Long awaited BMC polls are in January 2023

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October 26, 2022

bmc, civic body, mumbai bmc, bmc building, anil galgali, galgali — Long awaited BMC polls are in January 2023 2

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at his residence in Varsha announced that the elections to the BMC will be held in January. Earlier Devendra Fadnavis said, “only God and the courts know when the BMC elections will be held,”. Fadnavis made his comments to media persons invited for Diwali. Asked about the delay in BMC elections and whether they would be held in December this year or January 2003, Fadnavis said he was unable to tell as it was the EC and courts that would decide.

When pointed out that the BMC had become a one-man show, and asked if it was correct to continue with an administrator indefinitely, Fadnavis said in a democracy, it is not good that an administrator should continue for so long. ‘SC ordered status quo, the state has no role to play in holding polls’ Speaking to reporters about the stalled BMC elections on Tuesday, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said,

The term of the BMC House ended in March this year. Instead of holding polls, the municipal commissioner was appointed as administrator for six months as there was no clarity on the electoral quota for the Other Backward Castes. It is now more than six months and polls still haven’t been held. The hearing on the Shiv Sena party name and symbol before the Election Commission of India is set to begin in November.

CM Shinde, meanwhile, said two important things that he wants to offer Mumbaikars are pothole-free roads and a beautiful city. He said the Bhoomi pujan for the Rs 5,000 crore concretisation of Mumbai’s roads will be held as soon as the work orders are issued; they are expected by the month-end.

“When I became chief minister, the first thing I did is call (I S) Chahal (BMC commissioner) and asked him why must there be potholes perennially. I told him that I do not want potholes and asked for a plan to be drawn up to concretise all roads.” Over the next two years, Shinde said Mumbai’s annual pothole problem will be resolved with the road concretisation project, which will go hand in hand with the city’s beautification project.

CM Shinde said all infrastructure projects will be completed on time, with the first phase of the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway from Shirdi in Nashik to Nagpur being inaugurated in November. Shinde said he would be making a trip to Ayodhya in November.

The Shiv Sena has controlled the cash-rich Mumbai municipal corporation for three decades. In the wake of Shinde’s revolt and the split in the Sena, the BMC elections hold greater importance for the Uddhav Thackeray faction, which suffered a blow as the Thackeray-led government collapsed in June.

Mallikarjun Kharge officially takes charge as President

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PTI

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October 26, 2022

Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress | Image : Twitter/@kharge

Veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge formally took over as Congress president on Wednesday after he was handed over the certificate of election to the top post at a function at the AICC headquarters here.

Kharge, the first non-Gandhi to head the party in 24 years, had defeated Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor in a direct contest for the president’s post in the grand old party after the Gandhis opted out of the race.

Kharge was handed over the certificate of election as the Congress president by the party’s central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry. Mistry said he hopes other parties will draw a lesson from the Congress and hold polls for party presidency by secret ballot.

Outgoing Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former chief Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were also present at the event which was attended by several top party leaders.

Ahead of his taking over, Kharge visited Rajghat and paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi.

He also visited the memorials of former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi and former deputy prime minister Jagjivan Ram, and paid tributes to the leaders.

It’s time for Indians to colonize the UK?

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Vaidehi Taman

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October 25, 2022

Au Royaume Uni Rishi Sunak dans les starting blocks pour succeder a Boris Johnson — Rishi Sunak the Prime Minister of United Kingdoms

Rishi Sunak is appointed as Britain’s first Indian-origin Prime Minister, in a stunning leadership change amid an economic crisis. Such a great nation! A person with foreign roots is acceptable as PM. Indians need to learn something from them.Sunak became the leader of the Conservatives yesterday after his former boss Boris Johnson called off his comeback bid and rival Penny Mordaunt failed to secure enough backing from Tory MPs.

At 42, Sunak will be the youngest Prime Minister of the UK in over two centuries. He succeeds Liz Truss who faced a humiliating exit within two months after her tax-cutting plans backfired.He inherits an economy that was headed for a recession even before Truss’s tax-cutting budget sent shockwaves through the market, crashing the pound. Sunak also met King Charles at Buckingham Palace and will be the first PM to be appointed by the new monarch since the death of Queen Elizabeth. Truss was appointed by the Queen two days before her death on September 8.

As he settles down after delivering his maiden speech from the steps of 10 Downing Street, Sunak’s first job will be to appoint his top team before he faces the first session of “Prime Minister’s Questions” in the Parliament on Monday.Boris Johnson may not get a seat in his cabinet after he was forced to resign as the Prime Minister partly due to Sunak’s resignation as the Chancellor.

Sunak’s parents are of Indian descent and had migrated from East Africa to the UK in the 1960s. He is married to Akshata Murty, daughter of Narayana Murthy, founder of Indian tech giant Infosys. Rishi Sunak was educated at Winchester College, earned a degree in philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) at Lincoln College, Oxford, and an MBA from Stanford University in California as a Fulbright Scholar. While at Stanford, he met his wife Akshata Murty, the daughter of N. R. Narayana Murthy, the Indian billionaire businessman who founded Infosys. Sunak and Murty are the 222nd richest people in Britain, with a combined fortune of £730m as of 2022.

After graduating, Sunak worked for Goldman Sachs and later as a partner at the hedge fund firms the Children’s Investment Fund Management and Theleme Partners.
Sunak was born on 12 May 1980 in Southampton, Hampshire,[13]His parents are Hindu of Indian Punjabi descent, Yashvir and Usha Sunak. Yashvir Sunak was born and raised in the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya (present-day Kenya), and is a general practitioner (GP) in the National Health Service (NHS), and Usha Sunak, born in Tanganyika (which later became part of Tanzania), is currently the director and pharmacist at the Sunak Pharmacy in Southampton and has a degree from Aston University.

He is the eldest of three siblings. His brother Sanjay is a psychologist and his sister Raakhi (Williams) works in New York as chief of strategy and planning at the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies.His grandfathers were born in Punjab province, British India, and migrated from East Africa with their families to the UK in the 1960s.

His paternal grandfather, Ramdas Sunak, was from Gujranwala (in present-day Pakistan) and moved to Nairobi in 1935 to work as a clerk, where he was joined by his wife Suhag Rani Sunak from Delhi in 1937. His maternal grandfather, Raghubir Sain Berry MBE, worked in Tanganyika as a tax official, and had an arranged marriage with 16-year-old Tanganyika-born Sraksha, with whom he had three children, and the family moved to the U.K. in 1966, funded by Sraksha selling her wedding jewellery. In Britain, Raghubir Berry joined the Inland Revenue, and as a collector, was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1988 Birthday Honours list.

Rishi Sunak has been officially appointed as British Prime Minister by King Charles III. He will replace Liz Truss who quit the top post in just seven weeks. Sunak became the ruling Conservatives’ new leader on Monday after rival contender Penny Mordaunt failed to secure enough nominations from Tory MPs, and ex-premier Boris Johnson dramatically aborted a comeback bid.

Cybercrimes shoot up by 112% in city in five years

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Web Team

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October 25, 2022

Mumbai City Crimes Cybercrimes — Representative Image

Cybercrimes in the city surged 112% in five years —from 1,361 cases in 2017 to 2,883 in 2021—according to a report released by the non-profit Praja Foundation recently.

Cheating cases, whether through loan apps, matrimonial frauds or job scams, topped the list of cybercrimes last year with 1,154 FIRs being lodged. Online frauds involving debit/credit cards were next on the list—1,075 FIRs filed. According to the data, the detection rate of cybercrimes was low at 16% in 2021.

Experts pointed out that the number of FIRs being registered were very less compared to actual complaints.

Maha CM Eknath Shinde announces compensation for Farmers affected by excessive rains

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Web Team

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October 25, 2022

Maharashtra Government Eknath Shinde Farmers — Image: PTI

Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday said he has given directions to expedite the process of assessment of crop losses due to excessive rains in parts of the state and assured that the affected farmers will be provided compensation.

Speaking to reporters at the Nagpur airport ahead of his visit to Gadchiroli district in the Vidarbha region, Shinde said his government has taken “72 big decisions” in the interest of the people in the last three months and he will respond to the opposition’s criticism by showing the work done by his government.

8.5L papers in 2 trucks Shiv Sena of Uddhav Thackrey sends to EC

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Web Team

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October 25, 2022

Election Commission Uddhav Thackeray Shiv Sena — Image: PTI

The EC is hearing the dispute between the Uddhav and CM Eknath Shinde’s factions. Sena (UBT) MP Anil Desai, who is handling the faction’s EC affairs, said the party had collected around 11 lakh primary membership forms. The Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray faction has submitted around 8. 5 lakh primary membership forms to the Election Commission (EC) in two trucks.

“The EC wanted these forms and affidavits in a particular format with indexation. So, we have submitted around 8. 5 lakh primary membership forms in the required format. We have also submitted affidavits of all members of the party’s ‘pratinidhi sabha’ and office-bearers from zilla pramukhs to booth pramukhs, which are around 2. 62 lakhs. Affidavits from some more districts will be added too,” Desai said.

Former Mayor Kishori Pedhnekar said, “we are ready to send two more trucks as people are with Shiv Sena and they are our active members. Now it’s the election commission that has to give a fair verdict”.

Rishi Sunak becomes new UK Prime Minister after meeting King Charles III

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ANI

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October 25, 2022

United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi sunak — Image: ANI

Rishi Sunak has become the new UK Prime Minister after meeting King Charles III at Buckingham Palace.

Sunak is now the UK’s 57th prime minister after being asked to form a government by King Charles III.

He is the third prime minister this year and will enter Downing Street as the youngest PM in two centuries.

Sunak will be making a statement soon after he arrives at 10 Downing Street.

Meanwhile, outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss has officially become the shortest-serving PM in UK history after she was forced to step down just 45 days into office.

On Monday, former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak became the Conservative Party leader less than two months after he lost to Liz Truss in the Tory leadership race. Sunak’s change in fate was triggered by the resignation of Truss after high-profile sackings and resignations in her Cabinet, following a heavily criticised mini-budget that left the UK pound tumbling.

Truss’ ascent to power was paved by the Tory leadership crisis following Boris Johnson’s resignation in July, after a series of resignations of cabinet members, who protested against his scandal-plagued leadership.

In a short farewell speech earlier, she defended her legacy of trying to push through tax cuts and said leaders needed to be bold.

She called for lowering taxes and delivering growth, Truss said, “We need to take advantage of our Brexit freedoms to do things differently. This means delivering more freedom for our own citizens and restoring power for our democratic institutions.”

“It means lower taxes so people can keep more of the money they earn. And it means delivering growth that will lead to more job security, higher wages and more opportunities for our children and grandchildren,” she added.

Truss said that her government had acted “urgently and decisively” to help hard-working families. She said she had helped thousands of businesses to avoid bankruptcy, and taken back energy independence so we’re “no longer reliant on malign foreign powers.”

Sunak will be the UK’s third leader in seven weeks after winning a Tory leadership contest triggered by Truss stepping down.

After being selected by Tory MPs on Monday, he warned the country faced a “profound economic challenge.”

Sunak ruled out an early general election, despite calls from Labour, the Scottish National Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party.

Air quality in Mumbai remained in poor category day after Diwali; SAFAR

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ANI

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October 25, 2022

Mumbai Air Quality Pollution Diwali — Representative Image: PTI

A day after Diwali, the air quality in Mumbai remained in the ‘poor’ category with the overall air quality index (AQI) at 290.

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the AQI in the overall Mumbai region was in the ‘very poor’ category.

In Andheri, AQI was in ‘very poor’ category at 358. In BKC and Borivali, the AQI remained ‘poor’ at 293 and 232 respectively. In Chembur and Malad, AQI was ‘very poor’ at 319 and 375 respectively. However, in worli area, the air quality was in the ‘satisfactory’ category. In Pune, the air quality was ‘poor’ with overall AQI at 208.

A day after Diwali, Delhi was wrapped in a blanket of smog as the air quality on Tuesday remained in the “very poor” category with the overall air quality index (AQI) 323.

Meanwhile, firecracker waste was seen in various parts of Delhi and the national capital region post-Diwali celebrations.

Pertinent to mention, the Delhi government banned the production, storage, sale, and bursting of firecrackers this year as well and imposed fines and jail terms in case of violation. In a bid to reduce vehicular pollution, the Delhi Government also announced the ‘Red Light On Gaadi Off’ campaign.

Under the campaign, public representatives and officials will motivate commuters to turn their vehicles off at red lights in a bid to curb vehicular pollution. The air quality in the national capital is also affected because of stubble burning in surrounding Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan in the winter.

Arunachal Pradesh: At least 700 shops reduced to ashes in massive fire broke out at Naharlagun Market

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ANI

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October 25, 2022

Arunachal Pradesh Itanagar Naharlagun Market Fire Breaks Out — Image: ANI

Around 700 shops were reduced to ashes in a massive fire that broke out at Naharlagun Daily Market near Itanagar on Tuesday morning, police said. There was no casualty in the fire that was first spotted around 4 am, they said.

The market, the oldest in the state, is situated near the fire station and Naharlagun police station, around 14 km from Arunachal Pradesh’s capital Itanagar.

The fire is suspected to be caused by firecrackers or lamps lit for Diwali celebrations, police said. Firefighters swung into action immediately but as the shops were made of bamboo and timber with dry items stored in abundance in the market, the blaze spread fast, they claimed. Panicked shopkeepers struggled to save anything they could as exploding LPG cylinders further added fuel to the fire.

Three fire tenders, one of which was brought in from Itanagar, fought for hours to bring the blaze under control, police said. The exact damage caused by the fire is being assessed, but it is estimated to be in crores of rupees, they said.

Superintendent of Police (Capital) Jimmy Chiram said the exact cause of the fire would be known after the completion of the investigation by the fire department. Shopkeepers alleged that after spotting the blaze they rushed to the adjacent fire station but no personnel could be found.

Further, when the fire services personnel arrived, the fire engines did not have water. To refill the engines, the personnel had to travel a long distance, and they could come back with water only around 5 am, by which most of the market was already gutted, the shopkeepers alleged.

“The police also did not act. All of them should be terminated from service for failure to perform their duties,” Naharlagun Bazar Welfare Committee president Kipa Nai said.

After speaking to the shopkeepers, Arunachal Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACC&I) president Tarh Nachung demanded that all fire personnel on duty be suspended for negligence. It was the failure of the government that it did not set up the minimum infrastructure required for firefighting — such as water filling points, which should immediately be made available at different locations in the Capital Complex, he said.

“If this is the situation in the heart of the capital, what would be the situation in the districts,” he questioned. Itanagar MLA Techi Kaso told reporters that the market would be rebuilt by the state government in cooperation with ACC&I.

“I am not retired, the chances of return are very high” says Serena Williams

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ANI

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October 25, 2022

serema williams, williams, tennis, grand slam, tennis player — "I am not retired, the chances of return are very high" says Serena Williams 12

The 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams on Monday said she has not retired from tennis yet and that the chances of her returning to the court are “very high” after she previously indicated that she would step away from the sport after the recently concluded US Open. “I am not retired,” Williams said at a conference in San Francisco while promoting her investment company.

“The chances (of a return) are very high. You can come to my house, I have a court,” she added. Williams announced her retirement from tennis on August 9, saying she is “evolving away” from the sport.

The 40-year-old tennis star said that the best word to describe what she is up to is “evolution” and that she wants to grow her family. “I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me. I’ve been thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people,” Serena said in an article for Vogue magazine.

Serena has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any player in the open era, and the second-most of all time, only behind Margaret Court’s 24.