Patna, May 5 (IANS) Bihar’s Madhepura Lok Sabha seat is set to see an interesting contest between incumbent JD-U MP Dinesh Chandra Yadav and RJD’s Kumar Chandradeep Yadav as both belong to the community that has a stronghold in the constituency. Madhepura has sent prominent leaders such as former Union Minister Sharad Yadav, ex-Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad and Pappu Yadav to the Lok Sabha. From this seat, Sharad Yadav had won four Lok Sabha elections while RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and Pappu Yadav won two elections each. The seat has been dominated by the Yadav community, whose candidates h ..read more

Lucknow, May 5 (IANS) Campaigning will touch a crescendo in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a rally in Etawah — a Samajwadi Party (SP) bastion. The BJP campaign has been targeting the main opposition party’s bastions, especially those from where members of the SP’s first family are contesting. In almost all their rallies, BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, have raked up how five members of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav’s family are contesting the Lok Sabha election. Also ..read more

Lucknow, May 5 (IANS) All the rallies of BSP National Coordinator Akash Anand have been postponed in Uttar Pradesh without assigning any reason. This comes following the registration of an FIR in a hate speech case in Sitapur on April 29. Akash launched his party’s campaign from Nagina Lok Sabha seat on April 6. Later, he addressed a series of rallies in west and east Uttar Pradesh, including Agra, Bulandshahr, Mathura, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh and Kaushambi. On April 29, Akash addressed a public meeting in Sitapur for the party candidate Mahendra Yadav. Later, the distri ..read more

Cairo, May 5 (IANS/DPA) Teams from the Palestinian militant group Hamas and mediator Qatar have arrived in the Egyptian capital for further talks on a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Israel, sources at the Cairo airport said. Both teams arrived aboard a flight from Qatar on Saturday, they added. Egypt’s state-affiliated broadcaster al-Qahera News also reported the arrival of a Hamas delegation in Cairo and cited “significant progress” in negotiations to reach the deal. The broadcaster, citing what it termed as a high-level source, said the Egyptian security team engaged in the negotia ..read more

Jerusalem, May 5 (IANS) The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has announced that Aiman Zaarab, a senior commander of the Islamic Jihad Rafah Brigade, was killed in an airstrike on the southernmost Gazan city of Rafah. Zaarab directed the Islamic Jihad’s elite forces during the October 7 onslaught on Kibbutz Sufa and the Sufa military post bordering the Gaza Strip, the IDF was quoted as saying on Saturday by Xinhua news agency. Zaarab had “commanded and directed” several attacks, and over the past few days, he led the Islamic Jihads’ preparations for combat in the southern Gaza Strip against the Isr ..read more

Jaipur, May 5 (IANS) In the wake of rising suicides in Rajasthan’s Kota, experts have termed April and May “high-risk months” for NEET and JEE aspirants and called on the district administration to make students’ counselling mandatory in all PGs and hostels. Recently, two students committed suicide in Kota within a gap of 48 hours a few days before their NEET examination, which is scheduled for May 5. One amongst them, Bharat, in his suicide note, wrote, “I am sorry papa, please forgive me, I couldn’t do it this time too.” Bharat, a resident of Dholpur, was preparing for the NEET entrance tes ..read more

Guangzhou, May 5 (IANS) Torrential rains have lashed multiple cities in south China’s Guangdong Province including Zhongshan and Zhuhai, with 58 rainstorm alerts in effect across the province. From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, seven townships and sub-districts in Guangdong recorded precipitation of over 250 mm, and 65 townships and sub-districts recorded 100 mm to 250 mm, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the Guangdong meteorological observatory. A township in the city of Zhongshan recorded the highest precipitation of 385.9 mm. Of the 58 rainstorm alerts in effect by around 3 p.m. Saturday ..read more

Kolkata, May 5 (IANS) Tapas Roy, the BJP candidate for West Bengal’s Kolkata-Uttar Lok Sabha seat, has filed a complaint with the Election Commission (EC) against Trinamool Congress candidate Sudip Bandopadhyay accusing the latter of running his party office occupying space within a renowned school in the constituency. Roy on Saturday submitted the complaint at the office of West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) urging the EC to take steps in the matter. In his complaint, Roy alleged that Bandopadhyay has occupied a room in the school using his political clouts and even carrying out his ..read more

Shillong, May 5 (IANS) Amid the ongoing dry spell in Meghalaya which has created water shortages in various places of the state, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Saturday visited the Um Jasai catchment area in Shillong. Sangma had earlier chaired a series of meetings to understand the water scarcity problem, and then he visited the Um Jasai catchment area with officials from various government departments, including Meghalaya Basin Development Authority. Meghalaya generally receives adequate rainfall. However, this time, the prolonged dry season has led to water shortages in Shillong and other ..read more

Chennai, May 5 (IANS) Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai on Saturday expressed shock over the recovery of the charred remains of the body of Tirunelveli East district Congress President K.P.K. Jeyakumar Dhanasingh. The body of the 60-year-old Congress leader was found in his farmland at Karaichuthupudur near Thisayvanvilai in Tirunelveli district. The deceased’s son, Karuthiah Jefin, had filed a missing complaint with the Uvari police station on May 3 after Jeyakumar went missing on the evening of May 2. Annamalai said in a statement that Jeyakumar was missing for the last two days, adding ..read more