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Plane Passenger Refuses To Stand So Seatmate Could Use Bathroom. See Post

When travelling on a plane, passengers should follow some basic etiquette and do their best to accommodate and not disturb or trouble anyone seated around them. Now, in a recent incident, a plane passenger claimed that his "passive-aggressive" seatmate refused to get up when he needed to get to the bathroom, and even complained that he was invading her "personal space". In a Reddit post shared to the popular "Am I The A**hole?" subreddit, the passenger detailed the inflight incident, which took place on a "long flight" where even "the comfiest seats feel like torture racks". 

"I'm a big dude. Not yet book 2 seats level, but enough for plane seats to be absolute hell. Booked a window seat, figured the extra space would help," the passenger shared. He said the woman sitting in the middle seat initially seemed a "nice person". However, things got "tricky" after the passenger had to use the lavatory, he wrote. "Nature called a couple of times during the flight, and let's just say squeezing by in that cramped space is an exercise in contortionism at the best of times," the flyer lamented. "The woman in the middle seat politely refused to get up whenever I needed to use the restroom," he wrote. 

Left with no other choice, the passenger said he was forced to squeeze by his seatmate every time he needed to go to the bathroom, which left him in an awkward predicament. "I get it. Nobody wants some sweaty dude brushing past them. I tried my best to minimize contact, literally sucked in my gut and held my breath like I was underwater. But even with all the contorting, there was some unavoidable brushing past," he wrote. 

Also Read | "Not Your Designs": Bengaluru Artist's AI-Generated Art Sale Triggers Online Debate

"At the end of the flight, the woman makes a passive-aggressive comment about "personal space" and how uncomfortable I made her feel throughout the flight," the flyer recounted. "Honestly, I felt terrible. Didn't mean to make her feel that way, but what else was I supposed to do? Hold it for 8 hours?" he spluttered. Ask her to physically get up? (Since she repeatedly didn't get up and indicated I should squeeze by, I had no reason to think she was too bothered by it)," he wrote. 

The flyer asked the Reddit community if he was wrong to make her uncomfortable. Fortunately, the users sympathised with the man's inflight plight. 

"What sort of idiot refuses to get up so someone can go to the bathroom?" wrote one user. "You're nicer than me, my response would have been: 'Ma'am you refused to get up, so my only options were to either encroach on your personal space or pee on you. I'm sorry you feel I chose the wrong option," said another. 

"Who the hell doesn't get up to let the window person in and out? Even if you are a slender been pole there's not enough space to get out to the aisle without rubbing against someone," commented a third. 



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49 Seats Up For Grabs In Phase 5, Top Leaders In Most Contests: 10 Points

  1. Voting will be held for five seats in Bihar, Jharkhand (3), Maharashtra (13), Odisha (5), UP (14), West Bengal (7) and two Union Territories - Jammu and Kashmir (1) and Ladakh (1). With this phase, election will be over in Maharashtra and Ladakh.
  2. Voting will be held for 35 seats of the Odisha Assembly and 21 Lok Sabha seats as part of the simultaneous polling in the state.
  3. While this phase has the least number of seats, most are high-profile constituencies from where Union Ministers and leaders of national and regional parties are contesting. In 2019, the BJP won 32 of the 49 seats.
  4. The big fight is expected in the seven seats of Bengal and the 13 seats of Maharashtra. Ten of the 13 seats are in the Shiv Sena stronghold and the clash will be between two factions of the party, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray.
  5. In Bengal, a tough fight is on the cards on several seats, with Congress and CPM muscling into what was expected to be a straight fight between the BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress.
  6. In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP had won 13 of the 14 seats going to polls today -- the exception being Raebareli, won by Sonia Gandhi.
  7. The list of key candidates include Union Ministers Piyush Goyal (Mumbai North), Bharati Pawar (Dindori), Smriti Irani (Amethi),  Rajnath Singh (Lucknow). Among key allies are Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas chief Chirag Paswan (Hajipur), Shrikant Shinde, son of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde (Kalyan).
  8. From the Opposition, Congress's Rahul Gandhi is defending his mother Sonia Gandhi's bastion Raebareli after she moved onto Rajya Sabha; RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's daughter Rohini Acharya is contesting against BJP's former Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy from Saran; Shiv Sena-UBT leader and former Union Minister Arvind Sawant is contesting from Mumbai South.
  9. In Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla, former Chief Minister and National Conference chief Omar Abdullah faces the PDP's Faiyaz A Mir, People's Conference chief Sajad Ghani Lone, and Awami Ittehad Party chief, the jailed Engineer Rashid.
  10. The next and penultimate phase, comprising 58 seats, will be held on May 25. National capital Delhi and neighbouring Haryana will join in for a single-phase polling. The counting of votes will be held on June 4 after the last phase of the election ends on June 1.


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Gayle Enters RCB's Dressing Room, Recreates Iconic Celebration With Kohli

Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru player Chris Gayle joined his old teammate Virat Kohli in the franchise's dressing room at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Saturday. Gayle who once opened the innings alongside Virat Kohli for RCB, was elated to see his former side securing a heroic victory against Chennai Super Kings to qualify for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 playoffs. After entering the dressing room, Gayle recreated his old celebration with Kohli before giving the RCB stalwart a big hug.

Gayle witnessed RCB make history at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium following their 27-run win against the Chennai Super Kings on Saturday.

Against all odds, they sealed their spot in the final berth of the IPL playoffs. The Challengers became the first team to qualify for the playoffs after having just one win in their first seven games of the season.

During the game, the RCB Hall of Fame opened up about his love for the franchise. He even joked about coming in as an impact substitute if the team needs a player.

"As you can see jersey still fits so if they need an extra man, I can be the impact player. It is good to see the fans. RCB forever, I will forever be an RCB fan," Gayle said in a video posted by RCB on X.

The RCB fans have witnessed Gayle break and rescript records at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. In this stadium, Gayle smashed 175* off just 66 deliveries against Pune Warriors in the IPL 2013.

After more than 10 years, Gayle's blitz stands tall as the highest score in the T20 format. His record-breaking knock was laced with 13 boundaries and 17 towering sixes.

He still has the record for the most maximums in an inning by a batter in the history of the cash-rich league. Gayle opened up about his love for playing in Chinnaswamy and the electrifying atmosphere that is created by the fans.

"It is always good to be back where you have fun memories. It is good to see the guys in a very important game. For me, it is very special to be right here at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. One thing I noticed the roof, brand new, I know I have done some damage. I hope someone can put a dent in there and make it entertaining like the Universe Boss," Gayle said.

"I got goosebumps. This is the best place to play cricket, the atmosphere is brilliant and the fans played a big part during my career with RCB," Gayle added.

Coming to the match, with 218/5 on board, RCB managed to restrict CSK before they could reach 201 to better their net run rate. RCB stood victorious with a 27-run win and sealed their spot in the final four.

With ANI inputs



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Anushka's Reaction As Kohli Misses 50 In Do-Or-Die RCB vs CSK Game Viral

RCB batters came out with great intent in a do-or-die clash against CSK in the IPL 2024 on Saturday. It's a do-or-die match for both teams to grab a playoff spot.  More so for RCB who have to beat CSK by 18 runs in order to qualify for the top-four. Starting with the opening dup of Virat Kohli and Faf Du Plessis, along with Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green, everyone contributed as RCB posted a huge target for CSK. While RCB skipper De Plessis scored a half-century, Kohli missed the mark by just three runs. 

He was caught on the boundary ropes by Daryl Mitchell off Mitchell Santner. Mitchell had a tricky situation as he lost balance but was aware of the ropes to take a clean catch. Even Virat Kohli's wife and actor Anushka Sharma thought that Mitchell had gone past the rope. But then soon realised that Kohli was out. Her reaction went viral. 

Ahead of the all-important clash with Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League 2024, star India batter and Royal Challengers Bengaluru's opener Virat Kohli revealed the reason behind his high strike rate in the ongoing season of the cash-rich league.

The Impact Player Rule allows a franchise to introduce a 12th player to the team from a five-player list which is given at the time of a toss. A team can bring in an impact player for the playing XI by replacing any player from the five-player list.

"I am telling you, with one extra batter there is a reason I am playing with 200 plus strike rate in the powerplays. I know there is a batsman waiting at No. 8 as well. I think it has disrupted the balance and a lot of people are feeling this way not just me," Kohli said while speaking on Jio Cinema.

Earlier, Rohit also shared his views and said that due to the Impact Player Rule, players like Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar are not getting a chance to bowl, which is not a good thing for Team India.

"I genuinely feel it is going to hold back the development of all-rounders because eventually cricket is played by 11 players, not 12. So I am not a big fan of the Impact Player Rule because you are taking so much from the game just to make it a little more entertaining for the people around you. But just in the cricketing aspect of it, I feel guys like Washington Sundar, and Shivam Dube are not getting to bowl, which is not a good thing for us (India). I am not sure what you can do about it, but I am not a fan of it," said Rohit in the Club Prairie Fire podcast.

With Ani inputs



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Cannes 2024: New Day, New Pics Of Aishwarya From French Riviera

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is a ray of sunshine (quite literally). After making her second red carpet appearance on Friday, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was recently spotted on the streets of French Riviera. She kept her look cool and stylish. Aishwarya opted for a plain black T-shirt teamed with matching pants and a printed overcoat. She left her tresses open and completed her look with a cool pair of shades and black shoes. In one of the pictures, she was seen chatting with Afef Jnifen, a Tunisian-born Italian fashion model. Take a look at the photos below.

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The OG style queen, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, stole the spotlight during her second red carpet appearance at the Cannes Film Festival. The actress opted for an ensemble that was both dramatic and stunning. She picked a silver outfit with turquoise green accents from the shelves of Falguni Shane Peacock. She left her tresses open in soft curls. Take a look at her photos below.

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Latest and Breaking News on NDTV

For the unversed, this is Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's 22nd year at the Cannes Film Festival. The actress has been delivering jaw-dropping red-carpet looks over the years. Who could forget last year's spectacle? A shimmering silver gown paired with a dramatic black bow and an extravagant silver hood and train stole the show.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's Cannes journey began in 2002 when she made a red carpet debut wearing a Neeta Lulla saree and heavy gold jewellery for the premiere of her film Devdas. She was accompanied by her Devdas co-star Shah Rukh Khan and director Sanjay Leela Bhansali. The next year, she was on the Cannes jury.

Joining her at Cannes this year will be actors Aditi Rao Hydari, Shobita Dhulipala, Jacqueline Fernandes and Kiara Advani. Urvashi Rautela shared pictures from the French Riviera, while Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah actress Deepti Sadhwani made her red carpet debut on Wednesday.



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IPL 2024 Playoffs: What Happens If RCB vs CSK Clash Is Washed Out?

As the ongoing IPL 2024 inches closer to its culmination, the excitement remains at the pinnacle as five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) fight for the final playoff berth in their last league stage encounter. Table toppers Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have already booked their place for the knockout stages but the last team to join them in the playoffs is yet to be ascertained. RCB are on a five-match winning streak after outclassing Delhi Capitals by 47 runs in their previous game. Despite the forgettable start, the Bengaluru-based franchise gained momentum in the middle of the season to stay alive in the title race. With 12 points in 13 matches, RCB are placed sixth in the standings.

RCB need to win the match against CSK to bolster their hopes of a title finish. It is not just a win but by a certain margin to better their net run-rate than the defending champions.

On the other hand, Ruturaj Gaikwad-led Chennai hold 14 points in 13 games and currently occupying fourth spot in the points table. A win against RCB will make them the final team to progress to playoffs.

However, they can still qualify even after losing the match on the basis of net run rate (NRR). CSK need to minimise the losing margin to keep their NRR intact.

There is also a possibility of a washout as the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning for heavy rainfall in Chennai on Friday and Saturday (match day).

In case of a washout or a truncated match, the scenarios will favour the hosts more than RCB. Both teams will get a point each in case of no result while if the overs are reduced, RCB will find it difficult to support their NRR even after a win.

Chennai will host Bengaluru at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.



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Opinion: Lok Sabha Elections: Why A 2004-Like Scenario Is Unlikely

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Four of the seven phases of India's general elections have been concluded, covering 380 seats and hundreds of candidates. Voters have sealed the mandates for roughly 70% of the total Lok Sabha seats. Both social and traditional media are abuzz with poll studies and analyses, though a common observation between them all is that the electoral contest, which initially appeared to be a done deal, has proved to be tighter than anticipated, with local factors taking precedence over national issues. 

A few analysts claim the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may not come back to power. Some others predict that the party may not be able to touch 272 seats on its own, though with allies it might manage to cross the halfway mark. The slightly lower voter turnout has added to the anxiety, and supporters of both the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the INDIA bloc are perplexed. 

Pollsters Enjoy The Spotlight

Those conducting exit polls are having a field day as they are quizzed on social media and in TV interviews. However, given that it is unethical to speak about such details with elections still underway, most such pollsters have refrained from giving numbers. In fact, among them, many are those who give different answers in different interviews, adding to the confusion. A season of speculation and a battle of narratives, and amidst this, both the BJP and the Congress are trying to turn the public sentiment in their favour. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has already claimed that the BJP has won 270 seats till Phase 4. 

Elections are a lot about mahaul”, that is, the public mood. India has many late deciders (25-30%, according to various surveys), and it's these voters who are swayed the most by the poll discourse. 

Why Ground Reports May Be Unreliable

People who believe that the BJP could lose this election often cite the example of 2004, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a public favourite, lost the mandate. Almost all exit polls had failed to gauge the public mood back then. If exit polls conducted through scientific techniques can go wrong, ground reports, based on unscientific sampling methods and gathered through ground feedback, can also be misleading. This is because such local reports usually tend to portray elections as ‘pitched battles', with supporters of each camp claiming that victory is theirs. This was seen even in the Madhya Pradesh state elections in 2023, which largely became a one-sided battle in the end. 

Read | Why Are Young Voters Staying Away From Elections? What Are Their Concerns?

Let's look at some data. In the 1999 general elections, the BJP won 182 seats with a 24% vote share, while the Congress won 114 with 28% votes. Though the gap between the vote shares of the two was just 4 percentage points (pp), the BJP still managed to form a government with the support of NDA allies. 

In the next general elections in 2004, the BJP won 138 seats (-44) with a 22% vote share (-2 pp), while the Congress won 145 (+31) with a 27% vote share (-1 pp). The Congress formed a government with its United Progressive Alliance (UPA) allies, and the BJP was handed a shock defeat despite its ‘India Shining' campaign. 

On Victory Margins

In 1999, the BJP's average lead on the seats it won was around 65,000 in terms of votes and 9 pp in terms of vote share. A victory margin of 10 pp is usually considered a close contest as a swing of only 5 pp is enough to reverse the mandate. The BJP victory in 1999 was thus not huge, which is partly why it lost to the Congress in the next general election. 

In 2019, the BJP's average winning margin for its victory seats was around 2.32 lakh votes and 20 pp in terms of vote share. A victory margin of 20 pp is considered a one-sided contest as a swing of more than 10 pp is needed to tilt the contest. Can this huge margin be reversed in 2024? 

Read | Opinion: Elections 2024: Why Brand Modi Is Unlikely To Fizzle Out Anytime Soon

In the 1984 elections, even though the Congress won 414 seats with an average vote share lead of 22 pp, it lost the subsequent elections in 1989. Notably, what also helped the party in 1984 was the deep sympathy generated after Indira Gandhi's assassination. That waned by the next election, and the Bofors scandal and corruption allegations against the Gandhi family cost it dear. 

So, there comes the question: is the political climate in India today similar to 1984 or 2004, or 2019? Well, the answer depends on which side of the fence you are on.

(Amitabh Tiwari is a political strategist and commentator. In his earlier avatar, he was a corporate and investment banker.)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.



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Lecturing India On Human Rights Won't Work: Indian American Lawmakers

Reiterating that they would continue to raise the issue of human rights in India with its leadership, Indian American lawmakers on Thursday, however, said that lecturing New Delhi on this issue is unlikely to work and they favoured entering into a conversation with the Indian leadership on their concerns with them.

"India was colonized for over 100 years. So, when we're having a conversation about human rights, and you're having a conversation with (External Affairs Minister S) Jai Shankar or someone else, you have to understand that just coming in from a perspective of lecturing India. When they say that we've had colonial powers lecture us for hundreds of years is not going to be productive," Congressman Ro Khanna told members of the Indian American community during the "Desi Decides" Summit of Indian American Impact.

Khanna, who is also co-chair of the Congressional India Caucus, was joined by three other Indian American lawmakers -- Shri Thanedar, Pramila Jayapal and Dr Ami Bera -- during the panel discussion, which was moderated by Zohreen Shah, ABC national correspondent, who asked them about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's relations with the Muslim community.

"Having a conversation (with India) saying, here are the imperfections in our democracy, what are the imperfections in your democracy, and how do we collectively advance democracy and human rights, I think is a more constructive approach," Khanna said.

Bera said he agrees with Khanna. "I've said the same to the (Indian) foreign minister. If India loses its secular nation, it changes who she is as a country and how the rest of the world views it," he said.

He also said that a Trump presidency is not necessarily the same as Prime Minister Modi being in power. "Because we still have a vibrant democracy here. We have a vibrant opposition party in the Democratic Party. We still believe in the freedom of the press and those are all things that I worry about India's future," he said.

"You see what's happening to the freedom of the press. You're not really seeing a viable opposition party or it's being dismantled. The vibrant democracy has to have all of those things, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the ability to push back. I hope you don't ever see a second Trump presidency. But if that were to happen, you will see our democracy survive the first time, push back, and our democracy will survive. I certainly hope India's democracy survives," Bera said.

Jayapal said she agrees with both Bera and Khanna. "The only thing I would add is that I think we have to be able to critique our own country's imperfections and any other country's imperfections. That's actually our job in Congress. We shouldn't lecture, I agree with Roe (Khanna). But we do have to think about all of the United States' interests. That is economic, for sure. India is an important partner for us. It's an important partner because of other regional dynamics as well and global dynamics," she said.

"It is also important for us to think about our values. Just like we criticize the Chinese government for the treatment of Uyghurs or any other country in the world, we have to be able to also look at what's happening in India and call attention to it," she said.

"I know that I have been called a bad Indian and all kinds of other things for raising these. But I would just say I'm not backing away from that because those are the values of the United States. Those are my values. I don't think it means that you don't appreciate or like or want a partnership between India and the United States to raise legitimate concerns about freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and all of the other things that we are seeing in India any more than if we raise it here it means somehow that we're bad Americans. No, that is our job to be moving towards a more perfect union in the United States and with all of our global partnerships," Jayapal asserted.

Thanedar said he favours a strong India-US relationship. "We need a strong US-India relationship. India historically has been playing both sides, Russia and US. But it's time for India to commit to a strong friendship with the United States, and that's something that I want to work on. The United States has to recognize India's power, its economic power, and India remains the best solution to counteract China's aggression. So, I'm just working on a strong India-US relationship," he said. 

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



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In Top Court's Order On Acquiring Private Property, A "Procedure" Caveat

Compulsory acquisition of private properties will be unconstitutional if proper procedure is not established or followed before depriving a person of their right to property, the Supreme Court said on Thursday.

In a significant verdict, the top court said even the statutory scheme of payment of compensation in return for acquisition of private properties will not be justified if the due procedure is not followed by the state and its instrumentalities.

While making the observations, a bench comprising justices PS Narasimha and Aravind Kumar dismissed the appeal of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

The civic body had approached the top court challenging the judgment of a division bench of the Kolkata High Court which had quashed acquisition of a property at Narkeldanga North Road in the city for constructing a park.

The high court had held that the civic body had no power under a specific provision to go for compulsory acquisition.

"We are of the considered opinion that the High Court was fully justified in allowing the writ petition and rejecting the case of the appellant-Corporation acquiring land under Section 352 of the Act. The impugned judgment does not brook interference on any count," the top court said in its 32-page judgment.

"Under our constitutional scheme, compliance with a fair procedure of law before depriving any person of his immovable property is well entrenched," Justice Narasimha said.

"Again, assuming that Section 363 of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act provides for compensation, compulsory acquisition will still be unconstitutional if proper procedure is not established or followed before depriving a person of their right to property," it said.

It said undue emphasis is laid on the provisions of compensation to justify the power of compulsory acquisition, as if compensation by itself is the complete procedure for a valid acquisition.

"While it is true that after the 44th Constitutional Amendment, the right to property drifted from Part III (fundamental rights) to Part XII of the Constitution, there continues to be a potent safety net against arbitrary acquisitions, hasty decision-making and unfair redressal mechanisms," it said.

The Article 300A (right to property) of the Constitution says that "no person shall be deprived of his property save by authority of law" and it has been characterised both as a constitutional and a human right.

"To assume that constitutional protection gets constricted to the mandate of a fair compensation would be a disingenuous reading of the text and, shall we say, offensive to the egalitarian spirit of the Constitution," it said.

It said there are seven sub-rights which can be identified.

"These are: i) duty of the State to inform the person that it intends to acquire his property - the right to notice, ii) the duty of the State to hear objections to the acquisition - the right to be heard, iii) the duty of the State to inform the person of its decision to acquire - the right to a reasoned decision, iv) the duty of the State to demonstrate that the acquisition is for public purpose - the duty to acquire only for public purpose," the court said.

"(v) the duty of the State to restitute and rehabilitate - the right of restitution or fair compensation, vi) the duty of the State to conduct the process of acquisition efficiently and within prescribed timelines of the proceedings - the right to an efficient and expeditious process, and vii) final conclusion of the proceedings leading to vesting - the right of conclusion," it added.

These seven rights are foundational components of a law that is in tune with Article 300A, and the absence of one of these or some of them would render the law susceptible to challenge.

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



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Central Forces To Remain In Andhra Even After June 4, Directs Poll Body

The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday directed the Union home ministry to retain 25 companies of central forces in Andhra Pradesh even after counting of votes on June 4 following post-poll violence in the state as it conveyed its displeasure to the state chief secretary and the police chief over the incidents.

In a statement, the EC said "without mincing any words", it directs the chief secretary and the director general of police to ensure that such violence is not repeated and all SPs to be tasked with take pre-emptive measures to avoid such a situation in future.

The poll authority had summoned chief secretary KS Jawahar Reddy and DGP Harish Gupta to Nirvanchan Sadan here to seek "personal explanation" over the incidents of violence reported on Monday and Tuesday.

"The Commission decided to direct the Ministry of Home Affairs to retain the 25 CAPF (central armed police force) companies in Andhra Pradesh for 15 days after counting, to control any violence after declaration of results," the poll panel said.

It said the state government had requested that central forces be retained for 15 days post counting.

In the meeting, the poll authority sought timely filing of chargesheet against the culprits, preferably within the model code of conduct period. The poll code period usually ends after counting is completed.

During the briefing, the CS and the DGP shared their assessment of negligence and lack of supervision on the part of officials in violence-hit districts.

The Commission approved various proposals of the state government. These included investigation by a special investigation team and submit an action taken report to the Commission in two days in each of the cases.

FIRs will be updated with additional appropriate IPC sections and other relevant statutory provisions.

The EC also approved the transfer of district collector of Palnadu and initiation of departmental enquiry; suspension of SPs of Palnadu and Ananthapuramu districts and initiation of departmental enquiry.

It also gave its nod to the transfer of SP of Tirupati and initiation of departmental enquiry as well as suspension of 12 subordinate police officials in Palnadu, Anathapuramu and Tirupati districts and initiation of departmental enquiry.

Several incidents of violence were reported in Ananthapuramu, Palnadu and Tirupati districts on the poll-day and post poll day.

Incidents were also reported before the poll involving assault, setting the property and office of the opposite party on fire, threatening, damaging of the campaign vehicles and stone pelting.

The EC pointed out that most of these incidents happened in the districts of Annamaya, Chittoor and Palnadu and few incidents in Guntur, Anantapur and Nandyal.

The leaders of the ruling YSRCP and opposition TDP have levelled allegations against each other for the incidents.

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



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Scientists Spot 7 Stars That Show Signs of Hosting Alien Civilisations

There is always a question about life forms other than humans out there in the Universe. Recently, an international team of researchers, based in Sweden, India, the US and the UK, have devised a way to search for unimaginably complex extraterrestrial megastructures, known as Dyson spheres, according to a report by Science Alert. 

A Dyson sphere is a hypothetical engineering project that only highly advanced civilizations could build. These Dyson spheres would allow a civilization to harness all of a star's energy. To find Dyson Spheres, or rather their technosignatures, the ''Project Hephaistos'' was created. The team of scientists published their results in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Academy of Sciences.

The team believes that they've identified seven of these lurking in the cosmos after filtering through millions of potential space objects. Scientists believe that only civilisations capable of such a project are those who measure Level II on the Kardashev scale. However, these candidates need further analysis to determine their nature. 

The prospect of such a construction was first proposed by physicist and astronomer Freeman J. Dyson back in 1960. He envisioned them as a solar-system-sized shell consisting of a 'swarm of objects'' that could travel on independent orbits around a star, such as our sun.

As per Indy.com, the idea behind this is that the aliens commandeering this multi-faceted sphere would use it to harness the energy of the star to fulfil the energy needs of its technologically sophisticated people.

How did they find the seven potential Dyson spheres?

The team analysed data gathered by the European Space Agency's Gaia map of stars, as well as the 2MASS infrared astronomical survey and NASA's WISE infrared astronomy space telescope.

"This structure would emit waste heat in the form of mid-infrared radiation that, in addition to the level of completion of the structure, would depend on its effective temperature. A specialized pipeline has been developed to identify potential Dyson sphere candidates focusing on detecting sources that display anomalous infrared excesses that cannot be attributed to any known natural source of such radiation," Matias Suazo, of Sweden's Uppsala University said. 

The issue here is that plenty of other natural objects emit excess infrared radiation, including nebulae and background galaxies, as per Universe Today. So, scientists developed a special pipeline to detect anomalies that display anomalous infrared excesses.

''[This] pipeline has been developed to identify potential Dyson sphere candidates focusing on detecting sources that display anomalous infrared excesses that cannot be attributed to any known natural source of such radiation," the researchers said. 

They narrowed it down to 368 sources. 328 were rejected as blends. Of these, 29 were rejected as irregulars, and four were rejected as nebulars. Only seven potential candidates were left out of about 5 million initial objects.

"All sources are clear mid-infrared emitters with no clear contaminators or signatures that indicate an obvious mid-infrared origin," they added. 

The team now wants to perform an optical spectroscopy to better understand the seven candidates.



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'PoK Will Be Merged With India If BJP Gets 400 Seats': Himanta Sarma

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma spoke of a fresh to-do list if the NDA gets 400 seats in the ongoing general election. Countering the Opposition allegations of a change in Constitution, Mr Sarma said today that the focus would be on making Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir a part of India. His list also has two building projects -- temples at Krishna Janambhoomi in Mathura and in Varanasi's Gyanvapi. "You think Hindus would be satisfied with Ram Janmabhoomi alone," he questioned.

As for Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, Mr Sarma, speaking at a rally in Jharkhand's Ramgarh, said it was a natural progression of the party's plans.

"When we crossed 300 (seats) we scrapped Article 370, built the Ayodhya temple. Once we cross 400, we will ensure that Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir merges with India," he said.

"The real game will start after crossing 400. For the last few days, slogans of freedom are being raised in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Crossing 400 means return of PoK to India," he added.   

"Agitation is taking place every day in PoK and people are protesting against Pakistan, holding the Indian flag," he added.

Mr Sarma said during Congress rule, no discussion was held in Parliament regarding Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

"When the Congress government was in power, we were told that one Kashmir is in India and the other in Pakistan. It was never discussed in our Parliament that Pakistan has 'Occupied Kashmir,' it is actually ours," he added.

The issue of protests in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir was highlighted by foreign minister S Jaishankar also.

People in PoK must be comparing their situation with those living in Jammu and Kashmir, in view of the progress there, he had said yesterday. The BJP has ascribed the high turnout in the election for the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat to the scrapping of Article 370.

From 14 per cent polling in 2019, the figure this time rose to 38 per cent, the highest since 1989.



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"Mom Says Thank You": Twinkle Reacts To Zeenat Aman's Post On Dimple Kapadia

Veteran actress Zeenat Aman dedicated a lovely post to Dimple Kapadia on Tuesday afternoon and tagged Twinkle Khanna, hoping that the actor turned writer would pass on the message to her mom, who is not on social media. Twinkle Khanna, who regularly entertains fans on Instagram with her quirky posts, indeed passed on Zeenat Aman's message to her mom. It so happened that Zeenat Aman on Tuesday, documented, in a post, how Dimple Kapadia stood by her during tough times. Hours later, Twinkle Khanna reshared the post and wrote, "What a lovely picture and Mom says thank you for your gracious words."

See Twinkle Khanna's post:

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Now coming back to Zeenat Aman latest Instagram entry, sharing a black and white BTS picture from the film Chhailla Babu featuring herself, director Joy Mukherjee and Dimple Kapadia, the Satyam Shivam Sundaram actor wrote, "I can't recollect where this picture was taken, but it quite certainly had something to do with the film Chhailla Babu. Perhaps it's a bts shot from set. I say this because while the chairs scream "production", I'm in my own clothes not a costume. With me are the director of the film Joy Mukherjee and the effervescent Dimple Kapadia, who must have been visiting set as she was married to the lead actor."

Zeenat Aman then mentioned that Dimple Kapadia and she got their first breaks from the same person - Raj Kapoor. Zeenat Aman wrote, "Dimple and I both got big career breaks thanks to Raj Kapoor. She as a teenager, when she was cast in and as Bobby. Whereas I was able to deliver a blow to my "western image" thanks to SSS (Satyam Shivam Sundaram)."

She also hoped that Twinkle Khanna "will pass on" her love for Dimple Kadadia. She wrote, "This isn't a post about Dimple's talent though she has that in spades, it's about the little I saw of her character. During a very difficult phase in my life she was one of a mere handful of people who publicly stood by me. This despite the criticism and scrutiny of her own life that the decision invited! In those trying times she revealed to me a strength of character that I admire to date. I don't believe she is on Instagram, but perhaps @twinklerkhanna will pass on my love to her. Truly, a wave of appreciation washed over me when I found this picture some days ago."

This is what Zeenat Aman posted:

Zeenat Aman is known for her performances in movies like, Don, Satyam Shivam Sundaram and Hare Rama Hare Krishna.



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