Daily Bulletin: Rahul to campaign in Kerala, Modi in Chhattisgarh and Odisha; SC to hear EC on politicians's 'hate speeches'; day's top stories

Rahul to campaign in Kerala, Modi in Chattisgarh, Odisha The Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party’s rallies will continue unabated on Tuesday, the last day for campaigning before Phase 2 of the Lok Sabha election on Thursday, 18 April. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to campaign in Kerala, which will vote in the phases beginning on 23 April, on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday will see a packed programme for Rahul. He is expected to hold public meetings at the grounds of St Stephens Higher Secondary School at Pathanapuram in Kollam district’s Pathanamthitta — near the Sabarimala temple — and also at stadiums in Alappuzha and Thiruvananthapuram districts. He will also visit the house of recently deceased Congress leader KM Mani in Kottayam district. [caption id=“attachment_4346011” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi. PTI[/caption] Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address rallies criss-crossing Odisha and Chhattisgarh, at Sambalpur, Korba, Bhatapara and Bhubaneswar. Significantly for the BJP, Home Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to file his nomination from Lucknow on Tuesday in the company of several leaders. He is likely to hold a road show from the party office to the collectorate. Rahul, Kejriwal in Twitter spat The spectre of the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party’s alliance in Delhi included considerable bickering between the party chiefs on Monday, as Rahul accused AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal of making a U-turn and the latter refuted his claim— all on Twitter. In a tweet on Monday, the Congress chief said the party had offered four of seven seats to AAP in Delhi in the proposed combine, while laying focus on the importance of BJP’s defeat. In response, Kejriwal said Rahul’s statement was a pretense and not a genuine wish for an alliance. “What U-turn? Talks are still on. Your tweet shows that an alliance is not your wish but just a pretence. I am disappointed by your statements. It is important to save the country from the dangers of Modi-Shah. Unfortunately, in Uttar Pradesh and other states, you are helping Modi by dividing the anti-Modi votes,” Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi. A fresh round of talks are likely to be held between AAP and Congress on Wednesday, where AAP is likely to make another proposal for a tie-up in Delhi, Haryana and Chandigarh with a seat sharing ratio of 5:2 in the National Capital. EC takes action after being pulled up by SC over ‘hate speeches’ The Supreme Court has pulled up the Election Commission on the matter of hate speeches being made by politicians on the campaign trail. The court will hear poll body officials on Tuesday morning. Soon after the Supreme Court’s observations, which included calling the Election Commission a “toothless body”, the poll panel  hardened its stance towards politicians violating the Model Code of Conduct, barring Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath from campaigning for 72 hours and Union minister Maneka Gandhi and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati for 48 hours. At a press conference before the ban came into effect, Mayawati had alleged that the poll body was acting under pressure with a hidden agenda to enforce the “unconstitutional” ban. Notre-Dame fire ‘under control’, say firefighters Firefighters on Tuesday said the blaze that had engulfed the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris had been partially extinguished and under control. The main structure of the Notre-Dame cathedral in Central Paris was saved after hours of firefighting to douse the devastating blaze, the city’s top fire official said late on Monday. Crowds of stunned Parisians and tourists had watched in horror in Central Paris on Monday night as firefighters struggled for hours to extinguish the flames. The fire ravaging the roof illuminated the outline of the monument’s two square towers in a fiery glow and were reflected in the waters of the Seine. Along the Pont au Change bridge, which connects the Ile de la Cite with the Right Bank, the atmosphere was one of a vigil as hundreds of people watched in hushed silence as smoke rose into the night sky. Jet Airways board to meet today The survival of Jet Airways remains under serious threat as its lenders, on Monday, deferred a much-anticipated decision to provide emergency funds to the carrier following a marathon meeting. This was even as its pilots’ union appealed to the lenders and the prime minister to save the airline. Jet Airways chief executive Vinay Dube, in an internal communication, said the lenders could not decide on the emergency funding, and that the board of the airline will meet on Tuesday to take a call on the future. “As you are aware, we have been working with the lenders to secure interim funding for our operations. The interim funding has not been forthcoming thus far, and as a result, we have extended cancellation of international operations until 19 April. “The current status of our engagement with the lenders and other related matters shall be placed before the board tomorrow morning (Tuesday), where the management will seek guidance from the board on the next steps forward. We will keep you updated on all critical developments,” Dube said in an email. IPL 2019: KXIP hope to regain momentum against Rajasthan Royals Kings XI Punjab will host Rajasthan Royals in the 32nd match of the Indian Premier League 2019 on Tuesday, hoping to get back to winning ways after losing back-to-back games — one against Mumbai Indians and the other, Royal Challengers Bangalore. Rajasthan, on the other hand, enter the game in a positive frame of mind, having recorded their second win of the tournament after chasing down the 188-run target set by Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium. iOS 13 to include system-wide Dark Mode and more At the Worldwide Developers Conference, 2019, Apple will unveil iOS 13 for iPhones and iPads. A development sheet, shared with 9to5Mac, shows that Apple will be implementing a system wide dark mode in iOS 13. Apart from this, we will also see a new undo gesture, font management options, improved multiple item selection, new volume HUD and more.