and Khurdha districts battered by Fani.
Despite massive efforts by the State government, total power restoration is likely to be completed in Bhubaneswar only by May 15. Around that time residents of Puri too may start getting power.
Govt. denies perjury charge in Rafale case
Rubbishing the charge of perjury, the government on Thursday said the contents of briefs and responses made in the Supreme Court in the Rafale fighter purchase case were “finalised after extensive deliberations at the highest levels in government after a series of meetings”.
In a reply affidavit filed in the court, the Centre said its averments in court were based on the final decisions taken by the Cabinet Committee on Security.
Smaller parties field more women
Smaller political parties, both regional and national, have shown the way in this Lok Sabha election by giving ticket to a higher percentage of women candidates, while big parties with a much larger number of contestants fared poorly in doing so.
As a result, the number of women candidates is a mere 8.82%, according to numbers available for the first five phases.
Assam NRC: Supreme Court frowns on foreigners’ tribunals plan
The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned a proposal by the Assam government to quickly throw open 1,000 foreigners’ tribunals all over the northeastern State to try suspected illegal immigrants.
A Bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said it looked like the State government hatched the plan without bothering to conduct a “basic study” of how to carry it out. This, especially when the deadline for publishing the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) looming large.
Opinion | A vote for the sake of Parliament
When political historians write of a government that came to power in 2014 on an impressive majority, what will they write? Will they write of a Prime Minister who had promised to set right everything that had gone wrong in India? Will they chronicle the political biography of a man who sadly frittered away the colossal mandate Indian citizens gave him?
Ruling ANC takes early lead in South Africa election
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) had a comfortable lead with nearly half of national election votes counted but much lower support than it received during the last parliamentary and presidential contests.
Corruption allegations from Opposition parties appeared to have hurt the governing party.