Morning Wrap: Trinamool drops Cong from logo; Jet suspends more ops

Madras High Court chastises Election Commission officials

The Madras High Court came down heavily on senior officials of the Election Commission for playing “a fraud in connivance with the ruling party (AIADMK)” by accepting AIADMK leader and then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa’s thumb impression on Thiruparakundram candidate AK Bose’s nomination papers. The HC order set aside the election of AIADMK candidate Bose (since deceased) in the November 2016 bypoll, when Jayalalithaa was in a private hospital.

Kangana Ranaut to play J Jayalalithaa

Bollywood star Kangana Ranaut is all set to portray former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa in a biopic. Titled Thalaivi in Tamil and Jaya in Hindi, the biographical drama will be directed by Vijay, one of the top filmmakers from South. The film will be written by KV Vijayendra Prasad, who has also penned Baahubali and Manikarnika.

Trinamool gets rid of Congress from its logo

Twenty-one years after officially separating from the Congress, Mamata Banerjee-led TMC has removed the grand old party’s name from its logo. The new logo has Trinamool written in green with twin flowers and blue background. It has been in use for a week now, party sources said. It was way back in 1998 that present West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee broke away from the Congress and formed the TMC. However, it will remain registered with the Election Commission as Trinamool Congress, party sources said.

Pakistan PM welcomes Modi’s greetings

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has welcomed his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi’s greetings on the eve of its National Day, saying time has come to begin a “comprehensive dialogue” between the two countries to address and resolve all issues, including the “central issue” of Kashmir. According to official sources in New Delhi, Prime Minister Modi sent a letter to Khan, greeting people of Pakistan on the eve of its National Day and highlighting the importance of a terror-free South Asia.

Jet Airways suspends more operations

Jet Airways, on the verge of going belly-up, has suspended operations on as many as 13 more international routes till the end of April even as it grounded seven more planes due to non-payment of rentals, taking the number of such aircraft to 54. Besides, the airline has also reduced frequencies on seven other overseas routes, mostly from Delhi and Mumbai, according to airline sources.

Man lynched on suspicion of kidnap

A 32-year-old man was allegedly lynched by a mob on suspicion of kidnapping a minor girl in a village near here in Gujarat, police said. Chanduhai Rathodiya, a resident of Patarveli village, Thursday took the four-year-old girl near a river to allegedly rape her after buying a chocolate to lure her, they said. People of surrounding villages suspected he had kidnapped the child. They chased the accused, forcing him to leave the girl near her home and escape from the spot, the police said. Two FIRs (for kidnapping and mob lynching) were registered and further probe was on, they said, adding no arrest has been made till now.