News Breakfast @6

01. Phase II Assam Polls: 27 Candidates File 46 Nominations So Far 

The Election Commission informed that 27 candidates have filed 46 nominations for the second phase of Assam Assembly elections as of Wednesday. Notably, the last date of nomination for 39 constituencies is March 12, scrutiny is on March 15 and withdrawal is March 17. The polling for the second phase will be held on April 1.

02. Congress To Contest 26 Assembly Seats In Second Phase Of Assam Polls

Assam Congress on Wednesday evening released its first list of candidates who would be contesting the second phase of the upcoming Assam Assembly Elections. The Central Election Committee of Congress has selected 26 candidates to fight the Assembly seats. The second phase of elections would be held on April. The last day of filing nominations for the second phase is March 12. The scrutiny of the nominations will be held on March 15, and withdrawal is on March 17.

03. Assam Polls: AIUDF Announces Second List Of 3 Candidates

All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) on Wednesday released its second list of candidates for upcoming Assam Assembly elections. The Congress-led ally has fielded Abdul Aziz from Badarpur constituency in Karimganj district, Jakir Hussain Laskar from Hailakandi constituency, and Samsul Huda from Bilasipara East constituency in Dhubri district. As per its first list AIDUF has fielded 16 candidates and said it has renominated seven of its 13 sitting MLAs for the Assam assembly election. Of the 16 seats, AIUDF will put up a friendly contest for five seats.

04. Amit Shah Likely To Visit Majuli On March 14

Ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Assam, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is most likely to visit Majuli on March 14. Shah is slated to address a massive rally at Jengraimukh which comprises a vast population of indigenous communities of the state especially the Mising and Deori tribes.

05. India-Myanmar Road Project To Be Completed Soon

The construction of a cross- border road between Mizoram's Lawngtlai town and neighbouring Myanmar's Sittwe port is nearing completion, Chief Minister Zoramthanga informed the state assembly on Wednesday. The road is part of the Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project which is being viewed as India's gateway to Southeast Asia and the project, when completed, will connect Kolkata with Sittwe seaport in Myanmar.

06. Governor Visits Injured Mamata At Hospital, Seeks Report On "attack"

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar visited an injured Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at a hospital in Kolkata and sought a report from the administration on the incident. The Trinamool Congress supremo was injured in the leg after being allegedly pushed by unidentified people near a temple at Birulia near Reyapara area during campaigning in Nandigram constituency, where the BJP pitted her protege- turned-adversary Suvendu Adhikari against her. Dhankhar spoke to Banerjee over the phone shortly after the incident and later visited her at the state-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata, where she was admitted.

07. Denied Poll Tickets, 2 Assam BJP MLAs Resign From Party

Two BJP MLAs of Assam on Wednesday said that they resigned from the party after they were denied tickets to contest the forthcoming assembly elections in the state.The two legislators, former Deputy Speaker Dilip Kumar Paul and Shiladitya Dev, also alleged that conspiracies were hatched against them by some leaders in the saffron party.On Sunday, BJP leader and cabinet minister Sum Ronghang joined the opposition Congress after he was denied ticket from the Diphu constituency.

08. Assam Elections: 281 Candidates File Nominations In First Phase

In poll bound Assam, 281 candidates have filed nominations for 47 assembly seats going to polls in the first phase of polls on March 27, the Chief Election Officer's office informed. The last date of filing the nominations was on March 9, while the scrutiny of the candidature is underway. Meanwhile, the last date of filing nominations is March 12. The results for all the phases will be published on May 2.

09. ULFA Condemns Arrest Of Pradip Gogoi

A day after pro-talk faction leader and Vice President of United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) Pradip Gogoi was arrested and sent to three day police custody for an alleged conspiracy to murder Cabinet Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the banned rebel outfit condemned Gogoi's arrest and slammed the media for fabricating news revolving around the issue. The outfit demanded for Gogoi's immediate release.

10. Load Shedding Regulations Withdrawn In Meghalaya

People of Meghalaya will no longer be facing power outage for hours daily as the load shedding regulations in the state has been withdrawn by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Limited, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma informed on Wednesday.

11. Amitabh Bachchan To Be Conferred FIAF Award 2021

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan will be conferred with the 2021 FIAF Award by The International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF), the organisation of film archives and museums from across the world, at a virtual ceremony scheduled to take place on March 19.

12. Tirath Singh Rawat Named New Uttarakhand CM

Pauri Garhwal MP Tirath Singh Rawat was on Wednesday chosen as the leader of Uttarakhand BJP legislature party, paving the way for his becoming the new chief minister of the hill state. His name was announced by outgoing chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat after the legislature party meeting, which lasted around 30 minutes.

13. Make In India: INS Karanj Submarine Commissioned Into Navy

Scorpene-class submarine INS Karanj was commissioned into the Indian Navy in Mumbai on Wednesday. Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh and Admiral (Retired) VS Shekhawat were present at the ceremony.

14. Farmer Leaders To Visit Poll-Bound Assam, West Bengal

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmer unions, on Tuesday stated that it would send a team of farmers to poll-bound Assam and West Bengal to appeal to voters not to vote for the "anti-farmer" BJP. The visit will be spread over three days starting March 12, farmer leader Darshan Pal informed. According to PTI, the team will comprise of 4-5 people including Pal and Yogendra Yadav.

15. 103-Year-Old Becomes Oldest Woman To Get Covid-19 Vaccine

A 103-year-old woman received her first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in Bengaluru on Tuesday. With this, J Kameshwari became the oldest woman in India to have received the COVID19 vaccine as per available data, said Apollo Hospitals, Bannerghatta Road. The nationwide Covid-19 vaccination crossed 2.40 crore coverage, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday.