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As per the ECI, Adilabad recorded a voter turnout of 13.50 per cent, Bhadradri at 8.33 per cent, Hanumankonda at 6.89 per cent and Jagtial at 10.82 per cent.

It further said that Jayashankar Bhupalpalle recorded 10.50 per cent of voter turnout, Jogulamba Gadwal at 12.02 per cent, Kamareddy at 9.98 per cent, Karimnagar recorded 8.21 per cent of voter turnout till 9 am.

Polling for the 119 Assembly constituencies in Telangana began on Thursday morning. As many as 2,290 candidates from 109 national and regional parties including 221 women and one transgender are in the fray.

The counting of the votes will take place on December 3, coinciding with the results of the other four states- Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram.

The ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi has fielded candidates in all 119 seats, while, as per the seat-sharing agreement, BJP and actor Pawan Kalyan-headed Jana Sena Party are contesting in 111 and eight seats respectively, while Congress has given one seat to its ally CPI, and fighting from 118 others. Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM has put up candidates from nine seats.

For a higher voter turnout, several leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi have urged the people of the state to exercise their franchise.

Taking to X, PM Modi appealed to people to strengthen the 'festival of democracy' by casting their votes.

"I call upon my sisters and brothers of Telangana to vote in record numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy. I particularly urge young and first-time voters to exercise their franchise," he said.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi also appealed to Telangana people to vote in large numbers in the elections to the 119-member state Assembly.

"Today, Prajala will defeat Dorala! Brothers and sisters of Telangana, step out and vote in large numbers! Vote to build a 'Bangaru' Telangana, Vote for Congress," Rahul Gandhi said in a post on X.

(ANI)

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As the year end approaches, the music streaming platform Spotify has released its year-ender in the form of Spotify Wrapped.

Arijit, who is the most streamed artiste on Spotify in India, has delivered great work one after the other, has been ruling the hearts of the audience since his breakout success 'Aashiqui 2', which released a decade ago.

Arijit was followed by his mentor and guru, music composer Pritam on second spot.

Arijit worked as Pritam's assistant and sang scratches for him before he was encouraged by the composer to fly on his own.

Anirudh Ravichander, who has been on a roll composing music of 'Jailer', 'Jawan' and 'Leo', grabbed the third spot followed by the Oscar and Grammy-winning composer A.R. Rahman.

In terms of genre, Bollywood music is the most streamed genre on Spotify in India followed by Punjabi Pop and Tamil Pop.

The song 'Maan Meri Jaan' by King topped the most streamed songs of 2023 list on the audio streaming platform followed by 'Kahani Suno 2.0' by Kaifi Khalil and the viral hit song 'Kesariya' from 'Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva', 'Kabir Singh' by Various Artists is the most-streamed album of 2023 in India.

Globally, Taylor Swift dominated the Wrapped list as the Global Top Artiste, followed by BTS member Jungkook.

(IANS)

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The forest department had earlier captured a 10-month-old male cub of the same leopard on November 25.

The female leopard was captured in Loniyanpurva village, located at the border of the Motipur forest range of Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary.

The divisional forest officer of Bahraich, Akashdeep Badhawan, said that the female leopard, estimated to be around 4-5 years old, was found in good health with no apparent injuries or deformities during a medical examination conducted by a veterinary officer from Dudhwa Tiger Reserve.

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The leopard, accompanied by her two cubs, had struck fear in the region between August 5 and November 17.

The authorities deployed an array of resources, including 10 strategically placed cages, three thermal drone cameras, two elephants, and field forest teams equipped with dart shooters.

They covered a vast area from the Motipur forest range to the North Kheri Forest division.

The authorities had granted permission to tranquillize the leopard.

“The leopard was caged with the use of advanced GPS (global positioning system)-based technology and followed her trails, including her scat and the remnants of her hunted prey, as the traditional methods of monitoring failed to produce the desired outcome. The position of the cages was altered based on the indicative information elicited due to the application of the innovative strategies,” Badhawan added.

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“We have urged the chief wildlife warden of Uttar Pradesh, Anajani Kumar Acharya, to specify the destination for the relocation of the leopard and her cub that have been kept under the safe custody of the forest department. We are now focusing on the second cub, which remains elusive,” he added.

(IANS)