Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday evening arrived in Kerala’s Kochi for a two-day visit. The Prime Minister kick-started his visit with a roadshow in the city.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to take part in various programmes and inaugurate different projects across the state.

At around 5 pm, the Prime Minister at INS Garuda naval air station in Kochi from where he held a 2-km roadshow to the venue of a youth programme, which he attended. In the visuals coming in, PM Modi can be seen in a complete white traditional Kerala attire. He can be seen walking a few distance, greeting people on the either side of the road while petals were being showered on him.

PM Modi will first be taking part in Yuvam 2023, a programme dedicated towards the youth. Later tomorrow, he will also flag off a Vande Bharat Express train, which is expected to cover the length of the state. The route of the train is not fully known with some reports claiming it will start from Thiruvananthapuram and end at Kannur with 5 stops in between.

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The highlight of the Prime Minister’s visit will be the inauguration of India’s first water metro service that will connect Kochi to 10 islands around it.

PM Modi is also likely to meet eight senior priests drawn from the Christian community’s various churches at the Taj Malabar Hotel, the hotel in which the PM will be staying.

The entire city is under a tight security net with more than 2000 police force deployed around Kochi to ensure the safety of the Prime Minister.

The BJP has failed to woo voters in Kerala and with the past few months seeing the focus of the Centre with announcement of different infrastructure projects and impressing the Christian and Muslim communities of the state, it seems the saffron party is keen to win adequate number of votes and seats in the general elections next year.

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A senior official of the Uttar Pradesh health department was found dead in his hotel room, hanging from a ceiling fan, in the state’s Prayagraj area on Monday, officials said.

According to the police, the deceased, identified as 51-year-old Dr Sunil Singh, who was posted at the Deputy Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Prayagraj, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in a room of Hotel Vitthal near the Coffee House in the Prayagraj Civil Lines area.

Talking to reporters, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Deepak Bhukar that police received information at around 9:30 am on Monday that Dr Sunil Kumar Singh wasn’t opening the door of his hotel room.

The officer said a police team arrived at the hotel and upon opening the hotel room’s door, found Dr Singh hanging from the ceiling fan.

DCP Bhukar said that no injury marks were found on the body of the deceased and prima facie it appears that the doctor died by suicide.

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However, he said, no suicide note has been found yet, adding that the body has been sent for post-mortem examination to ascertain the exact cause of death.

The officer further said that a case of accidental death by suicide, has been registered in this regard and further investigation is underway.

The deceased doctor’s driver, Satish Singh, said that Dr Singh—who used travel to the office from his home in Varanasi—was deputed to the Bailey Hospital and had checked into the hotel on Sunday evening.

Satish Singh said that today morning, he received a call from Dr Singh’s wife asking him to check on her husband as he wasn’t taking her calls.

The driver said that around 9:30 am, he went to check on Dr Singh, as requested by his wife, and repeatedly knocked on his hotel room. However, when there was no response, he decided to call the hotel staff who then informed the police.

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The Patna High Court on Monday stayed the trial of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case over his alleged 2019 “Modi surname” remarks. The former Wayanad MP had filed a petition in the high court against the order by a trial court to appear in connection with the defamation case filed by former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi.

In his plea Rahul Gandhi had contended that he cannot be put on trial for the same offence since he has already been convicted and sentence in a similar case by a court in Gujarat’s Surat.

Hearing the former Congress chief’s plea, Justice Sandeep Kumar stayed trial proceedings against Gandhi till May 15.  S D Sanjay, the counsel for BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said they will submit their reply to Gandhi’s petition on the same date.

Modi had filed a defamation suit against the Gandhi scion after the Congress leader alleged made the infamous “Modi surname” remarks at a poll rally in Karnataka during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

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Recently, an MP/MLA court in Patna had summoned Gandhi on April 25 in connection with Modi’s defamation suit.

On March 23, a magistrate court in Surat convicted the Congress leader in the criminal defamation case and sentenced him to two years in jail. The conviction led to his disqualification from the Lok Sabha and losing his MP status.

The disqualification which will prevent 52-year-old Gandhi, a four-time MP, from contesting elections for eight years unless a higher court stays the conviction, has kicked up a political storm with the Congress staging a countrywide satyagraha last month to protest the decision.

On Saturday, Rahul Gandhi vacated the official Tughlaq Lane bungalow which was allotted to him as MP.

Last week, a sessions court in Gujarat’s Surat city dismissed Gandhi’s plea seeking a stay to his conviction in the “Modi surname” remark criminal defamation case.

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