North Korea stages massive parade to mark 70th anniversary
Pyongyang, Sep 9 : North Korea on Sunday held a massive military parade on Sunday to mark the 70th anniversary of its founding, an intelligence source said. "The North held the military parade in the morning, and it has been completed," the source told Seoul's Yonhap News Agency.
It is not yet clear whether North Korean leader Kim Jong-un joined the event and if intercontinental ballistic missiles were put on display.
The North's media has stayed silent on the event, which is the first since Kim held a historic summit with US President Donald Trump in June.
Meanwhile, international journalists have been invited to watch the military parade, a torch-lit rally and the Arirang Mass Games, a highly choreographed event expected to involved hundreds of thousands of people, CNN reported.
The Grand Mass Gymnastics and Artistic Performance Arirang - or Arirang Games - last took place in 2013. This year's games, which tells a symbolic story of North Korea's history, are titled "The Glorious Country", according to the BBC.
Analysis of satellite images from the past two weeks suggest this year's games, which will continue throughout September, are going to be very big.
With tickets for foreigners costing more than $930, the country could rake in foreign currency at a time it is still under sanctions from many Western nations.
National carrier Air Koryo has scheduled additional flights from Beijing to bring in more tourists to watch the performances. Sunday's parade will be North Korea's second such event of the year.
The first came in February a day before South Korea held the Opening Ceremony for the Winter Olympics. Those games helped kick start the current stage of rapprochement between the Koreas.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
