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Karnataka votes tomorrow: With one month of intense campaigning coming to a close Thursday, the state is all set to elect 223 legislators to form a new legislative assembly. The election to one seat, Jayanagar, has been postponed due to the death of the BJP candidate. Catch a quick summary of party campaigns on the Hindu front page today.
After 38 days of hearings spread across four months, the Supreme Court has reserved its verdict on petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar, Hindustan Times reports.
The Supreme Court collegium is set to meet today at 1 pm to consider reiterating the recommendation to elevate Justice K.M. Joseph, the Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court, to the apex court, The Indian Express reports. This comes nine days after the collegium deferred its decision to meet. To understand why this matters, watch this:
The Times of India reported this morning that the CBI investigation has reportedly corroborated the charge that BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar raped an Unnao minor at his home. “The CBI has recorded the survivor’s statement before a magistrate under CrPC Section 164, in which she ‘stood by’ the allegations,” the national daily reported.
However, the CBI responded with a statement saying that “investigation in Unnao case is still continuing. CBI has not given any update/conclusion/views with any respect to the case to any media person. All such stories related to Unnao case published/broadcast in the media recently are purely speculative.”
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s nephew Vinay Bansal was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Branch Thursday. He is accused of involvement “in an alleged ₹4.9 crore scam related to the construction of a drainage network in north-west Delhi awarded to his firm by the PWD three years ago”, The Hindu reports.
It has been 20 years since India conducted the nuclear test in Pokhran and surprised the world. On the anniversary of the historic day, read Shakti Sinha’s article in ThePrint on how Vajpayee cried “tears of relief” on the day of the nuclear test.
Karnataka assembly elections with ThePrint
Crorepatis in Karnataka: The average assets of 184 re-contesting MLAs in Karnataka have risen by 64 per cent since 2013, from Rs 27 crore to Rs 44 crore, Ritika Jain reports. Most of these are from the Congress.
Ever wonder why Modi is such a successful politician? Looks like he has a formula. Kumar Anshuman decodes Narendra Modi’s seven-step playbook for election campaigning, saying the Prime Minister “follows a very clear, and now quite predictable, pattern”.
Business Class
Ending months of speculation, Sunil Kant Munjal of Hero Enterprise and the Burman family (Dabur) have got the go-ahead to pick up stakes in Fortis Healthcare, reports Business Standard.
SoftBank doesn’t seem to be entirely sure if it wants to sell its 22.3 per cent stake in Flipkart to Walmart, and as The Times of India reports, it will take another week to decide. If the Japanese conglomerate decides not to sell, it will reduce Walmart’s equity from 77 per cent to 55 per cent.
News it’s just kinda cool to know
A reference book for Class 8 Social Studies in Rajasthan describes freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak as the “father of terrorism”, Hindustan Times reports. In a rather confusing sentence, the book by a private publisher says, “Tilak demonstrated a path towards national movement, therefore, he is called as the father of terrorism.”
Narendra Modi ranks ninth on the Forbes 2018 list of the world’s 75 most powerful. The Hindu reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping tops the list for the first time, dethroning Russian President Vladimir Putin (ranked second).
Point of View
The Walmart-Flipkart deal has been sealed. The Indian Express writes in its editorial that competition is the best way to ensure the well-being of both consumers as well as producers. It adds, “The government should ensure fair competition rather than pander to so-called swadeshi voices.”
In the wake of the deal, online retailer Snapdeal’s CEO Kunal Bahl writes in his column in The Economic Times that the Indian retail market is a gold pot that everyone is eyeing. He also credits Flipkart founders for building an ecosystem for e-commerce in India.
There are frequent reports of farmers abandoning their produce in the field or dumping it on the road in protest against poor returns. In its editorial, Business Standard writes, “It is poor post-harvest management of farm produce, and not bumper production that is the real culprit.”
The US has withdrawn from the Iran Nuclear deal. Former diplomat Chinmaya R. Gharekhan, in his column in The Hindu, writes, “The US won’t ease the terms of sanctions on Iran, as the goal is regime change in Tehran.”
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