Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi resigned from the Union Cabinet on Wednesday. This development comes as the Rajya Sabha term of Naqvi will end on Thursday. Further, Union Steel Minister RCP Singh’s Rajya Sabha term will also end on Thursday.
Recently, several BJP leaders were elected to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. However, the party did not give a Rajya Sabha ticket to Naqvi. Pertinent to mention here, RCP Singh, who comes from an ally party in Bihar, JD(U), had sworn in as a minister in the Modi government a year ago on July 7, 2021.
However, in the recent announcement of the Rajya Sabha tickets, Nitish Kumar denied RCP Singh’s election to the Rajya Sabha. A Rajya Sabha seat fell vacant in Tripura after the resignation of Manik Saha who was recently elected to the Tripura Assembly.
Besides this, there is no Rajya Sabha seat which is going to be vacant in the next few months.
The Division Bench of Bombay High Court has cancelled the tender of Evey Trans of 2100 electric buses which was been awarded by Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) stating it was “incorrect”.
The bench of Bombay High Court comprising of Justice S.V. Gangapurwala and Justice Madhav Jamdar has held the decision of BEST to award tender for buses of Evey Trans was not right.
The petition, in this case, was filed by Tata motors an automaker company as it was disqualified from the tender of award of 2100 electric buses which was floated by the BEST so it challenged the tender given to the Evey Trans.
As per the report it stated Tata motors challenged the tender process on the ground that two hours before the technical evaluation, BEST allowed Evey Trans to change its bid.
In the plea, it stated that the process did not follow complete conditions of the tender on the changes of the technical bid and opening of the technical bid. The company Tata Motors has urged the court for sanctity in the tender process which was awarded to Evey Trans firm.
The team of Tata Motors was represented by Abhishek Singhvi, Senior Advocate, assisted by Ashish Kamath, Advocate, and the team of Karanjawala & Co., Advocates led by Nandini Gore, Senior Partner, along with Aditi Bhatt and Sarthak Gaur and Lexicon Law Partners, led by Ajay Wazirani, along with Anuja Abhyankar.
Venkatesh Dhond, Senior Advocate appeared for BEST, whereas Somasekhar Sundaresan, Advocate appeared for Evey Trans
Chinese investors seem more attracted to Nepal’s hotel and tourism sector despite the fact that the industry has been badly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the Himalayan Nation.
Their mysterious involvement makes one doubtful about Beijing’s intentions. Chinese businessmen have invested in more than 400 hotels and restaurants in tourist hubs including Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Kaski, and Chitwan, Khabar Hub reported.
Chinese traders have invested in more than 50 restaurants and other businesses in Pokhara alone. Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) officials complain that the Chinese trend of doing business in Nepal without paying taxes to the government and making payments through an online system by booking the desired rooms has added to the problems of the tourism industry, Khabar Hub reported.
It is reported that Transactions made through WeChat, and Ali Pay are not transparent. It seems Chinese investment will increase through small projects in areas where there is little potential in Nepal.
The hotel business has been the victim of unhealthy competition. However, according to the Tourism Act, guest houses such as hotels and lodges must obtain permission from the Department of Tourism to accommodate foreign tourists and trade in foreign currency, as per Khabar Hub.
Nepal has to be aware of the Chinese intention behind Beijing’s heavy investment. Tourism businessmen admit that the Chinese tourists share in Nepal is now over 15 per cent. Apart from the Kathmandu Valley, Chinese nationals who have entered Nepal as tourists or as investors have started to lodge foreign tourists in Chitwan and Lumbini by investing in lodges and private houses, apartments, and flats, without seeking due permission from the tourism department.
The Chinese companies, which are not registered with any authority and have not taken any tax liability, have been providing not only hotel booking services but also keeping tourists at home, apartments and flats. This is related to tax evasion, Khabar Hub reported
In AAP Twitter’s official account Delhi CM Arwind Kejariwal post video announcing India’s biggest shopping festival. The shopping festival will be going conducted from 28th January to 26th February in the upcoming year.
Kejriwal said in the video “We are planning to make this festival World’s biggest shopping festival ever. This festival preparation has been started a few months ago only. The Delhi shopping festival will represent the People and Culture of Delhi and also the shopping of Delhi.”
He added, “This festival will include many interesting things for all age groups. There will be a heavy discount on this festival. They will decorate Delhi like a bride.”
At the festival, there will be a display of many products like Spiritual, gaming, technology, health and wellness. There will be more than 200 entertainment programmes organised for the 30-day festival. They will also have food walks for all food lovers.
Delhi will tie-up with many hotels, restaurants, travel agencies and Airlines for visitors’ comfortability and convenience.
Kejriwal said, “This festival will help to boost Delhi’s economy and will give employment to thousands of people.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday (local time) appointed LieutenantGeneral Mohan Subramanian of India as Force Commander, United Nations Mission in South Sudan.
“United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today announced the appointment of Lieutenant General Mohan Subramanian of India as his new Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS),” read a UN press release.
Lieutenant General Subramanian succeeded Lieutenant General Shailesh Tinaikar of India to whom the Secretary-General said he “is grateful for his tireless dedication, invaluable service and effective leadership as UNMISS Force Commander.”
He has a distinguished military career with the Indian Army spanning over 36 years.
Most recently, he served as the General Officer Commanding, Military Region (Operational and Logistic Readiness Zone) in central India, contributing to the Army’s operational and logistic preparedness.
Previously, he served as the Additional Director General for Procurement and Equipment Management at the Integrated Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence (Army) (2019-2021), General Officer Commanding a Strike Infantry Division (2018- 2019), Deputy General Officer Commanding of Infantry Division (2015-2016) and Commander of a Mountain Brigade (2013-2014) among other appointments within the Indian Armed Forces.
He also served as India’s Defence Attache to Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia (2008- 2012) and as a Staff Officer with the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone in 2000. Lieutenant General Subramanian holds two master of philosophy degrees in defence and management studies as well as Social Sciences. In addition to Tamil, he is fluent in English and Hindi.
In Mumbai due to heavy rainfall since Monday, most of the metropolitan areas are facing the issues of waterlogging and its severity has been recorded in most parts of Mumbai on Wednesday.
The India Meteorological Department has issued an orange alert to Mumbai city from July 5 till July 9 as the city might get heavy rains on these days. Due to heavy rains, most of the city’s suburbs have been closed to avoid vehicular traffic.
Mumbai city is experiencing heavy rains since Monday and most of the places in the city are facing issues of waterlogging and traffic. The heavy rains have also caused landslides in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar region in which houses were badly damaged.
The local trains of Mumbai were running but delayed which Central railway authorities informed that the trains on all corridors were running, however, some main and harbour line trains are running late.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) also issued an orange alert for Thane, Palghar, Pune, Beed, Latur, Jalna, Parbhani and several other areas in Maharashtra for the next five days. Ratnagiri and Raigad are on red alert.
The Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday while speaking to the media stated that after resigning from the post of Chief Minister of Maharashtra he had given the responsibility to handle the party to Eknath Shinde but he backstabbed Uddhav Thackeray.
Shiv Sena chief was addressing its Sena workers and Thackeray stated that “ He gave Shinde the responsibility of the party”. It is also stated Shinde backstabbed him to bring down the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
While speaking to the media Shiv Sena Chief Thackeray also said “Shinde to whom I have given the responsibility of the party backstabbed me, while NCP and Congress remained with us. It is painful to see that those (MLAs and ministers) who won due to Sena workers and got everything has left him”.
In the month of June, Eknath Shinde formed a group of Sena MLAs against the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and Shinde received the majority of votes which made him win the poll before the floor test.
The new Chief Minister of Maharashtra won the floor test on Monday by a 164-99 margin in which 164 votes were polled in favor of Shinde, while 99 votes were polled against the newly formed BJP-Shinde camp coalition.
Several people have been feared washed away in flash floods caused by a cloud burst that wreaked havoc at Choj nullah in Parvati Valley of Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district this morning.
The incident has caused considerable damage to the properties and also destroyed the only bridge that leads to the village.
“Flash flood hits Manikaran valley of Kullu district due to heavy rainfall, dozens of houses and camping sites damaged in Choj village,” said Kullu Superintendent of Police Gurdev Sharma. As many as four people are missing, added the police.
He also said that the police and rescue teams are on the spot. “At Chojh village, 4-6 persons and 5 cattle heads are feared washed away. Another landslide occurred on Kasol-Jaimala Road,” added State Emergency Operation Centre in its bulletin.
At Malana Project & II Tehsil Bhuntar of Kullu, a building of the Project has been damaged.
In the incident, 25 to 30 employees were stuck in the building. They have been rescued. The SDM Kullu, police and fire team carried out the rescue operation.
Incessant heavy rain continues in Shimla since late Tuesday night.
The Weather Department has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall with thunderstorms and lightning likely at isolated places over plains, low and mid-hills of the state while thunderstorms and lightning over high hills of the state for Wednesday.
Mumbai and its adjoining areas witnessed a heavy downpour on Tuesday morning, and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted moderate to heavy rain in Mumbai and its suburbs over the next 24 hours, with a possibility of very heavy showers at isolated places. The island city received an average of 95.81 mm of rainfall in the 24-hour period ending at 8 am on Tuesday, while the eastern and western suburbs recorded 115.09mm and 116.73mm of rainfall, respectively, during the same period.
Jayant Sarkar, IMD said, “The situation is favourable. Maharashtra will receive widespread rainfall in the next 5 days. Heavy to very rainfall in scattered areas. Ghat areas are also expected to get good rains. In Mumbai, July 5,7 and 8 will see heavy rainfall. Red alert for Ratnagiri and Raigad.”
The chief minister’s office in a statement said CM Shinde is in touch with collectors of Thane, Raigad, Palghar, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts. The National Disaster Response Force has also been asked to remain alert.
Preeti Sharma Menon, Aam Aadmi Party leader told Afternoon Voice, “For last 30 years we have the same party in BMC and we have seen they are making money but not doing their work. People in the BMC are not serious about their job most of the manholes are uncovered, and no cleanliness is done in the rivers and gutters due to which it is getting flooded.”
Prabhat Rahangdale, ex-Deputy Municipal Commissioner of Disaster Management said, “Mumbai has always been and worked for its relief.”
Ekta, a resident of Virar East, “Currently in Virar east there is no waterlogging but I have come to Virar West there is waterlogged, people are getting late, stuck and some people returning to their home because of water logged. BMC is not also working.”
Nitin Sardesai, MNS leader said, “Every year BMC promises of no issues of waterlogging will happen on roads but still, there are many Waterlogging and there is a failure in the working system of BMC.”
IMD issues heavy rain alert for Maharashtra, Kundalika river crosses danger mark; CM asks officials to ensure no loss of life
The IMD on Tuesday issued a heavy rainfall alert for Maharashtra over the next four days, following which chief minister Eknath Shinde directed the state administration officials to take precautions and ensure there is no loss of life or property. The Kundalika River in Raigad district, located near Mumbai, has crossed the danger mark, as per an official statement. Mumbai and some of its neighbouring districts witnessed heavy rains and flooding on Tuesday morning.
Whatever happened in Maharashtra politics, there is an atmosphere of sadness among some state-level BJP leaders. In Maharashtra, the BJP surprised everyone by giving the chief minister’s post to rebel Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde and making Devendra Fadnavis deputy chief minister. There are two reasons behind this, as I expected opposition leader Devendra to react on Hindu-related issues, which are the agenda of the BJP. From the mob lynching of two sadhus and their driver on the night of April 16 last year to the arrest of Marathi actor Ketaki Chitale for a Facebook post that was allegedly derogatory against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Devendra maintained calm, he did not take up these issues as it was expected to from him. AS opposition leader Devendra tried his best in balancing the situation.
This move of making Devendra a Deputy has come as a setback to Fadnavis and his supporters, but its signal should also be understood by the satraps of different BJP states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Tripura, especially where assembly elections are going to be held in the coming time. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s statement of the trust vote in the assembly was vivacious. He spoke candidly and attacked his opponents fiercely. The way he gave a befitting reply to all the allegations against him in the assembly after the government, led by him, won the trust vote, is commendable.
So now all eyes are on what will be Shinde’s next step. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Devendra Fadnavis all are indebted to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde for getting them back to power. While Shinde called Devendra Fadnavis a real artist, he also admitted that the number of MLAs of Shiv Sena is less than BJP. Even after this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given his blessings. Before taking the oath, the Prime Minister had told Eknath that he would help him in all possible ways. Home Minister Amit Shah had said that he would stand like a rock behind him.
I won’t be surprised if Shine continues to be the CM in 2024; on multiple occasions, Fadnavis had lost favour with the party leadership for some time after his failure to form a BJP government in Maharashtra after the 2019 election, despite the party emerging as single-largest in the assembly. The reason for BJP’s inability to form a government at the time was the Shiv Sena walking out of its alliance with the BJP after the election, alleging that the BJP was reneging on its promise of sharing all posts, including the CM’s chair, equally. The Shiv Sena eventually cobbled together an alliance of ideological rivals, Congress and NCP, to keep the BJP out of power.
Fadnavis’ political capital took a further hit after his failed attempt to form a government with the support of a faction of NCP MLAs under Ajit Pawar, and a rushed midnight oath-taking ceremony. The government lasted only for 80 hours as Pawar and others returned to their party camp. However, the BJP leader has bounced back since then, helping the party’s campaign for major victories in the assembly elections in Bihar and Goa in 2020 and 2022, and most recently the Rajya Sabha and MLC elections in Maharashtra earlier this month, which kicked off the MVA’s turmoil.
According to political observers, Fadnavis has also worked hard to strengthen the party’s base in Maharashtra since the formation of the MVA government, extensively travelling through the state during the two waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, and also taking stock on the ground after floods in different parts of Maharashtra last year. Fadnavis also kept the MVA government on its toes with scathing criticism of the MVA’s governance and using his influence within the state’s bureaucracy to target the government with official records on issues such as the Aarey Metro car shed, the Sachin Waze case and an alleged IPS transfers and postings racket.
The various probes by central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and the Central Bureau of Investigation, against more than a dozen MVA leaders, further boosted Fadnavis’ tireless attacks on the MVA. Fadnavis turned out to be a very successful opposition leader. He constantly had tours, and programmes, and kept the MVA government on the back foot with his criticisms. During the entire duration of the MVA government, he was setting the narrative for the political discourse and constantly tried to expose the rifts between the three parties of the MVA. Fadnavis’ clout within the BJP started surging after 2013 when the party appointed him as the state president at a time when senior leaders such as Gopinath Munde and Nitin Gadkari were trying to push their own candidates. Fadnavis was seen as someone who did not belong to any particular camp.
Since then, over the last eight years, Fadnavis has tightened his hold over the Maharashtra BJP, distancing old guards such as Vinod Tawde, Eknath Khadse and Pankaja Munde, who could have potentially challenged his position within the party. A series of decisions by the Bharatiya Janata Party central leadership in recent days has left former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis looking isolated and weakened in a party that once projected him as Maharashtra’s fresh-face, savvy, Gen Next Hindutva leader, with potential for elevation to the national stage.
