Daily Bulletin: Modi, Priyanka, Kejriwal to all campaign in Delhi today; SC to hear plea on PM's Rajiv Gandhi remark; day's top stories

BJP, Congress to converge in Delhi in major show of strength today Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address a rally at Ramleela Maidan in the National Capital  on Wednesday, which is expected to be attended by thousands of Bharatiya Janata Party workers and supporters. All seven of the BJP’s Delhi candidates are expected to be present at the campaign in the major show of strength. Modi is expected to address the rally around 5 pm. Before Delhi, the prime minister will make stops at Fatehabad and Kurukshetra in Haryana, where he is expected to address rallies at 11.30 am and 1.35 pm, respectively. [caption id=“attachment_6590941” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] PM Narendra Modi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi. Twitter/@BJP4India and PTI[/caption] The Congress campaign, too, will focus on Delhi on Wednesday, with party  general secretary Priyanka Gandhi scheduled to hold two roadshows in the city in the evening. The first will start at Brahmpuri Pulia, in the North East Delhi Lok Sabha seat, and end at Yamuna Vihar DTC bus depot. The second road show, which will coincide with Modi’s rally, will begin at Valmiki Marg, which falls under the South Delhi Lok Sabha seat, and end at Mehroli Badarpur Road. Priyanka’s brother and Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be in Madhya Pradesh, with public meetings scheduled in Bhind, Morena and Gwalior through the day. Also holding a roadshow in Delhi will be chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal . SC to hear Congress plea against Modi’s ‘bhrashtachari number one’ remark The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, will hear a plea filed by Congress MP Sushmita Dev on Modi’s “bhrashtachari number one” remark against former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. In her plea, Dev said the comment was unbecoming of the high post Modi holds and pointed out that the Election Commission has failed to act against the prime minister and BJP chief Amit Shah in all previous cases. The Election Commission, on Tuesday,  gave a clean chit to Modi for this remark on Rajiv. The Congress had claimed that the comment violated the Model Code of Conduct. “The speech mentioned in this complaint has been examined with a view to identify instances of violation of the Model Code of Conduct. Prima facie, we did not figure out any literal violation of the Model Code of Conduct as given in the Election Commission of India instructions. The case is, therefore, disposed of,” ANI quoted poll panel sources as having said. The apex court will also hear two more cases related to the Lok Sabha election — one on alleged poll code violations by both Modi and Shah and the other, a plea by former Border Security Forces constable Tej Bahadur Yadav against the rejection of his nomination from the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency. Cyclone Fani: Toll rises to 37, Odisha seeks Centre’s help to restore power, telecom services The Odisha government  on Tuesday sought the Centre’s help to restore power and telecom services in Puri and Khurda districts, worst hit by Cyclone Fani, due to shortage of skilled manpower, an official told PTI. The state has to install as many as 1.56 lakh electric poles. According to an official, the toll in the cyclone, which hit the state on Friday, rose to 37 on Tuesday, with two more deaths reported in Cuttack district, as the struggle to restore power, drinking water supply and telecom infrastructure continued. While 21 people died in Puri district, Cuttack reported five deaths, followed by four cases each from Jajpur and Mayurbhanj districts. Kendrapara district reported three deaths, Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi said. Nirav Modi set for fresh bail plea in UK court Fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi will file a third bail plea on Wednesday before a UK court, which has already rejected his appeals for bail twice, as he fights against extradition to India in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case amounting to up to $2 billion. Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot is scheduled to hear the third bail application at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London. It remains unconfirmed whether Modi will appear in person or via video link from Wandsworth Prison in southwest London, where the 48-year-old has been lodged since his arrest in March. His barrister, Clare Montgomery, will seek to convince the judge of a change of circumstances to seek bail for a third time at the same court. Mike Pompeo in Baghdad on unannounced visit US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in Baghdad late on Tuesday on an unannounced visit, an Iraqi government source told AFP, cancelling a trip to Germany amid escalating US-Iran tensions. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the high security nature of the visit, said Pompeo was set to meet Prime Minister of Iraq Adel Abdel Mahdi. The visit comes two days after the US announced it was dispatching an aircraft carrier strike group and bomber task force to West ASia to send a “clear and unmistakeable” message to Iran. Confident Trailblazers will battle it out against Velocity in day game The Trailblazers will look to book a berth in the finals as they face Mithali Raj-led Velocity in the second game of the Women’s T20 Challenge on Wednesday in Jaipur. Velocity is the third and the latest addition to the competition, who will playing their maiden match. The clash is scheduled to start at 3.30 pm. Depleted by lack of foreign stars DC, SRH to lock horns in IPL game Shreyas Iyer’s Delhi Capitals will be looking to extend their excellent away form as they face Sunrisers Hyderabad in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. Both teams will miss their ace international stars in Kagiso Rabada (DC) and David Warner (SRH) for the key encounter. The winner will set a date with defending champions Chennai Super Kings in the second qualifier. Pixel 3a and 3a XL go on sale today Google’s latest devices are the next budget Pixel smartphones, the Pixel 3a and 3a XL. They will start at prices of Rs 39,999 and Rs 44,999, respectively, and will be available exclusively on Flipkart.