Grand Alliance Agree On Seat Sharing, Big Meet In Delhi Tomorrow

The Grand Alliance in Bihar has come to an understanding about the sharing of the state's 40 Lok Sabha seats. Sources said the under the deal, Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal will contest 26 seats, the Congress 9 seats, the Left parties five of which the CPIML will contest three seats.

The parties will hold a meeting in Delhi tomorrow to take a final call on the constituencies, after which the formal announcement will be made from Patna, sources said.

Key leaders of all the parties will be present in the meeting at Delhi tomorrow. It is likely that Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and the Gandhis will attend the meeting, sources said.

The Congress had contested on nine seats in 2019 as well. Of those, the party won just one seat. The RJD failed to win any. The NDA had won 39 of 40 seats, of which the BJP won 17, Nitish Kumar's Janta Dal United just one seat behind, and Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party all six it contested.

This time, Nitish Kumar is back again in the NDA after a brief stint with the Grand Alliance. The BJP has also retained Chirag Paswan, despite the split in his party and their initial backing of his rebel uncle, Pashupati Paras.

The announcement has to take place soon, since the filing of the first phase of nomination in Bihar ends on Thursday -- the extra days being on account of an extended government holiday for Holi.

Last week, the NDA formally announced its seat share in Bihar, in which the BJP took pole position, contesting 17 seats.

Mr Kumar's JD(U), which previously dominated the alliance in the state, will contest on 16 seats. The Lok Janshakti Party will contest on five seats, Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustan Awam Morcha and Upendra Kushwaha's RLM gets one seat each.

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Saudi Arabia To Participate In Miss Universe Pageant For 1st Time Ever

Saudi Arabia will participate in the Miss Universe pageant for the first time, making it a historic event for the Islamic country.

Rumy Alqahtani, a beauty pageant veteran and an influencer on Monday announced this news on her Instagram handle that she will be representing the kingdom in one of the most popular pageants in the world.

She shared glamourous pictures of herself. In the picture, model can be seen wearing a strapless sequined gown.

Along with the photos, she wrote, "I am honoured to participate in the Miss Universe 2024 competition. This is the first participation of Saudi Arabia in the Miss Universe competition," she wrote in Arabic on Instagram.

According to the Khaleej Times, born in Riyadh, Alqahtani is no stranger to the spotlight. She has joined numerous global pageants, with the latest one being Miss and Mrs Global Asian in Malaysia a few weeks ago.

Last year, Miss Nicaragua Sheynnis Palacios was crowned Miss Universe 2023.

For the first time, a contestant from Nicaragua became the winner of the contest while Antonia Porsild from Thailand and Moraya Wilson from Australia secured the second and third positions respectively.

The organizers of the event had announced last year that the next edition will be held in Mexico.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Watch: Hardik Walks Away As Rohit, Bumrah Continue Discussion. Video Viral

After any loss, it's a tough time for any team. The same is the case with Mumbai Indians, who began their journey under new skipper Hardik Pandya on a losing note. The five-time champions went down to Gujarat Titans on Sunday, which was Pandya's former franchise. Since the time he was made skipper in place of Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya has been under intense scrutiny. He himself must have felt the eyeballs following him a little bit more than in earlier years. 

After Mumbai Indians' loss to Gujarat Titans, the internet has been on overdrive. A video has gone viral on social media, which shows Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah discussing something. After Pandya walks away, Rohit and Bumrah continue chatting. This has led to intense speculation.

When you bring in a Chapri as Captain,having leaders like Rohit & Bumrah in squad,it's bound to happen! Look at his attitude, Am Captain, you do as I say! Bumrah to Rohit be like, he's not even listening, what to do? Rohit jst nods, jst do what he wants! #MIVsGT #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/wTTQqeQ1bc

— Sushant Kumar Nahak (@sushantkoko) March 24, 2024

Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians' batting coach Kieron Pollard backed Hardik Pandya's move to open the bowling instead of Jasprit Bumrah and also said the skipper batting at number seven in their IPL opener against Gujarat Titans was a "collective decision".

An inexplicable batting strategy saw MI lose their opener by six runs here on Sunday after they looked on course for victory.

Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to bowl first and surprisingly, Hardik opened the bowling against his former side.

"You have to plan and decide what you want to do as a team. Hardik (Pandya) has also bowled with the new ball for Gujarat over the last couple of years. He swung the new ball and bowled it well, which was nothing new to us.

"We tried to use the advantage of the new ball swinging along. When I look at the decision made, there is nothing wrong with it, and we move on," Pollard said at the post-match press conference.

When the discussion turned to the logic behind Hardik coming in to bat at number seven Pollard said one can't attribute the decision to the skipper.

"No decision is made on full autonomy, so we can't say it is his decision. As a team, we have plans; we talk about setting entry points for batters. The top order batted deep into the game, and we also had two power hitters to go in the back end.

"Usually, if you look at it over time, Tim (David) has finished games for us, and Hardik has done it over the years.

"So, at any point, any one of them can resurrect the situation. It didn't happen tonight, so there will likely be a chat about who should have gone earlier.

"But all of those things are in hindsight, and as a team, we make decisions, so let's put a stop to 'Hardik made a decision, Hardik did this, Hardik did that'. We are a team. We make decisions collectively as one," the West Indian said.

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IndiGo Passenger Shares Pic Of Damaged Luggage, Airline Responds

From missing seat cushions to finding a screw in a sandwich, in recent months, several unusual incidents have occurred on IndiGo flights. Now, a woman recently took to social media to express her disappointment with IndiGo Airlines. Shrankhla Srivastava, an X (formerly Twitter) user, shared a picture on Saturday of her damaged luggage after her Indigo flight. "Dear @IndiGo6E, Thank you for taking care of my luggage," the user wrote in a sarcastic post and tagged the airlines. 

Ms Srivastava's post soon went viral on social media, prompting reactions from internet users. Her post also caught the attention of IndiGo Airlines, which issued an apology and expressed regret. "Hi, we sincerely regret the inconvenience caused. We request you please allow us some time to check. We'll connect with you," the airline tweeted. 

Take a look below: 

Hi, we sincerely regret the inconvenience caused. We request you please allow us some time to check. We'll connect with you. ~Mousmi

— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) March 23, 2024

In the comments section, some users also shared similar incidents, while others criticised the airline over poor luggage management. 

"Mine was also handled this well in December. Broken handle and cracked shell. I think hard shell bags are not made for airlines," wrote one user. "Faced a similar issue with them. Ground staff offered peanuts. Not even covering the cost of the bag. Then escalated it to the highest level and got compensation," commented another. 

"Even my suitcase zips were torn apart during indigo luggage handling last Diwali. It was a soft luggage suitcase that's why too big breakage didn't occur. I would be traveling soon again, so now I have to replace the zippers of my suitcase within next few days," said a third user. 

"Shifted to a soft bag because I travel every week. I have a question/ if you come across any recommendation of a hard case bag that doesn't break with rough handling, pls help me (for good karma)," expressed another. 

"One of the worst air line I have ever seen.. very arrogant staff who thinks that they are the top of the world .. even the behaviour of the cabin crew is pathetic," wrote a user. 

Also Read | Video Of Tiger's Majestic Leap To Cross River At Sunderbans Wows Internet

Meanwhile, earlier this month, a woman took to social media to share her harrowing experience with the airlines. Yavanika Raj Shah, an X (formerly Twitter) user, shared a picture of a missing seat cushion on an IndiGo flight. She was flying from Bengaluru to Bhopal on flight 6E 6465. 

The airlines took note of the same and expressed regret. IndiGo said that the cushions were replaced for cleaning and the cabin crew had informed the customers. "Ma'am, thank you for speaking with us. The seat cushions were replaced prior to the flight for cleaning purposes. Our cabin crew promptly informed the customers who were allotted these seats. This is a standard practice for cleaning during transit as and when required," they wrote. 

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Big Security Breach As Virat Kohli Is Stunned By Fan Who Hoodwinked All

Virat Kohli brought out his classy form at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru for Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Punjab Kings on Monday. The former RCB and Indian cricket team skipper struck a 31-ball half century to boost RCB's chase against Punjab Kings in the teams' second match of the IPL 2024. However, he was also stunned by a massive security breach as a fan tricked all to enter the ground. The person also managed to touch Kohli's feet before he was nabbed.

A fan breached the security to meet Virat Kohli at the Chinnaswamy Stadium#RCBvsPBKS #IPL2024 #ViratKohli𓃵 pic.twitter.com/cwmbioGp8d

— Vathan Ballal (@VathanBallal) March 25, 2024

Earlier, the pragmatism of captain Shikhar Dhawan was the bedrock on which Punjab Kings built their 176 for six as Royal Challengers Bangalore bowlers found their bearings on a Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch that offered them springboard bounce on Monday.

Dhawan (45, 37b), Jitesh Sharma (27, 20b) and Prabhsimran Singh (25, 17b) were the main contributors for the Kings after Royal Challengers opted to bowl first on a track that had a smattering of green.

For RCB, Mohammed Siraj and Glenn Maxwell took wickets apiece.

The Kings made a shaky beginning as Jonny Bairstow got out early as his outings on these shores, which is stretched back to last year's World Cup, has now become more barren than the Indian summer.

In the latest instance, the Englishman's poorly-executed close-to-the-body pull of pacer Siraj was taken by Virat Kohli inside the covers.

But from 17 for one, the visitors found some runs through Dhawan and Prabhsimran who tackled the pitch and the RCB bowlers with aplomb, milking 55 runs off 38 balls.

Dhawan was not precisely smooth during his stay but showed enough pluck to cash in on the loose deliveries, such as a length ball on the off-stump from left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar which he lofted over long-on for a six.

In fact, the RCB bowlers, especially impressive left-arm seamer Yash Dayal (1/23), did well to tie him down with deliveries that darted in to him from just short of good length.

Prabhsimran also occasionally vented his aggressive instincts, and the most telling piece was his flicked six off Cameron Green that sailed 90 meters over mid-wicket for a maximum.

But just as the alliance was blossoming, Prabhsimran tried to pull Maxwell but a feeble top edge was easily grabbed by stumper Anuj Rawat.

Rawat soon doubled the number of his catches when he latched on to a wild heave outside the off-stump by Liam Livingstone off Alzarri Joseph in the last ball of the 12th over.

But the Punjab side suffered a heavier blow as Dhawan got in the very next ball.

The left-hander's attempt to hoist Maxwell out of the ground ended in the hands of Kohli at long-on as the Kings slipped to 98 for four in 12.1 overs.

It wasn't an ideal situation for Kings as they needed a few more runs on the board to give a meaningful challenge to the home side.

They found those from Jitesh, who hammered Dagar for two sixes in a row, and Sam Curran, who added 52 runs for the fifth wicket off 34 balls to push the PBKS past the 150-run mark, that was swelled by a couple of beefy hits by Shashank Singh, who carted Joseph for 20 runs in the final over.

But they would have liked a heavier looking scoreboard in pursuance of their second successive victory.

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Naveen Jindal, Sita Soren Among BJP's Newest Members Who Got Tickets

1. Mr Jindal was also a Congress MP. He represented Kurukshetra constituency in the Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2014 as a Congress MP. This time, he said he wants to contribute to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's agenda of 'Viksit Bharat'.
2. Mr Jindal had lost from Kurukshetra in 2014. He said the country has progressed under PM Modi's leadership in the past 10 years, and many historic steps such as the scrapping of Article 370 under the Constitution have been taken.
3. The dream of having a Ram temple in Ayodhya has also been realised, Mr Jindal said. The BJP has said Mr Jindal's presence in the party will help the government's agenda of boosting the country's economy and prosperity.
4. Sita Soren is the sister-in-law of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren. She will contest from Dumka (Scheduled Tribes) constituency. She joined the BJP on March 20, citing "isolation" and "neglect" by the JMM since her husband Durga Soren's death in 2009.
5. Sita Soren was first elected MLA from Jama in 2009. She then became the JMM's national general secretary. She won the Jharkhand assembly election from Jama again in 2014 and 2019.

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In Bengal, Former Judge, Erstwhile Royal, Fashion Designer In BJP Line-Up

The BJP, determined to meet party chief JP Nadda's target of 35 of Bengal's 42 Lok Sabha seats, has come up with a  mixed bag from Bengal, which contains a High Court judge, an erstwhile royal, and a woman from Sandeshkhali. Added to this is the usual celebrity component that adds to the sheen of the elections in eastern state known for its intelligentsia and a thriving film industry.

Leading the BJP charge is Rekha Patra. The candidate from Basirhat is one of the women from Sandeshkhali who has been at the forefront of the fight against local Trinamool strongman Sheikh Shahjahan.

The BJP has fielded Rekha Patra from Basirhat in Bengal. She is one of the victims of #Sandeshkhali, who suffered at the hands of Sheikh Shahjahan.

Let Mamata Banerjee wipe the tears of women like her, who are suffering in silence, and are subject to her apathy, before she asks…

— Amit Malviya (मोदी का परिवार) (@amitmalviya) March 24, 2024

In Krishnanagar, the BJP has fielded erstwhile royal Amrita Ray to take on Trinamool's Mahua Moitra, who is back in the electoral fray after being disqualified from the Lok Sabha in connection with the alleged cash-for-questions scam.

Former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who joined the BJP recently after taking voluntary retirement, will contest from Bengal's Tamluk. He is the first retired judge to join electoral politics,  moving away from the way the judiciary has so far distanced itself.

Also in the line-up is Tapas Roy, who quit Trinamool after it became clear that he was going to be denied ticket following a raid of the Enforcement Directorate at his house. Now in the BJP, he takes on senior parliamentarian Sudip Bandopadhyay in Kolkata North.

Asansol MLA and former fashion designer Agnimitra Paul, who has been vociferously defending the BJP in Bengal, has replaced Dilip Ghosh in Medinipur. She will face actor and Trinamool MLA June Maliah.

Mr Ghosh, who is credited with delivering 18 seats to the BJP in 2019, has been moved to Bardhhaman-Durgapur, where he faces Trinamool's Kirti Azad.

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