1. Bar Sadhvi From Polls, Trial Still On: Malegaon Victim’s Father to Court
A day after the BJP announced the candidature of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur for the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat, the father of one of the six persons killed in the 2008 Malegaon blast moved the special NIA court in Mumbai on Thursday, 18 April, urging it to bar Thakur, a key accused in the case, from contesting the election since the trial is still in progress. Special Judge V S Padalkar directed Thakur, who is out on bail, to file a reply to the application of Nisar Ahmed Sayyed Bilal whose son Sayyed Azhar died in the blast.
The 59-year-old who had intervened in the case, opposing Thakur’s bail as well as her discharge plea, said since the NIA had nothing to say against Thakur, it was his duty to “inform the court about this development which hurt the bomb blast victims massively”.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. At 68%, Turnout Dips Slightly in Second Phase of Polling
The second phase of polling covering 95 Lok Sabha constituencies across 12 states saw an overall 68.1 percent turnout, according to data on the Election Commission’s Voter Turnout app at midnight, compared with 69.5 percent in the same seats in 2014.
Voting was peaceful, barring a few incidents of EVMs being damaged in West Bengal and Manipur.
The turnout figure is subject to small corrections but indicates there is not much to separate the voting five years ago in these constituencies.
The EC had put the overall turnout for the first phase at 69.4 percent, a slight drop from 70.6 percent for the 91 seats that voted in the phase, according to data compiled by TOI.
(Source: The Times of India)
3. ‘RSS Pushed Pragya Thakur for Bhopal Battle’
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) writ ran large in the selection of Malegaon blast-accused Pragya Thakur as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.
Thakur, out on bail after serving nine years in jail in connection with the 2008 Malegaon blast that killed six people, has long been the poster girl of the Sangh’s Hindutva campaign and is also used to exemplify what the organisation sees as the Congress’s “witch hunt of the RSS and the Hindus”.
“The Sangh felt that making her a contestant against Congress’s Digvijaya Singh would be a befitting reply to the Congress for coining the term ‘saffron terror’ to not just witch-hunt the Sangh, but also insult Hindus in general. The message [behind picking her] is clear — Sadhvi Pragya’s victory will wash away the stain of saffron terror,” a senior RSS functionary said on condition of anonymity.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. AI, SpiceJet Line Up to Take Jet’s Slots, Lease Its Planes
The grounding of Jet Airways has come as a boon for other airlines. The suspension of its flights has not only freed up slots at the completely choked Mumbai and Delhi airports, but also opened up an opportunity for rival airlines to take Jet’s idle aircraft on lease.
The government will now allot 280 slots at Mumbai and 160 at Delhi as well as those at other airports to Indian carriers for three months. Airlines that are able to induct more planes quickly and tide over the sudden shortage just ahead of peak summer travel season—and help bring down spiralling fares — will get more slots.
(Source: The Times of India)
5. Citing Terror, India Puts LoC Trade on Hold
Two months after India withdrew the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan, following the terror attack in Pulwama, the Union Home Ministry on Thursday, 18 April, decided to “suspend” cross-Line of Control (LoC) trade with officials alleging “misuse” of the facility by those linked to terror outfits across the border.
“Government of India has decided to suspend the LoC trade at Salamabad and Chakkan-da-Bagh in Jammu and Kashmir with immediate effect. A stricter regulatory and enforcement mechanism is being worked out and will be put in place in consultation with various agencies. The issue of reopening of LoC trade will be revisited thereafter,” the Home Ministry said in a statement.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Farooq Dar, Tied to Army Jeep in 2017, Didn’t Vote Today; Was on Poll Duty
Farooq Ahmad Dar, the Kashmiri artisan who was tied to the bonnet of an army jeep during the 2017 by-elections in Jammu and Kashmir, on Thursday, 18 April, was posted on election duty in the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency. He, however, did not vote.
“He (Dar) is with Khan Sahib Hospital on health duty related to polls,” Chief medical officer, Budgam, Nazir Ahmad said.
Dar, 28, who is from Cheill-Brass village in Beerwah had just come out after casting his vote on 9 April, 2017 when stone pelting started in the area. To avoid attack by the stonepelters, Major Leetul Gogoi of the Rashtriya Rifles tied Dar to the bonnet of his jeep as he left the spot parading him through 17 villages after he had voted in the by-election for Srinagar Lok Sabha seat.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. Is Congress-JD(S) Vote Bank in Bagalkot or Balakot: PM Modi in Karnataka Poll Rally
Ramping up his poll attack on the Congress-JD(S) coalition in Karnataka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged on Thursday, 18 April, that Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy did not wish India’s air strike on the Jaish-e-Mohammad training camp in Pakistan’s Balakot to be highlighted due to the fear that his “vote bank would be upset”.
Addressing a BJP election rally in Bagalkot in north Karnataka, which goes to polls on 23 April, Modi said: “Yahan ke mukhyamantri ne saaf-saaf kaha ki Pakistan ke Balakot par air strike ko jyada na uchhala jaye, unka votebank naraaz ho jayega. Aap bataiye, Congress aur JD(S) ka votebank Bagalkot mein hai ya phir Balakot mein?”
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. Sting Op: HC All-Clear for Scribe in Jawan’s Suicide
The Bombay high court on Thursday, 18 April, struck down the criminal case lodged against a journalist and a triple amputee war veteran for allegedly abetting the suicide of an army jawan and violating the Official Secrets Act by carrying out a sting operation in a residential colony of officers in Nashik.
A division bench of Justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre said there was no material furnished by the authorities to show that the accused had “done something that affected national interest”. The HC was hearing a plea filed by the journalist of a web portal and the retired soldier seeking the dropping of charges.
(Source: The Times of India)
9. FB May Have Uploaded Email Data of 1.5 Million Users
In what could be the latest privacy-related controversy besieging social media giant Facebook, the company has said it may have “unintentionally uploaded” the email contacts of 1.5 million new users since May 2016.
In March, Facebook had stopped offering email password verification as an option for new sign-ins, the company said. There were cases in which email contacts were uploaded to FB when users created their account, the company said. “We estimate that up to 1.5 million people’s email contacts may have been uploaded. These contacts were not shared with anyone and we are deleting them,” Facebook said, adding that those whose contacts were imported will be notified.
(Source: The Times of India)
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