Election Financial News

Trinamool Congress candidate from Murshidabad's Baharampur and former cricketer Yusuf Pathan started his political innings on Thursday by kicking off his campaign, asserting that he is Bengal's child and that he is here to stay. Baharampur is known as the stronghold of Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, whose name is yet to be announced by his party from the constituency. «Our Prime Minister Narendra Modiji is from Gujarat but he contests from Varanasi. You should have people's love and capability and desire to work, then you can fight from anywhere in the country. This is my home, so what's the problem if I contest from here (Bengal)? I am Bengal's child. I have come here to stay,» Pathan said when asked about the questions raised about him being an outsider in Bengal. He added, «I have a big team here. This is completely a different pitch but the asking rate is the same. The aim of my team will be the same, which is to score runs faster and win the match.» Pathan also held his first public programme in Baharampur where he was welcomed by local Trinamool leaders, including dissident leader Humayun Kabir, and others. A huge crowd had assembled to greet the new Trinamool candidate here.

AI fakery is quickly becoming one of the biggest problems confronting us online

Spicejet and Tech Mahindra were among those who donated to the Aam Aadmi Party through electoral bonds, according to Election Commission data made public on Thursday. The Election Commission made public a fresh data set of electoral bonds, including their alpha-numeric numbers that can help match their purchasers with the political parties that received the funds. Megha Engineering And Infrastructures Limited, Torrent Pharmaceuticals Limited, BG Shirke Construction Technology Pvt Ltd, Bajaj Auto Ltd, Tech Mahindra Ltd, Spicejet Limited, Derive Trading And Resorts Private Limit, Vardhman Textiles Ltd and V M Salgaocar Corporation Pvt Ltd were among the major companies that donated electoral bonds to the party.

Thousands of South Africans are lining up for water as the country’s largest city, Johannesburg, confronts an unprecedented collapse of its water system affecting millions of people

Turkey’s central bank has raised its key interest rate by 5 percentage points, resuming a policy of rate hikes aimed at combating soaring inflation that is causing households severe economic pain

For more than a year now, the acquisition of United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X), the iconic American steel giant, has appeared nothing short of inevitable.

Rural Development Ministry may notify revision in wage rates under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and it has received a clearance from the Election Commission as the poll code is in force, sources said on Thursday. Though ministry officials refused to comment on the issue in view of the model code of conduct (MCC) being in place after the announcement of the Lok Sabha poll schedule, they said it is a «routine» matter and that ministries approach the EC for clearances when the model code is in place. According to a source, the changes in rates are to be notified for the upcoming financial year starting April 1. «It's the regular process of revision of rates every financial year from April 1. The ministry has taken permission from the EC for notifying it,» the source said.

Supreme Court on Thursday questioned the Centre over the procedure adopted for the appointment of election commissioners and asked how six names were shortlisted from 200 within a few hours. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said the selection committee should have been given more time to apply its mind on the appointment of the election commissioners. «For one vacancy, there were five names. For two, you send six names. Why not 10? This is the language of the statute — for one vacancy, five names have to be recommended. This appears from the record,» the bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre. «They (the search committee) can consider 200 names, but what is the time given, maybe two hours? Two hundred names to be considered in two hours? You could have been transparent,» it said.

interest rate on Thursday, resuming its tightening cycle as one of the world's highest inflation rates rose again last month. The bank's monetary policy committee decided to raise the policy rate from 45 percent to 50 percent, with a statement citing «the deterioration in the inflation outlook».

Lok Sabha elections: India to go to polls starting 19 April Experts say the next major trigger for the domestic market is the outcome of the General Elections 2024. The Nifty 50 typically exhibits upward momentum in the months surrounding a general election, despite volatility in the market.

Rajiv Gandhi. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's caste census garnered national attention when the former was still part of the Opposition INDIA bloc. Congress has also been harping on the need for a caste census in India.

₹285 crore currently in its bank accounts because of the freezing by Income Tax authorities. Maken, who is also the treasurer of the party, said that the party has received a notice by Income Tax Department for the reassessment of taxes for FY 1994-95. "Efforts are being made to weaken Congress financially.

Awami Ittehad Party has decided to field its incarcerated leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid popularly known as Engineer Rashid as the party’s candidate in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Baramulla constituency of northern Kashmir. The party spokesperson Firdous Baba informed that the decision has been taken after consultation with Rashid, who is currently in Tihar jail of Delhi. He has been in jail since 2019, when the National Investigation Agency charged him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). He had contested 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the same constituency getting 1,02,168 votes, just 30,000 short of the winner Muhammad Akbar Lone of the National Conference. “Our constitution gives us the right that a person in jail against whom the charges have not been proven can contest elections. Several leaders have fought elections from jail,” Baba said. He informed that the legal team of the party had consulted Rashid in jail, who had agreed to fight the elections.

Election Commission of India (ECI) has asked the ministry of electronics and information technology to ensure that no messages regarding the Viksit Bharat Model are delivered to the WhatsApp numbers of users from today keeping in view the ongoing model code of conduct (MCC) before the 18th general elections, scheduled to take place between April and June. “The Commission has received complaints from various quarters that such messages are still being delivered on citizens' phones. Since the MCC is now in force, you are hereby directed to ensure forthwith that no further delivery of 'WhatsApp messages' take place during MCC period. A compliance report in this regard may be sent immediately,” the ECI letter to the IT ministry said.

BJP on Thursday appointed its incharges and co-incharges for the Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh. BJP leader Vinay Sahasrabuddhe will be the party's incharge and party national secretary Vijaya Rahatkar and Parvesh Verma the co-incharges for the parliamentary polls in Rajasthan, according to a party release.

The gains come on the back of a favourable coverage by Japanese brokerage Nomura which remains bullish on the prospects of the state-run refiners. However, Macquarie and Kotak Institutional Equities hold bearish views on them amid likely pressure on margins.

BJP bastion of Gautam Buddh Nagar, Samajwadi Party's Lok Sabha candidate Rahul Awana says he is raising issues related to farmers and homebuyers across Noida and Greater Noida to connect with the voters of the constituency. Awana says these issues have remained unresolved for long under the BJP rule. «I belong to a family of farmers. There are several issues related to farmers in Gautam Buddh Nagar which have not been resolved in a long time. They are not getting land or compensation due to them. The youngsters are roaming around jobless. Noida's flat-buyers are helpless in front of arbitrariness of the builders,» Awana told PTI. «Overall, there is a bad situation in the district because of Dr Mahesh Sharma (sitting BJP MP). Our national president (Akhilesh Yadav) has shown confidence in me and I am confident of fulfilling it. I will work to find solution to all the problems in my district,» the 39-year-old Awana said.

BJP candidate from the Vidisha Lok Sabha seat Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday hit the campaign trail by hopping onto a second-class coach of a train from Bhopal to Ganjbasoda, interacting with passengers. Chouhan (65) has entered the Lok Sabha poll arena after two decades and will contest his sixth parliamentary election from Vidisha. This seat was earlier held by BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1991) and Sushma Swaraj (2009 and 2014). «I have been travelling by train since I was an MP. My heart is full of happiness. I am going to Ganjbasoda, which is my 'karmabhoomi' (workplace). I have family relations with the people and I am going again there to meet all of them,» Chouhan told PTI on the train when asked that he was going to his constituency by rail after a long time. Chouhan's home turf Budhni is part of Vidisha Lok Sabha seat, a BJP citadel which the Congress won only twice (1980 and 1984) since 1967. The Congress is yet to announce its candidate for the constituency.

YouTube has asked its creators to label synthetic and AI-generated content, in an effort towards supporting responsible AI innovation. Viewers increasingly want more transparency about whether the content they're seeing is altered or synthetic, YouTube said in a blog post. «We're introducing a new tool in Creator Studio requiring creators to disclose to viewers when realistic content — content a viewer could easily mistake for a real person, place, scene, or event — is made with altered or synthetic media, including generative AI. We're not requiring creators to disclose content that is clearly unrealistic, animated, includes special effects, or has used generative AI for production assistance,» the blog post said.

BJP President, said in response to a question, as quoted by PTI. The former CM, however, backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for another term. "Narendra Modi should become Prime Minister again," Gowda stated.

Viksit Bharat Sampark’ with PM Modi's letter has been received by millions of Indians. The opposition has called PM Modi's Viksit Bharat Sampark letter to be a "blatant violation" of the model code of conduct.