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Over 69% cast votes in Assam bypolls

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Over 69.60 per cent of nearly eight lakh voters on Saturday cast their votes in the bypolls to the five Assembly seats in Assam, officials said.

Election officials said that the voting was held from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. under heavy security cover of the central forces and strict Covid protocols in all the 1,176 polling stations. One health worker was posted as Covid Nodal Officer in each of the polling stations, where sanitizer, infrared thermometer and social distancing were religiously followed by the voters and elections officials.

According to the election officials, the voting was peaceful and no untoward incident was reported from anywhere of the five districts, where the by-elections were conducted. The state’s Chief Electoral Officer Nitin Khade, who along with other officials monitored the polling process through webcasting, said that there has been no incident so far.

“Adequate Central Armed Police Forces were deployed at each polling station to ensure free and fair polling,” he said. Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police of the five districts personally supervised the situations.

An election official said that showcasing Assam’s vibrant traditional culture, many of the polling stations were decorated with local produce and items.

Nearly eight lakh voters, including 3,93,078 women, were eligible to decide the fate of 31 candidates in Mariani, Thowra, Bhabanipur, Gossaigaon and Tamulpur Assembly seats. The BJP has fielded turncoat candidates in three seats — Congress’ Rupjyoti Kurmi in Mariani and Sushanta Borgohain in Thowra, and All India United Democratic Front’s (AIUDF) Phanidhar Talukdar in Bhabanipur. The BJP’s ally United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) had nominated Jiron Basumatary in Gossaigaon and Jolen Daimary in Tamulpur.

The main opposition Congress, which fielded candidates in all five seats, has been trying hard to at least retain the Thowra and Mariani seats.

The AIUDF has fielded candidates in Bhabanipur and Gossaigaon, while the Akhil Gogoi-led Raijor Dal is contesting in Thowra and Mariani and Hagrama Mahilary-led Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) is contesting in Gossaigaon.

The AIUDF and the BPF were allies of the Congress-led 10-party ‘Mahajot’ (grand alliance) in the Assembly polls earlier this year.

The by-elections were necessitated due to the Covid-related deaths of two sitting MLAs belonging to UPPL and BPF while two Congress (Kurmi and Borgohain) and one AIUDF legislator (Talukdar) joined BJP after quitting their Assembly membership.

The counting of votes will take place on November 2.

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Pak PM’s ‘copycat’ meet with soldiers unmasks its web of lies on ‘Operation Sindoor’

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New Delhi, May 15: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited an Army cantonment in Sialkot of Punjab province on Wednesday evening, to meet and express solidarity with the soldiers.

However, what could have been a morale-boosting exercise for Pakistani Defence forces turned out to be an ‘embarrassing and ignominious’ one because of the location, ambience and the backdrop in which the Pakistani PM interacted with them.

Shehbaz Sharif’s meeting with Pakistani soldiers is seen as a clear attempt to copy that of his Indian counterpart Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in sending a message to the world.

While India’s military prowess was reinforced during PM Modi’s visit to the Punjab airbase, the Pakistani establishment utterly failed not just in optics but also went to expose its flaws, its canards and the extent of devastation that it endured during India’s ‘Operation Sindoor’.

As India pummeled and pounced its multiple airbases on May 10 morning, in response to its escalation, Pakistan resorted to a barrage of lies, claiming that it downed Indian jets, destroyed its airbases and also captured an air force personnel. All those claims were outrightly rejected by India.

Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s visit to the airbase in Punjab, yesterday, shredded its web of lies and demolished all its claims.

PM Modi visited Adampur airbase, one of the forward areas, which Pakistan claimed to have destroyed in its airstrikes, and met the soldiers in the backdrop of India’s famed air defence system and also fighter jets, but Pakistan PM’s interaction with their soldiers took place in a deserted location, lined with some tanks and aircrafts parked at a distant location.

The pictures shared by PMOs of both the nations clearly show the stark contrast in which the Prime Ministers met their respective soldiers.

This clearly shows that Pakistan suffered large-scale decimation and also how its airbases and airfields suffered extensive damage in Indian bombing. The Pakistani PM’s interaction with soldiers in a deserted ground only confirms this.

The Pakistan PMO shared pictures of Shehbaz Sharif with soldiers but not of any airstrip or runaway, thereby ascertaining that its airfields suffered severe damage in Indian strikes. The only prominent picture was of Shehbaz Sharif standing on an Army tank and addressing the soldiers.

Sharif’s meet with Pakistani jawans has also been mocked and taunted by many social media users, who called it a copycat meet and the one aping the Indian style of lauding its braves but utterly failing in doing so.

In stark contrast to this, PM Modi’s visit to Adampur airbase was high on symbolism as well as messaging, about how the nation and the Indian Air Force command stand firm and resolute, in wake of the barrage of drone and missile attacks.

PM Modi’s pictures with the soldiers, with S-400 defence systems and MiG29 in the backdrop, right next to the airfield, said it all. Also, he landed at the airstrip in a Hercules aircraft, thus proving that there was no damage to the Adampur airbase.

All this goes to expose Pakistan’s theatrics and bombastic rhetoric despite being cut to size by the Indian military in the May 10 strikes.

This was well reflected in PM Modi’s rousing speech at the airbase, where he said that when our soldiers chant ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, the enemy trembles with fear.

He also saluted the braves for teaching Pakistan a lesson and also thundered, ‘ghar mein ghus ke maarenge’.

Notably, Indian forces inflicting severe damages on Pakistani airfields has also been reportedly globally, with two US dailies – The New York Times and The Washington Post, claiming that India took clear edge over Pakistan during ‘Operation Sindoor’.

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Desperate Pakistan ‘pleads’ with India to reconsider Indus Waters Treaty suspension

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New Delhi, May 15: Nearly a few days into the understanding with Pakistan after the Indian Armed Forces left the Pakistani defence and military shattered, Islamabad has now reportedly written a letter to New Delhi, urging it to reconsider the decision of putting the Indus Waters Treaty which it has put into abeyance.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Water Resources has reportedly written a letter to New Delhi to resume the flow of rivers into its territory under the Indus Waters Treaty, media reports have claimed.

The Indus Waters Treaty is a pivotal water-sharing accord that has endured for more than six decades.

The plea comes after India halted the 1960 agreement in the wake of yet another Pakistan-backed terrorist attack, this time in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22, which left 26 civilians dead, mostly tourists.

India, invoking its national security prerogative, has placed the treaty in abeyance until Islamabad “credibly and irrevocably” ends its support for terrorism.

The move was endorsed by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the apex decision-making body on strategic affairs, marking the first time New Delhi has hit pause on the World Bank-brokered agreement.

In a letter sent to India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the Pakistani Ministry warned that suspending the treaty would trigger a crisis within the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his first address since Operation Sindoor, underlined the government’s uncompromising position.

“Water and blood cannot flow together,” he declared.

“Terror and talks cannot happen at the same time. Terror and trade cannot happen simultaneously.”

However, Indian officials have dismissed these concerns, pointing to Pakistan’s longstanding use of terrorism as a state policy.

The treaty allocates three western rivers, Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab, to Pakistan, while the eastern rivers – Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi, remain with India.

India has now announced a three-tier strategy — short-term, mid-term, and long-term to prevent any flow of Indus waters into Pakistan.

Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Paatil said that steps are being taken to ensure not a single drop of water is allowed to leave Indian territory unutilised.

India’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reinforced the government’s stance, saying, “The Indus Waters Treaty was founded on goodwill and friendship. Pakistan has trampled on these values by supporting cross-border terrorism for decades.”

The strong response follows Operation Sindoor, a swift military campaign launched after the Pahalgam attack, which resulted in a brief ceasefire agreement. But New Delhi has made it clear: dialogue with Islamabad will now be limited to one agenda — ending terrorism and ensuring the return of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.

As per the 1960 treaty, India got around 30 per cent of the total water carried by the Indus River System located in India, while Pakistan got the remaining 70 per cent.

With the Indus Waters Treaty suspended, the Narendra Modi government is expected to take major steps toward completing the stalled hydroelectric projects.

A key meeting is likely to be held this week with Home Minister Amit Shah, along with Water Resources Minister Paatil, Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and senior officials from all related Ministries. Since the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, two meetings have already taken place between Amit Shah, Paatil, and top officials of the Ministry.

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Maharashtra: Three-and-a-half-year-old boy dies in Thane house fire

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New Delhi, May 14: In a heartbreaking incident, a three-and-a-half-year-old child died after a fire broke out in a house near the Kasara Bypass in Shahapur village, located in Maharashtra’s Thane district.

The fire reportedly started around 8 a.m. on Tuesday in the residence of Dattatray Bule.

Eyewitnesses said the fire was first noticed by a group of boys heading out to play cricket on their two-wheelers. Spotting smoke and flames, the boys immediately stopped and attempted to douse the fire with whatever water they could find in the vicinity.

Due to a shortage of water, they struggled to contain the blaze. While trying to extinguish the fire, one of the boys realised that a child was trapped inside the house.

Without wasting a moment, the boy entered the burning structure and managed to pull the child out. The child, identified as Krishna Bule, was immediately rushed to the Kasara Primary Health Centre, and later referred to Kharadi Rural Hospital for further treatment. Tragically, he succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital.

The fire had already engulfed the entire house by the time private water tankers arrived to assist. According to the Kasara Police, the initial investigation suggests that the fire may have been caused by a short circuit, although the exact cause is yet to be confirmed.

Upon receiving information, the Thane Disaster Management team promptly arrived at the scene. Team members bravely entered the burning house wearing wet blankets and tried to put out the fire and rescue anyone who might be trapped inside the burning house.

The Kasara Police have launched an investigation into the incident. Meanwhile, the local community is in shock over the tragic loss of such a young life.

Authorities are expected to further assess the cause of the fire and determine if any safety protocols were violated.

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