Top stories on 9 May in a capsule

9 People killed, 4 Injured in UP thunderstorm

A thunderstorm lashed parts of western Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, killing nine people and injuring four others a week after a freak weather system had battered the region. Four people died in Etawah district, three in Mathura and one in Agra in mishaps related to Wednesday evening's thunderstorm, Principal Secretary Information Avanish Awasthi told reporters. Awasthi said the district magistrates have been asked to distribute relief among the storm-hit people immediately or latest by tomorrow morning.Thunderstorms and lightning on May 2-3 had killed at least 134 people and injured more than 400 in five states, the Home Ministry said

Fake voter IDs found a planned work to 'induce' voters: EC

The Election Commission on Wednesday said that the material found from a flat in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, in Bengaluru might have been a 'planned work over a period of time to survey and locate vulnerable electors and induce them through middlemen.' News reports quoting the poll panel said apart from 9,896 voter ID cards, 6,342 voter application acknowledgement receipt with Bangalore's municipal corporations seals and another 20,700 without the seals were also found. As per the EC, the IDs appeared 'genuine' as "detailed survey formats with family number names, electricity meter numbers, mobile details, caste," and other details were found from the spot. Karnataka’s chief electoral officer Sanjiv Kumar also informed that a Deputy Election Commissioner official was being rushed from Delhi to Bengaluru to initiate a detailed probe.

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Prof accused of sexual harassment will not teach this year:ACJ

A day after reports of sexual harassment allegations against Asian College of Journalism (ACJ) professor Sadanand Menon were level in public, the media institute revered now of the best in the country issued a statement saying Menon had decided to "not teach his elective course for the coming academic year". The statement added that Menon was considering legal action against media organisations that published “false and defamatory allegations against him.” Menon came under the scanner after in October 2017, a law student published a list of alleged sexual predators in Indian universities naming 58 academicians in as many as 29 institutions, research centres and universities, and included Menon's name on it.


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North Korea releases three jailed American students ahead of summit

Ahead of the historical summit to be held between North Korea and the United States, three Americans who were jailed in Pyongyang were released on Wednesday by the North Korean government as a ‘gesture of goodwill.’ The apparent move comes after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met North Korea’s Supreme Kim Jong-un last week. The jail of the three Korean-American missionaries was one of the sensitive topics preluding the summit. The three individuals Kim Dong- Chul, Kim Sang Duk were teaching at the foreign funded Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, while Kim Has song was a student in it. According to North Korea state media they were arrested for 'subversion or hostile acts against the government' in 2017. The pressure to release the three built after Otto Wambier, another American student jailed by the NK government for 17 months, died three days after he was freed in June 2017.

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Taj Mahal infested with insects, what are you doing?: SC asks ASI

The Supreme Court on Wednesday came down heavily on the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for not taking care of the Taj Mahal. The bench of Justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta expressed concern over the iconic monument being infested with insects and asked the ASI what have they done to prevent it. “This situation would not have arisen if the ASI had done its job. You (Centre) please consider if the ASI is needed there or not,” the apex court told Additional Solicitor General ANS Nadkarni, appearing for the Centre. The ASI in its defense said the insects in Taj Mahal were due to stagnation of water.
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How can someone declare themselves PM contender? What arrogance: PM Modi 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday mocked Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s readiness to be PM in 2019 and said the latter’s ambition is nothing but ‘arrogance’. Modi's attack came a day after Gandhi said he was ready to occupy the PM's post if his party emerged as the ‘biggest’ party in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The Prime Minister asked the gathering whether it was not a reflection of the Congress president's ‘arrogance’. He also wanted to know whether it did not show the state of internal democracy in the Congress party. He was giving a speech in poll-bound Karnataka, will elections coming up on 12th May.
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Army officers send legal notice to Akshay Kumar and Twinkle

Former Army officer Lt Col Sandeep Ahlawat and his batch-mates have sent a legal notice to Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna for auctioning the costume of Rustom as a ‘naval officer’s uniform. On April 26, Twinkle Khanna had initiated an online charity auction for famous movie costume to support the cause of animal welfare. On April 29, Sandeep Ahlawat had reacted angrily to Twinkle Khanna’s charity auction initiative and threatened her with physical violence. “If you even make a feeble attempt to auction this piece of costume in the garb of “UNIFORM” then I will drag to the court. You may like to check my credentials. You touch our honor and we will give you a bloody nose,” Ahlawat had written on Facebook. 

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Walmart loses $10 billion after Flipkart takeover announcement

Walmart Inc has agreed to pay $16 billion for a roughly 77 percent stake in Indian online shopping site Flipkart, in the world’s largest e-commerce deal. Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal will exit the company post the deal, selling his 5.5% stake to the company. Discussions of this deal started in 2016 when Walmart intended to buy just a small stake in the Indian e-commerce firm.
This deal has given nightmares to both online and informal retail sector. Walmart, a $500 billion giant, has a reputation for killing small businesses with really low prices. They fear that Walmart might bring in its own private labels via Flipkart to the Indian consumers, adding to more competition. Walmart has 21 independent stores in India.
Soon after the deal was announced, Walmart's shares tanked 4% and the company lost $10 billion in market cap.
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Arrest owner of the flat where fakes voter IDs were found: BJP

The BJP and Congress engaged in a war of words on Wednesday over 9,746 fake voter IDs registered under people from Rajarajeshwari Nagar were found in a Bengaluru flat. Both the parties alleged that the accused owner of the flat Nirmala Nanjamari belonged to other. Holding a press conference on the matter, Union Minister Prakash Javedakar said, “The BJP demands three things- countermand Rajarajeshwari polls, initiate probe and arrest Nanjamari.” The PM also jumped to attack the Congress by saying the Grand Old Party is scared and is spreading lies in a bid for a hung assembly in the state. Meanwhile, the Congress demanded an apology from the PM for the allegations and called it an incident ‘managed by the BJP.’
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ISIS attackers kill 8 in Kabul, use suicide bombers and gunfire

At least 8 were killed and 6 were injured as two ISIS suicide attackers with bombs ripped through Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Wednesday. One explosion occurred near a police headquarters in Kabul's Dashte Barchi area and another reportedly killed guards at a Visa office affiliated with the Indian embassy. Soon after, gunfire was exchanged between the security forces and the attackers. Confirming the kills, Afghan Interior Ministry said, "Two attackers who tried to enter the police compound were shot dead." The attack comes nine days after 30 people were killed including 10 journalists, in what was described as ‘the darkest day for media.’
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Modi 9th in Forbes most powerful 100 list 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday was ranked among the top 10 most powerful people in the world by Forbes. Modi, 67, is ahead of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (ranked 13), the United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May (14), and Apple CEO Tim Cook (24). Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, with a net worth of 41.2 billion dollars, is the only other Indian on the power list, ranking 32nd. Forbes said Modi "remains hugely popular" in the second most populous country on earth. It cited Modi government's November 2016 decision to eliminate India's two largest banknotes in a bid to reduce money laundering and corruption. He has also emerged as a key figure in the international effort to tackle climate change, as warming affects millions of his country's rural citizens," Forbes said.

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