Highlights of the day: Results for JEE-Main announced, says National Testing Agency

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4:26 PM

HUL's Q4FY24 net profit falls 6% to Rs 2,406 cr; company declares Rs 24 dividend

HUL's Q4FY24 net profit falls 6% to Rs 2,406 cr; company declares Rs 24 dividend. HUL's turnover for the financial year ended March 31, 2024 was Rs. 59,579 crores as against turnover of Rs. 58,154 crores for the financial year ended 31st March, 2023. 

3:56 PM

China says, Taiwan putting itself in 'danger' over US aid

China today criticised the latest package of US military assistance to Taiwan on Wednesday, saying that such funding was pushing the self-governing island republic into a dangerous situation. The US Senate late Tuesday passed $95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan after months of delays.

3:35 PM

Supreme Court stays construction of 4 dams inside Kalesar Wildlife Sanctuary

The Supreme Court (SC) today stayed the construction of four proposed dams inside Kalesar Wildlife Sanctuary in Haryana's Yamunanagar district. The SC noted that the construction of dams will not only be harmful to wildlife and population in Kalesar but also to the ecosystem and even the purpose for which the dams are proposed would not be achieved.

3:16 PM

EVM-VVPAT case: 'We can't control elections,' says Supreme Court

While hearing pleas seeking the complete verification of votes cast using Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), the top court said :"we don't control the elections, the poll body has cleared doubts".

"We cannot control the elections, we cannot control the functioning of another constitutional authority," the Supreme Court said. "The ECI has cleared doubts. We cannot change your thought process. We cannot issue a mandamus on the basis of suspicion."

3:01 PM

News update: Supreme Court reserves judgement on EVM-VVPAT case

2:45 PM

'Can we issue a mandamus on the basis of a suspicion': SC bench to Advocate Bhushan

"Can we issue a mandamus on the basis of a suspicion? The report you are relying on says that there is no incident of hacking yet. We are not the controlling authority of another constitutional authority. We cannot control the elections; the judgment of SC did," the bench tells Advocate Bhushan.

2:42 PM

EVM-VVPAT case: Prashant Bhushan raises doubts over flash memory of machines

I ask myself is it impossible to load a malicious program in the flash memory along with the symbols, says Advocate Prashant Bhushan during hearing on EVM-VVPAT issue.

2:33 PM

EVM-VVPAT case: Control units storing the polling data are sealed; VVPAT is also sealed, says ECI

"The control unit stores the polling data; so, it is sealed. During commissioning, all three units are also sealed with pink seal. VVPAT is also sealed and signature is taken from all polling agents," ECI informs the Supreme Court.

2:25 PM

EVM-VVPAT case: All units have their own microcontrollers; cannot be accessed, says Election Commission

"All three units, ballot units, vvpat and the chip.. all have their own micro controllers and these micro controllers are housed in secured unauthorised access detection module and it cannot be accessed. All the micro controllers are one time programmable. It is burned when inserted so can never be changed. For symbol loading we have two manufacturers, one is ECI and Bharat Electronics," ECI tells the Supreme Court.

2:20 PM

W Bengal Govt approaches SC against HC setting aside 24,000 teaching, non-teaching jobs

The West Bengal government has filed a Special Leave Petition on Wednesday before the Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court's order invalidating almost 24,000 teaching and non-teaching jobs that were filled as a result of the 2016 SSC Recruitment process.

2:03 PM

Delhi Court grants time to CM Kejriwal to file response on Enforcement Directorate's reply

The Rouse Avenue Court today granted time to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to file a rejoinder on the replies filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on his two revisions against summons issued to him. The trial court had issued summons to Kejriwal on two complaints filed by the ED. The matters have been listed on May 14 for further hearing.

2:00 PM

Centre extends deadline for accreditation of halal certification bodies till July 4

The central government has extended the deadline for accreditation of halal certification bodies and registration of export units by three months till July 4 this year. “Time period for accreditation of halal certification bodies and registration of export units has been extended by a period of three months, up to July 4, 2024,” DGFT said in a notification.

1:55 PM

Zilingo ex-CEO Ankiti Bose files FIR against co-founder

Co-founder and ex-CEO of fashion e-commerce startup Zilingo Ankiti Bose registered a criminal complaint against fellow co-founder Dhruv Kapoor and ex-COO Aadi Vaidya, according to a report by The Times of India. Bose pressed charges of 'cheating', 'criminal intimidation', 'conspiracy', and ‘harassment’ in her complaint and alleged that Dhruv Kapoor and Aadi Vaidya misled her as well as Zilingo's investors to gain monetary benefits.

1:46 PM

Isro to have second trial flight of unmanned Gaganyaan mission today

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is scheduled to undertake a second test flight of the uncrewed Gaganyaan mission on Wednesday. Isro Chairman S Somanath had outlined the upcoming schedule, indicating that after an airdrop test on April 24, two more uncrewed missions are slated for the following year, leading up to the manned mission by the end of the year. Read here for more details.

1:43 PM

‘They didn’t retaliate': EAM Jaishankar blames Congress for ‘inaction’ despite 26/11 attacks

Hitting out at the previous Congress-led regime, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stated on Monday that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government “justified” not retaliating to the 26/11 attacks as it “decided” that “hitting Pakistan would cost more than not striking” the neighbouring nation.