Morning briefing: PM Modi's appeal to LS polls phase 7 voters; Sunita Williams set for third space voyage, and more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged the voters in 57 poll-bound constituencies to turn up in large numbers and cast their votes in the seventh phase of the Lok Sabha elections. “Today is the final phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. As 57 seats across 8 states and UTs go to the polls, calling upon the voters to turnout in large numbers and vote. I hope young and women voters exercise their franchise in record numbers. Together, let’s make our democracy more vibrant and participative,” Modi, who is contesting from Varanasi, posted on social platform X. Dig deeper

Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams is all set to fly into space for a third time via the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Boeing Starliner spacecraft. The flight, originally scheduled for May 6, was postponed earlier this month due to a technical snag. According to the space agency, the flight is scheduled to lift off from Florida's Kennedy Space Centre around 10 pm (Indian Standard Time) (1625 UTC) today. Dig deeper

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Sports Goings

There are two sides to preparing for an event as big as the World Cup in a team sport. One is the physical preparation and the other is the getting the team together. For Rahul Dravid, who, for one last time, is guiding a group of star players for the T20 World Cup, will have a tough task in hand dealing with the second kind of preparation, especially in the wake of what unfolded in IPL 2024. While all still remain as speculations with no official quotes, even from other players, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya did not see eye to eye in the Mumbai Indians dressing room, leading to a rumoured break in the team as they finished 10th in the points table. Dig deeper

Entertainment Focus

Over the past few days, many celebrities such as Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor and Salman Khan jetted off to Europe for Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s second pre-wedding celebrations. After a photo of Ranveer Singh from the cruise celebrations surfaced online recently, another picture of the actor from the Ambani cruise is out. Photos of Sara Ali Khan making the most of the European trip have also emerged on social media platforms. Dig deeper

That’s all we have at this hour in our Morning briefing. Catch you in the afternoon