The big news: Jaish chief Masood Azhar blacklisted by United Nations, and nine other top stories
Other headlines: Sixteen people were killed in a suspected Maoist attack in Maharashtra, and the EC rejected former BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav’s nomination.
A look at the headlines right now:
- Masood Azhar designated global terrorist in UN sanctions list after China withdraws opposition: Beijing has repeatedly blocked attempts by the United Nations Security Council to blacklist Azhar, most recently on March 13.
- Sixteen die in suspected Maoist attack in Gadchiroli, police chief says there was no intelligence failure: The Congress said the Modi government has not learnt lessons from Pulwama tragedy. Suspected Maoists had torched at least 25 vehicles of a road construction company in Gadchiroli district earlier in the day.
- Sacked BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav’s nomination rejected, he may now approach SC: In its notice, the EC had said that government employees who have been dismissed for ‘corruption or disloyalty to the state’ shall be disqualified for 5 years.
- Pragya Singh Thakur barred from campaigning for three days for Babri Masjid remark: Thakur had said in April that she was proud of her role in the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992.
- Congress moves EC against alleged misuse of bureaucrats for Narendra Modi’s poll campaign: The NITI Aayog reportedly asked district officials to send information about areas under their jurisdiction before the prime minister’s visit to those places.
- Tourists told to leave Puri by tomorrow in view of Cyclone Fani, EC lifts model code in 11 Odisha districts: The IMD issued a ‘yellow warning’ and said Fani had intensified into ‘extremely severe cyclonic storm’
- WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange sentenced to 50 weeks in jail for skipping bail in 2012: He had skipped bail to avoid being extradited to Sweden.
- Shiv Sena mouthpiece asks Narendra Modi to follow Sri Lanka’s example, ban the burqa: BJP candidate from Bhopal, Pragya Singh Thakur, backed the Shiv Sena’s demand.
- EC bans Gujarat BJP chief Jitubhai Vaghani from campaigning for 72 hours for violating poll code: The poll panel said the BJP minister had transgressed ‘limits of decency’.
- Two dead, four injured in shooting at University of North Carolina’s Charlotte campus: The 22-year-old who carried out the attack has been charged with two counts of murder. The police said he was acting alone.
