Today’s Top News Headlines and Latest News at 10:30 am on 26 April 2024

In top national news: Voting kicked off for 88 seats across 13 states and UTs as the second phase of general elections commenced today. By the end of the day, a third of the total 543 Lok Sabha seats — including all the seats in Kerala, Rajasthan, Manipur and Tripura, and 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka — will have completed polling. Other seats carrying the electoral exercise include 8 each in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, 7 in Madhya Pradesh, 5 each in Assam and Bihar, 3 in West Bengal and Chhattisgarh, and 1 in Jammu and Kashmir.

Meanwhile, The Election Commission’s first-ever notices to political parties for alleged Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violations by their star campaigners marks a significant shift in the institution’s response to such complaints. In the past, the EC has sent general advisories to parties but whenever there is an MCC violation complaint against an individual, the notice goes to the individual rather than the party. This time, however, the EC has sent notices to the BJP and the Congress on complaints against PM Modi and Rahul Gandhi. In the notices, it has underlined that individual star campaigners are responsible for their speeches and the EC may, on a “case-by-case basis,” hold political parties accountable for any MCC violations by their campaigners.

In other news: At least seven students allegedly died by suicide within 30 hours of the Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education (TSBIE) releasing the results of the Intermediate Public Examination 2024 for the first and second year on Wednesday. Police officers said the incidents were reported from across the state. The first reported case was a 16-year-old from Tandur in Mancherial district. Local police said he had failed in four subjects in the first year, and that he hanged himself at his residence. Apart from him, all others who died by suicide were girls aged 16 or 17 years who had failed in one or more exams.

The Indian government is learnt to have asked French authorities, in a meeting held earlier this month, to approve the extradition of liquor baron Vijay Mallya “without preconditions”. According to sources, Mallya’s extradition was raised in the 16th meeting of the India-France Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism, held on April 15. During the discussion, the Indian delegation is learnt to have sought an update on India’s proposal to France to extradite Mallya. “The French offered a (extradition) proposal with some preconditions (but) India asked them to approve the proposal without any preconditions,” a source said.

Moving on to top international news: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he plans to visit China in May, in what could become the first foreign trip for the Russian leader after he extended his rule by six more years in an election that offered voters little real choice. Putin announced the plans for the visit at a congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs in Moscow. He didn’t say when exactly it would take place and didn’t offer any other details. Putin’s inauguration is scheduled for May 7, Russian lawmakers said earlier this week. Last month, the 71-year-old Russian leader secured his fifth term in office in a vote with no real opposition, extending his 24-year rule.

In news from the UK: British Sikh lawyers have come together to set up a new court as a dispute resolution forum for the community caught up in family and civil disputes, a UK media report said on Thursday. According to ‘The Times’, the Sikh court was launched last weekend at a ceremony at the Old Hall at Lincoln’s Inn in London accompanied by religious chants. Baldip Singh, a 33-year-old London-based barrister who is one of the court’s founders, told the newspaper that it was not a religious tribunal but aimed at assisting Sikh families in their time of need when dealing with conflict and disputes “in line with Sikh principles”.

In news from the US: New York City residents may soon see warning labels next to sugary foods and drinks in chain restaurants and coffee shops, under a law set to go into effect later this year. The rule requires food businesses with 15 storefronts or more to post a warning icon — a black and white spoon loaded with sugar — next to menu items containing at least 50 grams of added sugar. Businesses will also have to post the following written label to accompany the logo: “Warning: indicates that the added sugar content of this item is higher than the total daily recommended limit of added sugar for a 2,000 calorie diet (50g)."

Lastly: Ariel Henry resigned Thursday as prime minister of Haiti, leaving the way clear for a new government to be formed in the Caribbean country, which has been wracked by gang violence that killed or injured more than 2,500 people from January to March. Henry presented his resignation in a letter signed in Los Angeles, dated April 24, and released on Thursday by his office on the same day that a council tasked with choosing a new prime minister and Cabinet for Haiti was sworn in. Henry’s remaining Cabinet meanwhile chose Economy and Finance Minister Michel Patrick Boisvert as the interim prime minister. It was not immediately clear when the transitional council would select its interim prime minister.

Click to listen to yesterday evening’s bulletin