Moderate to high turnout in Round 7 of polling in LS elections

April 30, 2014
New Delhi, Apr 30: Moderate to high turnout today marked the polling in the seventh phase of Lok Sabha elections on a day when Narendra Modi sparked a major controversy by violating the election law by making a speech and displaying BJP's poll symbol in a booth.

polling1The fate of some of the top guns of Congress, including Sonia Gandhi, and BJP like Modi, L K Advani, Rajnath Singh and Murli Manohar Joshi and Arun Jaitley were decided in the seventh round that covered 89 constituencies across seven states and two union territories.

The whole of Gujarat with 26 seats and Punjab with 13 seats were among the constituencies which went to polls today in which 13.83 crore voters were eligible to exercise their franchise.

While Punjab recorded a turnout of 73 per cent, the day's second highest after 81.35 per cent in nine seats in West Bengal, Gujarat witnessed a 62 per cent turnout, a quantum jump from 47.92 percent in the last Lok Sabha polls.

In Gujarat, BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and party veteran L K Advani were among the early voters in Gandhinagar.

However, in an embarrassment for Modi, he violated election laws by displaying BJP's poll symbol 'Lotus' and making a speech after casting his vote in a booth in Gandhinagar, after which an FIR was registered against him by police following a directive of the Election Commission.

Vadodara constituency in Gujarat, where Modi is contesting LS poll for the first time, saw a turnout of 70 per cent. He is pitted against Madhusudan Mistry of Congress.

In Punjab, clashes erupted between Akali Dal and Congress workers in Moga, Khadoor Sahib and Amritsar, leaving 15 people injured.

Among the riveting contests in the state is that between BJP's Arun Jaitley, also making his debut in Lok Sabha poll, and senior Congress leader Amarinder Singh in Amritsar. Ambika Soni, who too is contesting her first national elections, is in fray from Anandpur Sahib.

An estimated 70 per cent of the voters exercised their franchise in Telangana to elect its 119 representatives to the proposed state's first assembly and 17 representatives to Lok Sabha.

Uttar Pradesh saw a turnout of 57.10 per cent in 14 seats where SP, BSP, Congress and BJP are locked in a bitter battle to establish supremacy. Congress, which had done quite well in this region last time, may find the going tough this time but Sonia Gandhi appears comfortably placed to win from Rae Bareli for a third consecutive term.

Polling in seven constituencies in Bihar, crucial for RJD, BJP and JD(U) whose chief Sharad Yadav is in fray from Madhepura, saw a turnout of 60 per cent.

JD(U), which broke ties with BJP in the state on Modi as PM issue, finds an uphill task this time, according to ground reports.

Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, where union minister and NC leader Farooq Abdullah is in fray, saw a turnout of 25.62 per cent, the lowest in today's exercise.

The seventh round saw completion of polling in 438 of the total of 543 constituencies. The exercise was already over in 349 constituencies in the first six phases. Voting in the remaining 105 constituencies will he held on May 7 (64 seats) and May 12 (41) before counting of votes is taken on up on May 16.

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News Network
May 11,2020

New Delhi, May 11: Shares of Indian Railway Catering And Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) jumped 5 per cent in early trade on Monday after the Indian Railways said it will gradually resume passenger train services from May 12.

The company's shares gained 5 per cent to Rs 1,302.85 -- its highest trading permissible limit for the day -- on the BSE. At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), it rose 5 per cent to Rs 1,303.55 -- its upper circuit limit.

Booking for reservation in these trains will start at 4pm on May 11 and will be available only on the IRCTC website.

The Indian Railways will gradually resume passenger train services from May 12 and will ask passengers to arrive at the station at least an hour before departure, the national transporter said on Sunday.

Initially, the all air-conditioned services will begin on 15 Rajdhani routes and the fare would be equivalent to that of the super-fast train, it said.

The special trains will run from New Delhi to Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad and Jammu Tawi.

All passenger services were suspended due to a lockdown announced on March 25 and the railways later started the on-demand Shramik Specials to ferry migrants stranded across the country. It, however, has been running freight and parcel services.

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Agencies
June 9,2020

Srinagar, Jun 9: Suspended Jammu and Kashmir DSP Davinder Singh, who was nabbed while ferrying two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway, moved a Delhi court on Tuesday seeking interim bail.

Besides Singh, two other accused -- Syed Naveed Mushtaq and Imran Shafi Mir -- have also sought bail. The Special Cell of the Delhi Police is probing their role in the alleged planning of a terror attack.

The trio has sought bail asserting that there is no evidence to show that there was any conspiracy to commit an act that would threaten the sovereignty of the country. The court has listed the matter for hearing on Wednesday.

"The accused are wrongly and falsely implicated in the case. There is also no material to substantiate that the accused had the intention or conspired to carry out a terror strike," the plea stated.

Singh is currently under judicial custody at the Hira Nagar Jail in J&K till June 16. Besides Singh, three other accused -- Javed Iqbal, Syed Naveed Mushtaq and Imran Shafi Mir -- are also under custody.

Delhi Police's Special Cell had brought him from Hira Nagar Jail to the national capital in March for interrogation in another case.

The police had earlier told the court that Mushtaq, who was the commander of Hizbul Mujahiddeen in Shopian district, along with other militants were planning to execute a terror attack in Delhi and other parts of the country and targeted killings of protected persons.

In connection with this, the Delhi Police had filed an FIR which stated that the youth of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab are being trained for carrying out terrorist activities. Singh was taken into custody under this FIR and was also interrogated regarding the Khalistan angle.

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News Network
February 19,2020

Feb 19: Pay increases across India’s organized sector will probably grow at the slowest pace since 2009 this year, according to a survey from Aon Plc.

Companies will increase average pay by 9.1% in 2020, down from 9.3% in 2019 and 9.5% the previous year, Aon said in a report published Tuesday. The small increase reflects a deep slowdown in Asia’s third-largest economy, where growing pessimism about job prospects have led many to cut down on consumption -- the main driver to growth.

India still leads the Asia-Pacific region in pay rises, but that is mainly due to higher inflation and a “war for key talent and niche skills,” Aon said.

“There is a general air of caution about the economy as we enter into 2020,” Tzeitel Fernandes, partner for rewards solutions at Aon, told reporters in New Delhi. “Low GDP projection and weak consumer sentiment are the reasons behind our lowest ever prediction.”

E-commerce companies and start-ups will probably get the biggest salary increases, projected at an above-average 10%, while financial institutions will hand out 8.5%. Unsurprisingly, the auto sector witnessed the biggest drop in growth -- down to 8.3% from 10.1% in 2018, according to Aon. The survey covered more than 1,000 companies across over 20 industries.

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