Rajya Sabha proceedings in the pre-lunch session on Tuesday were adjourned without transacting any business as opposition parties, including the Congress, pressed for an immediate discussion on issues ranging from price rise to the Agnipath scheme.
Members of the Congress, Left, and AAP insisted on a discussion on the issues, forcing adjournment of proceedings till 2 pm. Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu rejected notices given by Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and other leaders under rule 267 that calls for setting aside the business of the day to take up the issues listed by them.
“I am not admitting them,” Naidu said soon after the listed papers were laid on the table. Opposition members insisted on a discussion on the issues. “On price rise and other issues, we can have a discussion. On that I have no problem,” Naidu said indicating a willingness to take up a debate on the issue at a later date under a different rule.
But this did not pacify the opposition members who vociferously started raising the issue. Naidu asked members to resume their places and ordered that nothing that they speak would go on record. Soon after, he adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm.
Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut in a veiled attack termed the Eknath Shinde’s faction as “snakes”. “Learn the skill of crushing the fun too…..Do not leave the forest because of the fear of snakes… Jai Maharashtra!!,” tweeted MP Raut on Tuesday morning.
The tweet was made amidst indications from sources that the Uddhav-Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction seems to be in for another major setback as 12 of the party’s 18 party MPs are in touch with Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and are likely to switch sides to his camp.
Newly inducted Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde had on Monday arrived in the national capital and according to sources is likely to make an announcement in a a press conference on the matter.
Speaking to reporters after his arrival here yesterday, Shinde said he was confident that all 18 Shiv Sena Lok Sabha MPs will meet him on July 20.
The Supreme Court on July 20 will hear pleas filed by both factions of the Shiv Sena pertaining to the Maharashtra political crisis. “Shiv Sena MPs will meet us. We have 18 MPs, not just 12,” Shinde said.
Talking about the purpose of his visit to the national capital, Shinde said, “I have come to Delhi to hold a discussion regarding OBC reservations as the Maharashtra government is committed to providing justice to OBCs.
It’s important from the state’s perspective. We held discussion with lawyers on our preparation for the OBC reservation case (in SC).” Yesterday, Shinde had chaired a meeting of MLAs in Mumbai. “
Today Ramdas Kadam came for the meeting after resigning… but we reappointed him and he will be working again for the Shiv Sena,” Shinde had said. Kadam, a former minister in the Uddhav Thackeray government had resigned expelled by the Uddhav Thackeray camp on Monday.
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to list the petition preferred by 14 Shiv Sena MLAs of the Uddhav Thackeray challenging the initiation of “illegal” disqualification proceedings against them under the Tenth Schedule along with the other petitions related to Maharashtra’s political crisis that are slated to be heard on July 20.
The new writ petition was mentioned before the bench of CJI NV Ramana, Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli by Senior Advocate Devdat Kamat. Speaking on the plea pending in the Supreme Court, Shinde said, “We have unwavering faith and trust in our judiciary. In a democracy, the majority (in Assembly) holds significance. We have followed all rules.”
This is Eknath Shinde’s second visit to the national capital since taking oath of office on June 30. He is slated to return to Mumbai tonight.
Pakistan reported 459 new COVID-19 cases during the last 24 hours, the country’s National Institute of Health said on Tuesday.
The tally of infected people increased to 1,547,203 after adding the new cases, according to the data released by the health institute.
A total of 16,419 tests for COVID-19 were conducted in Pakistan during the last 24 hours and the positivity rate stood at 2.80 per cent, the Dawn newspaper reported citing the NIH. Currently, there are 163 COVID-19 active cases who are in critical condition in the South Asian country.
“COVID-19 Statistics 19 July 2022 Total Tests in Last 24 Hours: 16,419 Positive Cases: 459 Positivity %: 2.80% Deaths: 00 Patients on Critical Care: 163,” said National Institute of Health (NIH), Pakistan.
Pakistan is currently witnessing a new surge in COVID-19 cases. Experts said that the two sub-variants of the Omicron variant, namely BA.4 and BA.5, are responsible for the spread of COVID-19.
They said that these variants have escape mutations that are giving them an edge.
Experts also said that the sub-variants have also been infecting people who are already vaccinated or have already been infected with COVID-19, but no evidence is available to show if they are causing any severe disease among the vaccinated people, Geo News reported. Amid fears of a new wave of coronavirus, experts advocated mask-wearing indoors in cities reporting cases that constitute over 5 per cent positivity.
They also stressed vigilant watch through good surveillance and testing, vaccination with emphasis on boosters and communication about rising risk, especially in urban settings.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday ‘examined’ two former commissioners of Mumbai police, Param Bir Singh and Sanjay Pandey in a bribery case against the former Home Minister of Maharashtra, Anil Deshmukh.
A senior CBI official confirmed that former commissioners of Mumbai police were summoned to join the investigation in the case against Anil Deshmukh where he had been accused of asking policemen to collect Rs 100 crores illegally for him every month from bar owners in Mumbai.
“The former police heads joined the investigation at CBI headquarters in Delhi where they were examined for around five hours by two separate CBI teams. Later, they were allowed to go. If required they will be asked to join the investigation again,” a CBI official told ANI.
Earlier, Param Bir Singh had alleged that the then Maharashtra Police’s Director General Sanjay Pandey asked him to take back his complaint against Anil Deshmukh, and in return, he would settle inquiries against him.
Earlier, the Bombay High Court reserved the order pleas on Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik and former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh for permission to cast their votes for the MLC polls on June 20.
A special PMLA court in Mumbai rejected the pleas filed by Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh seeking a day’s bail to vote in the Rajya Sabha elections.
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been moved in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Maharashtra government to sack cabinet ministers Nawab Malik, who is presently in judicial custody in connection with the case of money laundering.
Deshmukh and Malik are currently lodged in jail in connection with different money laundering cases being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Deshmukh was arrested on November 1, 2021, in connection with extortion and money laundering allegations leveled against him by the former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh.
Mother Nature is constantly getting destroyed due to people’s carelessness – cutting trees, constructing high-rise buildings, throwing garbage on roads, seas and whatnot.
Although many campaigns have been conducted to make people aware of the repercussions of throwing waste on the seas, people have turned a blind eye to them.
However, Mother Nature seemed to have returned those wastes back to the people in a recent viral video, shocking netizens, and making them realize that they are slowly destroying the planet. Taking to Twitter, a page called Mumbai Matters shared a video of Mumbai Beach.
He added a snide comment, writing, “Beaches in Mumbai now Open. Citizens throng Mahim beach to have a look at the ReturnGift from ArabianSea…”
The 10-second video clip revealed a Mumbai Beach laden with tons of plastic waste, dumps, and plenty of garbage as people stand on the littered beach.
The shocking video has received numerous angry and concerned reactions from netizens who expressed their opinions on this issue. “Nature warns first, when it has no effect, it will react. Let’s not wait for that reaction, because we may not be able to bear that,” wrote one Twitter user.
Till now, the highly circulated video has garnered 87k views and collected more than 1k likes on Twitter. Is this Nature’s cry for help? What do you think?
At least 12 of 19 MPs of Shiv Sena will form a separate group in the Lok Sabha and meet Speaker Om Birla to submit a formal letter, a Shiv Sena MP from Maharashtra claimed on Monday.
The move comes weeks after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena witnessed a vertical split with 40 of the MLAs joining the faction headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
“We attended an online meeting held by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde today. We have decided to form a separate group under the leadership of Rahul Shewale (an MP from Mumbai). He will be our group leader,” the Sena MP said. He said Shiv Sena MPs Vinayak Raut, Arvind Sawant, Gajanan Kiritkar, Sanjay Jadhav, Om Rane Nimbalkar, and Rajan Vichare did not attend the virtual meeting called by Shinde on Monday while the rest 12 MPs from Maharashtra attended.
The Shiv Sena has 19 MPs in Lok Sabha, including 18 from Maharashtra.
The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) on Monday moved to Delhi High court challenging the guidelines restraining the restaurant from charging service charges.
Justice Yashwant Verma listed the matter for July 20 after counsel for one of the respondents sought time to take instructions.
NRAI and others have moved a petition through advocate Nina Gupta and Ananya Marwah seeking inter alia for quashing or setting aside guidelines of July 4, 2022, issued by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) for ‘Preventing Unfair Trade Practices and Violation of Consumer Rights with regard to levying of service charge in hotels and restaurants.
Senior Advocate Lalit Bhasin argued that there are three categories of restaurants. Firstly, those who do not levy service charge, second are those who levy service charges without consent of the consumer and thirdly those who levy service charges and it is reflected in their menu.
The Senior advocate argued that these guidelines should not be applied to those who are reflecting this on the menu. It is a police matter and the rate of service charge is subject to price, it may be different. Service charge is always meant for the staff.
It is submitted that guidelines issued on July 4, 2022, iss On the other hand, the counsel for CCPA sought time to take instructions. The court asked him to come with complete instructions on Thursday.
Thereafter the court fixed the next date of hearing.ued by CCP are arbitrary, untenable and ought to be quashed/set aside by this Court in as much as the same has been issued without an appreciation of the facts and circumstances.
It is also submitted that levy of service charge has been a standing practice in the hospitality industry for more than 80 years which is evident from the fact that the Supreme Court took notice of this concept way back in 1964 in the case of Management of Wenger and Co. Vs. Their Workmen.
The petition has stated that there is no law which disallows restaurants to charge service charges. There has neither been a new law nor an amendment to the existing laws which makes charging the service charge illegal.
In the absence of due authentication and promulgation of the guidelines, the contents thereof cannot be treated as an order of the Government. The wide publicity of the issue regarding Service Charge has led to a fear psychosis among the restaurant owners and has created a wrong impression in the minds of the public.
This has adversely affected the smooth functioning and business of the restaurants, the petition stated. It is also stated that the levying of service charges has a socio-economic angle as well.
The system of levying service charge ensures that there is a systematic and logical distribution of service charge collection amongst the employees and not just the employee serving the customer in the restaurant.
This ensures that the benefit is divided equally among all the staff workers including the utility workers, back end staff etc. The levying of service charge is a universally accepted trade practice.
Service charge is being levied in various countries like UK, Singapore, Japan and USA with varying percentages between 8 and 12.5 per cent.
In the UK, accounting and distribution of service charge is also done through an independent agency through a system called Tronc, the plea stated The legality, reasonableness or justification of levying service charge has been considered by the Supreme Court of India, High Courts, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, erstwhile Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission and by the Income Tax Authorities (ITAT).
The levy of service charge as a substitute for tips has been upheld in various judicial pronouncements, the petition submitted.
Sri Lanka’s Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Monday said that he is requesting the assistance of the UK Government and their intelligence services because a proper Easter Sunday investigation has not been carried out which indicates that the issue has not been fully resolved.
The Acting President said that he is requesting assistance owing to the incomplete nature of the Easter Sunday investigations, Daily Mirror reported.
On April 21, 2019, three churches in Sri Lanka and three luxury hotels in the capital Colombo were targeted in a series of coordinated terrorist suicide bombings.
Over 250 people were killed and scores suffered injuries. A local terror group called National Thowheeth Jama’ath had claimed responsibility for the devastating attacks.
The island nation was put under a state of emergency for a period of four months from April to August.
According to the government, a total of 676 persons were arrested in connection with the Easter attacks, of whom 202 remain in remand custody, 66 have been detained for questioning, and 408 released on bail, yet investigations on them are continuing.
Wickremesinghe issued a special statement saying that the country’s economy had collapsed and the country was having power cuts that lasted for 5 hours a day when he was appointed as the Prime Minister on May 13.
Relief is being provided to the people who are still struggling with the economic crisis, he added. The Acting President further mentioned that the deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was nearing conclusion.
He said that the Executive Presidency is responsible for the current political crisis in the country and many issues that the citizens are facing will be addressed following the re-introduction of the 19th Amendment.
The Acting President added that the elements which attempt to disrupt the peace in the country will be prohibited from disrupting the country’s progress, local media reported.
The statement added that the government would engage with peaceful protesters who had legitimate concerns and a way out will also be found. Wickremesinghe urged the political parties to put their differences aside and form an All-Party Government that would allow the country to recover from the economic crisis.
Sri Lanka has been facing the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, leading to an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas, and fuel across the island nation.
A driver of a school bus has been arrested for allegedly raping a 15-year-old student in Pune city, police said on Monday.
The Kondhwa police on Sunday arrested the 35-year-old driver under section 376 (rape) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, an official said.
The victim used to travel in the bus driven by the accused, and he allegedly established physical relations with her on multiple occasions, he said.
The matter came to light when the girl informed her parents about the abuse on Saturday, following which a police complaint was lodged, the official added.
A man who fled West Bengal after allegedly killing a minor girl five years ago was held from Malwani in Mumbai, a police official said on Monday.
Khokan Razzak Mondal had killed the 8-year-old girl in Kaliganj area of WB and had been on the run since, he said.
“Acting on a tip off, we nabbed him from a garment factory in Malwani where he was working for the past couple of months. The arrest was carried out in coordination with WB police, a team of which was in Mumbai for the past couple of days,” he said.
