Exit polls banned till 7:30 PM on April 29

Election Commission has banned the conducting of any exit poll and publicizing their results between 7 AM on Saturday  and 7.30 PM on April 29.The Commission has notified this period during which publishing or publicizing the result of exit polls by means of the print or electronic media or in any other manner will be prohibited in the ongoing assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and  Puducherry as well bye polls in various states.The poll panel has also prohibited displaying any election matter including results of any opinion poll or any other poll survey, in any electronic media during the period of 48 hours ending with the hour fixed for conclusion of poll in the poll-bound areas in each phase of the election and bye-elections.

-National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notices to the Chief Secretary, and the Director General of Police, Rajasthan over complaints of exponential increase in the incidents of crime against women in the State.In a statement, the NHRC said, allegedly, 80 thousand cases were registered in the State in the last one year. The Commission has observed that the allegations and the incidents appear to be serious in nature indicating violation of human rights. It said, it is the duty of the State to protect the rights of the women and punish the perpetrators without fail. Accordingly, the Commission has issued notices to the Chief Secretary, and the Director General of Police, Rajasthan directing them to enquire into the specific incidents and submit an Action Taken Report within four weeks.

-Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of Defence of Republic of Korea Suh Wook held bilateral talks on defence cooperation in New Delhion Friday. The leaders acknowledged that the bilateral defence cooperation has broadened significantly in scale and scope across Tri-Service as well as agencies dealing with defence technology and industry. Both the countries have also found common ground on several multilateral fora and engagements. During the meeting, they also exchanged views on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the defence and security engagements as well as best practices followed by the Armed Forces of both nations. They reaffirmed their support to multilateral initiatives to promote lasting peace and stability in the region and beyond. As brought out by the Raksha Mantri during his interaction with his counterpart, the bilateral relations between both the countries are set to grow further and the meeting between them will give it the necessary impetus to take it to the next level.

-Senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that every refugee in Assam will be secured with citizenship and all infiltrators will be sent out. Shah was addressing an election rally at Silchar in southern Assam. Shah said, Assam government has been successful in implementing peace process throughout the state in last five years and peace will be further stable feature of Assam if his party comes back to power in the state. Shah also criticised Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi for having what he termed as double standard over Citizenship Amendment Act in different parts of state. The Home Minister also promised to start a number of developmental projects in Barak Valley including Mega SEZ and upgradation of Silchar Airport as international Airport. 

-In Egypt, at least 32 people were killed and 66 injured Friday when two trains collided in southern part of the country. A statement issued by the health ministry said, dozens of ambulances have been rushed to the accident spot in the Tahta district of Sohag province, 460 kilometres south of the capital Cairo.The accident has occurred at a time when Egypt is facing another major transport challenge, with a giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal and causing huge traffic jams at either end of the strategic shipping lane.