Canada expels six Indian diplomats, links them to Nijjar killing | Top News of Oct 15, 2024

[00:00:09] This is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. I'm your host, Swati Ajad and these are the major news stories of Tuesday, Oct 15, 2024.

[00:00:20] The Election Commission of India announced on Tuesday that the Assembly polls in Maharashtra will be held in a single phase on November 20, while the Chharkhan polls will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20.

[00:00:31] By-elections to 47 Assembly seats and the Vainal Lok Sabha seat will be held on November 13.

[00:00:38] Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, including the High Commissioner on Monday, linking them to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader and alleging a broader effort to target Indian descendants in Canada.

[00:00:49] Israel, which began incursions into South Lebanon two weeks ago to battle Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, issued military evacuation orders affecting more than a quarter of the country, the UN Refugee Agency said on Tuesday.

[00:01:02] China announced plans to launch a manned lunar mission, construct a lunar space station and explore habitable planets and extraterrestrial life to expand its space program in the next few decades.

[00:01:14] Kannur additional district magistrate Naveen Babu was found dead at his residence a day after a CPM leader-gate crashed his farewell meeting and accused him of taking a bribe.

[00:01:23] Let's get into the details.

[00:01:25] The Assembly polls in Maharashtra will be held in a single phase on November 20, while Charkhan polls will be held in two phases on November 13 and 20, the Election Commissioner of India announced on Tuesday.

[00:01:36] The votes for the last two states will be counted on November 23.

[00:01:40] There are 9.63 crore eligible voters in Maharashtra, while the number of eligible voters in Charkhan is 2.6 crore, Chief Election Commissioner Raji Kumar said at a press conference.

[00:01:49] By-elections to 47 Assembly seats and the Vainal Lok Sabha seat will be held on November 13.

[00:01:56] Canada expelled six Indian diplomats, including the High Commissioner on Monday linking them to the murder of a six separatist leader and alleging a broader effort to target Indian descendants in Canada.

[00:02:06] Earlier in the day, India retaliated by ordering the expulsion of six high-ranking Canadian diplomats, including the acting High Commissioner, and said it had withdrawn its envoy from Canada, contradicting Canada's statement of expulsion.

[00:02:17] The diplomatic role represents a major deterioration of relations between the two Commonwealth countries.

[00:02:23] Ties have been frayed since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last year he had evidence linking Indian agents to the assassination of Sikh leader Hardit Singh Najjar on Canadian territory.

[00:02:34] Israel, which began incursions into South Lebanon two weeks ago to battle Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, has issued military evacuation orders affecting more than a quarter of the country, the UN Refugee Agency said on Tuesday.

[00:02:46] The figures underscore the heavy price Lebanese are paying as Israel steps up its campaign to defeat Hezbollah and destroy its infrastructure in their one-year conflict.

[00:02:55] Israeli strikes have killed at least 2,309 people over the last year, the Lebanese government said, and more than 1.2 million people have been displaced.

[00:03:04] The majority have been killed since late September when Israel expanded its military campaign.

[00:03:09] The toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

[00:03:13] China on Tuesday announced plans to launch a manned Luna mission, construct Luna space station and explore habitable planets and extraterrestrial life to expand its space program in the next few decades.

[00:03:24] China's top space bodies unveiled a national mid- and long-term development program for space science which will guide the country's planning of space and science missions and space research from 2024 to 2050.

[00:03:34] An established space power, China in recent years built its own space station which is currently in operation besides launching several space missions including a Luna probe that collected samples for the first time from the far side of the moon and brought them back to Earth for scientific studies.

[00:03:50] Karnu Deputy Collector and Additional District Magistrate, Naveen Babu was found dead at his residence on Tuesday.

[00:03:56] He was found hanging.

[00:03:57] The reason for suicide is unknown.

[00:03:59] After his transfer to another office, the staff arranged a farewell meeting for Naveen Babu.

[00:04:04] Karnu, district Panchayat President PP Divya, a popular CPM leader, reportedly arrived at the meeting uninvited and allegedly made some incriminating statements against the ADM in the presence of the media.

[00:04:15] Ajit Kumar, Karnu City Police Commissioner, said Naveen Babu was found hanging in his bedroom.

[00:04:20] Revenue Minister K. Rajan called Naveen Babu an honest official and said that the government had not received any complaint against him.

[00:04:25] The Congress, the Indian Union Muslim League and the BGP took out protest marches to the district Panjaiat office demanding the resignation of Divya and a police case against her abetting the death of the ADM.

[00:04:36] Regardless of their political affiliations, the government employs to count a united protest in the Karnu Collectorate demanding action against Divya.

[00:04:44] That brings us to the end of this episode.

[00:04:46] Thanks for listening to Daily News Doze, hosted by me, Swati Ajit and produced by Vishnu Murleitharan.

[00:04:52] Follow www.onmarm.com for detailed updates on the latest news and be sure to come back tomorrow.