Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday declared an emergency and imposed a curfew in the western province of the country as protests intensified following President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s escape to the Maldives.
A state of emergency was declared as protesters came prepared to face tear gas shelling by security forces deployed outside Wickremesinghe’s residence. Air patrolling also began around the PM’s residence. Wickremesinghe also ordered the security forces to arrest those acting in a riotous manner, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.
Military personnel used tear gas shells to disperse protestors who scaled the wall to enter the Sri Lankan PM’s residence in Colombo. “We want the PM to resign because as per our constitution if the President resigns, the PM becomes the acting President. People want both of them to leave. Police took action by tear gas shelling. Army troops moved in,” said a former advisor to the Sri Lankan Foreign Affairs ministry.
Sri Lankan authorities today confirmed that Gotabaya Rajapaksa had flown to the Maldives with his wife and two bodyguards after full approval of the country’s Defence Ministry. Early today, Gotabaya landed at the Velana International Airport in Male on a Sri Lankan Air Force plane. The Prime Minister’s Office also confirmed the development.
Shortly afterwards, the crisis-hit island country’s Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said that he is yet to receive a letter of resignation from Gotabaya. “We haven’t received President Gotabaya’s resignation yet, but we hope to get one in a day,” Abeywardena told ANI.
The 73-year-old had gone into hiding after crowds of protestors stormed his residence on July 9 and he had announced that he will resign on July 13. The country is facing a severe shortage of fuel and other essential supplies.
Six women who are migrant workers hailing from Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district have been rescued from Tamil Nadu where they were held captive in a yarn spinning unit, a Jharkhand government release said on Wednesday.
The migrant workers hail from Sonua block of Chaibasa and were forced by a contractor to work at the spinning mill. They were held hostage and were not allowed to return, it said.
The Jharkhand government intervened after they appealed for help. The Safe and Responsible Migration Center, Chaibasa, and State Migrant Control Room worked for the safe return of the women, the release said.
“Six women of Sonua block located in Chaibasa have safely returned from Tamil Nadu after intervention by the state government. All these girls had gone to Bannari Spinning Mills Limited, Tamil Nadu to work. A total of Rs 36,000 has also been paid towards their remuneration,” the statement said.
Earlier this year six women migrant workers from Jharkhand were rescued from Karnataka where they were held captive in an apparel unit and another five workers from Hospet in the southern state, where they were held, hostage.
As many as 16 migrant workers from Jharkhand who were allegedly held captive at an island in Andhra Pradesh for fish farming were also rescued in January this year.
Prior to this, the state government had rescued 32 migrant workers and their five children, who were residents of the Santhal Parganas region, from Kerala where they were forced to work in a tea garden under adverse conditions.
In yet another instance, tribal migrant workers and their children who were made to live like bonded laborers at a brick kiln in Uttar Pradesh were brought back by the Jharkhand government.
A man was killed and two of his family members were injured on Wednesday after a landslide in Vasai town of Maharashtra’s Palghar district following heavy rains, officials said.
The search was on for another family member and efforts were on to find out if more persons were trapped in the debris, they said.
A local fireman and a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation.
Following the landslide, a boulder from a hillock crashed on the house of Anil Singh (45) at Waghralpada in the Rajavali area of Vasai around 6.30 am and he died, a District Disaster Management Cell chief Vivekanand Kadam said.
His wife Vandana Singh (40) and son Om Singh (12) got trapped in the debris. Some locals and firemen later pulled them out and they were admitted to a hospital for the treatment of their injuries, he said.
The NDRF personnel also retrieved the body of Anil Singh from the debris at around 10.30 am, the official said.
The search was still on for another family member Roshni Singh (16). Rescue personnel was also trying to find out if any other person was trapped in the debris, he said.
The district, located about 100 km from the state capital Mumbai, has been witnessing very heavy rains since Tuesday night which caused water logging in many low lying areas.
Draupadi Murmur is the preference of most of the Shiv Sena Lok Sabha MPs 5
The ongoing rebellion in the Shiv Sena party may come to the fore more openly in the coming Presidential elections. After the MLAs, some Shiv Sena MPs are seen leaving the party line. Whereas Sanjay Raut stood alone in the Shiv Sena MPs meeting, most MPs supported Draupadi Murmur. The presidential election and the NDA alliance of the BJP have made Draupadi Murmu a candidate.
On the other hand, the opposition has brought Yashwant Sinha to the floor. BJP and Shiv Sena’s relationship might not be the same as it was before. Most of the Shiv Sena Lok Sabha MPs want to support BJP’s choice but Sanjay Raut wants to give party support to Yashwant Sinha.
Twelve out of the Shiv Sena’s 19 Lok Sabha MPs were present for a meeting called by party president Uddhav Thackeray on Monday to discuss Sena’s stand for the July 18 presidential poll and urged him to support BJP-led NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu, pushing a demand first articulated by Sena’s south-central Mumbai MP Rahul Shewale last week.
Sena MP from north-west Mumbai Gajanan Kirtikar claimed all MPs except two who have joined chief minister Eknath Shinde’s camp —Bhavana Gawli and the CM’s son Shrikant Shinde— were present at the meeting held at Matoshree and are with Uddhav Thackeray. It is learned that the MPs hinted to ex-CM Thackeray that once Sena formally backs Murmu, some doors may reopen for a patch-up with the Shinde camp and BJP.
BJP picked Draupadi Murmu, a tribal leader from Odisha, against Yashwant Sinha, who was also BJP leader once; he was finance minister under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He also served as the Minister of External Affairs from July 2002 until May 2004. Before he left the party, he was a senior leader of the BJP. The opposition picked Sinha because they assumed most of the BJP supporters would not mind voting for him. Fielding Murmu was a decision taken at the BJP’s parliamentary board meeting.
The poll is slated for July 18. Draupadi Murmu is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. She previously served as the ninth Governor of Jharkhand from 2015 to 2021. Coming from the state of Odisha, Murmu is the first Governor of Jharkhand to complete the five-year term, and the second person (the first person from Scheduled Tribe Presidential nominated candidate was Purno Sangma), belonging to a scheduled tribe, to be nominated as a candidate to the post of President of India.
Murmu was a schoolteacher before entering into state politics. She worked as an assistant professor at the Shri Aurobindo Integral Education and Research Institute, Rairangpur and as a Junior Assistant at the irrigation department of the Government of Odisha. Murmu joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1997 and was elected as the councillor of the Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat. Murmu became the Chairperson of Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat in 2000. She also served as the national vice-president of Bharathiya Janata Party Scheduled Tribes Morcha.
During the Bharatiya Janata Party and Biju Janata Dal coalition government in Odisha, she was the Minister of State with Independent Charge for Commerce and Transportation from March 6, 2000, to August 6, 2002, and Fisheries and Animal Resources Development from August 6, 2002, to May 16, 2004. Murmu took oath as the Governor of Jharkhand on 18 May 2015.
Murmu, a grassroots politician, has many firsts to her credit. She was the first woman and tribal leader from Odisha to be appointed as governor of any state. The first governor to complete their term in the state was her. She was also in consideration for the presidential post in 2017 but later Ramnath Kovind made the cut. The BJP’s move to name Murmu as its presidential candidate comes ahead of assembly elections in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The four states have 128 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes, of which the BJP had won just 35 seats in the last assembly elections. With Murmu as its presidential candidate, the party can hope to strengthen its appeal among tribal voters.
BJD leader Navin Patnaik has welcomed Murmu’s candidature indicating support for her. At the same time, Murmu’s candidature would also put Jharkhand chief minister and JMM leader Hemant Soren in a fix. Soren’s party is known for its tribal politics and it would be difficult for him to oppose a tribal woman, especially one who has been the governor of his state. Interestingly, the UPA presidential candidate, Yashwant Sinha, is also from Jharkhand. The BJP can also hope to get support from smaller parties like Bharatiya Tribal Party, which has MLAs in Gujarat and Rajasthan, said the people.
As Governor in 2017, Murmu had refused to give assent to a bill approved by the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly seeking amendments to the Chhotanagpur Tenancy Act, 1908, and the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act, 1949. The bill sought to give rights to tribals to commercially use their land, while ensuring that the ownership of land does not change. Murmu remained firm on her decision as governor and sought an explanation from the Raghubar Das-led Bharatiya Janata Party- government about the changes it would bring to the well-being of tribals. All National Democratic Alliance partners pledged their support. Opposition parties like Biju Janata Dal, YSR Congress Party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Janata Dal (Secular), the Bahujan Samaj Party, Telugu Desam Party and Shiromani Akali Dal pledged their support to Murmu. Shiv Sena got divided for voting for Murmu, while most of the political parties supported her. Sinha has all the left party votes for him, but that won’t be enough.
In the Thane district, two college students drown during a picnic. In three incidents others were rescued, an official said on Tuesday.
Twelve students went on a picnic in the Ambernath area at Malanggad fort on Monday.
In the nearby river, Ambe two of the students went swimming when one of the students started to drown.
To rescue the drowned student two others jumped into the river the student who was drowning was later rescued an official hill line police station said.
Nikhil Kanojia and Ankit Jaiswal are the deceased, both aged 17 and were students at college in Dombivli, he added.
Chief Avinash Sawant from Thane Municipal Corporation regional disaster management cell said to the media, “17-year-old boy fell into a creek from a bridge near Saket in the city on Monday night.
He was rescued by a local fireman and RDMC personnel with the help of a boat.
In Fadkepada lake in the Diva area car fell on Monday night. Local rushed at spot and same save 28-year-old loan car occupant.
Nashik city educational institutes were closed due to continuous heavy rains. Flood-prone areas residents were asked to shift to safer places, officials said.
In the last 24 hours city received a total of 97.4 mm of rainfall. Rain has stopped for a short period giving its residents relief.
“The decision to keep colleges and schools closed today is to take as a precautionary measure. We are closely monitoring the rain situation,” an official from the district collectorate said to the media.
Many residents and shop owners have already shifted from flood-prone areas to safer places, he added.
State Disaster Response Force has also arrived in Nashik for assistance. Near Saptashrungi temple witnessed heavy rains on Monday located 70 Km from the city.
On the return route to the temple, water gushed over the protection wall injuring six devotees who were coming down from the temple. They were rushed to the temple trust hospital and taken to Vani for treatment, said temple authorities to the media.
Godavari river level rises due to continuous heavy rain witnessed in Nashik city.
Amarnath Yatra pilgrims are facing issues due to the massive flood situation and most of the people have also been injured due to this situation. Now the pilgrims of Amarnath Yatra will continue their yatra via Baital route.
The pilgrims will be travelling from the Baital route in the Ganderbal district from Tuesday. In a statement officials stated in the PTI report that “ After a four-day suspension following the flash of floods in the area. It has claimed 15 lives and several were injured”.
Most of the Pilgrims have already resumed their Yatra and the officials stated in the PTI report “ The first fresh batch of pilgrims had left the base camp early morning for the cave shrine”.
While pilgrims were on their way to Amarnath Yatra floods started on July 8 had forced them to temporarily suspend the Yatra as 15 people had lost their lives and approximately 30 people were injured due to flooding near the shrine.
As per the report stated to PTI “Pilgrims had resumed on Monday via Pahalgam route”. It has also stated that Yatra was suspended on Sunday in Jammu and no batches were allowed to proceed to the valley.
