Today’s Top News Headlines and Latest News at 10:30 am on 1 May 2024

In top political news: The unusually long time the Congress is taking to name its candidates for the traditional Nehru-Gandhi family seats of Amethi and Raebareli is baffling party leaders and workers alike. Adding to the intrigue, sources claimed that both Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra appear reluctant to contest, and last-minute efforts are said to be on to convince the two – or at least one of them – to enter the fray. The Congress leadership wants both Rahul and Priyanka to contest and has not shortlisted any other name for the two seats, for which the window for filing nomination ends on May 3. Both constituencies vote on May 20.

In personalised letters to BJP candidates in constituencies that will vote in the third phase of the elections on May 7, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged them to increase awareness among voters about the “divisive” and “discriminatory” intention of the Congress and its INDIA bloc partners to “snatch” the SC, ST and OBC reservation and give it to “their vote bank” even though granting “reservation on religious grounds is unconstitutional”. In a speech in Banswara, Rajasthan, on April 21, Modi, referring to Muslims, had said that the Congress, if voted to power, could distribute the nation’s wealth among “infiltrators” and “those who have more children”.

Meanwhile, stating that “life and liberty are exceedingly important”, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to respond to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s question regarding the timing of his arrest. Kejriwal was arrested in the Delhi excise policy case on March 21, days after the 2024 Lok Sabha election schedule was announced. Hearing Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta posed some questions to Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, who represented the ED.

In other news: Global pharmaceutical manufacturer AstraZeneca has admitted that its COVID-19 vaccine, developed by researchers from Oxford University, can cause a rare side effect of blood clotting and low platelet count after immunisation. In India, the same vaccine, called Covishield and manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute, has been administered through 175 crore doses. Understandably, this raises questions as to the safety of the jab all of us took. The company made this admission of a side effect, Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), in court as it faces a lawsuit alleging severe harm and deaths caused by the vaccine, according to The Daily Telegraph.

In top international news: The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial fined the former US president $9,000 for contempt of court on Tuesday and said he would consider jailing him if he continued to violate a gag order. In a written order, Justice Juan Merchan said the fine may not be enough to serve as a deterrent for the wealthy businessman-turned-politician and lamented he did not have the authority to impose a higher penalty. “Defendant is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment,” Merchan wrote.

At least 55 people were hurt, two seriously, when a Metro light rail train and a University of Southern California shuttle bus collided Tuesday along a busy thoroughfare in downtown Los Angeles, officials said. According to the LA Fire Department, the crash happened shortly before noon along Exposition Boulevard, near the USC campus and Natural History Museum. Two victims were hospitalised with serious injuries and 16 others were transported in fair condition, the department said. Another 37 people were treated at the scene. Dave Sotero, a spokesperson for LA Metro, said the bus crossed the path of an E Line train.

New York City police officers entered the grounds of Columbia University on Tuesday night in an apparent effort to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters who took over a campus building after a nearly two-week standoff with administrators of the Ivy League school. Live television images showed police entering the elite campus in upper Manhattan, which has been the focal point of student protests that have spread to dozens of schools across the US expressing opposition to Israel’s war in Gaza. “We’re clearing it out” police in a riot unit yelled as they marched up to the barricaded entrance to the building. While dozens more police marched to the protest encampment.

Lastly: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday he would discuss with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu measures that Israel still needs to take to increase the flow of aid into Gaza during his planned talks in the country on Wednesday. Blinken spoke to reporters at a warehouse of the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization where aid shipments from U.S.-based charities are gathered. While there are some improvements in the humanitarian aid situation in the densely populated enclave, he said, much more needs to be done to ensure assistance reaches people in a sustained manner.

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