JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar on Wednesday took oath as Bihar chief minister for the eighth time in a ceremony at Raj Bhawan.
RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav was administered the oath of office as deputy chief minister.
The no-frills ceremony comes a day after Kumar snapped ties with the BJP-led NDA and joined hands with the RJD to form a Mahagathbandhan’ government.
BJP national president J P Nadda is scheduled to arrive in Agartala on August 27 on a two-day visit to Tripura to oversee organisational activities, a senior party leader said on Wednesday.
The visit assumes significance in view of next year’s assembly elections.
Nadda ji will be in Tripura to oversee the party’s preparedness for the 2023 assembly elections, BJP state vice-president and MP Rebati Tripura said.
The BJP chief will likely preside over an officer bearers’ meeting and a core committee meeting during his Tripura tour.
We are also trying to organise a rally, which will be addressed by Nadda ji, Rebati said.
Chief Minister Manik Saha, on a recent visit to New Delhi, had met Nadda and briefed him about the state’s present political scenario and organisational activities.
Earlier, Nadda had cancelled visits to the state twice due to the Covid pandemic.
Chandigarh : Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia in a drugs case.
A division bench of justices MS Ramachandra Rao and Sureshwar Thakur pronounced the verdict on the bail plea of Majithia, one of his counsels Arshdeep Singh Kler said.
Majithia had surrendered after the February 20 state assembly polls and is currently lodged in a Patiala jail.
The division bench had reserved the order on the plea of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader on July 29.
Majithia had approached the high court on May 23, seeking bail in the case registered against him under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in December 2021.
The former minister was booked under the NDPS Act on December 20 last year during the previous Congress government.
Majithia is the brother-in-law of SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and brother of former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
Majithia, in his bail plea, had submitted that the FIR against him was registered with a malafide objective to target the petitioner.
The SAD leader had submitted that the previous Congress government in Punjab had “left no stone unturned to misuse its powers and position for wreaking vengeance upon its political opponents”.
The SAD had termed the registration of the FIR against Majithia as political vendetta .
Majithia was booked under the NDPS Act on the basis of a 2018 report of a probe into a drug racket in the state.
In February, a court in Mohali had rejected Majithia’s regular bail plea after he surrendered on February 24 before it.
Majithia had even approached the Supreme Court in May but it asked the SAD leader to move the high court.
Earlier, the apex court had directed the Punjab Police to not arrest the former Punjab minister till February 23 in the drugs case so that he can undertake electioneering in the state.
Absconding politician Shrikant Tyagi was arrested Tuesday from Meerut, officials said, days after he was seen in a social media video abusing and assaulting a woman for objecting to his alleged illegal constructions at a housing society here.
Tyagi was at large since Friday evening, and the Noida Police had announced a reward of Rs 25,000 on his arrest.
Additional Director General of Uttar Pradesh Police (law and order) Prashant Kumar said in Lucknow Tyagi has been arrested.
On the controversy surrounding security given to Tyagi by the Uttar Pradesh police, Kumar said he had no such protection after February 2020.
A senior Noida police officer told to media, “Tyagi’s three associates were also held along with him.”
Before the arrests, Tyagi’s wife was once again detained for questioning Tuesday morning in the case lodged at the Phase 2 police station here, according to officials.
Tyagi, who was at large since Friday evening, had Monday moved a court in the Gautam Buddh Nagar district with a plea for surrender-related procedures. The hearing in the matter has been listed for August 10.
He moved the court plea soon after the Noida police declared him “absconding” and announced the reward on his arrest.
Until he went underground Friday night, Tyagi claimed to be the national executive member of the BJP’s Kisan Morcha and the national co-coordinator of its Yuva Samiti, even as the ruling party denied any links with him.
The Opposition has also mounted an attack on the BJP over the issue, sharing purported pictures of Tyagi with senior saffron party leaders, including its national president J P Nadda.
Meanwhile, police personnel remained deployed at the Grand Omaxe society in Sector 93B where Tyagi had allegedly abused and assaulted the woman.
“We have got to know through media that Shrikant Tyagi has been arrested. His arrest was our main demand since the incident,” a member of the society residents. association told PTI.
Tyagi had allegedly hurled expletives and assaulted the woman co-resident of Grand Omaxe who had objected to him planting trees in the common area of the society in Noida Sector 93B last Friday. Tyagi had claimed he was well within his rights to do so.
As videos of the episode went viral on social media and drew condemnation, an FIR was lodged and Tyagi booked under Indian Penal Code section 354 (assault or use of criminal force on any woman, intending to outrage or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby outrage her modesty).
Later, charges under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of public peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), 447 (criminal trespass) were also added in the case, officials said.
During the probe, the police also impounded two vehicles of Tyagi which were found in violation of the Motor Vehicles Act. One of his SUVs, the officials said, had a symbol of the Uttar Pradesh government on it but it was unauthorised.
Subsequently, another FIR was lodged under IPC sections 419 (cheating by impersonation), 420 (cheating) and 482 (using false property mark), the officials added.
Hundreds of people with national flags gathered at the Red Fort on Tuesday to take part in the ‘Tiranga Yatra’ which will pass through eight locations that were visited by Mahatma Gandhi here during the freedom struggle.
The yatra was flagged off by Union minister Jitendra Singh, MP Prakash Javadekar and senior BJP leader Vijay Goel.
The eight locations include Katra Kushal Rai, Marwadi Sarvajanik Pustakalaya, Gandhi Maidan, Sangam theatre and Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib, where Mahatma Gandhi visited and held meetings during the freedom movement, Goel said.
Heavy security arrangements were put in place at Chandni Chowk area which was decked up with tricolours and flower on the occasion.
A cultural programme was organised at the Town Hall there where children from various schools performed.
“I’m glad that a large number of students turned up for this cultural programme. I congratulate all the schools who participated in the event,” Goel said while addressing the students.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “ignited a new spirit of nationalism” among the citizens by launching the “Har Ghar Tiranga” campaign, he said.
This event is an opportunity to revisit the memory of Mahatma Gandhi’s struggles during the freedom movement,” he said.
Kerala-based entrepreneur Sangeetha Abhayan has won the World Women Entrepreneurs’ Award instituted by the Junior Chamber International Hong Kong (JCIHK) for her handloom and handicrafts startup’s performance in tune with the United Nations sustainable development goals.
JCIHK, which provides development opportunities for youngsters, chose Sangeetha, who is CEO of eweworld.com from more than 225 female entrepreneurs from across the world, the organisers said.
Based out of Kasaragod, eweworld.com, won international recognition for creating social changes and financial stability among women entrepreneurs.
“The online platform, whose name eWe is an abbreviation of Empowering Women Entrepreneurs, received the JCIHK award at a virtual event held at Hong Kong on Sunday (August 7). The jury noted that eWe topped among the competitors for its adherence to UN’s sustainable development goals that aim at curbing climate changes as well,” a release issued by the organisers said in a release.
The 2017-founded company, which was groomed by Mizone Incubation Centre under the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), led in sessions, pitching and interview phases of the global contest. The KSUM provided eWe scale-up grant and seed fund in the initial phase.
The startup has been carrying out online sales of products in ways that empower traditional handloom and handicrafts employees working in rural Kerala and outside.
Besides producing handmade clothes and interior-decoration items out of bamboo, clay, plantain fiber, eWe facilitates the systematic marketing of such sustainable items.
Sangeetha, a postgraduate in biotechnology, said her startup aspires to bring “exemplary designs onto Khadi and handloom textiles” and, in the process, make best use of the talent of traditional workers in the field so as to boost their global market.
“In fact, eWe’s use of technology in stages from manufacture to marketing made us a startup with enormous growth prospects. Soon we won the recognition of Startup India as well as KSUM,” she said.
Currently, the platform is engaged in lending novel designs to clothes allied to the traditional Kannur handloom and Payyanur Khadi.
“To ensure quality, we oversee production and reach our brands in the market,” Sangeetha said.
Women carry out the sales. Any female with entrepreneurial capabilities and basic knowledge of technology can own an eWe virtual shop. We provide them training, too, she added. The platform has been getting purchase orders from abroad as well.
In a day of fast moving political developments Bihar’s mercurial Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is likely to meet Governor Phagu Chauhan later in the day, sources close to the development said.
Though no official announcements have been made, Kumar is likely to split with ally BJP for a second time in eight years and embrace support from the RJD led Mahagathbandhan to continue in office.
The meeting with Governor Chauhan is scheduled for 4 pm, said sources.
A meeting of the RJD-led Grand Alliance, comprising the Left and the Congress, also took place at Rabri Devi’s house, across the street from the chief minister’s residence where all the MLAs are said to have signed a letter of support to Kumar.
Leader of the opposition Tejashwi Yadav is likely to visit the CM’s residence to hand over the letter of support any time.
The CM is understood to have told party legislators and MPs, at a meeting he convened at his official residence, that he had been driven against the wall by the BJP which tried to weaken his JD(U), first by propping up Chirag Paswan’s rebellion and later through the party’s former national president RCP Singh.
Singh was made a cabinet minister at the Centre without Kumar’s explicit agreement. Consequently, when his term as a Rajya Sabha member ended, the JD(U) refused to give him another term as an MP, thus ending his stint as cabinet minister as well.
Following this, rumours of a split in the JD(U) engineered by Singh’s supporters surfaced.
Relations between the BJP and the JD(U) have been worsening for quite some time in the wake of disagreements over a host of issues including caste census, population control and the Agnipath’ defence recruitment scheme.
CPIML (Liberation) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya had told PTI on Monday the crux of the row between JD(U) and BJP also stemmed from the recent statement by J P Nadda, president of the saffron party, who said regional parties have no future .
The BJP, meanwhile, has gone into a huddle at the residence of Deputy CM Tarkishore Prasad, where all ministers belonging to the party besides state president Sanjay Jaiswal and other senior leaders are also present.
BJP sources said they will wait till Nitish Kumar makes the first move.
In the state assembly, which has an effective strength of 242, requiring 121 MLAs for a majority, the RJD has the highest number of 79 MLAs followed by the BJP (77) and the JD(U) with 44.
The JD(U) also enjoys the support of four MLAs of former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha and an Independent.
The Congress has 19 MLAs while the CPIML(L) has 12 and CPI and CPI(M) have two each.
Besides, one MLA belongs to Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday conducted raids at multiple places in Jammu and Doda districts of Jammu and Kashmir against members of banned Jamaat-e-Islami in a militant funding case.
According to official sources, the raids were carried out at Dhara-Gundana, Munshi Mohalla, Akramband, Nagri Nai Basti, Kharoti Bhagwah, Thalela and Malothi Bhalla in Doda district and Bhatindi in Jammu.
The case, registered by NIA suo-moto on February 5 last year, pertains to the activities of the members of Jamaat-e-Islami, who have been collecting funds domestically and abroad through donations,and using it allegedly to fund “violent and secessionist” activities.
According to NIA, the funds being raised by Jamaat-e-Islami are also channelised to banned militant outfits such as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba.
“JeI (Jamaat-e-Islami) has also been motivating impressionable youth of Kashmir and recruiting new members (Rukuns) in the Union territory to participate in disruptive secessionist activities,” the NIA had said earlier.
Former education minister of West Bengal Partha Chatterjee and his aide Arpita Mukherjee were sent to 14 days in judicial custody by a special court in Kolkata on Friday in the SSC scam case.
Special PMLA court judge Jibon Kumar Sadhu granted 14 days’ judicial remand of Chatterjee and Mukherjee on a prayer by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The court rejected a bail prayer of the former minister and directed that both the accused be produced on August 18 when the matter will be heard again.
Noting that the allegations are serious in nature with recoveries of huge quantities of cash, gold, properties, bank accounts and other documents during the ED custody of the two accused and that the investigation is at an initial stage, the court rejected the bail prayer.
The court directed the superintendent of the Presidency correctional home here, where Chatterjee is to be lodged, and the superintendent of women’s correctional home at Alipore, where Mukherjee was directed to be lodged, to allow the investigating officer of the case to interrogate them.
The correctional home superintendents were directed to render all necessary cooperation to the investigators and to submit reports in court on the next date of hearing.
Judge Sadhu allowed prayers of lawyers of both the ED and Mukherjee for direction to the superintendent of women correctional home for steps to ensure her safety and security.
Chatterjee and Mukherjee have been in ED’s remand since their arrest on July 23 in connection with its probe into the money trail in illegal recruitments done by the School Service Commission (SSC) for West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools.
The ED has claimed that it recovered Rs 49.80 crore in cash, jewellery and gold bars from apartments owned by Mukherjee, besides documents of properties and a company in joint holding.
The duo is facing charges under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Claiming that Chatterjee is not an influential person anymore, his lawyer prayed that he be released on bail on any condition imposed by the court.
Praying for Chatterjee’s bail, his lawyer submitted that he is an ordinary person now and is also willing to consider giving up his membership of the assembly.
He submitted that Chatterjee is a permanent resident of Kolkata and that there is no chance of his absconding if enlarged on bail.
Opposing the bail prayer, the ED counsel alleged that Chatterjee and Mukherjee have been found to be involved in the commission of the offence of money laundering by indulging in criminal conspiracy for the object of giving jobs which was done on recommendations from the SSC to the West Bengal Board of School Education.
The ED counsel submitted that 31 LIC insurance policies in the name of Mukherjee in which the former minister is a nominee have also been seized.
He submitted that Chatterjee is an influential leader of the ruling party in the state and that he may tamper with evidence still to be unearthed in the investigation if released on bail.
In order to strengthen the security at international border districts, Punjab Police in a joint operation with the Border Security Force (BSF) conducted a night domination and search operation near the second line of defence till early Friday, officials said.
The operation was carried out in all seven border districts of Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Batala, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur and Fazilka.
ADGP Law and Order Naresh Arora accompanied by IGP Border Range Mohnish Chawla and SSP Amritsar Rural Swapan Sharma was leading the special operation at Amritsar (Rural).
Major focus of this operation was to keep vigil on movement of drones carrying drugs and arms, ammunition, explosives and grenades in the border areas, an official statement said.
