Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. Tune in to get updated about the major news stories of the day.
[00:00:10] Hello, this is your Daily Dose of News from Onmanorama.
[00:00:14] I am your host Vishnu and these are the major news stories of Friday, May 24th, 2024.
[00:00:23] The Supreme Court refused to issue the Election Commission's directions to upload polling
[00:00:26] station-wise voter turnout data on its website during the Lok Sabha polls and said it would
[00:00:31] be difficult for the poll panel to mobilize manpower.
[00:00:37] At least 21 international organizations wrote to Chief Justice G.Y.
[00:00:41] Chandracharya and requested the Supreme Court to speedily resolve the pending case filed
[00:00:45] by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence investigating the Adani Group firms for alleged
[00:00:50] overvaluation of Indonesian coal imports.
[00:00:56] The Israeli military claimed on Friday to have recovered the bodies of three hostages
[00:01:00] taken into the Gaza Strip after they were killed during the October 7 attack by Hamas-led
[00:01:04] militants.
[00:01:08] The first information report in the Thane chemical factory blast, which killed nine
[00:01:13] and injured over 60, revealed that the owners' new lapses might lead to an explosion.
[00:01:17] They were booked for culpable homicide.
[00:01:22] Heavy rains continue to lash Kerala with parts of the state receiving over 200 millimeters
[00:01:26] of rain in the last 24 hours and places in major cities including Kuchi and Trishul
[00:01:31] remaining waterlogged on Friday.
[00:01:33] Let's get into the details.
[00:01:38] The Supreme Court on Friday refused an NGO's plea to issue the Election Commission
[00:01:42] to upload polling station-wise voter turnout data on its website during the Lok Sabha polls,
[00:01:47] saying a hands-off approach needs to be adopted during the elections.
[00:01:51] A vacation bench of Justices Dibankar Dutta and Sadiq Chandracharma said it cannot
[00:01:56] issue any such detections at the moment as five phases of polling have concluded
[00:02:00] and two remain and it would be difficult for the poll panel to mobilize manpower.
[00:02:05] On May 17, the top court had sought within a week the EC's response on the NGO's
[00:02:09] plea seeking a detection to upload polling station-wise voter turnout data on its website
[00:02:14] within 48 hours of the conclusion of polling for each phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
[00:02:19] The poll panel in its affidavit said there was no legal mandate to provide Form 17C
[00:02:24] to any person other than the candidate or his agent.
[00:02:27] It has said that public posting of Form 17C which gives the number of votes polled
[00:02:30] in a polling station is not provided in the statutory framework and could lead
[00:02:34] to mischief and vitiations of the entire electoral space as it increases the possibility
[00:02:39] of the images being morphed.
[00:02:44] At least 21 international organizations have written to Chief Justice J.Y. Chandrachad
[00:02:48] and requested the Supreme Court to speedily resolve the pending case filed by the
[00:02:52] Directorate of Revenue Intelligence investigating Adani Group firms for alleged overvaluation
[00:02:56] of Indonesian coal imports.
[00:02:59] The letter comes after a report by the London-based Financial Times citing documents
[00:03:03] from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, alluded to a fraud
[00:03:07] by the Adani Group by selling low-grade coal as high-value fuel in 2013.
[00:03:12] Contenting that they stand firmly against the continued use of fossil fuels, the
[00:03:16] organization said the Financial Times report provided fresh and detailed evidence of the
[00:03:20] passing off of low-quality coal as far more expensive cleaner fuel by the Adani
[00:03:25] Group in transactions with Tamil Nadu's Tangent Co.
[00:03:28] While the Adani Group has denied all allegations, the news report has been cited
[00:03:32] by opposition leaders including former Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi to demand a joint
[00:03:36] parliamentary committee probe into the alleged wrongdoing.
[00:03:39] In March 2016, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence initiated a probe against a few
[00:03:44] Adani Group companies for alleged overvaluation of coal imports from Indonesia between 2011
[00:03:49] and 2015.
[00:03:53] The Israeli military said on Friday it had recovered the bodies of three hostages
[00:03:57] taken into the Gaza Strip after they were killed during the October 7 attack by Hamas-led
[00:04:01] militants.
[00:04:03] It said the bodies of Hanna Nyablonka, Michel Nissenbaum and Orion Hernandez-Radu
[00:04:08] were recovered overnight in a joint operation by the Army and the Intelligence Services in
[00:04:12] Jabalia in northern Gaza where there has been intense fighting in recent days.
[00:04:17] Military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Haghari said Israel was determined to bring
[00:04:21] back the remaining hostages still held in Gaza.
[00:04:24] The Families Forum, a group that represents families of the hostages, called on the
[00:04:27] government to increase efforts for an agreement to get back the remaining hostages
[00:04:31] still held in Gaza.
[00:04:33] Talks brokered by Qatar and Egypt to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal have
[00:04:37] stalled.
[00:04:38] Israel says it is willing to negotiate only a temporary pause to the fighting while Hamas
[00:04:41] says it will release hostages only as part of a deal that would end the war with
[00:04:45] Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
[00:04:48] Hamas-led gunmen abdicated around 250 Israeli and foreign hostages and killed 1,200
[00:04:53] people during the attack on communities around the Gaza Strip on October 7, according
[00:04:57] to Israeli tallies.
[00:04:59] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared securing their return as one of
[00:05:02] Israel's main war aims.
[00:05:05] Some 130 hostages remain after a deal that secured the release of around half of them
[00:05:08] in November.
[00:05:10] In response to the October 7 attack, Israel has launched a relentless campaign in Gaza
[00:05:14] that has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health authorities,
[00:05:19] and destroyed much of the densely built-up enclave.
[00:05:24] The Dombivli chemical company, where a blast killed 9 and injured over 60, had
[00:05:28] not taken precautions over the mixing and storage of compounds knowing well that
[00:05:32] any lapses might lead to an explosion, according to the FIR.
[00:05:36] The first information report names company owners Malti Pratib Mehta, Mayal Pratib Mehta
[00:05:40] and other detectors, management staff and officials who were supervising the factory.
[00:05:46] They have been booked for culpable homicide and other charges.
[00:05:49] The FIR was registered by the Manpada police in Maharashtra's Thane district around
[00:05:53] 1.50 am on Friday, nearly 12 hours after a blast ripped through the unit of
[00:05:57] Amudan chemicals located in phase 2 of the Dombivli-MIDC area.
[00:06:02] According to the FIR, some more people might be buried under the rubble of the
[00:06:05] factory that collapsed due to a blast in its boiler.
[00:06:10] Heavy rains continue to lash Kerala with parts of the state receiving over 200mm
[00:06:15] of rain in the last 24 hours and places in major cities including Kochi and Trishu,
[00:06:19] remaining waterlogged on Friday.
[00:06:21] As the southern state reels under the impact of heavy pre-monsoon rains,
[00:06:25] the India Meteorological Department issued an orange alert for Patanandita, Kottayam
[00:06:29] and Iddike districts.
[00:06:30] A red alert indicates heavy to extremely heavy rain of over 20cm in 24 hours,
[00:06:35] while an orange alert denotes very heavy rainfall of 11cm to 20cm,
[00:06:40] and a yellow alert means heavy rainfall between 6cm and 11cm.
[00:06:44] Revenue Minister K. Rajan, who met the media, said a total of 11 people have
[00:06:48] lost their lives in the state in various recent rain-related incidents.
[00:06:54] That brings us to the end of this episode.
[00:06:56] Thanks for listening to Daily News Tours,
[00:06:58] hosted and produced by M.E. Vishnu Murlidharan with technical support from IW Studios.
[00:07:02] Follow www.onmonautoma.com for detailed updates on the latest news
[00:07:06] and be sure to come back tomorrow.