 Hello and welcome to NewsClick. I am Samedha. On this episode of the Daily Roundup, we give you a glimpse of some of the most important stories that we report about from India and around the world. Take a look at our top stories. India is going to polls for its second phase of the general election of 2019 with 97 constituencies while only 95 voting today after the cancellation of polling in Tripura and Vellore. The polling is happening across 13 states and one union territory. As you can see on your screens, in 2014 the BJP and its allies got 33 seats while Congress and its allies got 13 and the others managed to bag about 49 seats. Key states that are going to polls today include Tamil Nadu with 38 seats and also polling for its assembly today. Have a look at our ground report from Tamil Nadu. Major concern is farmers issue. I believe there are middlemen between farmers so here farmers are getting more frustrated and... People who have stepped in to be the change for our country and I really appreciate everyone's for a change. My main issue is that we don't get employment. This is the first election after two giants of the state, Jai Jai Lalita and M. Karuna Lidhi have passed away. Given the high degree of discontent over joblessness, farmers distress, land grab for infrastructure projects, the tutti-cody firing and the growing anger towards the BJP's attempt to communally polarise the people. Experts have been saying that there is a possibility of a 7% swing away from the AIA-DMK and if that happens, the DMK and the Congress coalition is likely to get a lead of about 28 seats with the AIA-DMK led coalition managing to bag only 11. Another crucial state for the BJP is Maharashtra which is polling for 10 seats today. In the most affected areas of Vidharba, Akol, Beard and also Amravati. Take a look at our ground report from the People's Archive of Rural India talking about the same issues. The polling is taking place in the worst affected areas by the drought in the areas of Akol, Vidharba, Amravati and Beard. The farmers in the past have led symbolic marches to raise the issues of the farmers' debt, the low price that is being offered by the government and the BJP now is trying to give the farmers Rs. 2000 per month and it is now being seen, we need to wait and see the kind of results that will come out of the BJP strategy only when the polling ends and the results come out on the 23rd of May. Now we are moving towards Karnataka which is another major state which is going to polls today for 14 seats. Prakash Raj is also contesting in the state. There are three very important constituencies in West Bengal as well which is Dalpai Guri, Darjeeling and Rai Ganj. Violence was witnessed in several spots in Bengal today with the car of the CPM candidate being attacked in one instance. Stones were also thrown at the car. The CPM candidate Mohamed Salim was attacked when he was on his way to cast his vote in the Patagora region of the Rai Ganj constituency. Mr. Salim is contesting against the sting lawmaker Deepa Dasmunsi. After the attack he said that the Trinimal-backed miscreants gathered within 100 meters of polling station in the area and they were trying to intimidate the voters. I quote, When I tried to go there, they attacked my vehicle. Kashmir is also voting for two crucial seats of Srinagar and Udhampur. Take a look at our report from Kashmir. As you can see on your screens there is a significant amount of voter turnout and that is more than what was expected and there is a good turnout that we are seeing in the footage that has been sent to us from Kashmir. A big story that we've been following on the daily roundup is of the induction of Sadvi Pragya Thakur. The 2008 Maligaw Blast accused Sadvi Pragya Thakur has joined the BJP yesterday as we had shown you on our telecast yesterday. We delve deeper today into her induction in the BJP and what it really means. Take a look at this discussion between senior journalist Urmilesh and Prabir Purkayastha. On Pragya Thakur, there is not just an ROP on terrorist activity. A lot of people have also been implicated. A lot of people have said about her. Asim Anand, in one of her times, there was a statement from Bialis Page, which she gave in front of the Judicial Magistrate that it was her confession. She said that she had given an interview in Caravan, Baqaad and other people have also put this ROP on Pragya Thakur. The biggest thing is that she has used her motorcycle. She said that she had given it to someone else, who is now a Farar. That's why she didn't get it in her hands. But looking at all of this, at least, this is a decent thing. Now wait, maybe the court will release her. Because NIA is not interested in pursuing these cases. This is also her lawyer Rohini Salwande has mentioned that NIA is trying to weaken the case. Malegaub last is trying to weaken the case. And she has also said that she doesn't want conviction in this case. She wants to weaken the case, but she doesn't have the conviction. So even after this... In this case, this is not a case related to mass activity. This is not a case related to a communal riot or anything like that. This is not a case related to a communal ideology. This is a case related to a very common ideology. But this is a terrorist case. This is a terrorist matter. I think that if you look at the background of Pragya Singh, then this is also related to international studies and his work. And if you look at his statements in the next few days, the statements that he had made, they were going to create a lot of fear. So in the case of Malegaub... Exactly. So in Malegaub, his bike and his recording, his conversation, when he came to the front of the ATS, and all these things were identified in the ATS investigation. So this was believed to be a case that was going on, that his conviction must have been made. Because the witness, the accused, was giving his statements in court with all his evidences. So this was believed. What happened in this case when the government changed the case? Then suddenly you see that the NIA, it seems that the whole case was in a hurry. This is not a single case like this. Take the case of Asim Anand. A lot of cases. A lot of cases. It seems that the NIA has been given an agenda, that all the cases like this, they have to be compensated, they have to be finished. They have to tell you that the police or the other agencies, who have done this, were biased, they were wrong. If needed, then I am not saying that only one agency did this, but from different agencies, from different ways, the witnesses were either terrorized, they were disappeared, they were out, they were told to run away, they were told to go back with their statements, and this way, a collective statement was issued, that in such cases, the terrorist accused, terror accused, how can they be saved? And this case, the case of Pragya Singh Thakur, or the best example of it, or the worst example of it, whatever you say, how can someone be saved? This is a summary of that. And the same Pragya Singh, now, all of a sudden, the Indian people join the party, and the Indian people join the party, Madhya Pradesh's Rajdhani Bhopal, it is good that he has come there to fight the elections, but Dikvijay Singh did not welcome him, that we, as he is used to speaking a lot, he said that you are welcome in this beautiful city, Vyang is very beautiful, that in this beautiful city, in this beautiful city, a person like you, who has come to fight the elections, welcome him, see how the people welcome him there. On this, the attempt to destroy Hemant Karkare's hideout has also been done, he has accused him of misbehaving with the case, and this is Hemant Karkare, who was martyred in the Mumbai attack. When Hemant Karkare was attacked in Mumbai, when he was not martyred, when he was a working officer, and he was taking care of his command, he was very suspicious, he was very positive and very smart, but at that time, the so-called next-list camp, kept a big mark on him, always to abuse him, always to tell him that this is a country, always to tell him that, the terror of the Hindus, the cases of Tathagatidh, they don't even see them as criminals, they don't know whether they are Hindus, whether they are Hindus or not, and so on. They used to look like this, and if you look at Maharashtra's guards, especially the Marathi guards, you will find a lot of such things. So, when he was martyred in the terrorist attack, there were a lot of strange types of guards, although I will not go to those guards, who killed him, I believe that he was martyred in the terrorist attack. But the truth is that, Hemant Karkare used to torture all such cases, like a police officer. He was not biased, neither from here, nor from there, the way one officer was supposed to torture, they used to torture him, and this is the reason that he was accused of this. And it is also true that he was a very capable officer, because in cracking this case, he was successful, because he made a lot of evidence from various incidents of different places. Secondly, these were the cases, in Balegaon, and especially in Makkamajid, Ajmir Dargah's blast, you will remember, both of them were arrested by Muslims. They said that there is a sectarian struggle, some Muslim terrorists want to attack other Muslim groups, and later, this is the real story. And as far as I remember, Pragya Singh Thakur's name was also mentioned there, but there were no documents on him, and he was not charged. He was not given any proof. So, the matter came, but he was not given any proof. But the names of the people, the common names, and the confessions of Asim Anand, and the statement of Kerevan, he said that these four incidents, we sat together, and did what we had to do. Now, they are different. And it also seems that Pragya Singh Thakur, Asim Anand, they were all connected from somewhere, and the whole operation, wherever they were, there was a big hand behind them. In our international section, we have with us Surangya, who's going to be speaking to us about the sanctions which have been imposed on Cuba by the US. White House National Security Advisor John Bolton announced yesterday on 17th April that the United States will be imposing new sanctions on Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua. Most of these sanctions are focused on Cuba, targeting tourism, remittances, and banking in the country. While addressing the 58th anniversary of the failed CIA-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, Bolton said that the United States is placing a cap on the amount of money US citizens can send back to people in Cuba, restricting it $2,000 per quarter. He is also restricting non-family travel to the country in order to reduce benefits to the Cuban government and military. Fresh sanctions were also announced against the Central Bank of Venezuela in order to restrict US transactions and prohibit the bank's access to US dollars. Bolton also said that he will crack down on the subsidized oil that is supplied to Cuba by Venezuela. These sanctions are part of the continued efforts of the United States to carry out regime change operations in those Latin American countries which continue to resist US control of their resources. The regime change efforts currently going on in Venezuela are perceived to be part of a larger plan of the US to remake several states in Latin America including Nicaragua and eventually Cuba. The plan has been compared to the New Middle East plan launched in 2006 by then Secretary of State Condoleezza Reyes. Both Venezuela and Cuba have denounced these new attacks on their countries and have vowed to fight back against USA's interiorist attempts. Despite months of efforts the US-favored interim president Juan Guaido has not been able to garner much support among the country's people or military. Cuba too has survived years of regime change attempts. Thank you for watching this episode of Daily Roundup. For more such stories visit our website newsstick.in and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.