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Indians Cue in Sweltering Heat to Vote in the World’s Largest Election

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India Election 2024
Temperatures havel exceed 41 degrees Celsius: Image CNN

Indian voters are braving sweltering heat to vote in the world’s largest election, as a severe heat wave strikes sections of the country and authorities predict a hotter-than-normal summer for the South Asian nation.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a heat wave will continue to strike regions of south and east India till the end of the week, including four states voting on Friday.

Parts of West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka are among the 13 states and union territories voting in the second phase of India’s massive elections, with temperatures expected to reach 40 degrees Celsius in some regions.

According to the IMD, Baripada in the eastern state of Odisha reached 43.6 degrees Celsius on Thursday, while Khammam in Telangana reached 43.4 degrees Celsius. The IMD warned last month that India would likely experience larger and longer heat waves this year due to above-normal temperatures.

Gandhi Ray, a 60-year-old farmer from eastern Bihar, said he lives in a small hut in the forest and plans to go to a nearby hamlet to vote.

According to the IMD, temperatures will exceed 41 degrees Celsius every day until May 1 in his homeland of Banka district.

“It’s important for me to vote but definitely every day this heat is getting worse and worse,” he was quoted as saying by CNN. “I generally work outside, so I’m used to it, but as I get older, it’s more difficult to cope. Now my children have taken up the majority of the work.”

Worlds Biggest Election

Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Phase 2 Polling

Lok Sabha Elections 2024 Phase 2 Polling: AFP Image

High temperatures have sparked worry during election season, as outdoor political events draw thousands of people under the scorching heat. The issue was highlighted Wednesday when a politician fell from heat while addressing supporters in western Maharashtra.

The Election Commission, National Disaster Management Authority, and IMD organized a task group to reduce the impact of heat waves ahead of polling days, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over a conference earlier this month to assess the country’s readiness for the hot season.

The Election Commission has issued instructions for remaining cool at polling locations, which include drinking water and bringing an umbrella, as well as warning against leaving children or pets in parked automobiles.

In Bihar, election officials have extended voting hours at several polling sites “in view (of the) prevailing heat wave.” Ray said the heat won’t deter him from voting on Friday.

“This is the one right we have so of course I will vote, everyone should vote for whomever they want to represent them,” he added.

“Of course it would be good if the election took place in a cooler time but whether I go to vote or not, I am still going to feel hot so that’s not going to stop me.”

Cuing in India’s Sweltering Heat to Vote

Indians Cue in Sweltering Heat to Vote in the World's Largest Election

Indians Cue in Sweltering Heat to Vote in the World’s Largest Election: Image Times of India

Despite the heat warnings, the Election Commission stated that there are “no major concerns for heat waves” during Friday’s polling, and weather projections predict “normal conditions” for the constituencies voting.

India, the world’s most populous country with 1.4 billion inhabitants, frequently endures heat waves in the summer months of April, May, and June.

Last year, multiple heat waves struck India, closing schools, destroying crops, and putting a strain on energy supplies. In June alone, temperatures in some sections of the country reached 47 degrees Celsius, killing at least 44 people and afflicting hundreds with heat-related ailments.

Extreme heat has already had an impact on the region this year, with hundreds of millions of people living in climate-vulnerable areas seeing no reprieve from punishing heat and humidity.

According to scientist Maximiliano Herrera, neighboring Bangladesh is experiencing a heat wave this week, with temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius in numerous regions and no break from record hot nights. On Thursday, the government proclaimed a “heat alert” across the country, which will last 72 hours.

Extreme temperatures are also rising across Southeast Asia, with local media reporting dozens of heatstroke deaths in Thailand, hundreds of school closures in the Philippines, and droughts drying up rice fields and waterways in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta “rice bowl” region.

Heatwave Thailand

Heatwave-Thailand

Heatwave-Thailand: CTN News Image

Thailand’s Meteorologist Department issued further warnings about extremely hot weather over the weekend, and the health department stated that heatstroke had already killed at least 32 people.

Bangkok municipal officials issued an excessive heat warning, forecasting that the temperature would top 44 degrees Celsius. Temperatures in Thailand’s capital reached 43 degrees Celsius on Friday, with similar highs forecast next week.

Bangkok’s environment department issued a warning that the heat index was “extremely dangerous”.

A wave of extremely hot weather has hammered South and Southeast Asia this week, forcing schools to close and worshippers to pray for rain. Authorities in northern Thailand’s Udon Thani province have also warned of high temperatures throughout the weekend.

Temperatures in several provinces are expected to reach record highs of 43 to 45 degrees Celsius. Thailand’s health ministry said late Friday that 32 people have died from heatstroke this year, compared to 37 in all of 2023.

Direk Khampaen, deputy director-general of Thailand’s Department of Disease Control, said officials advised the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions, such as obesity, to stay indoors and drink plenty of water.

According to Save the Children, Vietnam’s weeks-long heat wave has prompted three provinces to declare a state of emergency as salt seeps into fresh water sources, limiting access to drinking water for over 70,000 households.

According to a report released Tuesday by the World Meteorological Organization, Asia will remain the world’s most disaster-prone region in 2023, and the region is warming faster than the worldwide average.

Source: CNN

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Trudeau Determined to Avoid Early Election After NDP Coalition Ended

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Trudeau Government's severe unpopularity

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emphasised he does not want an early election and said he will want to work with his former partner just hours after the New Democratic Party (NDP) withdrew from an agreement it had with the current Liberal Party Government.

“I look forward to conversations with Mr. (Jagmeet) Singh about how we’re going to continue to demonstrate that confident countries invest in their citizens, invest in their future, because that’s what we’re doing,” Trudeau said, addressing the media in the town of Rocky Harbour, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. That declaration came shortly after Jagmeet Singh, who has been in power since March 2022, declared his party was leaving the Supply and Confidence Agreement.

As in previous years, Trudeau continued, “I’ll let others focus on politics, but I will point out that I really hope the NDP stays focused on how we can deliver for Canadians, rather than focusing on politics.”

With Trudeau’s party in the minority in the Commons, the opposition Conservative Party is preparing to call for an early election through the possibility of a no-confidence resolution when the House reconvenes on September 18.

The timing of the motion is still unknown, according to reports from Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservative Party, who stated, “At this time, we don’t have a calendar to indicate when we can put forward a motion.”

“After Sellout Singh did this stunt today, he is going to have to vote on whether he keeps Justin Trudeau’s costly Government in power,” he stated, putting further pressure on the NDP.

“I certainly hope that the NDP will stay true to its fundamental values, which is making sure that Canadians get the support they need and keeping away from the austerity, the cuts, and the damage that will be done by Conservatives if they get the chance,” stated Trudeau, expressing optimism that early elections can be avoided.

October 2025 will see Canadian federal elections, but Trudeau’s Liberals only have 154 members of the 338-member House. It had made it through until Wednesday morning thanks to the backing of the 25-member NDP caucus.

Posting a video message on Wednesday, Singh claimed to have “ripped up” the accord and stated that “Canadians are fighting a battle.” A struggle for the middle class’s future. Justin Trudeau has often demonstrated his willingness to give up to corporate greed. People feel let down by the Liberals. From Canadians, they don’t deserve another opportunity.

The news coincided with the Trudeau Government’s severe unpopularity, which has negatively impacted the NDP. The non-profit public polling organisation Angus Reid Institute, or ARI, released a survey indicating that the Conservatives have 43% of the vote, a significant 22% lead over the ruling party.

Related News:

Justin Trudeau Hellbent on Destroying Canada

Justin Trudeau Hellbent on Destroying Canada

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Kamala Harris Challenges Donald Trump to Transparent Debate with Live Microphones

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Kamala Harris Challenges Donald Trump to Transparent Debate with Live Microphones

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for the US presidential election in November, called on her Republican opponent Donald Trump to debate her with their microphones turned on during the event.

Kamala Harris and the former president have agreed to debate on September 10th, which will be hosted by ABC News.

Donald Trump is giving in to his aides, who refuse to allow him to debate with a live microphone. “If his own team doesn’t believe in him, the American people certainly won’t,” Kamala Harris wrote on X.

“We’re running for President of the United States. Let’s have a transparent debate, with microphones on the whole time.”

Trump has stated that he prefers to keep his microphone on and did not like it muted at the last debate against then-candidate Joe Biden.

So-called “hot mics” can help or hinder political campaigns by recording off-hand comments that were not intended for the public. Muted microphones also restrict debaters from interrupting their opponents.

A spokeswoman from ABC did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

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The discussion would be the first between Harris and Trump since Biden stepped out of the presidential race following a dismal performance at a CNN debate in June that prompted concerns about his mental acuity.

Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, and JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential candidate, have agreed to a CBS News debate on October 1.

ORIGINAL STORY: Why Kamala Harris Campaign is fighting for Unmuted Debate Mics

Some experts believe the Trump campaign’s eagerness to maintain the muting rule for the Kamala Harris debate on September 10 is because to the great reception he received in June for a more controlled performance than many had anticipated versus Mr Biden. In practice, it rendered interruptions impossible.

The former president, on the other hand, appears unconcerned with the regulation, and has even contradicted his own team’s statements advocating for its continuation. “[It] does not matter to me. I’d prefer to have [the microphones] turned on,” he stated on Monday.

“But we agreed that it would be the same as the last time. “In that case, it was muted,” he explained.

Trump announced on social media Tuesday afternoon that he had “reached an agreement” with ABC for the September 10 debate. He did not mention mics in the post, but did say that the “rules will be the same as the last CNN debate,” which included muted mics.

In the article, he also accused the network of being “unfair,” but added that his team had been guaranteed that the debate would be “fair and equitable.”

With only two weeks until the debate, the Kamala Harris team wants to change the agreed-upon regulations so that both candidates’ microphones are unmuted during the event. What do they believe they will benefit from this change?

More broadly, they feel it has the potential to show viewers an unfiltered, even irritable, Trump, who will be audible throughout Kamala Harris’s speech.

“Our understanding is that Trump’s handlers prefer the muted microphone because they don’t think their candidate can act presidential for 90 minutes on his own,” said Kamala Harris’s spokeswoman.

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Why Kamala Harris Campaign is fighting for Unmuted Debate Mics

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Why Kamala Harris Campaign is fighting for Unmuted Debate Mics

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are scheduled to face battle in their first presidential debate next month, but the campaigns are still fighting about logistics, specifically microphones.

Trump’s campaign is advocating for microphones to be muted when it is the other person’s turn to speak. Joe Biden originally requested this regulation as the Democratic candidate.

Trump’s team eventually consented to the request, which was clearly an attempt by Biden’s campaign to limit disruptions. (The pair’s turbulent first 2020 debate was marked by numerous interruptions, with Mr. Biden finally shouting at his rival: “Will you shut up, man?”)

Kamala Harris Campaign Advocates for Unmuted Mics: Potential Advantages

Some experts believe the Trump campaign’s eagerness to maintain the muting rule for the Kamala Harris debate on September 10 is because to the great reception he received in June for a more controlled performance than many had anticipated versus Mr Biden. In practice, it rendered interruptions impossible.

The former president, on the other hand, appears unconcerned with the regulation, and has even contradicted his own team’s statements advocating for its continuation. “[It] does not matter to me. I’d prefer to have [the microphones] turned on,” he stated on Monday.

“But we agreed that it would be the same as the last time. “In that case, it was muted,” he explained.

Trump announced on social media Tuesday afternoon that he had “reached an agreement” with ABC for the September 10 debate. He did not mention mics in the post, but did say that the “rules will be the same as the last CNN debate,” which included muted mics.

In the article, he also accused the network of being “unfair,” but added that his team had been guaranteed that the debate would be “fair and equitable.”

With only two weeks until the debate, the Harris team wants to change the agreed-upon regulations so that both candidates’ microphones are unmuted during the event. What do they believe they will benefit from this change?

More broadly, they feel it has the potential to show viewers an unfiltered, even irritable, Trump, who will be audible throughout Kamala Harris’s speech.

“Our understanding is that Trump’s handlers prefer the muted microphone because they don’t think their candidate can act presidential for 90 minutes on his own,” said Kamala Harris’s spokeswoman.

Source: BBC

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