External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has said that India remains committed to further building the momentum of regional cooperation under the BIMSTEC framework and make the organization stronger, vibrant, more effective and result-oriented. Delivering a statement at the 17th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting being held virtually today, Dr Jaishankar expressed confidence that BIMSTEC would scale new heights in the times to come with the collective efforts and spirit of cooperation. He said, BIMSTEC enjoys the unique strength of connecting South and South-East Asia and it has steadily gained prominence in the Indian foreign policy.

Dr Jaishankar said, participation of BIMSTEC leaders at Indian Government’s swearing-in ceremony in May 2019 was a testament to it. He said, BIMSTEC over the years has emerged as a promising sub-regional grouping with growing strategic and economic interests of the Member States, as well as of the international community in the Bay of Bengal region. The Minister said, our collective resolve to impart a fresh dynamism to BIMSTEC has rejuvenated the organization. He expressed happiness that the region is witnessing rapid economic growth with growing political and economic cooperation among the Member States.

Dr Jaishankar said India had announced several initiatives at the last BIMSTEC Summit in Kathmandu to further strengthen BIMSTEC cooperation and capacity-building in diverse areas. He expressed happiness that many of these initiatives have already been implemented.

Dr Jaishankar said, development and prosperity go hand in hand with peace and security. He said, the region face both traditional and non-traditional security challenges and cooperation in the security sector has a special significance for the region. The Minister said, National Security Advisors of Member States have met thrice since 2017 and they have been working closely and moved forward in several aspects of security cooperation including counter terrorism, intelligence sharing, coastal security and cyber security in a tangible manner.

Dr Jaishankar expressed happiness that BIMSTEC Convention on Cooperation in Combating International Terrorism, Transnational Organized Crime and illicit Drug Trafficking has come into force last month and BIMSTEC Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters has been finalized for signing at the fifth BIMSTEC Summit. He said, these Conventions will provide a robust legal basis to further strengthen our cooperation in this sector.

The Minister said, disaster management is another important area of collaboration among the BIMSTEC countries having similar geo-climatic conditions. He said, BIMSTEC Centre for Weather and Climate, being hosted in India, is fully functional with state of the art facilities to provide Disaster Early Warning.

In Jammu and Kashmir, at least three terrorists were killed in an encounter by the security forces in Kakapora area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district this morning. The operation was underway till a short while ago. Further details are awaited. 

The Finance Ministry has released an amount of 4 thousand 608 crore rupees to the States for providing grant-in-aid to the local bodies. The grants are both for the Rural Local Bodies and Urban Local Bodies. The grants have been released as per the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission.
 
In the last financial year, Centre released a sum of 87 thousand 460 crore rupees to 28 States as local body grants.  Out of the total amount 60 thousand 750 crore rupees have been released for Rural Local Bodies while the remaining 26 thousand 710 crore rupees have been released for Urban Local Bodies.
 
The grants to the Rural local bodies will be partly utilised for sanitation and maintenance of open-defecation free status and supply of drinking water, rain water harvesting and water recycling. In the Urban areas, the fund will also cater to the needs of improvement in air quality, solid waste management and sanitation.

Hectic campaigning going on in poll bound states of West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Union Territory of Puducherry.

In Tamil Nadu, senior BJP leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the opposition Congress and the DMK for posing as defenders of Tamil culture. Campaigning at a public meeting for the NDA alliance parties at Madurai, Mr.Modi said there were several issues like Jallikattu and reclassifying of Devendra Kula Velallar and in such issues both DMK and Congress did nothing and even had opposed them. He listed out the achievements of both the AIADMK at the state  and the BJP government at the Centre. Mr. Modi will also be campaigning at Kanyakumari for the Lok abha bye poll at and also for six assembly constituencies in the district.

Meanwhile DMK Leader M.K. Stalin while electioneering at Aravakuruchi said that neither he nor his party workers are scared of the IT raids . He criticised the BJP Government for trying to gag the opposition parties out of political vendetta.

Senior BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah is in Chennai city as part of electioneering.  State Congress President K.S. Alagiri also criticised the BJP for trying to malign opposition parties by conducting IT raids.

AIR correspondent reports that the Income tax department conducted raids in the residences of several DMK members including the residences of the daughter of M.K.Stalin at Chennai this morning. Paramilitary personnel could be seen outside the residence as IT officials were conducting raids. Houses and office establishments of party Candidate Mohan, Karur Candidate Senthil Balaji and some others were also raided in the State.

Police officials had to converse peacefully to disperse them. Party workers gathered in front of the houses where raids were conducted.  Cases were booked against some AIADMK party workers on money distribution . The unaccounted money kept for distribution was seized by the authorities.

In Kerala, as the public campaign ends on coming Sunday, all the three major fronts are campaigning intensively with active participation of National leaders and star campaigners.

AIR correspondent reports that Senior BJP leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is reaching Kerala this afternoon for campaigning for NDA in the State. He will address a rally in Konni, Pathanamthitta district.  Security has been beefed up in the area ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit.. Both the districts are expected to have a tough triangular contest as LDF, UDF and NDA is fielding their strong candidates. Union Minister Amit Shah will join the last leg of NDA campaign tomorrow. Later, Mr. Modi will proceed to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu for electioneering. 

Meanwhile Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi will also reach the State tomorrow to boost the final campaign of UDF.The senior CPM leaders Prakash karat, Brinda Karat is already camping in the State garnering votes for LDF.As just 4 days are left for polling, heated political debates are ongoing in the State on issues such as development, employment, Sabarimala, corruption etc. Meanwhile, the postal voting for officials having polling duty is continuing. 

Election campaigning for the third and fourth phases in West Bengal is to reach its peak today as senior leaders of the BJP and the Trinamool Congress will be locking horns in the same districts of North Bengal.

Senior BJP leader Home Minister Amit Shah has said that it was evident from yesterday that TMC leader Mamata Banerjee is losing at Nandigram. Addressing a public meeting at Sitalkuchi in Coochbehar today, Mr Shah said that on 2nd May Didi will be ousted from power.  

Accusing Mamata Banerjee of doing injustice to North Bengal, he claimed that now she will be looking for another seat for contesting in the election. Mr Shah also claimed that if voted to power, BJP will take up lots of development work including building an AIIMS at Coochbehar.

On the other hand, addressing a rally in the same district at Dinhata constituency, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee refuted the claim of Mr Shah and said that she will be winning from Nandigram.  The TMC leader has also accused the BJP of doing divisive politics. She criticized the central government for privatizing PSUs and asked the people of Coochbehar to vote for her party in order to ensure development and secularism in the state.

In Assam, election campaigning has reached its peak for the third phase of polls to be held on 6th of this month. The third and final phase will cover 40 seats. BJP’s star campaigner and National President J P Nadda addressed a rally at Patacharkuchi for state BJP President Ranjeet Kumar Dass.

Mr. Nadda alleged that the Congress is a communal force. The party is contesting elections in Assam with Badruddin Ajmal’s AIUDF. Mr. Nadda termed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as a political tourist. He further said that the party would give employment to 1 lakh youths by March next year if voted to power again. 

Other leaders including Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, NEDA Convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma, BPF Chief Hagrama Mahilary, State Congress President Ripun Bora and AIUDF President Badruddin Ajmal are also holding rallies and road shows.

Over six crore eighty seven lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered to the beneficiaries in the country so far. The Health and Family Welfare Ministry has today informed that more than thirty six lakh seventy one thousand doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in the last 24 hours.
 
Meanwhile, the country is witnessing continuous rise in daily new cases and deaths due to Covid-19. According to the Health Ministry, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh together account for over 80 per cent of the total active cases in the country.
 
The Health Ministry informed that more than eighty one thousand new cases have been reported in the country in last 24 hours taking the cumulative positive cases to over one crore twenty three lakh. A total of four hundred sixty nine deaths have also been reported in the country within the last 24 hours, taking the toll to over one lakh sixty three thousand across the country.
 
The active caseload is also continuously rising due to sudden spike in the cases reported from various States. At present, there are more than six lakh fourteen thousand active cases in the country which comprises five per cent of the total positive cases.
 
Amid the rising new cases, the recovery rate has declined to 93.67 per cent. The Ministry informed that more than fifty thousand people have recovered from the corona virus infection within 24 hours. So far, more than one crore fifteen lakh patients have recovered from this disease.

In a significant step to exponentially expand the countrywide Vaccination drive, the Centre has decided to operationalize both public and private sector COVID Vaccination Centres on all days this month. The Centre has written to all the States and UTs today and asked them to make necessary arrangements to provide COVID vaccination in these Centres on all days of the month including gazetted holidays.

This step has been taken after detailed deliberations with the States and UTs to optimally utilize all COVID Vaccination Centres across the public and private sectors to ensure rapid increase in the pace and coverage of COVID vaccination. This decision is in line with the graded and pro-active approach employed by the Government of India along with the States and UTs for COVID-19 vaccination.