1. The Polling for the third phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2019 is underway for 117 constituencies across 13 states and 2 Union Territories. In this phase, single phase polling was held for 26 parliamentary constituencies of Gujarat and 20 constituencies of Kerala.
2. The Supreme Court on April 23, 2019, issued a contempt notice to Congress President Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on the Rafale judgment, which the apex court had said were “incorrectly attributed” to it. The SC bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi stated that it will hear the criminal contempt petition filed by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi against Gandhi on April 30 along with the pending review petition against the December 14 verdict in the Rafale jet deal case.
3. Actor Sunny Deol joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on April 23, 2019, at the party headquarters in New Delhi. The 62-year-old is the latest from the film fraternity to join the political brigade. According to reports, the BJP is planning to convince actor Sunny Deol to contest from Gurdaspur in Punjab, a seat that was once represented by late actor Vinod Khanna.
4. In the third phase of polls in Uttar Pradesh, the polling has begun in ten Parliamentary seats including Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Firozabad, Mainpuri, Etah, Badaun, Aonla, Bareilly and Pilibhit. Among the total 1,612 candidates in the fray this time, 120 candidates are from UP only. The key candidates in this phase include SP stalwart Mulayam Singh Yadav, Santosh Gangwar, Jaya Prada, Varun Gandhi, and Ajam Khan.
5. Former cricketer Gautam Gambhir was fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party as its candidate from the East Delhi constituency on April 22, 2019. Gambhir would be replacing Maheish Girri, BJP’s sitting Member of Parliament from the constituency. He would be pitted against former Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee President Arvinder Singh Lovely and Aam Aadmi Party’s Atishi Marlena.
6. The Indian National Congress has fielded boxer Vijender Singh from South Delhi constituency for the ongoing Lok Sabha Polls. He will be pitted against sitting BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri and AAP’s Raghav Chadha. The elections for Delhi’s seven parliamentary constituencies will be held in a single phase on May 12, 2019.
7. The World Book and Copyright Day were observed across the world on April 23, 2019, to highlight the power of books and to promote UNESCO’s vision of knowledge societies that are inclusive, pluralistic, equitable, open and participatory for all citizens.
8. The Union Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on April 22, 2019 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in research and education in areas of traditional systems of medicine and its integration with modern science.
9. The Asia Badminton Championships began at Wuhan in China. The Championship will continue till 28 April. India will be represented by Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma in men’s singles and P.V. Sindhu and Saina Nehwal in women’s singles.
10. The Reserve Bank of India has put into circulation Rs 50 denomination banknotes signed by its Governor Shaktikanta Das. The design of these notes is similar in all respects to Rs 50 banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi new series.
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