NATIONAL 
EXPRESS

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that India has created a world record with 64.2 crore voters participating in the Lok Sabha Polls. Briefing media in New Delhi,  Mr Kumar said that the number is 1.5 times of the voters of all G7 countries – US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada. He said, in this Lok Sabha polls, 31.2 crore women voters cast their votes which is also the highest ever in the world. Replying to a question on conducting assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Kumar said, the commission will soon start the poll process in J&K.

North Korea has launched multiple short-range ballistic missiles, South Korea’s military said, as it continues to develop its military weaponry in breach of international sanctions. The 10 missiles were launched from the Sunan area at about 6:14am on Thursday (21:14 GMT on Wednesday) towards the east, South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said in a statement. The statement said the missiles travelled about 350 kilometres (217 miles) before ditching into the sea. The military said the launch was a “clear provocation” on the part of Pyongyang and “seriously threatens the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula”. The missile launch comes three days after North Korea’s attempt to put a second spy satellite into orbit ended in failure when the rocket carrying the equipment exploded in midair. Leader Kim Jong Un has made developing more sophisticated weaponry and military equipment a cornerstone of his efforts to modernise North Korea’s armed forces. He has deepened relations with Russia and has been accused of providing weapons for Moscow to use against Ukraine in return for Russian technological expertise. The United States, a close ally of South Korea, condemned the launch with the Indo-Pacific Command urging North Korea to “refrain from further unlawful and destabilising acts.” Pyongyang is banned from testing ballistic missiles under United Nations sanctions imposed over its nuclear programme. An official at South Korea’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations told the Yonhap news agency that the Security Council was expected to hold an open meeting on Friday in New York to discuss the failed satellite launch. Such launches are also a violation of UN sanctions because they involve similar technology to ballistic missiles. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was among those condemning Monday’s launch, urging Pyongyang to return to dialogue.

The 4th Round of the India-Bangladesh Consular Dialogue was held in New Delhi. Joint Secretary, Consular, Passport and Visa Division, Dr. Aman Puri led the Indian delegation, while the delegation from Bangladesh side was led by Director General (South Asia), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rokebul Haque. The two sides held wide-ranging discussions on mechanisms to strengthen coordination and cooperation on consular issues, visa matters, repatriation, MLAT and Extradition cases.  The two sides also agreed to further strengthen the bilateral Revised Travel Arrangement to facilitate the movement of nationals from both sides. Both sides reiterated their commitment to continue promoting people-to-people exchanges and agreed to hold the next Round of the Dialogue in Dhaka on a mutually convenient date. The India-Bangladesh Consular Dialogue mechanism was instituted in 2017 with a purpose to strengthen people to people contacts by having a regular channel of communication on consular, visa and mutual legal assistance cooperation matters between India and Bangladesh.

Families of the victims killed in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, have filed two wrongful death lawsuits: one against the firearm manufacturer and another against two technology companies, Meta and Microsoft, for their alleged role in marketing the weapon used. Friday’s pair of lawsuits came on the second anniversary of the school shooting, one of the deadliest in United States history. The gunman, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, attacked Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022, and killed 19 children and two teachers, leaving 17 more people injured. The defendant in the first lawsuit, filed in the Uvalde County District Court, is Daniel Defense, a Georgia-based weapons manufacturer that produced the rifle the gunman used. The second lawsuit, filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court, takes aim at Meta, owner of the social media platform Instagram, and the video game company Activision Blizzard, a subsidiary of Microsoft. The complaint alleges that Activision’s first-person shooter game Call of Duty played a key role in shaping the gunman’s mindset. It pointed out that the game bases its weapons on real-life models, and that the gunman played the game since he was 15 years old. all of Duty “creates a vividly realistic and addicting theater of violence in which teenage boys learn to kill with frightening skill and ease”, the lawsuit said. That, in turn, led the attacker to seek out the gun he used in the video game as soon as he turned 18, according to the suit. It also alleges that the gunman consumed pro-gun marketing on Instagram that reinforced the violent imagery he saw in the video game. “Simultaneously, on Instagram, the shooter was being courted through explicit, aggressive marketing,” the families said in a statement. “In addition to hundreds of images depicting and venerating the thrill of combat, Daniel Defense used Instagram to extol the illegal, murderous use of its weapons.” The lawsuit accuses Instagram of failing to exercise adequate oversight over its platform, thereby allowing weapons sellers to have “an unsupervised channel to speak directly to minors, in their homes, at school, even in the middle of the night”. In their statement, the families allege that Daniel Defense and the two technology companies together engaged in a “scheme that preys upon insecure, adolescent boys”. “There is a direct line between the conduct of these companies and the Uvalde shooting,” said Josh Koskoff, a lawyer representing the families. “This three-headed monster knowingly exposed him to the weapon, conditioned him to see it as a tool to solve his problems and trained him to use it.” Koskoff’s firm, Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, previously represented the families of victims killed in the 2012 school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, ultimately reaching a $73m settlement with gunmaker Remington in 2022. Daniel Defense already faces other lawsuits related to the Uvalde shooting. In an appearance before the US Congress in 2022, the company’s CEO Marty Daniels denounced the attack as “pure evil”. In a statement that same year, however, Daniels also called similar lawsuits against companies like his “frivolous” and “politically motivated”. Activision has also condemned the Uvalde shooting, saying it was “horrendous and heartbreaking in every way”. “We express our deepest sympathies to the families and communities who remain impacted by this senseless act of violence,” it said in a statement. But, it added, “millions of people around the world enjoy video games without turning to horrific acts”. A lobbying group for the video game industry, the Entertainment Software Association, also pointed out that people in other countries play video games without resorting to the levels of violence seen in the US. “We are saddened and outraged by senseless acts of violence,” the group said in a statement. “At the same time, we discourage baseless accusations linking these tragedies to video gameplay, which detract from efforts to focus on the root issues in question and safeguard against future tragedies.” Gun ownership is a prominent part of US culture, with the Second Amendment of the country’s Constitution protecting the right to “keep and bear arms”. Earlier this week, the families of the Uvalde victims reached a $2m settlement with the small Texas city, after the Department of Justice found “cascading failures” in how law enforcement responded to the shooting, due to training issues and communication problems. A separate federal lawsuit was filed on Wednesday against the 100 state police officers involved in the response to the shooting.

Assam: Due to heatwave-like conditions, several districts, including Kamrup (Metro), have announced changes in school timings to protect the students from any health issues arising from the heat. In order to avoid any ‘untoward incident’ among students, several district authorities has changed the school timings as excessive heat from last week has created concerns for the health of the students, as sweating, headaches, and other health issues may occur. It was also instructed to arrange the morning assembly inside the classroom or on the school veranda rather than in an open space or field.

Isolated rains continue to lash parts of Kerala since last evening, leaving many low lying areas inundated. An overcast sky prevails in several areas, and the Weather Office has indicated that rains are likely to continue till tomorrow. The IMD, in its latest weather report, has issued red alert in the districts of Ernakulam and Thrissur. It has issued orange alert in eight districts, including the hilly districts of Wayanad, Idukki and Pathanamthitta. The Weather Department said, under the influence of the cyclonic circulation over South Kerala and its neighbourhood, a low pressure area has formed over South East Arabian Sea off Kerala coast. Strong westerly or south westerly winds at lower levels is likely to continue over Kerala and Lakshadweep region till tomorrow, and under its influence, extremely heavy rainfall activity is likely to occur.

The first batch of 60 Indian nationals rescued by Indian Embassy in Cambodia from fraudulent employers returned to India yesterday. In a social media post, the Embassy of India in Phnom Penh thanked the Cambodian authorities for their support. It assisted the 60 victims of fraudulent employment to return home, and helped with the legal paperwork.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has ordered the opening of an embassy in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo told journalists. “President Petro has given the order that we open the Colombian embassy in Ramallah, the representation of Colombia in Ramallah, that is the next step we are going to take,” Murillo said on Wednesday. Murillo added he believes more countries will soon begin backing the recognition of a Palestinian state before the United Nations, efforts Colombia has already supported. At the beginning of this month, Petro, who had already recalled the Colombian ambassador from Tel Aviv, said he would break diplomatic relations with Israel over its war on Gaza. The embassy was closed on May 3. A left-wing leader who came to power in 2022, Petro is considered part of a progressive wave known as the “pink tide” in Latin America. He has been one of the region’s most vocal critics of Israel since the start of the war. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Petro of being “antisemitic and full of hate” following Colombia’s decision to cut ties with Israel, alleging the move was a reward for Hamas. In October, just days after the conflict began, Israel said it was “halting security exports” to Colombia after Petro accused Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant of using language similar to what the “Nazis said of the Jews”. In April, Petro also requested to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice. “Colombia’s ultimate goal in this endeavour is to ensure the urgent and fullest possible protection for Palestinians in Gaza, in particular such vulnerable populations as women, children, persons with disabilities and the elderly,” the government said. Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, serves as the administrative capital of the Palestinian Authority. Colombia, Bolivia and Chile have cut ties with Israel On May 10, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly backed a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognising it as qualified to join and recommended the UN Security Council “reconsider the matter favorably.” Israeli attacks on Gaza since the start of the war have killed at least 35,647 people and 79,852 wounded others, with thousands more missing under the rubble and presumed dead. Israel launched its assault on the besieged territory after a Hamas-led attack in southern Israel killed about 1,140 people. Colombia was not the first Latin American country to cut ties with Israel. Bolivia broke relations with Israel at the end of October last year while several other countries in Latin America, including Chile and Honduras, have recalled their ambassadors.

Prime Minister and Senior BJP Leader Narendra Modi has said that in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, corruption was the main issue, while in 2019, it was the beneficiaries and in 2024, the main issue is Viksit Bharat. In an interview to an English Daily, Mr Modi said, people across the country know that this is an important election which will ensure that we reach Viksit Bharat at the speed of the country’s aspirations. He claimed that in 2024, his key voters from the previous two campaigns will stick with them. The Prime Minister said, in this 2024 election, the anti-corruption voter is with him and so is the beneficiary voter. He said, along with it, a large section of the society which wants India to progress rapidly is also firmly backing him and BJP. Mr Modi said, India in recent years, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, has managed to emerge as one of the fastest-growing major economies. He said, be it banking, foreign direct investment, compliances, corporate taxation, income taxes or even fiscal policy, the reforms by his Government has spanned across various sectors and as a result, from Fragile Five the country have reached in the Top Five Economies.

Dharitri Rout, hailing from the state of Odisha, has been honored with the prestigious Rabindra Ratna Puraskar 2024 award. This esteemed recognition has been bestowed upon her in acknowledgment of her outstanding contributions to the field of social work. Serving as the secretary of the Women's Organization for Socio-Cultural Awareness (WOSCA), Dharitri Rout has played a pivotal role in spearheading various initiatives aimed at uplifting the socio-economic status of the underprivileged, vulnerable, and marginalized individuals within society. The Women's Organization for Socio-Cultural Awareness (WOSCA) is an exceptional organization that has been making remarkable strides in the realm of social work. Led by the capable and dedicated Dharitri Rout, WOSCA has been instrumental in addressing the pressing issues faced by the impoverished sections of society. Through their multifaceted approach, the organization has been actively involved in empowering women, promoting cultural awareness, and fostering socio-economic development. Dharitri Rout's leadership within the organization has been nothing short of exemplary. Her unwavering commitment to the cause and her ability to inspire and mobilize others have made her an invaluable asset not only to WOSCA but also to the nation as a whole. Her tireless efforts in championing the rights and well-being of the marginalized communities have garnered widespread recognition and admiration. Dharitri Rout's dedication and passion for social work serve as an inspiration to others, encouraging them to actively contribute to the betterment of society. The partnership between Dharitri Rout and WOSCA has led to the implementation of numerous programs and projects that focus on empowering women, advocating for social justice, and fostering a sense of community belonging. Their collaborative approach has enabled them to reach a wider audience and create a more significant impact on society. By working together, they have been able to amplify their voices and bring attention to important social issues that require immediate attention and action. Dharitri Rout and WOSCA's commitment to social work is evident in their tireless efforts to create a more inclusive and equitable society for all. Their dedication to promoting socio-cultural awareness and advocating for positive change has inspired many others to join their cause and work towards a better future. Through their collaborative efforts, they continue to be the face of social work, leading by example and making a lasting impact on the communities they serve.

India has climbed to the 39th position in the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Development Index 2024, while US topped the list. India also ranks the highest in South Asia among the lower-middle-income economies. Earlier, India was ranked 54th in 2021 published index. On an overall index score of 7, where 1 is the worst, and 7 the best, India scored 4.25. India’s significant leap in the rankings underscores its growing competitiveness in the global tourism landscape. The biennial index analyzed the travel and tourism sectors of 119 countries, evaluating them on a range of factors and policies that foster tourism development.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has apologised for the infection of around 30,000 people with contaminated blood products, and the failure to address the problem. Addressing the House of Commons yesterday, Mr Sunak apologised on behalf of successive governments and declared it was a day of national shame. Following the publication of the findings of Sir Brian Langstaff’s inquiry report, he also promised to pay comprehensive compensation to those infected and those affected by the scandal. He said that a scheme in this regard will be shared today. It is worth recalling that a damning 2,527-page inquiry concluded that the contaminated blood scandal in the UK which has caused more than 3,000 deaths, could largely, though not entirely, have been avoided. The report said that a catalogue of failures by successive governments and doctors caused the calamity, in which tens of thousands of patients with haemophilia and other bleeding disorders were infected with HIV and hepatitis viruses after receiving infected blood and blood products between the 1970s and early 1990s.