News18 Daybreak | Spotlight Shifts to Mumbai, Begusarai as Lok Sabha Elections Enter Phase Four and Other Stories You Need to Watch out For

Today's Big StoriesLok Sabha poll enters 4th phase, all eyes on Mumbai & Begusarai

Voting has begun in 72 parliamentary constituencies across nine states in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha polls including Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

While last time’s polling saw several heavyweights battle it out for repute in their constituencies, this round will witness several first-timers throw in their gauntlet.What’s at stake: The stakes are high for the ruling BJP and its allies as it had swept 56 of the 72 seats in 2014, leaving just two for the Congress and the rest for other opposition parties such as the Trinamool Congress and Biju Janata Dal.

Among the 961 candidates in the fray, this time are BJP’s Giriraj Singh, Congress’ Salman Khurshid, CPI’s Kanhaiya Kumar, BJP’s Baijayant Panda (BJP), Congress’ Urmila Matondkar and Samajwadi Party’s Dimple Yadav.A tough fight: After suffering a defeat at Congress’ hands in the assembly elections, the BJP is banking entirely on Modi charisma in the Lok Sabha battle for Rajasthan’s 13 seats. And the contest is likely to be decided by fine margins.Sri Lanka issues decree banning all forms of face covering from Monday

Sri Lanka government on Sunday issued a decree banning face-coverings from Monday in light of the Easter Sunday attacks.

According to the presidential decree, face-coverings including burqa pose a “security risk and flag of fundamentalism".Recent developments: The move comes just two days after 10 civilians including six children were killed during raids conducted by police on suspected safe houses that were used by the attackers.

Six terrorists were also believed to have been killed in the shootout with the security forces. The country has been on high alert since the bombings, which were carried out by a local cell that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.Lost intelligence: President Maithrapala Sirisena in an exclusive interview with News18.com blamed the security lapse on the Defense Secretary and the Inspector General of Police, both of who have stepped down.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka’s former president who is being lauded for his strong-willed response to the new threat of Islamic terrorism, in a CNN-News18 interview, said that he does not want foreign forces in the country.He taught us terror has no religion, says Hemant Karkare’s daughter

Days after BJP’s Bhopal candidate Pragya Thakur made a controversial statement against 26/11 hero Hemant Karkare, his daughter, Jui Navare, said that she does not want to dignify her remarks.With 21 suicides, this is how the Telangana Intermediate exams turned into a fiasco

As many as 21 students have committed suicide in Telangana since results of the Intermediate exam were declared on April 18. Meanwhile, protests rage over alleged discrepancies in the evaluation process.Chaos prevails as global server shutdown delays 149 Air India flights

Thousands of passengers were inconvenienced on Saturday as national carrier Air India faced a massive glitch in passenger services system forcing network-wide delays and rescheduling of 149 flights.Jet Airways employee, suffering from cancer, commits suicide in Maharashtra

- Mayawati claims PM Modi converted to OBC for political gains

- Congress banks on Priyanka Gandhi's audio messages to take NYAY to voters

- Atishi complains against Gautam Gambhir over his affidavit, "multiple" voter IDs and “illegal" rally.

- Shatrughan Sinha’s “slip of tongue" invoking Ali Jinnah in praise of Congress

- BJP MP sends legal notice to Rahul Gandhi for calling Amit Shah a "murder accused".

- Vinod Khanna’s wife supports PM Modi despite being overlooked by the party.On The Ground

Changing equations: In Rajasthan’s Mewar-Vagad region, Suhas Munshi finds that a tribal-centric party is challenging the norm set by Congress and BJP and their rhetoric is straight out of BSP’s early campaigns.

A clear victory: Suhas Munshi then travels to Mewar, where the Congress is facing its toughest battle. The fight is so lopsided that the BJP hasn’t held a single rally in the region so far.

No dilemma here: Aniruddha Ghoshal reports from West Bengal’s Purulia district where Trinamool Congress members see no contradiction in supporting right-wing outfits.On Reel