Morning Digest: April 10, 2023

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting for the Karnataka Assembly elections in the presence of party National President J.P. Nadda at the party headquarters in New Delhi on April 9, 2023.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Telecom authorities block 120 sender IDs for bulk messaging over China link

As many as 120 headers operated by a group linked to a Chinese entity were blocked by telecom authorities in the past two months based on information provided by the Union Home Ministry. Headers are used by banks, marketing companies, utility providers and even government offices to send bulk texts (SMS) to consumers and customers. Header, also known as sender ID, is a unique combination of characters or numbers representing the brand or company name of the message sender.

BJP Central Election Committee meets, first list likely either today or tomorrow

After two days of hectic backroom parleys to decide on party’s candidates in the upcoming Assembly polls in Karnataka, BJP Central Election Committee met in New Delhi on Sunday evening and reportedly almost finalised the first list of candidates. Party sources said the first list likely to include candidates for 120 – 150 seats will be announced either on Monday or Tuesday. Candidates can begin to file nominations from April 13 and the last date is April 20. 

Supreme Court to hear today batch of pleas on identification of minorities at State-level

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a batch of pleas seeking the identification of minorities at the State-level. A Bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Ahsanuddin Amanullah will take up for hearing the petitions raising various issues related to the identification of minorities, including challenging the constitutional validity of the National Minority Commission Act, 1992 and the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutes Act, 2004.

Not appropriate: AICC in-charge of Rajasthan says Sachin Pilot never raised corruption issue with him

After Sachin Pilot fired a fresh salvo at the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan, All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of State Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Sunday said it was “not appropriate” for Mr. Pilot to hold a press conference in this manner and he should have raised the issue with him first.

Assam CM to sue Rahul Gandhi for Adani link charge

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said he would file a defamation suit against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for accusing him of investing his unaccounted money in industrialist Gautam Adani’s firms. Tweeting on Congress turncoats, Mr. Gandhi named the Assam Chief Minister and four others including Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia of putting in a total of ₹20,000 crore ‘benami’ money in Mr. Adani’s companies.

Nationwide drill in hospitals on April 10, 11 for COVID-19 preparedness, Mandaviya to visit AIIMS-Jhajjar

Amid rising COVID-19 cases, a nationwide mock drill to take stock of hospital preparedness will be held on April 10 and 11 in which both public and private facilities are expected to participate. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will visit AIIMS, Jhajjar on April 10 to oversee the mock drill, officials said on Sunday.

Congress questions Adani Group’s China links

Quoting old evidence, the Congress has launched a fresh attack on the Adani Group’s alleged China links and asked why the government is making an exception for it, allowing it to operate the ports in India, against its own policy to prevent Chinese firms and entities with Chinese connections from operating ports and terminals in India.

IPL 2023 | Rinku Singh hits 5 sixes of last five balls as KKR stun GT

Rinku Singh’s stunning final over onslaught which handed Kolkata Knight Riders an unlikely win against Gujarat Titans on Sunday earned him a new moniker “lord” from his teammate Venkatesh Iyer, who himself slammed a 40-ball 83.

G20 panel on multilateral banks’ reforms to meet this week

The G20 expert group on reforming multilateral development banks (MDB), jointly steered by Harvard University president emeritus Lawrence Summers and Fifteenth Finance Commission Chairperson N.K. Singh, is slated to hold its first in-person meeting in Washington this week.

No scientific data to oppose same-sex marriage, says Indian Psychiatric Society

The Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) on Sunday issued a statement mentioning the positive impact of legalisation of same-sex marriage on the mental health of individuals on the LGBTQIA spectrum. The professional body also gathered scientific data from countries where same-sex marriage and adoption have been legalised to prove that there is no scientific basis in belief that same-sex couples are not fit to be parents. 

Uttar Pradesh urban body polls on May 4, 11; counting on May 13

Uttar Pradesh State Election Commissioner Manoj Kumar announced at a press conference on April 9 that the urban local body polls would be held in two phases— on May 4 and May 11, while counting of votes is on May 13.

IPL 2023, SRH vs PBKS | Tripathi, Markande shine as Sunrisers Hyderabad open account

Shikhar Dhawan’s fighting knock of 99 went in vain as Punjab Kings lost wickets at regular intervals; Tripathi’s 48-ball 74 helped SRH chase down 143 in 17.1 overs.