The Evening Wrap: Supreme Court says EVM microcontrollers are ‘agnostic’

The Supreme Court on April 24 called the microcontrollers separately programmed by manufacturers in electronic voting machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) “agnostic”, for they do not recognise political parties or candidates but only the buttons pressed by the voters. The court recorded the submission made by the Election Commission of India (ECI) that symbols, and not software, were stored in the flash memories of the units. “Microcontrollers in the control units [of EVMs] are agnostic. They do not recognise party or candidate names. What they recognise is the buttons pressed on the ballot units,” Justice Sanjiv Khanna said, referring to the ECI’s submissions. Justice Khanna said the buttons on the ballot units were interchangeable. “A party which got button 1 in a constituency would get button 6 in another constituency. The programming of the units are done at the manufacturer stage. Manufacturer would not know which party would get what button,” Justice Khanna surmised. The case dealt with petitions claiming that the EVM system was opaque and prone to rigging. The Bench of Justices Khanna and Dipankar Datta had reserved the case for judgment on April 18, but convened again on Wednesday, in an unusual move, with more questions for the top poll body. This development came even as the Lok Sabha elections are poised for the second phase of polling on April 26. The morning session saw the Bench read out in open court the specific queries it had for the ECI concerning the security and functional aspects of EVMs and VVPATs. Post-lunch break, Deputy Election Commissioner Nitesh Kumar Vyas appeared in person to respond to the court’s questions, which were exactly five in number. Vyas, on the first query as to where exactly the microcontrollers were situated, said all three units comprising an EVM — ballot units, control units, and VVPATs — had their own microprocessors. To the second question about whether the microcontrollers were reprogrammable, the ECI official said they were “one-time programmable” at the time of manufacturing. The microprocessors could neither be changed nor physically accessed, he said. However, advocates Prashant Bhushan, Cheryl D’Souza and Neha Rathi, for the petitioner Association for Democratic Reforms, said the ECI’s claim that the microprocessors were not reprogrammable was “in doubt”. The “flash memory” of these processors could be reprogrammed, Bhushan argued. He said malicious software could be uploaded along with symbols. “When a vote is cast, the signal travels from the ballot unit to the VVPAT to the control unit. If the VVPAT has malicious software…” he pointed out. Justice Datta intervened to note that there had not been a single instance to back this claim. “Even if there is, the law provides for that. We cannot be the controlling authority of another constitutional authority (the ECI),” Justice Datta said. Senior advocate Santosh Paul, on the petitioner’s side, urged the court to direct the ECI to try out some anti-rigging software available in India. “Can we issue a mandamus on suspicion?” Justice Datta reacted. Vyas, responding to the court’s third query about Symbol Loading Units, said the Electronics Corporation of India Limited and Bharat Electronics Limited had manufactured 1,904 and 3,154 units so far, respectively. More could be produced roughly in a month. On a query regarding the storage of EVM-VVPATs, he said the machines were sealed and kept in strong rooms for a statutory period of 45 days after the counting of votes. The strong rooms were opened after 45 days on receiving a written confirmation from the High Courts concerned that there were no election petitions contesting the results. The last question from the court was whether VVPATs, ballot units, and control units were stored together. Vyas said the units remained separate until they were commissioned to constituencies. Pairing was done after the commissioning, he explained. After polling, the Presiding Officer sealed the units and stored the EVM-VVPATs together in a strong room after getting the signatures of all the witnesses to the procedure, the senior official explained. The case continues to be reserved for judgment. No forests or wildlife will be left if animal-human conflicts are not resolved, Supreme Court warns The Supreme Court on Wednesday warned that animal-human conflicts pose a danger to the very existence of forests and wildlife, and a balance has to be struck which takes care of the rights of both stakeholders. “There has to be a balance between the rights of the stakeholders. We cannot take a lopsided view. Forests and wildlife will not exist if conflict between animals and humans are not resolved,” Justice B.R. Gavai observed. The court’s observations came while hearing a case concerning the demarcation of the boundaries of Assam’s Pobitora wildlife sanctuary, which hosts one of the largest rhino populations in the country, and the settlement of rights of villagers, drawn from the marginalised, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and backward communities, who reside within the sanctuary. The Assam government, represented by senior advocate Nalin Kohli, submitted that it has constituted a special committee chaired by the Chief Secretary (Forests) to survey and suggest alterations in the boundaries of the sanctuary to protect the rights of the wildlife as well as the human inhabitants. A preliminary survey of the sanctuary had already been done and a map prepared. The Bench said the State’s proposals regarding the sanctuary, including alterations in the boundaries would be cleared by the National Board of Wildlife and also undergo the scrutiny of the top court. The court ordered the States to include the Chief Wildlife Warden and the Field Director of the Pobitora wildlife sanctuary to be made members of the special committee in order to represent the concerns of the wildlife. The court noted in its order that “from the primary facie perusal of the map, it appears that the State proposes to delete smaller areas of the wildlife sanctuary and include a larger area so as to account for the land of the settlers and also the issue of the growing population of rhinoceros”. Justice Gavai said the court respects environmental activists, but the human aspect of the problem should also be taken into consideration. “You have to take into consideration the human angle. You cannot exist only for animals,” Justice Gavai told an environmental activist, who appeared as an intervenor. On March 13, the apex court stayed the Assam government’s decision to denotify the Pobitora wildlife sanctuary. “State government was not right in resolving to withdraw the notification dated March 17, 1998 notifying Pobitora wildlife sanctuary…. We direct that no further steps be taken with respect to the withdrawal of the notification dated March 17, 1998 by the State,” the court had noted in its March 13 order. The Assam government had reasoned that the sanctuary was notified unilaterally by the Forest Department without consulting the Revenue Department or even the Chief Minister. The sanctuary was declared without settling the rights of the people living in villages in the area, including Thengabhanga, Murkata and Mayong. These villagers had been residing in the area even before Independence. Kohli had justified that the notification was withdrawn only to correct this error. Hemant Soren approaches Supreme Court, says High Court not pronouncing verdict on his plea against arrest Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren moved the Supreme Court on April 24, saying the high court is not pronouncing its verdict on his plea challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Soren, made an urgent mentioning, saying he was stuck in the HC with his plea for quashing the case. He sought a hearing on Friday. He told a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta that the HC had reserved its verdict on February 28 on his plea but still no decision has been delivered. Soren was arrested on January 31 after he resigned as the Jharkhand chief minister, and party loyalist and state transport minister Champai Soren was named as his successor. He was arrested after being grilled by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for seven hours in the case. The ED is probing the alleged “huge amounts of proceeds of crime generated by manipulation of official records by showing dummy sellers and purchasers in the guise of forged/bogus documents to acquire huge parcels of land having value in crores”. PM slams Congress on Pitroda’s ‘inheritance tax’ remark; says its ‘dangerous intentions’ coming to fore Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday attacked the Congress over its leader Sam Pitroda’s “inheritance tax” remark, saying that the grand old party’s “dangerous intentions” of snatching the assets and rights of people have come to the fore. The Congress will loot and equally distribute people’s earnings and properties, he claimed while addressing an election rally in Ambikapur, the headquarter of Surguja district, in Chhattisgarh. “The dangerous intentions of Congress are coming to forth one by one and now it says it will impose inheritance tax. The advisor of ‘shehzada’ of the ‘shahi parivar’, who was also the advisor to the shehzada’s father, said that more tax should be imposed on the middle class and those who earn by toiling hard,” Modi said, apparently referring to Rahul Gandhi and Pitroda. “He (the advisor) said this publicly. Now they (Congress) have gone a step further and Congress is saying it will impose inheritance tax. It will impose tax on the assets inherited by people from their parents. Now, the ‘panja’ (Congress poll symbol) will snatch the assets from your children,” he said without taking any name. Modi was apparently referring to a statement made by Indian Overseas Congress chairperson Sam Pitroda at Chicago in America over the inheritance tax law. “Till you are alive, Congress will impose more tax and after your life ends, it will impose the burden of inheritance tax on you. They (Congress) want to snatch your assets and rights of your children,” Modi said. Congress does not want that common Indians give their property to their children. From values to culture, our country is not a consumerist country. We believe in accumulation, enrichment and preservation, he said. “Today, our nature and environment is protected because of these values. Our old parents, grandparents keep their small ornaments safe thinking that it will be worn by their grandchildren during their wedding. The people of my country are fond of living life by taking loans. People are hard-working and spend as per their needs and have a tendency to accumulate,” he said. The Congress is going to attack strongly on the fundamental values and culture of India. The reason why they have given this statement yesterday is that this thinking of theirs is very old, he said. “Why did a storm trigger in their camp (Congress). When I said that Urban Naxals and Urban Maoists have taken over the Congress, they felt that they should say something to appease America. When Modi made the allegations, they were pretending to turn towards the other side in a bid to balance. But they want to loot your property and snatch the rights of your children. Do you accept it?” he asked and the people replied in the negative. The PM said that till the Congress was in power in the country, people’s money was being looted, but after the BJP government was formed, people’s money is being spent on them. “The Congress’s eyes are not only on your reservation, but also on your earnings, your houses, shops and farms. The ‘shehzada’ of Congress (apparently referring to Rahul Gandhi) says they will conduct an X-ray of the property of every house, cupboard and every family in the country. The little wealth and jewellery that our mothers and sisters have, Congress will also get them examined. In Surguja, our tribals wear tribal ornaments and and mangalsutra. Congress will snatch all this from you and they say that they will equally distribute them,” he said. “Do you know to whom they will distribute it after looting it from you? Will you allow me to commit this sin?” Modi asked. Meanwhile, early in the morning, Sam Pitroda in a series of posts on his ‘X’ handle said his statement was twisted by the “Godi media” to divert the attention from the lies the PM was spreading about Congress manifesto. “It is unfortunate that what I said as an individual on inheritance tax in the US is twisted by Godi media to divert attention from what lies PM is spreading about Congress manifesto. PM’s comments Mangal Sutra & gold snatching is simply unreal,” he said. “I mentioned US inheritance tax in the US only as an example in my normal conversation on TV. Can I not mention facts? I said these are the kind of issues people will have to discuss and debate. This has nothing to do with policy of any party including congress,” he said. “Who said 55% will be taken away? Who said something like this should be done in India? Why is BJP and media in panic?” Pitroda added. Meanwhile, the Congress distanced itself from Pitroda’s “inheritance tax” remarks, saying sensationalising them are attempts at diverting attention from PM Modi’s “malicious” poll campaign. Poll roundup: Amid the row over Congress leader Sam Pitroda’s remarks, the party on Wednesday asserted that it has no plans whatsoever to introduce an inheritance tax and cited former Union Minister Jayant Sinha’s remarks to allege that it is the Modi government that wanted to do so. Pitroda, the president of the Indian Overseas Congress, has talked about the inheritance tax law in the United States while answering a query on the “redistribution of wealth” issue. Modi on Wednesday attacked the Congress over Pitroda’s “inheritance tax” remark, saying the grand old party’s “dangerous intentions” of snatching away the assets and rights of people have come to the fore. The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Wednesday declared that its president Akhilesh Yadav will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha election from the Kannauj constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Yadav will file his nomination on April 25 (Thursday). “Honorable national president Akhilesh Yadav ji will file nomination at 12 noon from Kannauj Lok Sabha seat as the SP nominee,” read a statement issued by the party. Earlier, the SP had declared former MP Tej Pratap Yadav, who is Yadav’s nephew and son-in-law of former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad, as its candidate from the seat. But speculations were rife that the SP president would himself contest from the seat amid demands from the party’s local unit. Kannauj will go to the polls in the fourth phase on May 13. Amid reports that ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief Amritpal Singh, currently locked up at Dibrugarh jail in Assam under the National Security Act (NSA), will be contesting as an Independent candidate for Lok Sabha election from Khadoor Sahib constituency in Punjab, Balwinder Kaur, mother of Amritpal Singh, has denied the report, saying no decision has been taken yet. She told The Hindu over phone that so far no decision has been taken about Amritpal contesting the election even though there’s an “immense” pressure from people for him to contest the Lok Sabha polls. “Amritpal’s father has gone to Dibrugarh today and any decision regarding contesting or not contesting the election would be taken after deliberations. So far, no decision has been taken,” she said. In Brief:FIR against BJP’s social media post titled ‘Congress Manifesto or Muslim League Manifesto’ An FIR was registered on April 24 over a social media post by the BJP’s official handle which allegedly sought to promote hatred and enmity between different groups and classes, Election Commission (EC) officials said. Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer stated that the FIR has been lodged by the Flying Squads Team of Malleswaram Assembly constituency against the post on X on April 23 titled “Congress Manifesto or Muslim League Manifesto”. “The FIR under sections 125 of the Representation of the People Act and 153 (Wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) of the Indian Penal Code is booked on April 24 for promoting hatred and enmity between different groups and classes of citizens,” the post said. EU Parliament adopts new rules to improve air quality by 2030 The European Parliament adopted stricter legally-binding air pollution limits on Wednesday that must be complied with by 2030. The World Health Organization (WHO) tightened its air quality guidelines last year, hoping to push countries toward clean energy and prevent deaths caused by dirty air. Air pollution causes 300,000 premature deaths in Europe each year. EU Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius said the tougher EU rules could reduce that number by 70% over the next 10 years. Europe’s air quality has improved over the last decade, but the EU has still taken more than 10 countries to court for breaching its limits. The European Court of Justice has found countries including France, Poland, Italy and Romania guilty of illegal air pollution. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 24 April 2024 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( EVM-VVPAT case: Supreme Court says EVM microcontrollers are ‘agnostic’, do not recognise parties or candidates, only buttons The [Supreme Court on April 24 called the microcontrollers separately programmed by manufacturers in electronic voting machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) “agnostic”]( for they do not recognise political parties or candidates but only the buttons pressed by the voters. The court recorded the submission made by the Election Commission of India (ECI) that symbols, and not software, were stored in the flash memories of the units. “Microcontrollers in the control units [of EVMs] are agnostic. They do not recognise party or candidate names. What they recognise is the buttons pressed on the ballot units,” Justice Sanjiv Khanna said, referring to the ECI’s submissions. Justice Khanna said the buttons on the ballot units were interchangeable. “A party which got button 1 in a constituency would get button 6 in another constituency. The programming of the units are done at the manufacturer stage. Manufacturer would not know which party would get what button,” Justice Khanna surmised. The case dealt with petitions claiming that the EVM system was opaque and prone to rigging. The Bench of Justices Khanna and Dipankar Datta had reserved the case for judgment on April 18, but convened again on Wednesday, in an unusual move, with more questions for the top poll body. This development came even as the Lok Sabha elections are poised for the second phase of polling on April 26. The morning session saw the Bench read out in open court the specific queries it had for the ECI concerning the security and functional aspects of EVMs and VVPATs. Post-lunch break, Deputy Election Commissioner Nitesh Kumar Vyas appeared in person to respond to the court’s questions, which were exactly five in number. Vyas, on the first query as to where exactly the microcontrollers were situated, said all three units comprising an EVM — ballot units, control units, and VVPATs — had their own microprocessors. To the second question about whether the microcontrollers were reprogrammable, the ECI official said they were “one-time programmable” at the time of manufacturing. The microprocessors could neither be changed nor physically accessed, he said. However, advocates Prashant Bhushan, Cheryl D’Souza and Neha Rathi, for the petitioner Association for Democratic Reforms, said the ECI’s claim that the microprocessors were not reprogrammable was “in doubt”. The “flash memory” of these processors could be reprogrammed, Bhushan argued. He said malicious software could be uploaded along with symbols. “When a vote is cast, the signal travels from the ballot unit to the VVPAT to the control unit. If the VVPAT has malicious software…” he pointed out. Justice Datta intervened to note that there had not been a single instance to back this claim. “Even if there is, the law provides for that. We cannot be the controlling authority of another constitutional authority (the ECI),” Justice Datta said. Senior advocate Santosh Paul, on the petitioner’s side, urged the court to direct the ECI to try out some anti-rigging software available in India. “Can we issue a mandamus on suspicion?” Justice Datta reacted. Vyas, responding to the court’s third query about Symbol Loading Units, said the Electronics Corporation of India Limited and Bharat Electronics Limited had manufactured 1,904 and 3,154 units so far, respectively. More could be produced roughly in a month. On a query regarding the storage of EVM-VVPATs, he said the machines were sealed and kept in strong rooms for a statutory period of 45 days after the counting of votes. The strong rooms were opened after 45 days on receiving a written confirmation from the High Courts concerned that there were no election petitions contesting the results. The last question from the court was whether VVPATs, ballot units, and control units were stored together. Vyas said the units remained separate until they were commissioned to constituencies. Pairing was done after the commissioning, he explained. After polling, the Presiding Officer sealed the units and stored the EVM-VVPATs together in a strong room after getting the signatures of all the witnesses to the procedure, the senior official explained. The case continues to be reserved for judgment. No forests or wildlife will be left if animal-human conflicts are not resolved, Supreme Court warns The [Supreme Court on Wednesday warned that animal-human conflicts pose a danger to the very existence of forests and wildlife]( and a balance has to be struck which takes care of the rights of both stakeholders. “There has to be a balance between the rights of the stakeholders. We cannot take a lopsided view. Forests and wildlife will not exist if conflict between animals and humans are not resolved,” Justice B.R. Gavai observed. The court’s observations came while hearing a case concerning the demarcation of the boundaries of Assam’s Pobitora wildlife sanctuary, which hosts one of the largest rhino populations in the country, and the settlement of rights of villagers, drawn from the marginalised, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and backward communities, who reside within the sanctuary. The Assam government, represented by senior advocate Nalin Kohli, submitted that it has constituted a special committee chaired by the Chief Secretary (Forests) to survey and suggest alterations in the boundaries of the sanctuary to protect the rights of the wildlife as well as the human inhabitants. A preliminary survey of the sanctuary had already been done and a map prepared. The Bench said the State’s proposals regarding the sanctuary, including alterations in the boundaries would be cleared by the National Board of Wildlife and also undergo the scrutiny of the top court. The court ordered the States to include the Chief Wildlife Warden and the Field Director of the Pobitora wildlife sanctuary to be made members of the special committee in order to represent the concerns of the wildlife. The court noted in its order that “from the primary facie perusal of the map, it appears that the State proposes to delete smaller areas of the wildlife sanctuary and include a larger area so as to account for the land of the settlers and also the issue of the growing population of rhinoceros”. Justice Gavai said the court respects environmental activists, but the human aspect of the problem should also be taken into consideration. “You have to take into consideration the human angle. You cannot exist only for animals,” Justice Gavai told an environmental activist, who appeared as an intervenor. On March 13, the apex court stayed the Assam government’s decision to denotify the Pobitora wildlife sanctuary. “State government was not right in resolving to withdraw the notification dated March 17, 1998 notifying Pobitora wildlife sanctuary…. We direct that no further steps be taken with respect to the withdrawal of the notification dated March 17, 1998 by the State,” the court had noted in its March 13 order. The Assam government had reasoned that the sanctuary was notified unilaterally by the Forest Department without consulting the Revenue Department or even the Chief Minister. The sanctuary was declared without settling the rights of the people living in villages in the area, including Thengabhanga, Murkata and Mayong. These villagers had been residing in the area even before Independence. Kohli had justified that the notification was withdrawn only to correct this error. Hemant Soren approaches Supreme Court, says High Court not pronouncing verdict on his plea against arrest Former Jharkhand Chief Minister [Hemant Soren moved the Supreme Court on April 24, saying the high court is not pronouncing its verdict on his plea challenging his arrest]( by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Soren, made an urgent mentioning, saying he was stuck in the HC with his plea for quashing the case. He sought a hearing on Friday. He told a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta that the HC had reserved its verdict on February 28 on his plea but still no decision has been delivered. Soren was arrested on January 31 after he resigned as the Jharkhand chief minister, and party loyalist and state transport minister Champai Soren was named as his successor. He was arrested after being grilled by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for seven hours in the case. The ED is probing the alleged “huge amounts of proceeds of crime generated by manipulation of official records by showing dummy sellers and purchasers in the guise of forged/bogus documents to acquire huge parcels of land having value in crores”. PM slams Congress on Pitroda’s ‘inheritance tax’ remark; says its ‘dangerous intentions’ coming to fore Prime Minister [Narendra Modi on Wednesday attacked the Congress over its leader Sam Pitroda’s “inheritance tax” remark]( saying that the grand old party’s “dangerous intentions” of snatching the assets and rights of people have come to the fore. The Congress will loot and equally distribute people’s earnings and properties, he claimed while addressing an election rally in Ambikapur, the headquarter of Surguja district, in Chhattisgarh. “The dangerous intentions of Congress are coming to forth one by one and now it says it will impose inheritance tax. The advisor of ‘shehzada’ of the ‘shahi parivar’, who was also the advisor to the shehzada’s father, said that more tax should be imposed on the middle class and those who earn by toiling hard,” Modi said, apparently referring to Rahul Gandhi and Pitroda. “He (the advisor) said this publicly. Now they (Congress) have gone a step further and Congress is saying it will impose inheritance tax. It will impose tax on the assets inherited by people from their parents. Now, the ‘panja’ (Congress poll symbol) will snatch the assets from your children,” he said without taking any name. Modi was apparently referring to a statement made by [Indian Overseas Congress chairperson Sam Pitroda]( at Chicago in America over the inheritance tax law. “Till you are alive, Congress will impose more tax and after your life ends, it will impose the burden of inheritance tax on you. They (Congress) want to snatch your assets and rights of your children,” Modi said. Congress does not want that common Indians give their property to their children. From values to culture, our country is not a consumerist country. We believe in accumulation, enrichment and preservation, he said. “Today, our nature and environment is protected because of these values. Our old parents, grandparents keep their small ornaments safe thinking that it will be worn by their grandchildren during their wedding. The people of my country are fond of living life by taking loans. People are hard-working and spend as per their needs and have a tendency to accumulate,” he said. The Congress is going to attack strongly on the fundamental values and culture of India. The reason why they have given this statement yesterday is that this thinking of theirs is very old, he said. “Why did a storm trigger in their camp (Congress). When I said that Urban Naxals and Urban Maoists have taken over the Congress, they felt that they should say something to appease America. When Modi made the allegations, they were pretending to turn towards the other side in a bid to balance. But they want to loot your property and snatch the rights of your children. Do you accept it?” he asked and the people replied in the negative. The PM said that till the Congress was in power in the country, people’s money was being looted, but after the BJP government was formed, people’s money is being spent on them. “The Congress’s eyes are not only on your reservation, but also on your earnings, your houses, shops and farms. The ‘shehzada’ of Congress (apparently referring to Rahul Gandhi) says they will conduct an X-ray of the property of every house, cupboard and every family in the country. The little wealth and jewellery that our mothers and sisters have, Congress will also get them examined. In Surguja, our tribals wear tribal ornaments and and mangalsutra. Congress will snatch all this from you and they say that they will equally distribute them,” he said. “Do you know to whom they will distribute it after looting it from you? Will you allow me to commit this sin?” Modi asked. Meanwhile, early in the morning, Sam Pitroda in a series of posts on his ‘X’ handle said his statement was twisted by the “Godi media” to divert the attention from the lies the PM was spreading about Congress manifesto. “It is unfortunate that what I said as an individual on inheritance tax in the US is twisted by Godi media to divert attention from what lies PM is spreading about Congress manifesto. PM’s comments Mangal Sutra & gold snatching is simply unreal,” he said. “I mentioned US inheritance tax in the US only as an example in my normal conversation on TV. Can I not mention facts? I said these are the kind of issues people will have to discuss and debate. This has nothing to do with policy of any party including congress,” he said. “Who said 55% will be taken away? Who said something like this should be done in India? Why is BJP and media in panic?” Pitroda added. Meanwhile, the [Congress distanced itself from Pitroda’s “inheritance tax” remarks]( saying sensationalising them are attempts at diverting attention from PM Modi’s “malicious” poll campaign. Poll roundup: - [Amid the row over Congress leader Sam Pitroda’s remarks, the party on Wednesday asserted that it has no plans whatsoever to introduce an inheritance tax]( and cited former Union Minister Jayant Sinha’s remarks to allege that it is the Modi government that wanted to do so. Pitroda, the president of the Indian Overseas Congress, has talked about the inheritance tax law in the United States while answering a query on the “redistribution of wealth” issue. Modi on Wednesday attacked the Congress over Pitroda’s “inheritance tax” remark, saying the grand old party’s “dangerous intentions” of snatching away the assets and rights of people have come to the fore. - The [Samajwadi Party (SP) on Wednesday declared that its president Akhilesh Yadav will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha election from the Kannauj constituency in Uttar Pradesh](. Yadav will file his nomination on April 25 (Thursday). “Honorable national president Akhilesh Yadav ji will file nomination at 12 noon from Kannauj Lok Sabha seat as the SP nominee,” read a statement issued by the party. Earlier, the SP had declared former MP Tej Pratap Yadav, who is Yadav’s nephew and son-in-law of former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad, as its candidate from the seat. But speculations were rife that the SP president would himself contest from the seat amid demands from the party’s local unit. Kannauj will go to the polls in the fourth phase on May 13. - Amid reports that ‘Waris Punjab De’ chief Amritpal Singh, currently locked up at Dibrugarh jail in Assam under the National Security Act (NSA), will be contesting as an Independent candidate for Lok Sabha election from Khadoor Sahib constituency in Punjab, [Balwinder Kaur, mother of Amritpal Singh, has denied the report]( saying no decision has been taken yet. She told The Hindu over phone that so far no decision has been taken about Amritpal contesting the election even though there’s an “immense” pressure from people for him to contest the Lok Sabha polls. “Amritpal’s father has gone to Dibrugarh today and any decision regarding contesting or not contesting the election would be taken after deliberations. So far, no decision has been taken,” she said. In Brief: FIR against BJP’s social media post titled ‘Congress Manifesto or Muslim League Manifesto’ [An FIR was registered on April 24 over a social media post by the BJP’s official handle which allegedly sought to promote hatred and enmity between different groups and classes, Election Commission (EC) officials said](. Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer stated that the FIR has been lodged by the Flying Squads Team of Malleswaram Assembly constituency against the post on X on April 23 titled “Congress Manifesto or Muslim League Manifesto”. “The FIR under sections 125 of the Representation of the People Act and 153 (Wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) of the Indian Penal Code is booked on April 24 for promoting hatred and enmity between different groups and classes of citizens,” the post said. EU Parliament adopts new rules to improve air quality by 2030 The [European Parliament adopted stricter legally-binding air pollution limits on Wednesday that must be complied with by 2030](. The World Health Organization (WHO) tightened its air quality guidelines last year, hoping to push countries toward clean energy and prevent deaths caused by dirty air. Air pollution causes 300,000 premature deaths in Europe each year. EU Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius said the tougher EU rules could reduce that number by 70% over the next 10 years. Europe’s air quality has improved over the last decade, but the EU has still taken more than 10 countries to court for breaching its limits. The European Court of Justice has found countries including France, Poland, Italy and Romania guilty of illegal air pollution. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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