Mysuru, April 19 (IANS) A group that represents the influential Vokkaliga community in Karnataka’s high-profile Mysuru-Kodagu Lok Sabha constituency has announced support for Congress M. Lakshman. This comes amid Congress’ consistent efforts to corner the BJP for denying the ticket to sitting MP Pratap Simha, who hails from the Vokkaliga community. The BJP has replaced Simha, a two-time parliamentarian from the Mysuru-Kodagu Lok Sabha constituency, and fielded royal scion Yaduveer Wadiyar while the Congress has nominated Lakshman, a Vokkaliga and a close associate of Chief Minister Siddaramai ..read more

London, April 19 (IANS) The UK has announced sanctions on a further seven individuals and six entities who it said “enabled Iran to conduct destabilizing regional activity, including its direct attack on Israel”. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Thursday that the UK has sanctioned the ringleaders of the Iranian military and forces responsible for the April 14 attack, Xinhua news agency reported. Iran has said the attack was in retaliation for Israel’s strike on Iran’s consulate building in Damascus, Syria, on April 1. The sanctioned individuals and entities are subjected to asset freeze, wi ..read more

New Delhi, April 19 (IANS) AAP legislator Amanatullah Khan left the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in the national capital post-midnight on Friday after over 13 hours of questioning in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi Waqf Board, sources said. This comes days after the Supreme Court refused to entertain his plea seeking anticipatory bail. “The AAP MLA had arrived at the ED office at 11 a.m. on Thursday after he was directed by the Supreme Court to join the probe,” said the sources. The Supreme Court, in its April 15 order where it refused any relief to Khan, had voiced its dis ..read more

Hyderabad, April 19 (IANS) Former Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao anticipates political turbulence in the state after next month’s Lok Sabha elections. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) President also claimed that the future belongs to the BRS in Telangana. He was addressing a meeting of the party’s Lok Sabha candidates, MLAs, MLCs, and other leaders at the party headquarters here. He told the party leaders that people are fed up with the misrule of the Congress within a very short span of time. He claimed that some Congress leaders are in touch with him who told him that it’s th ..read more

New Delhi, April 19 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached four immovable properties having a value of Rs 22.47 lakh belonging to Shashi Prakash and Jai Kishore Chaudhary (both Executive Engineers) in case of the MGNREGA scam in Jharkhand. According to ED, this is the fourth provisional attachment order issued in the case. The total properties worth Rs 106.86 crore, including this provisional order, have been attached/ seized till date in the subject case. The probe agency had initiated an investigation on the basis of 16 FIRs registered by Jharkhand Police in refe ..read more

Panaji, April 19 (IANS) Reacting to a statement of Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, the Congress on Thursday dared him to open a case against the Congress candidate for the North Goa Lok Sabha seat in connection with the ‘bankruptcy’ of a cooperative bank. State Congress Vice President Sunil Kawthankar told mediapersons that CM Sawant has conceded defeat as he knows that the BJP candidate for North Goa has failed miserably. The Congress has fielded former Union Minister Ramakant Khalap from North Goa, who was the Chairman of a cooperative bank that ran into losses allegedly due to non-perfor ..read more

Gurugram, April 19 (IANS) A retired soldier was shot dead in Gurugram’s Khandsa village on Thursday and his kin beat up the assailant, killing him, police said. Police said that they had taken possession of both bodies and started investigations According to the police, the incident took place at around 2.40 p.m. as Sunil Fauji, 55, had left his plot in Khandsa village and Dinesh alias Tinu, 34, started firing at him. Fauji tried to escape the spot but was unable to do so as he had suffered bullet injuries. He was taken to the hospital, where he died during treatment. His relative Sohit, who ..read more

Hyderabad, April 18 (IANS) A total of 42 nominations were filed on the first day in Telangana for next month’s Lok Sabha elections. The election process was set in motion on Thursday with the Election Commission of India issuing notification for the polling in all 17 Lok Sabha constituencies scheduled to be held on May 13. As the day was considered auspicious, some prominent candidates filed their nominations on the very first day. The highest number of nominations (eight) were received in Malkajgiri constituency. However, no nominations were filed on the first day in Hyderabad and Secunderab ..read more

Hyderabad, April 19 (IANS) AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday questioned the silence of the police and the Election Commission over the alleged provocative gesture made by the BJP candidate from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency, Madhavai Latha, towards a mosque during a procession taken out on Ram Navami on Wednesday. The Hyderabad MP wanted to know what the Police Commissioner, Election Commission, Chief Electoral Officer, and District Election Officer were doing. Owaisi reacted strongly when mediapersons sought his reaction to a purported video showing Madhavi Latha pretending ..read more

Bengaluru, April 19 (IANS) Former Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa said on Thursday that the candidates of the BJP and JD-S are going to win all 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Addressing a gathering in Shivamogga, Yediyurappa targeted the Congress, saying the grand old party is a sinking ship. “There is no single leader in that party who can match the stature of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “In Karnataka, former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and PM Modi have joined hands. In view of this, the win in all 28 Parliamentary seats is certain. The Congress is not yet ready to name any ..read more