Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday voted in the Presidential election, just after he was discharged from a hospital here following recovery from COVID-19.
Stalin was the first to cast his vote in the Secretariat complex and he arrived at the venue at 10 AM, when polling began. The ruling DMK and its allies are backing the Opposition choice, former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha.
The main opposition AIADMK is supporting Droupadi Murmu, the National Democratic Alliance nominee fielded by the BJP. The Chief Minister came straight to Fort St George campus after he was discharged from Kauvery Hospital, a private facility, in Alwarpet here.
had tested positive for Coronavirus on July 12 and was hospitalized two days later for investigations and observation.
If Aurangabad becomes Sambhaji Nagar, will the fate of the common man change? 3
Before stepping out of the government, then the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had officially changed the name of Aurgangabad to Sambhaji Nagar in honour of Maratha King Chhatrapati Sambhaji Shivaji Maharaj who was tortured to death in the cruellest way by Mughal Muslim ruler Aurangzeb, the son of Shah Jahan and the brother of Dara Shikov. Several centuries ago, the city had been named Aurangabad after Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, whose mortal remains are buried in the city. Aurangabad was renamed (before that city was called Fatehpur & before that Kharki) and developed into a key city of the Mughal Empire by Aurangzeb.
On other hand, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray had started referring the city as Sambhajinagar since 1988 – and all-party men followed suit. The Sena-BJP alliance has been ruling the AMC since 1988. A resolution to rename this historic city Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar was approved twice by the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) in 1995 & 2011.But this had to be sanctioned by the state and central governments before it was implemented. And that was not happening either when NDA or UPA was in power. Appeasement was one of the great concerns and moreover name changing of the city and places was not much in fashion as it is now.
That’s why the city still is known as Aurangabad. This is because when Shivsena was looking for their political expansion outside Mumbai in the 1980s, they found Aurangabad as the most fertile ground for their political agenda. So during the public rally in 1988, late Balasaheb Thackeray ji first time pronounced the name of the city as ‘Sambhaji Nagar’ and from that time onward it became Shiv Sena’s agenda to rename the city. Obviously, INC, NCP and MIM were opposing it since it doesn’t suit their ideology. And in all these years, Shiv Sena or BJP never bothered to change the name of the city by showing political will.
Since municipal elections are ahead, BJP wants to show that Shiv Sena has given up on Hindutva. INC, NCP want to show how secular they are and BJP want to grab the AMC with majority. Nobody is talking about development which the city badly needs. In all this political dominance they have lost sight for public welfare and name changing has become their priority. These days everything is ransacked including the democracy in the name of pseudo Hindutva.
The Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis-led government in Maharashtra gave a cabinet approval to rename Aurangabad and Osmanabad cities as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Dharashiv respectively. The cabinet also approved the decision to name the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport as ‘Loknete DB Patil Navi Mumbai Airport.’ The decision to rename these cities was taken in the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government’s last cabinet meeting chaired by the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on June 29, just before he resigned.
However, Shinde said that their move was meant to prevent any legal challenges to the decision as the Thackeray regime was in a minority when the decision was taken. The decision was taken when the government was in a minority. Whether changing the name really matters or not depends on the society, geography and most importantly on the history of a particular region.
In the case of Aurangabad, I feel that giving the name of Sambhaji Maharaj to Aurangabad is kind of insulting this great Maratha king. Aurangzeb was greatest enemy and brutal murderer of Sambhaji Maharaj. In his childhood, Sambhaji Maharaj had to work as Mansabdar at Aurangabad, where Aurangzeb planned to kill him but couldn’t execute as Shivaji Maharaj timely got the information about this sinister plan and thus could rescue him. This certainly shows that Shambhaji Maharaj did not have good memories about Aurangabad. I strongly feel that if Sambhaji Maharaj was alive today, he would have felt very angry and outraged if somebody had proposed his name to this city. Just imagine that if you have some bad memories about a certain place which you have left long back and suddenly someone forces you to associate your name with that place; how would one feel?
Culture of naming the cities comes from the Sultanate/Mughal culture.(Rajputs, who under influence of Mughals, named their cities by their kings) In that era, kings were always presented as larger than life figures. The boot lickers of the Mughal king, to make him happy or if the king considered himself as someone great, cities were named after them. By calling Aurangabad as Sambhaji Nagar, then Sivsena and now BJP is behaving like Mughals because it’s more of an ego battle.
Aurangabad is capital of Marathwada region and major tourist and industrial destination. If name change is required, the new name must reflect the culture, history and contribution of Marathwada to Maharashtra. Marathwada has a history of more than 2000 years old. It’s not just a political history, its history of Marathi language and culture. Two great Marathi empires, Satavahans and Yadavas had their capital in current Aurangabad district (Paithan town and Devagiri fort). Satavahans were the 1st kings who used Marathi as their court language. 1st Marathi emperor Shalivahan Gautamiputra Satkarni ruled from the current Paithan town. The Second Maratha Empire was Yadavas of Devagiri. In the Yadava era, Marathi language and culture was at its zenith.
Volumes of Marathi literature were written in this period. Maharashtra saw the 1st social reformist movement in this era when saints from all the castes brought people from all castes together under the Varkari sect. The foundation laid in this era helped Maharashtra to fight against Islamic invaders for next 700 years. The majestic Devgiri fort lies just on the outskirts of Aurangabad still standing tall and with all its glory. Now the main question, will it really matter to the government?
By engaging the city in Aurangabad versus Sambhaji Nagar politics, politicians are purposefully putting hurdles in the development of the city. If this issue is kept burning automatically investment will decrease followed by unemployment. This will obviously create social unrest which could be beneficial for the political motives ahead.
A two-year-old girl was suspected to have contracted monkeypox in Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh but a blood test at the National Institute of Virology in Pune confirmed it to be negative.
State Director of Health J Nivas said the two-year-old child returned to Vijayawada from Dubai and found to have developed blisters on her hands.
She was admitted to the Government General Hospital and kept in isolation as a precaution, along with her family members on Sunday.
“We sent the baby’s blood sample by flight to NIV-Pune for analysis and it turned negative for monkeypox,” Nivas said in a release. The baby’s family did not come into contact with anyone else, he added.
“There are no cases of monkeypox in AP. There is nothing to worry,” Nivas said.
The country reported its first case of monkeypox on July 14 with a Keralite who returned from the UAE testing positive for the virus.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), monkeypox is a viral zoonosis (a virus transmitted to humans from animals) with symptoms similar to those seen in the past in smallpox patients, although it is clinically less severe.
The Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray is still hopeful that everything is going to be well. They feel that after the upcoming cabinet expansion of the Eknath Shinde government, the rebel MLAs who miss the ministerial post will come back to Thackeray. Shiv Sena has 40 MLAs in Shinde camp and around 10 MLAs from other smaller parties and independents. Many of these MLAs are hopeful that they will find a place in the cabinet of Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis.
In the meantime, high-profile Shiv Sena rebel Abdul Sattar is the first MLA beneficiary of the new government led by Eknath Shinde. As per an order uploaded on the state government’s website, the state on July 13 has sanctioned Rs 15. 17 crores for Sillod-based National Cooperative Spinning Mill promoted by Sattar and led by his son Samir. The funds will be considered the state’s share capital for the Rs 80 crore project. Sattar has set up the cooperative spinning mill and his son Samir is leading the unit. He said it will help with development in the Aurangabad area.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has sacked former minister Vijay Shivtare for “anti-party activities”. The sacking of Shivtare, who had represented the Purandar constituency in the Pune district, was announced in the Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’. Talking to reporters in Pune after his expulsion, Shivtare said the faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is the “real” Shiv Sena. “No one in Shiv Sena was happy over the decision to join hands with Congress in 2019 (after polls when Maha Vikas Aghadi was formed).
The party upholding Balasaheb Thackeray’s Hindutva was the real Shiv Sena,” said Shivtare, who had served as a minister in the erstwhile Devendra Fadnavis-led government (2014-19). He cited the example of the Kolhapur north assembly bypoll held earlier this year to claim that Shiv Sena’s voter base was affected as the Congress candidate won by defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by a margin of over 18,000 votes.
The Congress candidate was fielded by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of which the Sena is the main constituent. In that bypoll, the Congress candidate bagged 96,000 votes, 5,000 more than the votes polled in the 2019 Assembly elections. In 2019, Congress had polled 91,000 votes while Shiv Sena had about 45,000. Shivtare blamed Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut for “pushing” the party towards the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
“A simple arithmetic is that when two regional parties come together, one of them will suffer. Raut doesn’t seem to know even this basic math of votes. It is not known whether his (Raut’s) loyalty is for Pawar or Thackeray,” he said. Shivtare also said he would welcome the reunion in the event of the factions led by Shinde and Thackeray coming together.
ICSE class 10 results declared, 4 students topped 8
The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) announced class 10 results on Sunday, with four students sharing the top rank with a score of 99.8 per cent.
The four toppers are — Hargun Kaur Matharu (Pune), Anika Gupta (Kanpur), Pushkar Tripathi (Balrampur) and Kanishka Mittal (Lucknow).
The second rank has been shared by 34 students with a score of 99.6 per cent, while 72 are on the third spot with 99.4 per cent mark.
The pass percentage for girls (99.98) is marginally higher than that for boys (99.97).
Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Margaret Alva is the opposition’s joint candidate for the August 6 vice presidential election. “Opposition’s candidate for the post of Vice President of India is to be Margaret Alva,” said NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
The announcement came a day after the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate said West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will be its candidate for the Vice Presidential election. “We tried to contact West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee but she was busy in some conference. We also tried to contact Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. He announced support (for Yashwant Sinha) a few days ago & will announce his support (for Margaret Alva) soon,” Pawar added.
The opposition leaders finalised her name after a meeting held at the residence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar which was attended by all major opposition parties including the Congress, TMC, CPIM, RJD, SP, and others. She has earlier served as the governor of Rajasthan.
Margaret Alva was made Central Minister at the age of 42, which in those days was a rarity. Alva was born in Mangalore in 1942, grew up in different parts of the former Madras Presidency, and imbibed the culture of the state, parts of which now belong to Andhra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
Her father belonged to the Indian Civil Service. She was married into the Alva family, from Mangalore in South Canara, which has a composite culture. She was drawn into the political scene while staying with her in-laws, both parliamentarians. She was elected for four successive terms to the Rajya Sabha, and one term in the Lok Sabha.
Alva assumed several responsibilities, under Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao. Born in an agrarian household in a remote village in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district, NDA Vice Presidential candidate Dhankhar completed his school education from Sainik School, Chittorgarh.
After finishing his graduation in Physics, he pursued LLB from the University of Rajasthan. Despite being a first-generation professional, he became one of the leading lawyers in Rajasthan. Dhankhar has practiced in both the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court of India. He entered public life after getting elected as a Member of Parliament from Jhunjhunu in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections. Subsequently, he also served as a Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs in 1990. In 1993, he was elected to the Rajasthan Assembly from the Kishangarh constituency in Ajmer district.
In July 2019, he was appointed as the Governor of West Bengal. Nominations for the vice-presidential polls slated to be held on August 6, began on Tuesday.
The Election Commission made an announcement of the elections for the 16th vice president of India to take place on August 6, 2022. The ECI has also issued directions for Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh to be the Returning Officer for the polls.
The nomination papers for the above election can be submitted starting Saturday up to July 19, 2022. The scrutiny for the nominations will take place on July 20 and the final list will be published on July 22. As in the case of the election to the President of India, the eligible candidates will need to submit a few documents including a certified copy of the electoral roll with the name mentioned on it and an amount of Rs 15,000 at the time of submitting the nomination papers which shall be returned after the election process is over in case the candidate does not make it to the final list.
In case of the election of the Vice President of India, voting will happen in the Parliament and members of the Rajya Sabha will participate in this election as the vice president is also the de facto chairman of the upper house. The poll for the upcoming vice president’s election is slated to take place between 10 AM and 5 PM on August 6, 2022, and the results are expected to be out on the same day.
In 2017, the NDA had nominated Venkaiah Naidu as its candidate for the vice-presidential election and he went on to become India’s 15th vice president. His term ends on August 10, 2022. Yashwant Sinha is the candidate of the Opposition parties for the presidential election while Draupadi Murmu is National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) presidential candidate. The Presidential election will take place on July 18.
US unclear of its Middle East policy, unable to counter China's clout 11
United States has no strategy for rebooting its relationship with the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, and stopping the spread of Chinese money, influence, and critical military might in the region, media reports said. US faces a rising China in the Middle East region.
During the time of Obama-Biden years, Washington failed to confront Beijing which is now offering an alternative to the United States in the Middle East region. Beijing sees US President Joe Biden as another symbol of America’s overall decline and with this China sees a huge opportunity to pounce.
China is already the biggest buyer of Saudi oil and wants nothing more than to displace us in the region in every possible way. The Chinese military already has a naval base close by in Djibouti and wants to start placing assets in the region to ensure oil flows are uninterrupted.
US’ relationship with Saudi Arabia took a hit when the US lifted sanctions from Iran for its nuclear program however, former President Donald Trump reimposed the sanctions. And now the US is again negotiating with Iran which only suggests that US foreign policy is everything confused.
All of this might seem like the US is heading towards the normalization of ties with Riyadh. But it’s a long road ahead.
The latest trip of US President Joe Biden to Jeddah has done nothing to repair the relationship with the Saudis. It’s questionable that the US can further its own national interests and ascend its global stature.
As the US turns away from Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, China has clearly moved in. The trip kicked off with the farcical fist bump with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, reported New York Post. Saudis, who, like many Mideast allies, feel abandoned by the United States.
From running out of Afghanistan to empowering Iran to build a nuclear weapon, Biden has smashed to bits America’s credibility in this still vital part of the world. The Saudis are not perfect allies however it is immensely important to cultivate relationships that are in Washington’s best interest. Iran’s leaders are chanting “death to America.”
And on the other hand, the US must not forget to keep Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait as a counterweight. Moreover, the US must also protect its most staunch ally, Israel. Abraham Accords, which the US-brokered between the Arab world and Israel are so important.
The Trump Administration strengthened the relationship between Israel and the Arab world. But when Biden took office, he said publicly that he wanted nothing to do with it all. His not-so-excellent adventure only showcases to the world how weak America has become under his leadership.
Biden will be forced in private to beg and grovel for Saudi oil. Looking at the political angle of this, it seems that Biden is more afraid of the progressive wing of his party and their so-called green agenda than enriching not just Saudi Arabia but the other Gulf States as well.
Margaret Alva Opposition's candidate for Vice-Presidential poll 13
Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Margaret Alva is the opposition’s joint candidate for the August 6 vice presidential election. “Opposition’s candidate for the post of Vice President of India is to be Margaret Alva,” said NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
The announcement came a day after the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate said West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar will be its candidate for the Vice- Presidential election. “We tried to contact West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee but she was busy in some conference. We also tried to contact Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
He announced support (for Yashwant Sinha) a few days ago & will announce his support (for Margaret Alva) soon,” Pawar added. The opposition leaders finalised her name after a meeting held at the residence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar which was attended by all major opposition parties including the Congress, TMC, CPIM, RJD, SP, and others.
She has earlier served as the governor of Rajasthan. Margaret Alva was made Central Minister at the age of 42, which in those days was a rarity. Alva was born in Mangalore in 1942, grew up in different parts of the former Madras Presidency, and imbibed the culture of the state, parts of which now belong to Andhra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
Her father belonged to the Indian Civil Service. She was married into the Alva family, from Mangalore in South Canara, which has a composite culture. She was drawn into the political scene while staying with her in-laws, both parliamentarians.
She was elected for four successive terms to the Rajya Sabha, and one term in the Lok Sabha. Alva assumed several responsibilities, under Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao.
Born in an agrarian household in a remote village in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district, NDA Vice Presidential candidate Dhankhar completed his school education from Sainik School, Chittorgarh.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday launched the Chief Minister’s Institutional Plantation Programme at Janata Bhawan in Guwahati on Sunday.
On the mark of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the Assam government plans to plant saplings in 80,000 government offices premises from July 17 to August 15.
The Assam Chief Minister appeals to all government employees to plant 75 Amrit Briksha in each government office premise.
He also said that the state forest department must commission Drone surveys in all reserve forest areas every six months.
He directed the forest department to go after a zero-tolerance policy against encroachment encroachers.
Senior lawmaker and advocate Kapil Sibal feels that the judiciary must be more sensitive to people’s concerns over ”violation of fundamental rights” and ensure that central agencies are not misused for political reasons.
Sibal, who had quit the Congress a few months back and is presently an Independent Rajya Sabha MP, said the courts must proactively protect people’s fundamental rights and the institutions from being misused.
He said certain judgements of the courts reflect the state of the judiciary in the country.
”I think the judiciary should be more sensitive to these concerns (violation of fundamental rights) and take up the causes. There are only two institutions that can protect the fundamental rights of our citizens: the media by bringing to the fore grave issues of violations that are taking place, and the court. I have seen in the past that in some cases, that has not happened,” Sibal told PTI in an interview.
When asked whether the Opposition has failed to protect the rights of the people, he said it is the duty of the courts.
”If there is an onslaught on the institutions of this country, if those institutions are being misused for political gains, if people are being incarcerated, who must protect them? The Opposition? No. ”The institutions need protection from the courts. The courts need to be sensitive to concerns, so that agencies are not misused for political purposes. The courts must proactively protect people who are languishing in jails for implausible reasons,” he said.
Sibal, however, declined to comment on whether the judiciary has been politicised.
”I don’t want to make any comment on that. The judgements of the courts reflect the state of the judiciary…since 2014, there have been certain decisions that make me worry,” he said.
The veteran parliamentarian slammed the BJP-led Union government for trying to stifle Opposition voices in the Parliament by banning protests.
”This is unprecedented and unacceptable. Never have we seen such a situation. To peacefully protest is a democratic right. They want to stop any form of stir; this is what they want,” he said.
Demonstrations, dharnas and religious ceremonies cannot be held in the precincts of the Parliament, according to a circular issued by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.
The directive has drawn the ire of the Opposition even as Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has insisted that such notices are being issued for years.
Commenting on the way forward from the present situation in the country, the former Union minister said ”people’s realisation” of the need for a change to ensure a better future will change the current scenario.
”Things won’t change unless people realise that in the years to come, the nature of the State will change, and their children and grandchildren may not have the future as envisaged by them,” he said.
Regarding Opposition unity, Sibal said only time would tell how it will take shape.
He, however, ruled out that leadership would be an issue.
”Leaders always emerge. Narendra Modi emerged (as leader of BJP)…before that, we didn’t see any leaders emerging in the saffron party for many years,” he said.
When asked whether West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee can lead the Opposition, Sibal lauded the TMC supremo as a ”great fighter” but said it was for the Opposition parties to decide.
”Don’t make me comment on individuals. She is a great fighter; she has the energy of a leader, but I have no idea what happens in the future,” he said.
Rubbishing claims by certain Opposition parties that the country should learn lessons from the Sri Lankan crisis, Sibal said the economic situation in the island nation could not be compared with that of India.
”I think every country has its own environment where such things happen. I don’t think you can compare the situation in India with that of Sri Lanka. I don’t think we are in a situation where we would default on our debt. I am sure all of us – common people, businessmen and leaders — can get together to ensure that India thrives and gets stronger economically in the years to come,” he said.
