1. 'Cake war' hots up as Narayan Rane's son 'beheads' Shrihari Aney: Congress MLA Nitesh Rane cut a cake with the image of former Maharashtra Advocate General Shrihari Aney, in a symbolic gesture to oppose those favouring division of the state. Nitesh, son of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Narayan Rane, cut the cake with Aney's image while he was in Hingoli district of Marathwada, to attend an event on the Maratha reservations issue. He cut the cake in such a manner that the image of the head was severed from rest of the portion. Aney, who took over as state's Advocate General (AG) in October last year, resigned from his position last month after his comments demanding a referendum on statehood for Vidarbha created a flutter in the Maharashtra state assembly. Earlier this week, Aney had celebrated his 66th birthday by cutting a cake with an image of the Maharashtra state printed on it. Aney symbolically cut two pieces of Vidarbha and Marathwada from the cake in the presence of some of his friends and well-wishers. (PTI) 
2. Celebratory firing at cricketer Ravindra Jadeja's marriage: Cricketer Ravindra Jadeja today tied the nuptial knot with Riva Solanki here in a ceremony where a reveller opened celebratory firing in the air, prompting the police to launch an inquiry. The 27-year-old left-handed batsman, who wore a 'Sherwani' and 'Kathiawadi saafa', riding a horse, a sword dangling by his side, looked totally at ease during the marriage procession. 25-year-old Riva, a mechanical engineer and daughter of a local contractor, looked resplendent in a a red and golden bridal lehenga with ethnic Gujarati embroidery. She teamed up her wedding attire with the traditional gold jewellery having minarki detailing. Riva later changed into a peach and golden dress. As the marriage procession was moving, apparently one of Ravindra Jadeja's relatives, who was within a few feet of the horse-mounted cricketer, was seen firing in the air from his revolver. (PTI) -
3. Country will not be run according to Shariat law, says Yogi Adityanath: Controversial BJP MP Yogi Adiyanath said Muslims should "relocate" to the countries where the Shariat law is in force as he asserted that India will not be run according to that system, comments that came in wake of the AIMPLB claiming that attempts are being made to "interfere" in Shariat law through courts. "Muslims should relocate to the countries where Shariat laws are in force. "The country will be run according to the Constitution and the legal system and not according to Shariat law," the Gorakhpur MP told reporters here. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has alleged that attempts are being made to "interfere" in Shariat laws through courts and appealed to the Centre to maintain its earlier stand on the matter. (PTI)
4. Odd-even rule: BJP terrorising auto, taxi drivers to strike work, says AAP: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today alleged that BJP was trying to foil the odd-even scheme by "terrorising" a section of auto and taxi drivers into striking work Monday, which it said would benefit only the app-based cab companies like Ola and Uber. Sniffing "conspiracy" behind the proposed strike, AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha said BJP was leaving no stone unturned to make the road-rationing policy's second phase, which came into force on April 15, "a failure". "Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh, the trade union behind the strike, is BJP and RSS backed so they are resorting to all sorts of tactics to fail 'oddeven' by even threatening to violate the rules. The amount of work we have done for auto drivers is unprecedented. This is a conspiracy to fail the scheme," Jha, who is also Parliamentary Secretary to Transport Minister Gopal Rai, told reporters. (PTI) -
5. Congress backs Nitish Kumar's call for 'Sangh-mukt' (RSS-free) India, BJP hits back: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's call for an RSS-free India received support from Congress which said the saffron fountainhead was "posing a threat to the country's unity and democracy" as BJP jumped to the defence of its mentor, saying its critics should attend its 'shakha' for a day to clear their "misconceptions". The BJP said it was unfazed by Kumar's efforts to form a united front to counter it and that such attempts to stop the Modi government "from working for the development of the country and for the poor will not succeed". Maintaining that everyone was aware of the newly-elected JD(U) chief's national ambitions, BJP spokesman Shrikant Sharma took a dig at the Congress, asking party president Sonia Gandhi to make it clear if Rahul Gandhi will lead such a front or will he be just part of it. Congress backed Nitish Kumar's view that the country should be made 'Sangh-mukt' (RSS-free) as it is "posing a threat to democracy and unity". (PTI)
6. West Bengal turned into old age home by Congress, Left, TMC, says Narendra Modi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that West Bengal, specially Kolkata, had been reduced to an old age home by successive state governments formed by Congress, Left Front and Trinamool Congress, with the youths leaving for other states in search of jobs. "It feels that whether it is Congress or Left or Didi (TMC), they have all turned West Bengal into an old age home," Modi said at an election rally here. "Youths are going to other states to earn a living. Does any youth want to leave his or her old parents, their own place where they grew up amid fresh air and greenery?" he questioned. "But today youths of Bengal have to leave for some large city outside the state and take shelter in shanties and slums to earn and feed their parents owing to lack of job opportunities here," Modi said at the Shahid Minar ground in the heart of the city. (PTI) -
7. Nearly 80 pc voter turnout in phase II of West Bengal polls: West Bengal continued to witness impressive voter turnout as an estimated 79.70 per cent of over 1.2 crore electors cast their ballots in the second phase of the assembly polls in 56 constituencies today amid sporadic incidents of violence. Election Commission said in Delhi the polling was "by and large" peaceful, barring a clash between workers of rival political parties. Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena told a press conference in the national capital that the final figure would be higher as the poll percentage was based on text messages sent by polling officials from the state to Commission headquarters here at 5 pm. The state had seen massive turnout during part I and II of the phase I of assembly polls, that clocked 81 per cent and 79 per cent respectively. While 18 constituencies had gone to polls on April 4, voting was taken in 31 seats on April 11. (PTI)
8. RSS leader hails B R Ambedkar: A senior RSS leader today hailed "patriotic" BR Ambedkar who fought for ensuring country's fundamental unity with belief that its people belonged to one race and pitched for working towards realising the latter's ideology focusing on equality. Without referring to any current issue, RSS joint general secretary Krishna Gopal said that Ambedkar never spoke against the country even though he had to face insults and worked to ensure unity "without malice on his mind". "Ambedkar had said India has fundamental unity in its diversity. He said (people of) India belonged to one race. Some people had claimed that Aryans had come from outside. "Ambedkar said it was a rumour spread by Britishers as part of their design to create divide. It had malafide intention. Only a patriot can say this," Gopal said. (PTI) -
9. INS Arihant undergoing sea acceptance trails, says official: Country's first armed nuclear submarine, INS Arihant, is currently undergoing sea acceptance trails, a senior Naval official said. INS Arihant is now undergoing sea acceptance trails as it had already passed several deep sea diving drills, Flag Officer-Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command, Vice-Admiral HCS Bisht told reporters here. "The submarine will be commissioned after completing all the sea-trials," he added. INS Arihant, a 6,000-tonne submarine, is country's first indigenous nuclear submarine and can launch nuclear weapons from underwater. The vessel was built under the Advanced Technology Vessel Project at the Ship Building Centre here. (PTI)
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10. After Rs 1.15 cr swanky SUV controversy breaks, BJP's B S Yeddyurappa returns vehicle: Former Chief Minister and Karnataka unit BJP President B S Yeddyurappa has returned a Rs 1.15 crore swanky SUV given to him by a former minister and loyalist to tour the state, after questions were raised about its propriety. Yeddyurappa said he will tour the state by train. "Handling the proposed state tour in the same manner is not an issue at all for me. Hence, I have sent back the car provided by Sri Murugesh Nirani yesterday to his residence," he said in a press statement here today. The Toyota Land Cruiser Prado provided by Nirani, a sugar baron, stirred a hornet's nest after reports that the seven-seater luxury vehicle would be used by Yeddyurappa to travel around the drought-hit parts, evoking sharp criticism. (PTI)
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