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Kangana Ranaut Calls Netaji Bose "India's 1st PM", BRS Leader KTR Scoffs

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Kangana Ranaut Calls Netaji 'India's 1st PM', BRS Leader KTR Scoffs

Kangana Ranaut asked: “When we got independence, where did India’s first PM Netaji Bose go?”

New Delhi:

The Bharat Rashtriya Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao today took a jibe at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi seat for the Lok Sabha elections, Kangana Ranaut after she called freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose “India’s first Prime Minister”.

In a post on X, KTR said, “One BJP candidate from North says Subhas Chandra Bose was our first PM!! And another BJP leader from South says Mahatma Gandhi was our PM!! Where did all these people graduate from?”

In a television interview, the actor-cum-politician said, “Tell me one thing, when we got independence, where did India’s first PM Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose go?”

Congress leader Supriya Shrinate also shared Kangana Ranaut’s statement and wrote, “Don’t take her lightly – she will go ahead in the list of BJP leaders”.

Kangana Ranaut was once widely trolled when she claimed that India got real independence after Narendra Modi was elected as the prime minister of the country in 2014.

Kangana Ranaut was named as one of 111 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls by the BJP on 24 March. In an Instagram post, Ms Ranaut – who has been a vocal supporter of the BJP and PM Modi – said she is honoured to join the BJP.

“My beloved Bharat and Bhartiya Janta’s own party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have always had my unconditional support, today the national leadership of BJP has announced me as their Lok Sabha candidate from my birthplace Himachal Pradesh, Mandi (constituency).

Voting in Himachal Pradesh will be held in a single phase on June 1 for four seats.

The Mandi Lok Sabha constituency has mostly remained the battlefield of erstwhile royal families and their scions have won 13 out of the 19 elections including two by-elections held for the seat.

From 2009 to 2021, there have been three general elections and two by-elections on the Mandi seat. Congress has had a significant presence in these elections, winning three times.

In the general elections of 2009, Virbhadra Singh, and in the by-elections of 2013 and 2021, Congress candidate Pratibha Singh was elected as the Member of Parliament from the Mandi seat.

In the parliamentary elections of 2014 and 2019, BJP emerged victorious with Ram Swaroop Sharma being elected as the Member of Parliament on both the times. However, in 2021, Ram Swaroop Sharma tragically passed away by suicide. Subsequently, in the 2021 by-elections, this seat went to Pratibha Singh of the Congress. Currently, out of the four Lok Sabha seats, BJP holds three.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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"Rohit Is Going To Lead MI…": Ex-IND Star's Fresh Twist On Captaincy Row

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File photo of Rohit Sharma© AFP

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding Hardik Pandya replacing Rohit Sharma as the Mumbai Indians skipper for IPL 2024. Hardik, who completed a trade move from Gujarat Titans, ended Rohit’s ten-year tenure as MI skipper – a decision that left fans and experts divided. Things did not improve as MI slumped to three consecutive defeats in the tournament leading to fans booing Hardik even at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. However, former India fast bowler S Sreesanth believes that there is no friction in the side and Rohit would love to play under the captaincy of Hardik this season. He also tried to decode the dynamics in the MI side at the moment and said that Rohit will lead the side “from the back”.

“We have seen the God of cricket, the great Sachin Tendulkar play under Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni). We won the World Cup too. A lot of stories are being told about Rohit Sharma playing under new captain Hardik Pandya but Rohit would love to play freely,” Sreesanth told The Times of India.

“As far as I know Rohit, he would look to bat freely, without any captaincy burden, and may take the Orange Cap too. He is going to have a great season. He has led Mumbai Indians from the front but I am sure Rohit is going to lead Mumbai Indians from the back,” added Sreesanth.

Rohit had a somewhat inconsistent start to the season but Sreesanth predicted that he will be playing very freely and will surely target the Orange Cup (highest run-getter of the tournament).

“I would say let’s be ready for the change and accept the change. For whatever franchisee he will play, Rohit is going to be the same. I am sure he must be going through difficult times personally but I am very confident that he will take it in his stride and will come out as a champ. Rohit is going to score heavily this season,” Sreesanth concluded.

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Middle East

Biden finally calls for Gaza ceasefire in call with Netanyahu

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In a pivotal, unforeseen phone call that has been awaited for six months, US President Joe Biden called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to start taking steps toward an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Lebanese Al Mayadeen reported.

President Biden underscored the gravity of recent developments, particularly condemning the strikes on humanitarian workers and highlighting the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza.

During the conversation, President Biden emphasized the imperative for “Israel” to take immediate and decisive action to mitigate civilian harm, alleviate humanitarian suffering, and ensure the safety of aid workers.

Moreover, Biden stressed the necessity for the Israeli occupation to announce and implement a series of specific, tangible, and measurable measures aimed at addressing these pressing concerns, as well as commit to a ceasefire.

Furthermore, President Biden underlined that the trajectory of US policy toward Gaza would be contingent upon the occupation’s prompt implementation of these proposed steps.

He reiterated the urgent need for an immediate ceasefire to stabilize the situation and prevent further harm to innocent civilians. Additionally, he urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to authorize his negotiators to swiftly conclude a deal aimed at securing the release of the Israeli captives.

In addition to discussing the situation in Gaza, the two leaders deliberated on the public threats issued by Iran against “Israel” and its citizens.

The United States has refused to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, essentially rendering it a pariah state in the international arena, especially among major powers, as it wasn’t only not calling on “Israel” to commit to a ceasefire. It was vetoing any UN Resolutions aimed at urging for a ceasefire in Gaza.

MNA

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Elon Musk’s crackdown: X users lose followers to bot and troll purge

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New Delhi: X users on Friday started losing followers as Elon Musk-run social media platform kicked off the exercise to remove bots.

The action came as spam and porn bots swarmed the platform in the past few months, leaving users flummoxed.

“I lost 48 followers after Elon’s bot and troll purge – that was less than 0.002 per cent,” posted an X user.

“I lost like 6 followers today. Are bot accounts actually being purged?” another wrote.

Musk had announced that a system purge of bots and trolls was underway.

“Please reply to me or @XEng if legitimate accounts are suspended,” said the billionaire.

“X Corp will be tracing the people responsible and bringing the full force of the law to bear upon them,” he added.

A user commented: “To the hundreds of bots leaving me today, I will not miss you.”

X safety account also posted that they have kicked off a “significant, proactive initiative to eliminate accounts that violate our Rules against platform manipulation and spam”.

“As a result, you may observe changes in follower counts”.

X has not shared about how many bots are currently there on the platform.

In 2022, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO had said that “we will defeat the spam bots or die trying”.

Middle East

Hezbollah strikes Israeli troops, military vehicles in support of Gaza

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Fighters from the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement have carried out a series of new attacks, targeting Israeli military positions along Lebanon’s border with the northern part of the 1948-occupied territories in solidarity with Palestinians amid the ongoing Israeli onslaught on Gaza.

Lebanon’s Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television news network, citing a Hezbollah statement, reported that the group struck Israeli soldiers and military vehicles at the al-Malikiyah site early Friday with a salvo of artillery shells and missiles.

The statement added that the projectiles hit the designated targets precisely, and caused casualties among the Israeli soldiers.

Moreover, Hezbollah forces targeted an Israeli military vehicle at the entrance to Metula town, destroying it and inflicting casualties upon the occupants.

The statement noted that the operations came in support of steadfast Palestinians in Gaza and resistance factions fighting off Israeli offensives.

Late on Thursday, the Lebanese resistance fighters pummeled Israeli soldiers stationed at Ruwaisat al-Alam and Ruwaisat al-Qarn sites with rockets and artillery shells.

Earlier in the day, Hezbollah had targeted a command center in Liman as Israeli warplanes struck the southern Lebanese border towns of Yaroun and Ainata.

Hezbollah later attacked groups of soldiers near the Jal al-Alam outpost.

The Israeli regime has repeatedly attacked southern Lebanon since October 7, when it launched a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed at least 33,037 Palestinians, most of them women and children, so far. Another 75,668 individuals have also been injured in the onslaught.

In retaliation, Hezbollah has launched near-daily rocket attacks on Israeli positions.

At least 349 people have been killed on the Lebanese border, including 68 civilians.

Israel says at least ten soldiers and eight settlers have been killed in the area.

The fighting has forced the evacuation of tens of thousands from the northern part of the occupied territories, amid rocket fire and shelling carried out by Hezbollah and allied Palestinian groups.

Hezbollah has already fought off two Israeli wars against Lebanon in 2000 and 2006. The resistance forced the regime to retreat in both conflicts.

India

Pushpa 2 New Poster: Rashmika Is Back As Srivalli And How

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Pushpa 2: The Rule New Poster - Rashmika Mandanna Is Back As Srivalli And How

Rashmika Mandanna in Pushpa 2. (courtesy: PushpaMovie)

New Delhi:

The makers of Pushpa: The Rule (Pushpa 2) shared the first look of Rashmika Mandanna aka Srivalli on Friday. The poster features Rashmika, stunning as ever in a green saree. Her eyes do all the talking in the close up shot. The aforementioned poster was shared by the makers on the occasion of Rashmika’s 28th birthday (today). The text on the post reads, “HBD Srivalli.” The text accompanying the poster read, “Wishing the nation’s heartthrob ‘Srivalli’ aka Rashmika Mandanna a very Happy Birthday. #Pushpa2TheRuleTeaser on April 8th #PushpaMassJaathara. #Pushpa2TheRule Grand Release Worldwide on 15th AUG 2024.”

Check out the poster here:

Meanwhile, the makers shared another post on X and they wrote on Instagram, “It is Srivalli’s special day. She will meet you today at 11.07 AM#Pushpa2TheRule.”

The first part of Pushpa showcased power tussles set against the backdrop of red sandalwood smuggling. The impressive star cast of Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna, Fahadh Faasil along with Dhanunjaya, Rao Ramesh, Sunil, Anasuya Bharadwaj return for the second installment. Pushpa: The Rise was a huge hit at the box office. The film released in 2021 and its songs Oo Antava Oo Oo Antava, Srivalli and Saami Saami were also huge hits.

Pushpa – The Rule has been written and directed by Sukumar. Produced by Naveen Yerneni and Y Ravi Shankar of Mythri Movie Makers in association with Sukumar Writings, the film is slated to release in theatres this year. Allu Arjun won the Best Actor Award for his performance in the film at the 69th National Film Awards last year.

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India Records Highest Percentage In WADA's Doping Offenders' List

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India registered the highest percentage of failed dope tests among countries which tested more than 2000 samples with South Africa being second in the 2022 Testing Figures Report released by the World Anti-Doping Agency. India tested 3865 samples (urine, and blood combined) during the recorded period, of which 125 returned adverse analytical findings. This amounts to 3.2 per cent of the samples, the WADA said in its report released late on Wednesday.

In terms of number of samples tested, India was 11th on the list but the number of doping violations were higher than major sporting nations like Russia (85), USA (84), Italy (73) and France (72).

South Africa returned the next highest percentage of adverse findings — 2.9 per cent from 2033 tested samples.

The third place was taken by Kazakhstan with 1.9 per cent of its testing pool of 2174 samples returning adverse findings.

The fourth highest percentage came from Norway and the USA. While the USA tested 6782 samples, Norway’s count was 2075.

China tested the highest number of samples — 19,228 — during the period with an adverse findings percentage of 0.2 per cent.

Germany tested 13,653 samples of which 0.3 per cent tested positive for banned substances.

Russia, which has been suspended by the International Olympic Committee for repeated doping violations, tested 10,186 samples with adverse analytical finding percentage of 0.8 per cent.

“WADA’s Annual Testing Figures Report is the most comprehensive overview of all doping control samples…,” WADA Director General Olivier Niggli said in a statement.

“WADA is pleased to note that the number of anti-doping tests in the testing figures continue to increase across the board and are the closest to the pre-pandemic levels (2019).

“The Testing Figures Report is an important tool for collaboration between Anti-Doping Organisations,” he added.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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World

Muslims reaffirm support for Palestinians on Quds Day amid Israeli genocide in Gaza

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Kashmiri Muslim girls hold placards next to their father (C) along a street to mark al-Quds International Day an annual pro-Palestinian event held on the last Friday of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Srinagar on April 5, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Millions of people in Iran and across the Muslim world rally on the International Quds Day, marked on the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan, to express their solidarity with Palestinians in their decades-long resistance against the Israeli occupying regime.

Back in 1979, the founder of the Islamic Revolution Imam Khomeini named the last Friday of the blessed month of Ramadan the Quds Day to keep the Palestinian cause alive in the Muslim world.

The day is marked every year across the globe with the participation of large masses of people.

Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif, the spokesman of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and the director-general of Intifada headquarters in Tehran, said in a news briefing on Wednesday that the pro-Palestine rallies would be held in more than 2,000 locations across the country.

Stressing that IRGC Chief Commander Major General Hossein Salami will be the keynote speaker of Quds Day in the Iranian capital, Sharif said Tehran will also witness the funeral ceremony of the martyrs of the Israeli aggression on the Consular Section of the Iranian Embassy in the Mezzeh neighborhood in Damascus on Monday.

This year’s rallies take place as Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip have been under Israel’s incessant bombardment campaign since Operation al-Aqsa Storm on October 7, the largest military operation by Palestinian resistance groups against the occupied territories in decades.

More than 180 days into the war, the illegal entity has achieved no objectives despite killing at least 33,037 people in Gaza and injuring 75,668 others, mostly women and children.

Tel Aviv has also blocked water, food, and electricity to Gaza, plunging the coastal strip into a humanitarian crisis.

Speaking at the news briefing, Sharif underlined that the slogan of this year’s Quds Day march is, “Quds Day, from al-Aqsa Storm to al-Ahrarr (freedom seekers) Storm.”

This is a developing story…

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19-Year-Old Student Is World's Youngest Billionaire. Her Net Worth Is…

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19-Year-Old Student Is World's Youngest Billionaire. Her Net Worth Is...

Several young heirs have recently joined the billionaire ranks.

Livia Voigt, a 19-year-old Brazilian student, has claimed the title of the world’s youngest billionaire, according to the 2024 Forbes Billionaires List. This year’s list is dominated by the youth, with the 25 youngest billionaires all aged 33 or younger, who have $110 billion collectively.

Who is Livia Voigt?

– Livia Voigt, the world’s youngest billionaire, has surpassed Clement Del Vecchio, heir to EssilorLuxottica, who is only two months older than her. 

– Livia Voigt’s wealth comes from being one of the largest individual shareholders of WEG, the largest manufacturer of electrical motors in Latin America. The company was co-founded by her grandfather Werner Ricardo Voigt, alongside late billionaires Eggon Joao da Silva and Geraldo Werninghaus.

– Ms Voigt is currently attending university in Brazil and does not hold a seat on the board or executive position at WEG yet. 

– Livia Voigt has a net worth of $1.1 billion. She, alongside her older sister Dora Voigt de Assis, is among the seven new faces in the youngest billionaire list 2024. Dora, 26, earned her architecture degree in 2020. 

– Livia Voigt is part of the WEG legacy, which is a multinational corporation with factories in over 10 countries. In 2022, WEG recorded revenues of approximately $6 billion.

Several young heirs have recently joined the billionaire ranks. Ireland’s Mistry brothers, aged 25 and 27, inherited sizable fortunes from Tata Sons, a Mumbai-based conglomerate, after their father’s death in 2022. They each hold an estimated net worth of $4.9 billion.

Middle East

Netanyahu keeps obstructing ceasefire agreement: Hamas

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Hamas’ senior representative in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan made the remarks during a press conference in Beirut on Thursday, Press TV reported.

“Netanyahu continues to obstruct reaching an agreement, showing no interest in releasing the Israeli prisoners,” he said.

Israel launched the war on October 7 last year following al-Aqsa Storm, a surprise operation by Gaza’s resistance movements against the occupied territories, during which hundreds were taken captive. More than 33,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in the brutal military onslaught so far.

By the end of a six-day truce on November 30, 105 captives had been released by Hamas and 240 Palestinian prisoners had been freed by the Israeli regime.

Israel believes 130 captives still remain in Gaza, while there are roughly 7,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails, many of whom have been detained without charge.

Hamdan went on to detail Tel Aviv’s dilatory tactics that have prevented conclusion of a ceasefire agreement.

“The occupation continues to prevaricate, making the negotiations go in circles, as the occupation still refuses our people and our legitimate resistance’s demands for a comprehensive ceasefire, withdrawal from the Strip, the return of displaced persons, and a real prisoner exchange,” he said.

The Hamas’ official, however, asserted, “What the occupation has failed to achieve through killing, criminality, and genocide war, it will not succeed in achieving through prolonging negotiations.”

Hamdan, meanwhile, described the war as “the largest, most horrific, and longest heinous crime in modern history.”

He decried the international community’s “incapacity” in the face of the Israeli atrocities, which “serves as a green light for committing more massacres.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Palestinian official pointed to the Israeli military’s recent killing of seven aid workers serving the World Central Kitchen (WCK) charity in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah.

The atrocity further establishes that this regime is “rogue, detached from all humanitarian values,” he said.

Hamdan also lashed out at the regime over its recent terrorist attack on the consular section of Iran’s Embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus, which killed seven members of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

The attack, he said, amounted to “a blatant violation of international law, an infringement on state sovereignty.”

“The US administration alone bears responsibility for its support and partnership with the occupation in these crimes, destabilizing the security and stability of the region, and its consequences,” the Hamas’ official noted.

Hamdan finally called for mass participation of the Palestinian people in International Quds Day rallies.

The day was so designated by Imam Khomeini, the late founder of the Islamic Republic. It is marked annually across the world on the last Friday of the holy fasting month of Ramadan. This year, the event falls on April 5.

MNA