News18.com Daybreak | Exit Polls Show BJP Ahead in North-East, Nirav Modi Files For Bankruptcy and Other Stories You May Have Missed

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BJP will be just one state short of a Congress-mukt North-East if exit poll results on the three states of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura are to be believed. Two exit polls have predicted a Congress rout in all the three states, and have suggested BJP coming to power in all three states with help from regional players.

The much-vaunted 'Make in India' initiative for the defence sector is floundering for a variety of reasons, including lack of accountability, too many decision points, and a tendency to find fault, according to a Defence Ministry presentation.

A month after it scrapped subsidies for Haj pilgrims, the government announced a significant reduction in airfares for devotees travelling to Saudi Arabia, with the prices of round tickets being slashed by Rs 20,000.

Firestar Diamond Inc, the flagship company of billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi, who is at the centre of India's biggest-ever bank scam, has filed for bankruptcy in the United States.

The Enforcement Directorate moved a special court, seeking issuance of a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against diamond trader Nirav Modi, a key accused in the over Rs 11,000-crore PNB fraud case.

After former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda's Janata Dal (Secular) joined hands with Mayawati's BSP in Karnataka polls, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM has also expressed interest in joining the bandwagon. According to a top JD(S) leader close to Gowda family, Owaisi has already discussed the issue with JD(S) patriarch in New Delhi.

BJP State President Kummanam Rajasekharan on Tuesday began a 24-hour fast to protest against the lynching of tribal man by a mob at Attapady in Palakkad district on February 23. Rajasekharan along with other NDA leaders, their hands tied with red ribbons, staged the sit in dharna with a banner that read 'Madhu we are sorry, pardon us' and 'Kerala the land of the devils' in front of the state secretariat in Thiruvanathapuram.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated a four-limbed robot Bandicoot which is developed by a start-up of 9 youngsters to help in the cleaning process. The robot cleaned a manhole at Kerala Water Authority (KWA) premises.

The BJP's chief ministerial candidate in Karnataka BS Yeddyurappa turned 75 on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew down from New Delhi to greet him. The Prime Minister seems to have broken the rule he had set for other top BJP leaders: barring them from holding any ministerial posts once they turn 75. However, it did not stop Yeddyurappa's followers from cautioning others in the party not to mention his age in their newspaper/TV advertisements, hoardings, tweets and Facebook posts. Even the top leaders of the party, including former chief ministers DV Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar, did not mention his age in their tweets wishing him a "happy birthday".

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With the recent Bhima Koregaon violence, Una flogging and Rohith Vemula’s death haunting BJP’s ‘development for all’ agenda, the BJP ministers is going out of the way to shun the tag ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. A new addition to the list is the inclusion of ‘Panchteerth’ in the CBSE syllabus. The term is used to collectively refer to five places which portray the life history of B R Ambedkar.

Senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin insists that he is not losing sleep over making a limited-overs comeback for India and his immediate focus is on the "big responsibility" of captaining Kings XI Punjab in the upcoming Indian Premier League. Ashwin, who was appointed KXIP captain on Monday ahead of names like Yuvraj Singh and Aaron Finch in the squad, has lost his place in the Indian limited-overs side along with all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.

Agree or disagree?

Within hours of Sridevi’s death, as eulogies, fan girl accounts and obituaries were being written, several media outlets began speculating. The actress was heavily criticised for her lifestyle choices and habits. Even before the forensic report was out, some media outlets were quick to compare her ‘tragic death’ to Mona Kapoor’s, Boney's first wife. To say that Indian television channels were the most insensitive in their coverage of the actress’s death would be an understatement. In the last couple of days, a television reporter did his piece to camera by lying down in a pink bathtub. A Hindi TV channel raised an important question, ‘Kamra Number 2201 mein kya hua? (What happened in room no. 2201?).

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has suggested removing term limits for the President and Vice-President of the People's Republic of China. The immediate implication is that President Xi Jinping could conceivably continue for a third term or more in office. However, the more important one is that this sets a precedent for doing away with the norm of a two-term limit developed over the past couple of decades for the CPC General Secretary – the most powerful position Xi holds. Jabin T Jacob, a senior researcher at the Institute of Chinese Studies, decodes the Xi Jinping era.

On reel

Giving a big nostalgic hit to everyone, Mumbai's iconic Strand Book Stall is shutting down after its service of more than 70 years. Here’s the last look.

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