POLITICS NEWS
Sharad Pawar keen to see NCP enter Karnataka politics, but divided Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti plays spoilsport. Belagavi, Karnataka: The 31 March visit of NCP president Sharad Pawar to Belagavi to address leaders of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) was no doubt a huge morale booster for this fringe outfit representing the Marathi speaking voters of the region bordering Maharashtra. With two sitting MLAs, MES this time is contesting seven Assembly pockets in the Belagavi and Bidar regions, though its glory days when it held sway in the region is long gone.
Karnataka Assembly polls: Rahul Gandhi to arrive in state today for two-day visit; will release Congress' election manifesto tomorrow. Bengaluru/New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi will once again pay a two-day visit to Karnataka from Thursday and release his party's manifesto for the upcoming 12 May Assembly polls, a party official said.
Karnataka Assembly Elections: 3,374 candidates file nominations; BJP leads with 282, Congress follows with 250. Bengaluru: A total of 3,374 candidates have filed their nominations for the 12 May Karnataka Assembly elections, as per the revised figures from the Election Commission released on Wednesday.
Mehbooba Mufti, Congress disown slain political worker in Kashmir; Omar Abdullah tweets 'let’s just call him a NC worker'. A former Congress and PDP leader Ghulam Nabi Patel died few minutes on way to the hospital in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district soon after suspected militants suddenly appeared in front of his Scorpio vehicle and fired multiple shots, two of them hitting his face on Wednesday. His son and two security personnel were also injured in the attack.
SPORTS NEWS
Champions League: Real Madrid's Marco Asensio, Marcelo exploit Bayern Munich's sloppy defence for crucial away goals. Munich: Marco Asensio came off the bench to score the winner as Real Madrid claimed a 2-1 first-leg lead over Bayern Munich in their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday.
Stuttgart Open: Simona Halep survives scare to reach third round; Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova upsets Madison Keys. Stuttgart: Top seed Simona Halep, a semi-finalist last year at the Stuttgart Open, battled to a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 second round win over Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova on Wednesday.
AFC Cup: Bengaluru FC suffer first defeat of tournament after going down to Maldivian side New Radiant. Male: Goals from Ali Fasir and Ali Ashfaq consigned Bengaluru FC to their first defeat in the 2018 AFC Cup campaign as New Radiant beat the Blues 2-0 at the National Stadium in Male on Wednesday.
NBA Playoffs: Rockets oust Timberwolves; LeBron James scores buzzer-beater to give Cavaliers 3-2 lead over Pacers. Los Angeles: James Harden scored 24 points as the Houston Rockets booked their spot in the second round of the NBA playoffs by crushing the Minnesota Timberwolves 122-104 in game five on Wednesday.
INDIA NEWS
Marathwada Diaries: How mass migration, illiteracy and low farm yield feeds into rampant child marriage in rural Maharashtra. Vijaya Phartade became a grandmother four years ago. She is only 34 years old. "I got married at 14," she says, sitting on a stone platform outside her tin-roofed hut in Arvi village in Maharashtra's Beed district. Her groom, Bandu, was not much older, at 18. "I asked my parents to wait for a couple of years," she says. "But they said this is the right age. Most of my friends got married at the same age. So I thought, 'Maybe they are right'."
'People left out can bring down system': Karnataka agriculture minister says inclusive growth is the way forward. Bangalore: Ahead of the Karnataka elections, state agriculture minister and Byatarayanapura MLA Krishna Byre Gowda says Congress' scandal-free and stable governance will retain voters' trust, especially when they compare it against the previous government's tenure.
AFSPA withdrawn from Meghalaya but Act played little role in containing insurgency in hill state. Withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 from Meghalaya and three police stations in Arunachal Pradesh by the Central government has attracted widespread media attention which has gone to create a perception that the Army and paramilitary forces have succeeded in playing its role and are no longer required to be involved in counter-insurgency operation in large areas of North East due to decline in insurgency and significant improvement in the security situation.
Outreach by Swaraj and Sitharaman signals India seeks 'soft reset' of ties with China, not a 'factory reset'. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) — that admitted India as a member last year — is set to hold its annual summit in China's Qingdao in June, but New Delhi's groundwork has already begun in earnest. Close on the heels of China visits by Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Minister of Defence Nirmala Sitharaman is an 'informal summit' between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping over the weekend.
WORLD NEWS
Taliban announces spring offensive in Afghanistan, dismisses Ashraf Ghani's offer of peace talks as 'conspiracy'. Kabul: The Taliban announced the start of its annual spring offensive on Wednesday, dismissing an offer for peace talks by President Ashraf Ghani and saying it will focus on US forces in Afghanistan.
Dalai Lama says Tibet can remain a part of China: A look at the spiritual leader's position over the years. Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on Monday had said that Tibet can remain a part of China as long as China respects Tibetans' culture and heritage. "We are not seeking independence...We want to stay with China. We want more development," the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people had said.
Kim Jong-un, Moon Jae-in to meet at Military Demarcation Line tomorrow; North Korea's nuclear arsenal high on agenda. Seoul (South Korea): North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un and the South's president Moon Jae-in will meet at the Military Demarcation Line that divides the peninsula for their summit on Friday, Seoul said, in an occasion laden with symbolism.
Kuwait expels Philippines envoy, recalls own diplomat from Manila amid rising tensions over treatment of domestic workers. Kuwait City: Kuwait said on Wednesday it is expelling the Philippine ambassador and recalling its own envoy from Manila as tensions rise over the treatment of domestic workers.
BUSINESS NEWS
PNB scam: PMO steps in, wants agencies to probe into new evidence provided by a whistleblower. New Delhi: The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has moved swiftly seeking appropriate action by the investigative agencies in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam involving diamond czar Nirav Modi, his uncle Mehul Choksi and bank officials who conspired to issue fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoU) and Foreign Letters of Credit (FLC) to dupe the state-run bank by over Rs 13,000 crore.
Diesel price hike: Freight costs to go up 15%; food prices expected to rise marginally for now. Aside from vagaries of supply and demand, the prices of mangoes could go up marginally this year, because the cost of transporting the fruit is rising on the back of higher fuel prices.
People still hoarding cash as withdrawals outpace spending, RBI data shows India's old habits die hard. Mumbai: Having speeded up printing presses to refill banks’ empty ATMs in some parts of the country, the Reserve Bank of India released data on Wednesday showing that people were still hoarding cash as withdrawals outpaced spending.
Bharti Airtel says will evaluate strategic stake sale in new mobile tower company after merger. Bharti Airtel, on Wednesday, said it will engage with potential investors to evaluate a strategic stake sale in the new tower company, after the merger of Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers is completed.
CRICKET TOP NEWS
IPL 2018, RCB vs CSK report card: MS Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu score full marks; Corey Anderson continues to disappoint. Ambati Rayudu and captain MS Dhoni played two mesmerising knocks to lead Chennai Super Kings to victory. Here's a look at how all the players fared in the match.
ICC World Cup 2019, India's schedule: Virat Kohli and Co to play 9 round-robin matches at 6 different venues. India will play their nine round robin league matches of the 2019 ICC World Cup at six different venues after starting their campaign against South Africa at Southampton on 5 June.
India captain Virat Kohli recommended for Khel Ratna, Rahul Dravid for Dronacharya award by BCCI. The BCCI has recommended former India captain Rahul Dravid for the prestigious Dronacharya award and once again nominated Virat Kohli for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna honour.
IPL 2019 could be shifted to United Arab Emirates if dates clash with country's general elections. United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be the likely destination for the BCCI if next year's Indian Premier League dates clash with the country's general elections.
IPL 2018: Gautam Gambhir made the right call by stepping down as Delhi Daredevils captain, but is it his responsibility alone? The rot stems deeper at the Daredevils and there is a need to affix more responsibility, beyond Gautam Gambhir’s solo show that is.
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