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Kerala Assembly elections on April 13

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Tuesday announced the schedule for Assembly Elections to be held in Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry. Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will all have one-day polls on April 13. Kerala have altogether 20,758 polling stations.

While elections in the crucial West Bengal state will be held in six phases, Assam will see balloting on April 4 and 11. Polling in West Bengal will be spread over six phases -- April 18, 23 and 27 and May 3, 7 and 10.

The last date of filing nomination papers in Kerala will be on March 26. The nomination papers will be examined on March 28. The last date of withdrawing the papers will be on March 30. This time, the Election Commission will itself distribute the voting slips on which the photographs of the candidates will be affixed. Hitherto, voting slips have been distributed by the political parties.

Counting of votes for all the states will be held on May 13. The schedule was announced by Chief Election Commissioner SY Qureshi at a press conference at the Election Commission office here. The model code of conduct has come into force with immediate effect.

Kerala

(All 140 constituencies in single phase)

Date of Notification – March 19
Date of Election - April 13

West Bengal

Phase 1 (54 constituencies):

Date of Notification – March 24
Date of Election - April 18

Phase 2 (50 constituencies):

Date of Notification – March 30
Date of Election - April 23

Phase 3 (75 constituencies):

Date of Notification – April 2
Date of Election - April 27

Phase 4 (63 constituencies):

Date of Notification – April 7
Date of Election – May 3

Phase 5 (38 constituencies):

Date of Notification – April 11
Date of Election – May 7

Phase 6 (14 constituencies):

Date of Notification – April 14
Date of Election – May 10

Tamil Nadu

(All 234 constituencies in single phase)

Date of Notification – March 19
Date of Election - April 13

Assam

Phase 1 (62 constituencies):

Date of Notification – March 10
Date of Election - April 4

Phase 2 (64 constituencies):

Date of Notification – March 18
Date of Election - April 11

Puducherry

(All 30 constituencies in single phase)

Date of Notification – March 19
Date of Election - April 13

The number of voters in each state is as follows: Tamil Nadu (4.59 crores), Kerala (2.29 crores), Assam (1.81 crores), West Bengal (5.60 crores) and Puducherry (80 lakh).

The number of polling stations is as follows: Tamil Nadu (54,016), Kerala (20,758), Assam (23,113), West Bengal (51,919) and Puducherry (851).

The term of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly expires on May 16. And that of Kerala on May 23, Assam and Puducherry on May 28, and West Bengal Assembly’s term ends on June 11

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[minisoji]

TOKYO: A massive earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale hit Japan and triggered tsunamis as high as 10 metres that slammed coastal areas. There was no immediate estimate of casualties.

The massive earthquake struck off Japan's north-eastern coast, forcing people to flee out of their homes.

The quake that struck Honshu island at 2.46 p.m. (0546 GMT) was felt in almost all areas in Japan's Pacific coast, including Tokyo and Osaka. The powerful quake hit 382 km northeast of Tokyo with a depth of 10 km under the seabed.

Numerous people were reported to be injured and black smoke was seen rising from buildings in Tokyo's Odaiba waterfront area. There was blackout throughout Yamagata Prefecture, Kyodo news agency quoted police as saying.

TV pictures showed wave crashing into the coast and a massive body of water surging through the area that carried away cars.

The quake generated a tsunami as high as 10 metres that hit the coast of Miyagi, DPA quoted officials as saying.

NHK public broadcaster showed footage of many submerged vehicles in Kamaishi, Iwate prefecture, as a 4.20-metre tsunami hit the city's coast.

The 8.8-magnitude earthquake, one of the biggest in recent times, hit Japan, generating a six-metre tsunami and injuring several people, Xinhua reported.

Japan Meteorological Agency said earlier that the quake was measured at 7.9 magnitude but the US Geological Survey upgraded later said the quake was 8.8 magnitude on the Richter scale.

A nuclear plant on the Pacific coast in Miyagi Prefecture was automatically shut down Friday following the quake.

Tsunami alerts were issued in the Philippines, Taiwan, Guam and Russia as well as islands in the Pacific.

Keywords: Latest news, indian news, world news, kerala news, world news, Jappan tsunami