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meeting of BJP state office bearers and parliamentary candidates was held on Sunday at Dr Shyam Prasad Mukherjee Bhavan, the BJP State Office in Nampally, Hyderabad. Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, BJP National Vice President DK Aruna, and BJP National General Secretary and State Incharge Sunil Bansal were among those who attended the meeting. Other leaders and candidates who are set to contest the forthcoming elections also participated. While speaking to after the meeting, BJP National Vice President DK Aruna stated that with the election dates announced and public sentiment favouring Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP is actively preparing to ensure a large voter turnout.

Moscow concert hall that killed 137 people were remanded in custody Sunday, as Russia observed a national day of mourning following the attack claimed by the Islamic State. All four suspects have been charged with terrorism, according to Moscow's Basmanny district court, and face life imprisonment. Their detention is set until May 22 but may be extended depending on the date of their trial.

Gabriel Attal made this announcement after a meeting with top security and defence officials alongside President Emmanuel Macron. Attal shared on social media site X (formerly known as Twitter), that the decision to elevate the alert level was made "in light of the Islamic State's claim of responsibility for the (Moscow) attack and the threats facing our nation". "Following the attack in Moscow, a Defense and National Security Council was convened this evening at the Elysée by the President of the Republic.

India units of luxury car manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi may steer clear of the government’s new electric vehicle (EV) policy, which stipulates a sharp cut in import duty on condition that a $500 million investment is made in local manufacturing. The luxury car makers that have already been present in India for decades would rather accelerate local assembly of EV models in the country as the money will need to be ploughed in within three years of receiving approval under the scheme, said auto executives. The aforementioned companies didn’t officially comment on investments under the new policy. Given that luxury car manufacturers have already invested in India through plants and operations, they don’t see much benefit in another large investment for a segment that’s currently less than 2% of the broader car market. Besides, assembling kits in India already allows for a lower duty structure.

By Diadie Ba

Among the areas identified for heightened caution are populous cities like Dallas, Oklahoma City, and Wichita, Kansas. This classification serves as a stark reminder of the unpredictable nature of severe weather patterns, prompting residents and authorities alike to remain vigilant and prepared for potential hazards.

Bharat Biotech International Ltd on Sunday said it has started clinical trials of tuberculosis vaccine candidate MTBVAC in India. The only vaccine in use today--BCG (Bacillus Calmette and Guerin)--is an attenuated variant of the bovine TB pathogen. This is more than a hundred years old and has a limited effect on pulmonary tuberculosis, which is mostly responsible for the transmission of the disease. Studying the safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of MTBVAC in the most populated country in the world and the one with the highest number of cases of this infectious disease is key to continue advancing in this vaccine," the company said. The trials have been done in collaboration with Spanish biopharmaceuticals company Biofabri to evaluate the safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of MTBVAC in India. «MTBVAC is being developed for two purposes: as a more effective and potentially longer-lasting vaccine than BCG for new-borns, and for the prevention of TB disease in adults and adolescents, for whom there is currently no effective vaccine,» Bharat Biotech International said. MTBVAC, the Spanish tuberculosis vaccine, is the first live attenuated vaccine of mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated from a human.

A few weeks back, while consumers were seeking bargains at a sale by luxury retailer Matches, solicitors were starting a form of insolvency proceedings for the brand. It came just months after the business had been acquired by Mike Ashley's retail empire.

Pope Francis presided at the service, read his noon prayer and was driven around the crowd in a popemobile. However, Pope Francis, at the last minute, skipped reading his homily during the Palm Sunday Mass for tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square.

VIENNA (Reuters) — The centre-left deputy mayor of Salzburg, Bernhard Auinger, beat his Communist rival Kay-Michael Dankl in a run-off vote for mayor on Sunday and pledged to work with him after Dankl focused on high housing costs in one of Austria's hardest-hit cities.

By Graham Fahy and Padraic Halpin

India has called for prioritising issues such as access to finance including trade finance, manufacturing concentration, food security, and reducing transaction costs in international trade and services for discussions in various bodies of the World Trade Organization (WTO). «Cross-cutting real-life trade issues which impact the developing countries disproportionately» such as access to technology, bridging digital divide, supply chain resilience, and enhancing effective aid for trade that is effective, demand driven, untied, and has recipient ownership should be taken for discussion on a priority basis," New Delhi said in its submission on 30 years of WTO and how the development dimension has progressed. «If a large part of the membership believes that their agenda is not in lockstep with the priorities of this organisation or the messaging being delivered to the external world...a sense of defeatism and decline in members' interest in the working of this organisation is imminent,» it said.

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia lowered flags to half-mast on Sunday for a day of mourning after scores of people were gunned down with automatic weapons at a rock concert outside Moscow in the deadliest attack inside Russia for two decades.

By Uditha Jayasinghe

The World Happiness Report 2024, a partnership of Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and WHR’s Editorial Board, is out. Mint evaluates its metrics to explain why it may not be the final word on happiness. India is ranked 126 out of 143 nations surveyed.

By Ahmed Kingimi

QUITO (Reuters) — Ecuador's youngest mayor, Brigitte Garcia, and an advisor were found shot dead in a car early on Sunday, said police in the South American country, which is in the grips of a wave of violence that authorities blame on drug trafficking

BJP MP from Ghaziabad Gen (retd) V K Singh on Sunday said he will not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation and also for Road Transport and Highways represented Ghaziabad constituency for tow terms since 2014. «I have dedicated my entire life to the service of this nation as a soldier. For the last 10 years, I have worked tirelessly to fulfill the dream of making Ghaziabad a world-class city. In this journey, I am grateful for the trust and love that I have received from the people of the country and Ghaziabad as well as from the members of the BJP. This emotional bond is priceless to me,» Singh posted in Hindi on X. «With these feelings, I have made a difficult, but thoughtful decision. I will not contest the 2024 elections. This decision was not easy for me, but I have taken it from the bottom of my heart. I want to take my energy and time in new directions, where I can serve my country in a different way,» Singh added.

₹50,000 crore investment across businesses to add at least $2.5 billion to annual EBITDA. The RBI is also set to conduct a special audit of IIFL Finance, JM Financial for regulatory breaches. Kejriwal has issued his first direction from ED custody, asking Water Minister Atishi to solve water- and sewer-related problems in some areas of the city.

Congress MP Naveen Jindal on Sunday joined the Bhartiya Janata Party. He had announced his resignation from Congress on social media platform X, a short while ago. After joining the BJP, Jindal said, «Today is a very important day of my life. I am proud that I joined the BJP today and I will be able to serve the nation under the leadership of PM Modi. I want to contribute to the 'Viksit Bharat' dream of PM Modi.» He joined the BJP in the presence of its general secretary Vinod Tawde, who said Jindal's presence in the party will help the government's agenda of boosting the country's economy and prosperity.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Sunday accused the BJP government at the Centre of «misusing» federal probe agencies and said the public will give a befitting reply to it in the Lok Sabha polls. After holding a meeting with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs here, he said everyone in the party's Punjab unit has been standing like a rock with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate last Thursday in connection with an excise policy-linked money-laundering case. At the meeting with the legislators, Mann, who is also the AAP's Punjab unit chief, discussed a host of issues including Kejriwal's arrest, strategy for the Lok Sabha polls and the INDIA bloc's 'maha' rally on March 31. The meeting was also attended by the AAP's state unit working president Budh Ram, Punjab Assembly speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan and deputy speaker Jai Kishan Singh.