Top stories on 28 November in a capsule
Mizoram, MP vote amid allegations of EVM malfunctioning
Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram went to polls on Wednesday with the BJP and Shivraj Singh Chouhan seeking a fourth term in the former, while the Congress fought hard to save one of its last bastions in the latter. Voter turnout reached 74.61 per cent in Madhya Pradesh, whereas 75 per cent voters exercised their voting rights in Mizoram till 6:00 pm. Voters will elect representatives for 230 seats in the Madhya Pradesh State Assembly, and 40 seats in the Mizoram State Assembly. A total of 2,899 candidates are in the poll fray from Madhya Pradesh, whereas 209 candidates have thrown their hat in the ring for the Mizoram polls. Three employees lost their lives due to health reasons while performing their poll duties in Dhar, Indore and Guna districts, MP's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) VL Kantha Rao said. As many as 745 EVMs and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail machines were reported to have malfunctioned and replaced Wednesday in Madhya Pradesh, where voting for the Assembly elections is underway, a senior poll official said.
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Jammu-Kashmir governor hints at possible transfer, a day after 'pressure to place Lone' remark
A day after a video surfaced showing Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik claiming that the Central government asked him to place People’s Conference leader Sajjad Lone as the new Chief Minister, Satya Pal Malik on Wednesday hinted at a possible transfer. Speaking at an event marked to honour late senior Congress leader Girdhari Lal Dogra in Kashmir, Governor Malik said, “It is not in my hands. But the threat of transfer is there. But as long as I am here, people can call me.” Governor Malik’s comment on Tuesday created an uproar with PDP’s chief Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference’s Omar Abdullah lauding him for being honest. The Raj Bhawan, however issued a statement on Tuesday itself, citing ‘there was no pressure from the Centre and media agencies are misinterpreting the Governor’s words.’
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SC judges can resign, govt will bring law on Ram Mandir: RSS leader
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sena (RSS) leader Indresh Kumar on Tuesday criticized the Supreme Court for failing to come to a decision on the Ram Janmaboomi- Babri Masjid issue and said the judges in the bench can quit. Addressing an audience at ‘Janmabhoomi mein anyay kyun’ seminar which was organised by the Joshi Foundation in Punjab University, Kumar said, “If they are not ready to deliver justice, they should think if they want to remain judges or resign.” Kumar also went on to add that if the top court does not come on a consensus then the BJP government will bring in a law for construction of Ram Mandir. The SC in October decided that it will hear the case on January 2019 and cancelled all urgent pleas.
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Indonesian Plane had tech issues, was not 'airworthy', reveals report
The preliminary report regarding the Indonesian Airlines Lion air that crashed on 29 October and killed over 180 was released on Wednesday, revealing that the aircraft had technical problems which were not repaired before it took the fatal journey. Formulated by the National Transport Safety Committee (KNKT), the report said that the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft flew for the second last time to Denpasar, Bali to Jakarta where it had already started experiencing technical issues. But Lion Air kept putting the aircraft into service, leading to the crash in Java Sea just 13 minutes after it took off from Jakarta for Pangkal Pinang. “The plane was no longer airworthy and it should not have flown," Nurcahyo Utomo, head of KNKT told news agencies. Utomo further described that the flight nose-dived towards the ground at an abnormal rate though the pilot tried to keep it at a height.
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BCCI acting sec to probe how Mithali Raj's letter was leaked to media
The Board of Cricket Council in India (BCCI) official on Wednesday reacted to media reports that featured Indian women's One-day International (ODI) cricket team skipper Mithali Raj’s email to the body that had accused head coach Ramesh Powar and Committee of Administrators (CoA) board member Dina Edulji of humiliating her. As per news reports BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary wrote to CEO Rahul Johri and General Manager, Cricket Operations, Saba Karim citing that he was ‘taken aback’ and demanded an explanation as to how Raj’s letter was leaked to the media. On Tuesday, Raj in an email published in several news reports defined that her exclusion from the World T20I in West Indies in the semi-final match against England had left her ‘baffling and hurtful.’
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