The fourth phase polling in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections will be held on Thursday in 53 Assembly constituencies spread over 12 districts, including the backward Bundelkhand region and the Nehru-Gandhi pocket borough of Rae Bareli. Other districts going to the polls in this phase are Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Allahabad, Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Banda, Hamirpur, Chitrakoot and Fatehpur. The fate of 680 candidates will be decided by 1.84 crore voters including 84 lakh women and 1,032 of third gender. The maximum number of 26 candidates are standing from Allahabad North, while only six candidates are in the fray in Khaga (Fatehpur), Manjhanpur (Kaushambi) and Kunda (Pratapgarh).
Counting of votes for BMC elections held on Tuesday, is to be conducted today. The results will be declared on the same day. The major political parties that contested the polls were the BJP, Shiv Sena, Indian National Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Samajwadi Party and BSP. A total of 2,275 candidates are in fray for the 227 seats of BMC.
The government’s top brass, led by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, will brainstorm on Thursday on how best it can push large-scale adoption of electric vehicles in the country, ahead of the roll-out of FAME India. The meeting would include a presentation by Power, Coal, Mines and New & Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal explaining the various aspects related to increased use of electric vehicles like rise in power consumption, impact on the environment and how economies of scale can make it viable for India.
The India, Australia Test series gets underway in Pune today. India, which is on a 19-match unbeaten streak, India would seek to extend their dominance on home turf against an aggressive Australian team. The series against the Steve Smith-led side is the fourth and last home series of the 2016-17 season for India, who have registered emphatic victories over New Zealand (3-0), England (4-0) and Bangladesh (one-off Test).
Foreign Secretary Subramanyam Jaishankar will arrive in Dhaka on Thursday to discuss Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India. Jaishankar’s visit comes at the invitation of his counterpart Md Shahidul Haque. The two foreign secretaries will review areas of bilateral cooperation between the neighbouring countries. During the visit, the Indian foreign secretary will call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali.