As many as 283 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in Maharashtra took part in voting for the Presidential poll that concluded here on Monday, said an official.
The voting, held at the Maharashtra Vidhan Bhavan in south Mumbai, started at 10 am and concluded at 5 pm.
The state assembly has 288 seats and its current strength is 287, of which 283 MLAs cast their votes to elect the 15th President, said the Vidhan Bhavan official.
BJP MLA Laxman Jagtap, who is unwell, Shiv Sena legislator Mahendra Dalvi, a member of the rebel camp led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and jailed NCP lawmakers Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh did not vote, he said.
One seat is vacant due to the death of Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke a few months ago.
Elected members of the Assembly and Parliament vote in the Presidential poll. The BJP-led NDA’s nominee Droupadi Murmu and former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha, the joint opposition candidate, are vying for the top constitutional post.
The Shiv Sena on Monday attacked the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis dispensation in Maharashtra saying it was taking arbitrary decisions despite being trapped in a “constitutional dilemma” without a cabinet in place. Shinde and Fadnavis had taken oath as chief minister and deputy chief minister on June 30 but there has been no cabinet expansion since, even as the new government has gone about taking decisions on the metro rail car shed in Aarey, renaming of Aurangabad, and Osmanabad as well as the upcoming Navi Mumbai airport, among others.
The Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena insists the Shinde-Fadnavis government is illegal since the disqualification plea of rebel MLAs is pending before the Supreme Court.
Earlier this month, it had also asked the governor not to administer an oath to any minister as a disqualification plea was yet to be decided by the apex court. Dubbing Shinde and Fadnavis as “Vasu and Sapna”, the lead characters of the blockbuster film ‘Ek Duje Ke Like”, the party in an editorial in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ on Monday said the two-member government is an “unusual” experiment and “political family planning”. “…but due to the Supreme Court resorting to a forced vasectomy, they have to face this situation (of not expanding the cabinet),” the editorial said.
An iconic film of 1981 starring Kamal Hasan and Rati Agnihotri, who play Vasu and Sapna, is madly in love with each other but meet a tragic end. “There has been a chief minister and a deputy chief minister in Maharashtra over the last 15 days, but one cannot call this a government,” the party said.
It said over 40 MLAs were herded between Surat, Guwahati, and Goa amid the rebellion, but when they came back to Mumbai, only two (Shinde and Fadnavis) took the oath.
It asked how this “two-pillar” government could call the Uddhav Thackeray dispensation’s order to rename Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar, Osmanabad as Dharashiv, and the new Navi Mumbai airport after D B Patil “unconstitutional”.
The party also slammed the Shinde government’s decision to resume work on the Aarey metro rail car shed, which the Thackeray government had stalled citing environment concerns.
The Eknath Shinde-led government in Maharashtra on Saturday gave cabinet approval to rename Aurangabad and Osmanabad cities as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv, respectively.
The decision to rename these cities was taken by the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in its last meeting on June 29. However, the Shinde government said the decisions were illegal as they were taken after the governor had asked for a floor test in the Assembly.
Indian Army chief General Manoj Pande, who is on a three-day visit to Bangladesh, received a Guard of Honour at a convention centre of Bangladesh Armed Forces in Dhaka on Monday. “General Manoj Pande COAS received an impressive Guard of Honour at Senakunja Bangladesh.
He also planted a tree to commemorate the friendship between the two Armies,” Indian Army tweeted. “General Manoj Pande COAS laid a wreath at ShikhaAnirban and paid tributes to the #Bravehearts who laid down their lives for the Liberation of Bangladesh,” it said in another tweet.
The Indian Army chief is visiting the neighbouring country to further strengthen defence and bilateral ties between the two nations. The year 2021 marked the Golden Jubilee of the Liberation War of Bangladesh and 50 years of diplomatic relations between India and Bangladesh.
India and Bangladesh enjoy robust and multifaceted bilateral cooperation in diverse areas, including trade and connectivity, energy and power, water resources, border management, defence and security, culture and people-to-people links.
As part of the Swarnim Vijay Varsh, both countries celebrated Maitri Diwas on 6 December 2021 in India and Bangladesh. Maitri Diwas was also commemorated in 18 countries – Belgium, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Russia, Qatar, Singapore, United Kingdom, Australia, France, Japan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America.
The India-Bangladesh relationship is an important element of India’s “Neighbourhood First” policy. The year 2021 was of special significance as both countries celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations, five decades of Bangladesh’s independence and the birth centenary of its Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
India and Bangladesh celebrated 6 December 2021 as “Maitri Diwas” (Friendship Day) in New Delhi, Dhaka and 18 other world capitals, to commemorate the day on which India extended diplomatic recognition to Bangladesh in 1971.
The cooperation between the two countries is also to be seen in combating the Covid pandemic. India gifted 3.3 million Covishield vaccines to Bangladesh to assist in its ongoing effort to fight the pandemic.
This was the largest tranche of Made-in-India Covid-19 vaccines gifted to any country by India.
The Indian stock market’s key indices, Sensex and Nifty surged by nearly one-and-a-half percent on Monday led by strong buying support in IT, infra, banking, and financial stocks. The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex surged 760.37 points or 1.41 percent to close at 54,521.15 points against its previous session’s close at 53,760.78 points.
This is the second consecutive session of the rally in the Indian equities markets. The Sensex had gained 344.63 points or 0.65 percent on Friday, the previous trading session.
The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange surged 229.30 points or 1.43 percent to close at 16,278.50 points against its previous session’s close at 16,049.20 points.
There was strong buying support for IT stocks. Infosys surged 4.23 percent to Rs 1491. Tech Mahindra jumped 3.67 percent to Rs 1010.05. Wipro jumped 2.83 percent to Rs 405. Tata Consultancy Services reversed last week’s losing run. TCS closed 2.23 percent higher at Rs 3060.35.
HCL Technologies rose 1.95 percent to Rs 900.30. IndusInd Bank jumped 4.36 percent to Rs 850.70. Bajaj Finserv jumped 3.46 percent to Rs 12249.10.
Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, UltraTech Cement, L&T, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India, and Tata Steel were among the major Sensex gainers.
Only seven of the 30 scrips that are part of the benchmark Sensex closed in the red. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories slipped 1.70 percent to Rs 4465.70. HDFC Bank slipped 1.19 percent to Rs 1347.65. Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Hindustan Unilever, Nestle India, and HDFC were the other Sensex losers.
An orange alert has been issued for the districts Gadchiroli and Gondia by the Regional Meteorological Centre in Mumbai for Monday by predicting a thunderstorm and lightning with heavy to very heavy rain at isolated places.
As the flood situation continues to prevail in Sironcha town of Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, the lives of people have been badly impacted as large swathes of land remain inundated in water.
The Regional Meteorological Centre, Mumbai, on Sunday issued an orange alert for the districts Gadchiroli and Gondia on Monday by predicting a very likely thunderstorm and lightning with heavy to very heavy rain at isolated places, while for the other districts of the state the weather forecasting agency issued Yellow alert.
Earlier on Sunday, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel carried out relief work in flood-affected areas in Gadchiroli and distributed various essential items among the people.
According to a report from Maharashtra State Disaster Situation Report Index on Saturday, a total of 102 lives were lost in the rain and flood-related incidents that struck Maharashtra since June 1.
As per the SDMD, the death toll of animals, so far, stood at 189. Around 11,836 persons were evacuated and 73 relief camps were set up in the state, the July 16 report of Maharashtra SDMD revealed.
Two deaths were recorded in the state in the 24 hours on Saturday, and a total of 68 persons were injured amidst the torrential downpour. Notably, several districts of Maharashtra have been facing the aftermath of torrential rainfalls, this season, after which the government of Maharashtra has positioned 13 NDRF and three SDRF teams in several districts of the state.
At least 28 districts have been reported affected due to heavy rainfalls in the state including Pune, Satara, Solapur, Nashik, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Beed, Latur, Washim, Yavatmal, Dhule, Jalna, Akola, Bhandara, Buldhana, Nagpur, Nandurbar, Mumbai Sub, Palghar, Thane, Nanded, Amravati, Wardha, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Gadchiroli, Sangli, and Chandrapur.
Wildfires have so far burnt more than 22,000 hectares of woodland and scrub in Spain since the start of the heatwave over a week ago, emergency services stated.
Temperatures above 44 degrees centigrade in southern and southwestern Spain and around 40 degrees centigrade for the rest of the country, coming on the back of exceptionally hot and dry months of May and June, have produced the perfect conditions for the wildfires to spread.
In southwestern Spain’s autonomous community Extremadura, the fire in the comarca of Las Hurdes remains out of control, while a new fire broke out on Saturday in the comarca of Valle de Jerte, which the Regional Government of Extremadura said: “started in an absolutely deliberate manner.”
In neighbouring autonomous community Andalusia, a fire near the tourist resort of Mijas has so far destroyed around 3,000 hectares of woodland and led to some 2,000 people being evacuated from their homes, although
Spokesperson for Agriculture and Immigration of the Government of Andalusia Carmen Crespo said there are reasons to believe the fire “didn’t start through natural causes.”
“We will have to see if it was through negligence or deliberately started,” said Crespo, noting firemen are trying to extinguish two different focal points.
In northwestern Spain’s autonomous community Galicia, authorities are trying to deal with seven different wildfires in the capital of Ourense, which have reportedly damaged several homes.
In northeastern Spain’s autonomous community Catalonia, roads have been cut and some people evacuated from their homes in the municipality of El Pont de Viloria. The Catalan fire service has asked other residents to remain indoors.
No fatalities have so far been reported due to the wildfires, while three firemen were sent to hospital for treatment, two of them out of heat exhaustion, and the third because of a road accident that occurred on their way to a fire.
The temperatures in Spain are expected to fall slightly in the next 48 hours and then climb back to around 40 degrees centigrade.
NDA’s vice presidential candidate West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar filed his nomination on Monday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He filed his nomination papers for the Vice-President’s post on the day when Presidential elections are being held. His name was announced for the second top constitutional post by BJP chief Jagat Prakash Nadda on Saturday.
Immediately after filing the nomination, Dhankhar said that he will strive for the democratic values of the country. “I will always strive to enhance the democratic values of the country. Never thought even in my dreams that a person with a humble background like me will get this opportunity.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, and BJP chief Nadda was present when Dhankar filed his nomination.
JP Nadda said Dhankhar was a “Kisan-Putra” (son of a farmer) who has established himself as a “people’s governor”. Nadda has also urged all the parties including UPA allies to support the NDA vice presidential candidate. Dhankhar, who is a lawyer by profession, entered into politics in 1989. He became the governor of West Bengal in July 2019 and has made headlines since then over his tumultuous relations with the Mamata Banerjee government.
Earlier on Sunday, Jagdeep Dhankhar met Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who congratulated him on his nomination as NDA’s VP candidate and said his understanding of ground problems and constitutional knowledge will greatly benefit the country.
The Union Home Minister wrote in a tweet in Hindi, “Congratulations to Shri @jdhankhar1 ji on being elected as NDA’s Vice Presidential candidate. Born in a simple farmer family, Dhankhar ji’s life was dedicated to the welfare of the people and upliftment of the society.” “I am sure that his understanding of ground problems and constitutional knowledge will be of great benefit to the country,” Shah tweeted.
Meanwhile, Dhankhar will face Opposition candidate veteran Congress leader and former Union minister Margaret Alva in the August 6 Vice Presidential election 2022.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar announced on Sunday, “We have unanimously decided to field Margaret Alva as our joint candidate for the post of Vice President.” The decision came after the opposition party leaders met in New Delhi at Sharad Pawar’s residence to select a joint VP candidate.
Sharad Pawar said their candidate is being supported by 17 Opposition parties and they have also reached out to TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal for supporting Alva. Margaret Alva will file her nomination papers on Tuesday, July 19 which is the last date for filing nominations for the Vice Presidential election.
The Bombay High Court on Monday refused to stay the eviction of people from nine illegal buildings in Thane district, observing that it wanted all citizens to lead a “dignified life”, and not live in fear that their houses might collapse like a “pack of cards” in the rains.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik said it did not want citizens to live a life fraught with the risk of their buildings collapsing during the rains.
“We want all of you to live a dignified life. Not a life that is always at risk… that whenever it rains, the building might collapse like a pack of cards,” the court said.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by three residents of Thane district, seeking eviction of residents and demolition of nine dilapidated illegal buildings in the Mumbra area of the district.
Last week, the petitioners’ counsel Neeta Karnik had informed the bench that though the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) had served demolition notices and cut off the power and water supply to these buildings, residents continue to occupy the premises and have accessed water and electricity illegally.
The TMC’s counsel Ram Apte on Monday confirmed that the civic body had served the demolition notices to the buildings in 2019 and again in 2021.
Suhas Oak, the counsel for the residents of the said buildings, sought time to vacate the premises.
Matthew Nedumpara, who wished to file an intervention application on behalf of some other residents of the area, urged the high court to stay the eviction process and demolition notices for some time.
The court, however, said it had asked all residents last week to voluntarily vacate the premises only to ensure their own safety.
“For us, the lives of all these residents are very precious,” the bench said.
The court also directed the TMC to file an affidavit by the end of the day detailing the number of occupants in each of the nine buildings.
In air accident on Sunday four people died after two small planes collided in mid air at North Las Vegas Airport authorities said.
The City of North Las Vegas Fire Department tweeted, “At this time, there are four reported fatalities. The accident is still under investigation,” .
As per National Transportation Safety Board tweet the tragedy is still under investigation which happen in Las Vegas that involve two small plans Piper PA-46 and a Cessna 172N which both are singer engine plane with fix wings.
It indicates that the Piper PA-46 was preparing to land when it collided with the Cessna 172.
According to local news television channel in Las Vegas, The Piper crashed into a field east of Runway 30-Right and the Cessna fell into a water retention pond.
Each aircraft had two people aboard, the report added.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday instructed the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) to provide an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh each to the kin of the deceased in the Dhar bus accident, informed the Chief Minister’s Office.
A Maharashtra Roadways bus carrying as many as 55 people, which was en route from Indore to Pune fell off Khalghat Sanjay Setu over the Narmada river after the driver lost his balance, resulting in the death of 13 people.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also took to Twitter to express grief over the Dhar bus accident and assured that he was in constant touch with the concerned officials as they care coordinating for rescue operations and medical aid.
“Pained to know about the loss of lives in Maharashtra ST bus (Indore to Amalner) accident at Dhar, MP as it fell into a river from a bridge. Few passengers are rescued. Our deepest condolences to the families who lost their loved ones,” Fadnavis said.
“I am in touch with Dhar (MP) Collector and Maharashtra ST officials and they are coordinating for rescue operations and medical aid and treatment to the injured passengers. I wish and pray for their speedy recovery,” he added.
Saddened by the loss of lives in the tragic incident, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also assured that the rescue work was underway and local authorities were providing every possible assistance to those affected.
