Bihar Assembly was adjourned till 2 pm, less than half an hour after commencement of proceedings on Monday, when the House plunged into turmoil over an adjournment motion against Agnipath moved by the opposition which also, called the scheme a dictatorial step by the Prime Minister.

Proceedings began at 11 am, amid vociferous demands by opposition MLAs that the adjournment motion of Lalit Yadav (RJD) and Ajeet Sharma (Congress) be accepted right away.

Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha initially pleaded that the matter be raised after the Question Hour was over but allowed Yadav and Sharma to read out the text of the motion to pacify the opposition.

Nonetheless, opposition MLAs, many of whom trooped into the well shouting slogans, remained adamant that legislative business for the day be put off and a debate be held on the new scheme of recruitment in armed forces.

This met with disapproval from parliamentary affairs minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary who said “an adjournment motion is either accepted or rejected outright. You extended them a rare favour by allowing them to read out the text. Now this unruly behaviour leaves us bewildered”.

Slogan chanting continued and when some members shouted “down with the Prime Minister’s dictatorship”, Deputy CM Tarkishor Prasad rose in his chair to object.

“The matter being raised falls outside the purview of the state assembly. Moreover, utterances against the Prime Minister on the floor of the House sets a bad precedent”, said Prasad, who is also the BJP’s leader in the House.

The Speaker pleaded with the agitated opposition MLAs for a while, pointing in the direction of the visitors’ gallery with the remark “children have come to watch the proceedings. Please behave”.

However, as the legislators did not relent, the proceedings were adjourned till lunch.

NCP president Sharad Pawar on Friday evening met Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray at the latter’s residence amid the political crisis caused by Sena leader Eknath Shinde’s rebellion.

State NCP president Jayant Patil and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar accompanied Pawar as he arrived at `Matoshree’, Thackeray’s private residence in Bandra area.

A day before, Ajit Pawar had said the NCP will do all it can to save the ruling alliance of the Sena, NCP and Congress.

Sharad Pawar had made it clear that the fate of the coalition government will be decided on the floor of the Maharashtra Assembly and not at a hotel in Guwahati where Shinde and his supporters are camping.

Online food delivery platform Zomato Ltd on Friday said it will acquire Blink Commerce Pvt Ltd (formerly known as Grofers India Pvt Ltd) for a total purchase consideration of Rs 4,447.48 crore in a share swap deal.

The company’s board at a meeting held on Friday has approved acquisition of up to 33,018 equity shares of Blink Commerce Pvt Ltd from its shareholders for a total purchase consideration of Rs 4,447.48 crore at a price of Rs 13.45 lakh per equity share, Zomato said in a regulatory filing.

This transaction will be carried out through issuance and allotment of up to 62.85 crore fully paid-up equity shares of Zomato, having face value of Re 1 each at a price of Rs 70.76 per equity share, it added.

The company already holds 1 equity share and 3,248 preference shares presently in BCPL, the filing said.

“This acquisition is in line with our strategy of investing in the quick commerce business,” Zomato said.

Blink Commerce Pvt Ltd runs the online quick commerce service under the Blinkit brand.

Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant is set to leave the government think tank at the end of June after a six-year-long stint of heading the organisation. He will be replaced by Parameswaran Iyer, the former secretary of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and the force behind the government’s Swachh Bharat Mission. Iyer’s initial tenure will be for two years, according to a notification by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

Kant’s tenure was extended by a year in June 2021. A 1980 batch retired IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, Kant has been the CEO of Niti Aayog since 2016. During his time at the organisation, Kant established himself at the top level of the government in policy matters relating to industrial development, technology and investment.

Iyer, his replacement, had resigned from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 2009 after 17 years in service and then came back as secretary of the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (D0DWS) in 2016. He was the force behind the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, a campaign to eradicate open defecation by constructing over 90 million toilets in rural India. In July 2020, he resigned from his post of secretary of DoDWS and later went on to work with the World Bank in the US.

Iyer, 63, has previously worked as Senior Rural Water Sanitation Specialist at the United Nations between April 1998 and February 2006. Iyer has also worked with the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh in the field of education.

The country’s foreign exchange reserves declined by USD 5.87 billion to USD 590.588 billion in the week ended on June 17, the RBI data showed.

In the previous week ended on June 10, the reserves had dropped by USD 4.599 billion to USD 596.458 billion.

In the reporting week, the forex reserves fell due to a dip in foreign current assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves, and also in gold reserves, the data showed.

FCA decreased by USD 5.362 billion to USD 526.882 billion, according to the Weekly Statistical Supplement, released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday.

Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.

Gold reserves fell by USD 258 million to USD 40.584 billion.

The special drawing rights (SDRs) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) dropped by USD 233 million to USD 18.155 billion in the week ended June 17.

The country’s reserve position with the IMF also dipped by USD 17 million to USD 4.968 billion in the reporting week, the data showed.

The CBI has started inquiries into alleged corruption in the export of Tuna fish from Lakshadweep to a Sri Lankan company represented by Abdul Razaq, nephew of a Lok Sabha member, officials said.

They said no payments were received by the Lakshadweep Cooperative Marketing Federation (LCMF) for the exports, causing a huge loss to the federation and local fishermen.

A 25-member CBI team headed by a DIG-rank officer is stationed in Lakshadweep and carrying out joint surprise checks in coordination with the islands’ vigilance department in the alleged scam and irregularities in other departments, they said.

Sources said the CBI dispatched the team after large-scale corruption in the affairs of Lakshadweep Cooperative Marketing Federation (LCMF), Public Works Department, Khadi Board Cooperative Society, Animal Husbandry Department and the Fisheries Department was reported to the agency.

It was alleged some public representatives and public servants colluded with each other to facilitate the export of Tuna fish, carrying an average international price of Rs 400 per kg, procured from local fishermen through LCMF, to a Colombo-based company named SRT General Merchants which was represented by Razaq, they said.

It is alleged that no payments were made by the company to LCMF, resulting in a huge revenue loss to the federation and local fishermen.

The role of local NCP MP Mohammed Faizal may also come under the scanner of the CBI which is yet to register a formal case in the matter, they said.

Joint surprise checks allow the CBI to collect documents and other information from an office on receipt of complaint of an alleged mass scale irregularity.

The surprise check in Lakshadweep also covers the fisheries department in the Union territory where it was alleged that huge amount of fuel subsidy for poor fishermen was swindled by officials, they said.

The CBI has acted on a complaint that a large number of boats have been illegally registered in the name of poor residents of the islands and the fuel subsidy meant for these poor fishermen was swindled by public servants in collusion with others.

In Public Works Department, the CBI had received the information public servants have occupied 70 per cent of houses constructed under a scheme for poor residents by Lakshadweep Building Development Board.

In the Khadi Board Cooperative Society, it was alleged that several local politicians have defaulted on loans, while in the Animal Husbandry Department the CBI had received complaints of purchase of poor quality medicines and feed which were documented during its surprise check.

The agency is likely to start registering separate FIRs in these matters after doing a legal analysis of material collected during the checks, the officials said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that the Centre was “weakening” the army through the ‘Agnipath’ scheme, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have to withdraw the military recruitment initiative just like the farm laws were rolled back.

The former Congress chief also thanked party workers for their support during his questioning by the Enforcement Directorate in the National Herald case, and said he was not alone during the questioning but all those fighting for democracy were with him.

The biggest issue in the country is of jobs and the government has broken the “spine of the country” by harming small and medium businesses, Gandhi said, addressing Congress parliamentarians and legislators from across the country who converged at the party headquarters here to express solidarity with him after he was questioned by the ED.

He alleged Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “handed the country to two-three industrialists” and now the last resort of jobs in the army has also been “closed”.

“They used to talk of ‘one rank, one pension’, now they have come up with ‘no rank, no pension’,” Gandhi said.

He alleged the Chinese army is “sitting on our land” and asserted that the army should be strengthened but the government is “weakening it”.

“When there is a war results of this will be evident…they are weakening the army, it will harm the country and they call themselves nationalists,” Gandhi said.

“I had said about farm laws that Modiji will have to take them back and he did. Now, the Congress is saying Prime Minister Modi will have to withdraw the Agnipath scheme and all the youth are standing with us on this,” he said.

Breaking his silence after his government was pushed to the brink of collapse by rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said he was ready to quit his post if the rebel MLAs tell him that they don’t want him to continue as CM.

In a 17-minute-long webcast, Thackeray who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the day, said he was ready to give up the post of Shiv Sena president as well if Shiv Sainiks feel that he isn’t capable of heading the party.

Why make statements from Surat and other places? Come and tell me to my face that I am incompetent to handle the posts of chief minister and Shiv Sena president. I will resign immediately. I will keep my resignation letter ready and you can come and take it to Raj Bhavan,” Thackeray said.

He said he would be happy to see a Shiv Sainik as his successor on the CM’s post, adding he took up the post despite his inexperience after a suggestion from NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

India logged 13,313 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,33,44,958, while the active cases rose to 83,990, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

The death toll climbed to 5,24,941 with 38 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprise 0.19 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.60 per cent, the health ministry said.

An increase of 2,303 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.03 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 2.81 per cent, according to the ministry

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,27,36,027, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.21 per cent.

According to the ministry, 196.62 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive. .

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4, three crore on June 23 last year and four crore on January 25 this year.
The 38 new fatalities include 20 from Kerala, four from Uttar Pradesh, three each from Delhi and Maharashtra, two each from Punjab and West Bengal and one each from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Mizoram.

A total of 5,24,941 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,47,892 from Maharashtra, 69,917 from Kerala, 40,113 from Karnataka, 38,026 from Tamil Nadu, 26,242 from Delhi, 23,532 from Uttar Pradesh and 21,212 from West Bengal.

The ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was hospitalised for over a week for COVID-19 complications, on Wednesday wrote to the Enforcement Directorate seeking postponement of her appearance in the National Herald case by a few weeks till she recovers completely.

The 75-year-old Congress leader, who was discharged from hospital on June 20, had been summoned by the agency for questioning on June 23 in the money laundering case related to the newspaper.

Her son and former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has already been quizzed by the probe agency for over five days.

Sonia Gandhi had earlier been scheduled to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on June 8 but had sought more time from the probe agency in view of her COVID-19 infection. The agency had then issued a fresh summons.

“Since she has been strictly advised rest at home following her hospitalisation on account of COVID and lung infection, Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi has written to ED today seeking the postponement of her appearance there by a few weeks till she has recovered completely,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot earlier said that Gandhi should not appear before the ED as she has just returned after many days of hospitalisation.

“Sonia Gandhi has just come back from the hospital after many days, I don’t think she should go there now,” Gehlot told reporters when asked about her appearance before the ED.

He said she would cooperate with the ED but will not be able to go there.

Gehlot again asserted the case against the Gandhis has nothing in it as it has been reopened by the ED seven years after it was closed by the same agency.

He said since there is no money involved in the AJL case, the question of money laundering does not arise, an argument repeated by party leaders since the ED summoned the Gandhis.

“They have created a case of money laundering where there is no exchange of money involved,” the veteran Congress leader said.

Gehlot said never has such questioning of opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi taken place when they were subjected to long hours of questioning.

The chief minister said that he is seeking time from the directors of the ED, the CBI and the chairman of the CBDT ‘to convey the feelings of people towards them and how their credibility is going down in the eyes of the public’.

He alleged that thy were acting under pressure from the government and should not lower the dignity of the agencies as they are premier bodies of the country.

Congress president Gandhi was discharged from the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here on Monday evening and was advised to rest at home, the party said.

She was admitted to the hospital on June 12, days after she tested positive for COVID-19 on June 2.

The Congress has accused the Centre of targeting opposition leaders by misusing investigative agencies and has termed the entire action “political vendetta”.