India: Today’s news in pictures

India news in pictures -- a roundup of today’s news across the country, from thirty-one people were killed in three states as rain and thunderstorm caused by western disturbance to Google blocking the access to the hugely popular video app TikTok in India. ...read more

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Updated on Apr 18, 2019 09:33 AM IST

Thirty-one people were killed in three states as rain and thunderstorm caused by western disturbance hit parts of north India on Tuesday causing damage to property and crops. 16 people died in Madhya Pradesh, six deaths were reported from Rajasthan and nine from Gujarat. PM Narendra Modi has announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh each from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for the next of kin. (ANI)

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Updated on Apr 18, 2019 09:33 AM IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack at Rahul Gandhi at his Maharashtra rally on Wednesday, accusing the Congress president of targeting him and his community because he was from a backward community. It was a counter to Rahul Gandhi’s recent attack, also delivered at a Maharashtra rally, where he asked people why “all thieves have Modi in their names”. (Arabinda Mahapatra / HT File)

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Updated on Apr 18, 2019 09:33 AM IST

At his first poll rally in Kerala’s Wayanad after choosing it as his second Lok Sabha seat, Rahul Gandhi said he wanted to send out a message by contesting from the south. Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi said, came first to his mind when he decided to contest from a seat in southern India apart from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. (Vivek Nair / HT Photo)

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Updated on Apr 18, 2019 09:33 AM IST

Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, who is tipped to contest against Congress’s Digvijaya Singh from Bhopal Lok Sabha seat, formally joined the BJP on Wednesday. Thakur, who was named in the Malegaon blast case, joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in the early nineties. (Praveen Bajpai / HT File)

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Updated on Apr 18, 2019 09:33 AM IST

Google has blocked access to the popular video app TikTok in India to comply with a state court’s directive to prohibit its downloads, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. The move came hours after a court in Tamil Nadu state refused a request by China’s Bytedance Technology to suspend a ban on its TikTok app. (Danish Siddiqui / REUTERS File)

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Updated on Apr 18, 2019 09:33 AM IST

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath offers prayers at Hanuman temple, in Lucknow. Adityanath is serving a 72-hour ban from poll campaigning imposed by the Election Commission for violation of the Model Code of Conduct. But the chief minister is not falling behind in sending his message across. (PTI File)

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Updated on Apr 18, 2019 09:33 AM IST

Even as Lahaul and Spiti remains snowbound, electronic voting machines and other election material for the Lok Sabha elections in Himachal Pradesh will be transported through the under-construction Rohtang Tunnel. The Border Road Organisation (BRO ) has undertaken the task to clear snow on the road leading to the north portal of tunnel near Teling village in Lahaul Spiti’s Sissu. (ANI)