In accordance to the rising temperatures in Bihar, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has extended the voting hours for the upcoming three phases of the parliamentary polls at 1,700 polling places spread across four parliamentary seats, Banka, Madhepura, Khagaria, and Munger. The extension of the voting hours was announced by poll officials on Wednesday.

Polling generally takes place from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. in most parts of the country, however, in certain isolated locations and in constituencies impacted by left-wing extremism, polls close two hours early to allow polling parties to move around easily.

The ECI gazette notification said the dates for the parliamentary constituencies of Banka (Katoria and Belhar assembly segments), which will hold elections on April 26, Madhepura (Mahishi assembly segment), Khagaria (Simri Bakhtiyarpur, Alauli, and Beldaur assembly segments), where voting will take place on May 7, and Munger (Suryagarha assembly segment), which will hold final phase elections on May 13, have been extended.

The voting period has been extended by two hours for a total of 299 polling stations in Simri Bakhtiarpur, 191 polling stations in Belhar AC of Banka, 172 polling stations in Katoria Assembly Constituency (AC) and 191 polling stations in Belhar AC of Banka, 207 booths in Mahishi AC of Madhepura seat, and 230 polling stations in Suryagarha AC of Munger.

In an effort to boost voter turnout, which fell to 49.26% in the first phase of polling on April 19 in Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada, and Jamui from 53.47% in 2019 by 4.21%, the timing has also been extended.

Meanwhile, during the course of the next several days, temperatures in the southern states, namely Kerala and Karnataka, are predicted to rise by 2-3°C. In Southern Karnataka, where up to 14 constituencies are scheduled to vote in Phase 2, a heatwave warning has been issued. It is predicted to affect the districts of Tumkur, Davangere, Vijayapura, Yadgir, Koppal, Bagalkote, Kalaburgi, Raichur, Ballari, Chitradurga, Kolar, Chikkaballapura, Gadag, and Davangere.

The EC stated that a likely factor influencing voter turnout is the increase in temperature.

Arunachal Pradesh got hit by a massive landslide on Thursday, which destroyed a section of a roadway connecting the border with China. Additionally, it is the only path that links the district of Dibhang Valley with the rest of India.

Based on initial reports, there has been extensive road damage along the Roing Anini Highway between Hunli and Anini.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu expressed concern over the incident.

Taking to social media X, formerly Twitter, he tweeted, he is disturbed to hear that the massive damage to the highway between Hunli and Anini is causing commuters’ inconvenience. Since this road links Dibang Valley to the rest of the country, instructions have been sent out to restore connectivity as soon as possible.

The incident occurred as a result of the nonstop rain. The district government announced that the Roing Anini highway restoration project would require at least three days to inhabitants of Dibhang Valley.

Videos showed a section of the roadway was missing, making it hard for vehicles to cross throughout and creating problems for the security services and the people, who saw the highway as a lifeline in this difficult area.

In order to fix the damaged sections of the highway, the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) has mobilized resources. There is no shortage of food or other necessities at the moment.

All residents of Dibang Valley are notified that on April 24, 2024, an important portion of NH 313 connecting Anini to Roing washed away due to persistent rain in the district. It is estimated that restoration will take at least three (three days). Therefore, until the road is repaired and the rain returns to normal, all worries are advised, the statement said.

Meanwhile, Arunachal Pradesh’s West Kameng region was recently rocked by an earthquake of magnitude 3.0 on April 20, according to data from the National Centre for Seismology (NCS). The epicentre was located five kilometers below sea level at latitude 27.39 and longitude 92.68.

Actor Tamannaah Bhatia has been summoned by the Maharashtra Cyber Wing to appear for questioning for the illegal streaming of the 2023 Indian Premier League on Fairplay App, a sister app of the Mahadev betting app.

On April 29, the actor is scheduled to appear before the Cyber Cell for interrogation.

In the same case, rapper and singer Badshah was questioned earlier. In addition, actor Sanjay Dutt was also summoned in the same case this week on Tuesday, but he has requested an extension of time to appear before the department.

Even though the Fairplay app lacked official broadcasting rights, all of these actors and singers encouraged users to watch the Indian Premier League, which cost official broadcasters a lot of money.

An FIR was filed in September of last year in response to a complaint made by Viacom18, the company that owns the intellectual property rights (IPR) for streaming Indian Premier League games. According to the complaint, Viacom18 lost over Rs 100 crore as a result of the betting app Fair Play platform illegally streaming IPL matches on their platform.

Many celebrities, including Badshah, Sanjay Dutt, and Jacqueline Fernandez, were summoned for questioning after the filing of the FIR. An employee of the betting app was taken into custody in December of 2023.

A platform for betting exchange, FairPlay provides a large selection of sports and entertainment betting for leisure players.

The most popular sport on FairPlay, according to the app’s website, is tennis, football, and cricket.

According to the website, FairPlay streams every sporting event live so that users can watch and win at the same time.

Actors Ranbir Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor, who had starred in advertisements for the Mahadev betting app, made news last year when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) called them in for interrogation.