Left, Right & Centre

Newly inducted members industrialist Naveen Jindal, Ranjit Chautala and former judge of Calcutta High Court Abhijit Gangopadhyay, and actor Kangana Ranaut have been fielded by the BJP in its fifth election list that was announced this evening.

The party has dropped Varun Gandhi, though his mother Maneka Gandhi has been fielded from Sultanpur. Varun Gandhi's seat, Pilibhit, has gone to former Congressman Jitin Prasada, who changed sides in the run-up to the election.

Senior leader K Surendran will contest against Congress's Rahul Gandhi from Kerala's Wayanad.

The startup Mahakumbh is an effort to showcase and encourage the startup ecosystem in the country. India's top start-ups join Left Right and Centre and decode what the future holds.

The BJP has intensified its South outreach, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi headlining the party's campaigns in Kerala, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu, states where the BJP is yet to make major inroads. Will BJP reverse its fortunes south of the Vindhyas.

 

While talking to NDTV, senior Supreme Court lawyer Mukul Rohatgi said that no industry was ever made party to the electoral bonds case. "The case proceeded between petitioners on one hand and the government on other. There was no representation from other important stakeholders," he added."

The Supreme Court today directed the State Bank of India (SBI) to disclose all details related to electoral bonds that allowed individuals and companies to make donations to political parties. This must include the "serial number" of each bond, said a five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.

After his landslide win in the presidential elections in Russia, what many say was a foregone conclusion, Vladimir Putin has raised the specter of World War 3 as ties between Russia and the West plummet to their deepest crisis since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Putin has repeatedly warned that the use of nuclear weapons is not off the table if Russia is threatened. These comments come at a time when French President Emmanuel Macron said that he could not rule out the deployment of French troops in Ukraine if required.

The Israeli Nobel prize winner, Ada Yonath, who won the 2009 award for Chemistry along with Venky Ramakrishnan - for her pioneering work on the structure of ribosomes - a key part of the machinery of our cells spoke to NDTV. Her work has helped prove the efficacy of antibiotics has been remarkable. She is the first woman from the Middle East to win the Nobel in Chemistry and the first woman from the Middle East to win a Nobel in sciences.

Less than 24 hours after the big election announcement, both the blocs have swung into action. While it was star power in Andhra Pradesh, in battleground Maharashtra, Rahul Gandhi rallied the India bloc leaders. On Left, Right and Centre, we set the stage for what is going to be a heated battle for the Lok Sabha.

A committee led by former President Ram Nath Kovind has submitted a report on the government's 'One Nation, One Election' initiative, which proposes simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. Proponents of 'One Nation, One Election' argue that it could lead to increased political stability, reduced expenditure on elections, and a more efficient governance structure. Opponents raise concerns about potential challenges in implementation, the impact on federalism, and the ability of smaller parties to compete effectively.

Average life expectancy in India was 67.7 years in 2022 - up from 62.7 a year earlier - and gross national income (GNI, per capita) has increased to $6951, a jump of 6.3 per cent in 12 months, the United Nation's Human Development Index, or HDI, report has said. The HDI report also indicated increases in expected years of schooling (to 12.6 per individual).