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Petty politics: Outgoing Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu to skip Jagan Mohan Reddy’s swearing in ceremony

OpIndia Staff
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Petty politics: Outgoing Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu to skip Jagan Mohan Reddy’s swearing in ceremony

Telugu Desam Party President (TDP) and outgoing Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will not be attending the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy on May 30. A delegation of TDP will instead be sent to meet Reddy at his residence in Amaravati before the swearing-in ceremony. The delegation will be comprising TDP leaders Atchan Naidu, P Keshav, and G Srinivas Rao who will hand over a letter to Reddy congratulating him for assuming the office of the Chief Minister.

The decision was taken in a meeting of the newly-elected MLAs of the TDP presided over by Naidu wherein the delegation was also deputed to be sent to Reddy’s residence was decided. Naidu decided to skip the swearing-in ceremony despite Reddy telephoning personally to invite him after some senior TDP leaders in the meeting advised Naidu against attending the ceremony.

The senior TDP leaders reportedly advised Naidu not to attend the ceremony as it was taking place at a public venue. The leaders were of the view that it would be fine for Naidu to attend the ceremony if it were to happen at the Raj Bhawan but since it will be held at a public place, it would not be appropriate for Naidu to attend it.

In a massive victory in the recent Assembly polls in the State, Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party had swept 151 seats out of a total of 175 seats. The party also won the recent Lok Sabha polls by winning 22 out of 25 seats.

UP: SC/ST commission takes suo moto cognizance of violence against SC community for not voting for SP candidate

OpIndia Staff
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UP: SC/ST commission takes suo moto cognizance of violence against SC community for not voting for SP candidate

The Uttar Pradesh SC/ST commission has taken suo moto cognizance of violence reported against SC community members for not casting votes in favour of Mulayam Singh Yadav. The Samajwadi Party stalwart was the Mahagathbandhan candidate contesting from Mainpuri constituency in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. The commission has directed SSP Mainpuri to register FIR against the miscreants and take swift actions against them.


The letter by the UP SC/ST commission reads, “it has come to our notice that violence was used against SC-ST people in the Lok Sabha constituency of Mainpuri who did not vote for the SP candidate Mulayam Singh Yadav in the elections. They were pounded with sticks and intimidated by gun firing. One of the members of the marginalized communities, BSF jawan Ramnaresh filed a complaint in the police station after fleeing away from the situation.”

According to a report, Yadavs of Nagala Mandhata attacked the people of scheduled castes in Unwa village for not voting for Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Terming it a serious offence, the commission has asked the police to register the case under relevant IPC sections and enlist the incident under post-poll violence cases. It has also issued directions to initiate action against the culprits under the applicable provisions of the SC-ST Act 2016. SSP Mainpuri has also been directed to visit the location to review the security of the members of the SC/ST community in the area. The commission has also requested the deployment of Arms Guard to avoid such incidents in future.

It is noteworthy to mention that Mulayam Singh Yadav who polled 53.75 percent of total votes was closely trailed by BJP candidate Prem Singh Shakya with 44.09 percent vote share.

Sunanda Pushkar death case: Accused Shashi Tharoor granted permission by the court to travel abroad

OpIndia Staff
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Sunanda Pushkar death case: Accused Shashi Tharoor granted permission by the court to travel abroad

Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor, accused in the murder of his wife Sunanda Pushkar, has been granted permission by the court to travel abroad. Tharoor had filed the application seeking permission to travel overseas from June 1 to July 2 with Delhi’s Rouse Revenue Court.


Tharoor was charged for the abetment of suicide according to a 3,000-page charge sheet filed by the Delhi police in the case. The case was transferred from the Magistrate’s court to the sessions court by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal for fast track hearing on February 4, 2019.

Pushkar was found dead under mysterious circumstances in The Leela Palace Hotel, Delhi on January 17, 2014. The trial against Tharoor had begun on February 21, 2019. Recently, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had alleged that Delhi police had tampered with the evidence in the case.

Tharoor, a three-time MP had recently commented on the embarrassing defeat of his party in the recent Lok Sabha elections. He had said there was a need for the party to introspect and it should begin with resolving the issues within the party. Baffled by his party’s dismal show in contrast to the historic win of the BJP, Tharoor, instead of accepting defeat graciously, had said the BJP had marketed their product ‘Modi’ really well.

Cricket World Cup 2019 Preview – Match 1: England v South Africa, the opening game

Ritesh
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Cricket World Cup 2019 Preview – Match 1: England v South Africa, the opening game

May 30, how many of you waited for this day? The battle for the biggest title in cricket will begin on Thursday. The clash will take place between two teams who never won a title before.

England

England is considered as the strongest and most favourite team to win this World Cup. They are the number one ODI team as per ICC Rankings and they have been consistently playing attacking cricket. They enter the World Cup with tremendous form, won the 5 match ODI series against Pakistan in which they smashed 340+ score in 4 consecutive innings.

England has a strong batting line-up. From number one to number seven, everyone has the skill of smashing it from the very first ball. Since World Cup 2015, 9 times English batsmen have scored an ODI hundred in less than 70 balls. The second in the list is South Africa (3) and they are playing against each other in the opener.

England’s bowling is a bit of worry as they were thrashed by Pakistan batsmen, which is a rare sight in ODIs. Pakistan is not known for scoring big totals but in recently concluded series they became the first team to score 300 or more runs in 3 consecutive ODI innings. Their only weak point is their bowling and for which English selectors reshuffled their provisional World Cup squad. They included Jofra Archer, who just played 3 ODIs for England so that they can have a stronger bowling line up.

South Africa

South Africa on the other hand, is more balanced if you compare both batting and bowling. There is no weak link except their habit of choking in a crunch situation. The team consists of solid and attacking openers like Amla and de Kock, which is followed by the middle-order consist of Faf du Plessis and David Miller.

South Africa’s strength is in their bowling and acrobat fielding. When a team has bowlers like Rabada, Ngidi, and Tahir, no opposition can think of taking them lightly. Styen has been ruled out of the first match due to injury. They are one of the best fielding sides and this will always bring hesitation in opposition players to steal a run against them. South Africa has won all 5 previous bilateral series in the last year.

Overall

The players to watch out from each team are Buttler and Rabada. Buttler has been hitting balls out of the park at will. He has smashed 5 ODI hundreds in less than 70 balls in the last few years. Rabada is mean. He has not given more than 6 runs per over even once in the last 18 games. His speed is his main weapon. He can swiftly remove the top order of the opposition which can boost the confidence of other bowlers as well as the team.

England v South Africa in ODIs

Overall: Matches 59, England Won 29, South Africa Won 26, Tied 1, No Result 3

World Cup: Matches 6, England won 3, South Africa won 3

Recent Form (most recent first): England W W W W NR, South Africa W W W W W

ICC Rankings: England (1), South Africa (3)

Upcoming Records

Eoin Morgan has scored 6,977 runs and needs 23 more to reach the 7,000 runs milestone. He will also become the first English player to play 200 ODIs.

Jason Roy has scored 2,938 runs and needs 62 more to become the 16th England player to reach the 3,000 runs.

Hashim Amla has scored 7,910 runs and needs 90 more to become the fourth South African player to reach the 8,000 runs.

Dale Steyn has taken 196 wickets and needs 4 more to become the fifth South African player to reach the 200 wickets milestone.

Squads

England: Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Jos Buttler (wk), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

South Africa: Faf du Plessis (capt), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wk), JP Duminy, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Chris Morris, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Rassie van der Dussen.

TMC MLA Manirul Islam, state youth wing president and 2 others join BJP

OpIndia Staff
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TMC MLA Manirul Islam, state youth wing president and 2 others join BJP

Trouble continues to mount for the West Bengal chief minister as the MLA exodus continues. After 3 West Bengal MLAs shunned their respective parties to join hands with the BJP yesterday, today another TMC lawmaker Manirul Islam has officially joined the saffron party in presence of BJP leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya and Mukul Roy.

Along with Manirul Islam, president of TMC’s youth wing Gadadhar Hazra, the secretary of the same unit Mohammad Asif Iqbal and TMC leader Nimai Das have also switched sides to join the BJP.


Yesterday, after TMC’s Shubrangshu Roy, Tushar Kanti Bhattacharjee (Bishnupur) from Congress and the CPI(M)’s Debendra Nath Roy joined the BJP along with over 50 councillors in state, BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya had said that it was not due to horse trading but due to the change of heart that the MLAs and councillors have chosen to side with the BJP.

Kailash had then said that it was just a start and that more West Bengal MLAs and leaders are expected to shun their political parties and enrol themselves in the BJP.

Taking a swipe at the TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, Mukul Roy who welcomed Manirul Islam into the BJP fold said that if she is saying that those who joined the BJP are from the left and the Congress, it is just a face-saving exercise. Roy has also claimed that more than 100 Trinamool legislators were in touch with the BJP.


After a spectacular performance put up by the Narendra Modi-led NDA alliance at the centre and winning 18 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal out of the total 42 seats, speculations were rife that many MLAs and disgruntled local leaders in TMC might switch over to the BJP, releasing that the saffron party is indeed making deep inroads in the state.

1984 riots accused Jagdish Tytler among other Congress leaders assembled outside Rahul Gandhi’s house to convince him not to quit

OpIndia Staff
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1984 riots accused Jagdish Tytler among other Congress leaders assembled outside Rahul Gandhi’s house to convince him not to quit

In a show of indifference towards the victims of 1984 Anti-Sikh riots, the Congress party once again was seen accommodating Congress leader and 1984 Sikh genocide accused Jagdish Tytler amongst the congregation assembled outside Rahul Gandhi’s house here on Wednesday, to convince him not to quit as the party president.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s resignation drama ceases to end with Rahul remaining steadfast on quitting his post in wake of the Lok Sabha poll drubbing while his party leaders trying their level best to placate him from doing so.

In the latest efforts, Congress party leaders and supporters assembled outside Rahul Gandhi’s residence in a bid to convince him not to quit as party president. However, pictures shared by ANI show Jagdish Tytler sitting amongst the other party members.


This is, however, not the first time the Congress has shown such contempt towards the victims of the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots. Earlier too, Jagdish Tytler had been spotted at the event in which Sheila Dikshit was made Delhi Congress chief. During the event, Jagdish Tytler was seen occupying the front row seat.

Similarly, last year, in the mother of all ironies, when Congress President led a 5-hour symbolic ‘fast’ for ‘communal harmony’, Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler both were present at the venue leaving the party red-faced. Later, they were both asked to leave.

The 1984 Anti-Sikh riots took place in the aftermath of the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which resulted in brutal killings of more than 2800 people according to official figures. Congress leaders Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler were accused of a direct role in orchestrating the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India.

Meanwhile, the three-time chief minister of Delhi and Senior Congress leader Sheila Dikshit has plans to join the congregation assembled outside Rahul Gandhi’s house today and lead them to the 12, Tughlaq Lane house of Rahul Gandhi to meet him to persuade him to change his mind about quitting.

After the humiliating loss, Congress faced in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, Congress President had expressed his adamancy to quit as the party head. The Congress Working Committee (CWC), had, however, rejected his resignation. Interestingly, the President of the Congress Working Committee is Rahul Gandhi himself.

Amidst all the theatrics, senior Congress leaders like Verappa Moily and Shashi Tharoor had come out in support of Rahul Gandhi’s post as Congress chief. His allies like the multi-crore fodder scam convict Lalu Prasad Yadav also spoke in support of Rahul Gandhi to remain as Congress chief, calling the resignation decision ‘suicidal’.

Amidst all this, there were reports that the Youth Congress workers have gone a step ahead in their dynasty worship. They have reportedly written letters in their own blood, urging Rahul Gandhi not to quit as the Party president.

However, it is being said that Gandhi who has been apparently sulking in his house after the Lok Sabha debacle, has already conveyed to the host of party leaders who met him along with his sister Priyanka Gandhi that he could at best lead the party in Parliament as the chief of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP).

He is believed to have conveyed to the party leaders that he was “not running away” but wanted that someone else should lead the Congress party, not necessarily from his family. Gandhi cited past examples when the party was led by leaders from outside the Nehru-Gandhi family, according to a senior leader.

Meanwhile, with Gandhi remaining adamant, a presidium system to govern the party is being considered, wherein a group of senior leaders will run the show.

After Mamata Banerjee, CPI(M) and Congress chief ministers also to skip swearing-in ceremony of new Modi govt

OpIndia Staff
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After Mamata Banerjee, CPI(M) and Congress chief ministers also to skip swearing-in ceremony of new Modi govt

After Mamata Banerjee took a U-turn and decided not to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new union government, chief ministers of Kerala, Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh will also not attend the ceremony.

The Kerala CMO has announced today that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan would not be attending Prime Minister Modi’s swearing-in ceremony, .


According to media reports, the Congress chief ministers of Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have also decided against attending the program in Delhi tomorrow. This means Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath, Punjab CM Amarinder Singh and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel will not be present in Rashtrapati Bhavan tomorrow to witness the oath-taking ceremony of the new union government.


Although Mamata Banerjee had given a reason for not attending the ceremony, no reason was given by other CMs for the decision.

The BJP had earlier invited the kins of over 50 BJP workers who have lost their lives due to the political violence in West Bengal for the Prime Minister’s swearing-in ceremony.

After hearing this news, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who had earlier planned to attend the swearing-in ceremony had reversed her decision claiming that there was no violence in the state. She has decided not to attend the ceremony in protest against BJP’s claim.

In her statement, she had claimed that political murders of 54 BJP party workers, as claimed by the BJP was untrue. She even goes on to say that the deaths may have occurred due to personal enmity, family quarrels and other disputes.

The new Modi government will take oath at 7 PM tomorrow at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. All prominent opposition leaders, chief ministers, governors, former prime ministers and presidents have been invited for the ceremony. Leaders of the BIMSTEC nations also have been invited. After therse CMs from opposition parties declining to accept the invitation, all eyes will be now on other CMs from opposition parties, especially Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.

Speculations on for Modi 2.0: JP Nadda might be BJP President, Amit Shah to join Union Cabinet

OpIndia Staff
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Speculations on for Modi 2.0: JP Nadda might be BJP President, Amit Shah to join Union Cabinet

Union Health Minister during the first term of the NDA government, JP Nadda, might succeed Amit Shah as the next BJP president, according to reports. It has been speculated for a while that Shah will be a member of the cabinet during Narendra Modi’s second term as Prime Minister, Nadda’s appointment as the president of the party is perhaps the biggest hint towards it.

Nadda is expected to work closely with Shah even after the latter quits as the party president. He was the in-charge of Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha Elections where the BJP secured a thumping 62 seats against the formidable alliance of the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

Jagat Prakash Nadda is from the state of Himachal Pradesh, though he was born and brought up in Patna, and studied there up to his graduation, where his father was a professor, and later became VC of Patna University. He was also active in ABVP in his student days.

During his tenure as Union Health Minister, Nadda oversaw the implementation of the ambitious Ayushman Bharat scheme, believed to be critical towards securing support for Narendra Modi among people from economically weaker backgrounds. He also carried forwards Narendra Modi’s desire to have an AIIMS in every state and has set up institutes in various states.

Immunization of children and mothers against vaccine-preventable diseases, an app which shows the live status of blood availability across all blood banks of the country, free dialysis program for patients in PPP mode and free comprehensive and quality antenatal care to all pregnant women are some of his other stellar achievements as Union Health Minister.

The BJP, however, is yet to confirm anything officially. The Prime Minister and the Union Cabinet will take oath tomorrow at the Rashtrapati Bhavan premises.

Dismissing the plea to release Rs 10 Cr security deposit, SC tells Karti Chidambaram to ‘Pay attention to constituency’

OpIndia Staff
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Dismissing the plea to release Rs 10 Cr security deposit, SC tells Karti Chidambaram to ‘Pay attention to constituency’

The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the petition filed by Karti Chidambaram seeking the release of Rs 10 crore deposited by him earlier this year before travelling abroad.

Earlier in the month, the Supreme Court headed by vacation judges Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Sanjiv Khanna had declined to consider his plea seeking the release of Rs 10 crore security he deposited before travelling abroad. Refusing to consider his plea, the court asked Karti’s advocate to mention the petition before the bench headed by CJI Gogoi since there is no urgency in the matter.

The vacation bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Aniruddha Bose dismissed his plea. In a sharp note to the advocated representing the newly elected Member of Parliament, CJI Gogoi quipped, “Pay attention to your constituency.”

The apex court had on May 7 allowed Karti to travel to the United States, Spain and Germany this month and next month, asking him to deposit another Rs 10 crore as the security deposit. Karti was supposed to travel abroad for attending some tennis events. A bench comprising Chief Justice Gogoi, Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna gave its approval for his travel abroad with subject to compliance of conditions imposed earlier.

However, Karti who wished to travel in the months of May and June had requested the court to release the sum of Rs 10 crore deposited by him earlier since he has returned back in time in compliance with the court’s order. Karti had got the approval from the apex court earlier this year to travel abroad on the condition of depositing Rs 10 crore with the secretary general of the Supreme Court. The court had also asked Karti to file an undertaking that he would return and cooperate with the investigation.

Karti Chidambaram is facing investigation in a number of cases including money laundering and having undisclosed foreign assets. He has been charged in cases like INX Media case and Aircel Maxis case and is facing probe from the central agencies. P Chidambaram has also been facing an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Aircel Maxis case.

In 2007, INX Media, which was owned by Peter and Indrani Mukherjee had received a foreign investment of about Rs 305 crores. For that INX Media needed clearance from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a first information report (FIR) in May 2017 against alleged violations in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to INX Media. P Chidambaram was then serving as the Union finance minister under the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

Karti was arrested in February 2018 by the CBI in the INX Media case. CBI had accused him of receiving a bribe of Rs 3.5 crores from the Peter and Indrani Mukherjee owned INX Media Pvt Ltd. INX Media was later named as 9X. However, he was later granted bail.

Kerala Congress issues notice to former MP who praised PM Modi for following Gandhian values in governance

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala Congress issues notice to former MP who praised PM Modi for following Gandhian values in governance

A Congress leader in Kerala has come under the fire of the party for praising PM Narendra Modi. The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee saw red when one of its own leaders, former MP A P Abdullakutty in a Facebook post praised PM Narendra Modi for the BJP-led NDA’s massive victory in the Lok Sabha election.

Congress’ R Chennithala said that KPCC has decided to call for explanation from him. It’s not acceptable to the party, if he’ll not give a proper reply, disciplinary action will be taken, said the Congress leader.


Moreover, Mullapally Ramachandran, the president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, confirming that Kannur DCC has already submitted a complaint against the Facebook post of Abdullakutty added that stringent action would be taken against the former MP. The state Congress chief also said the party will constitute a committee to study the social media post made by Abdullakutty.

Another Congress leader, K Muraleedharan, said Abdullakutty’s remarks were wrong as no Congress worker can praise Modi. “There is no compromise on this matter,” he added.

Moreover, KPCC member M A Rohit unleashed a scathing attack on him saying, “Such bhaktas (devotees) should not be allowed to stay in a big political institution like the Congress, and they should be thrown out”, he wrote on Facebook. “I have felt that Abdullakutty is a man who always cosies up to authority. He cosies up to that side under the guise of the development. But it should not be at the cost of the Congress…..If you plan to go, go immediately to your old tent or Modi’s tent..for us, both are equal.”

Congress leader AP Abdullakutty from Kerala had on Tuesday courted controversy by praising PM Modi and attributing BJP’s landslide victory to his ethos and good governance. He had said that Modi had adopted Gandhian values which contributed to his success.

Abdullakutty joined the Congress after he was elected to Parliament from Kannur in 1999 and 2004. Prior to joining the Congress party, he was with the CPIM, which had sacked him in 2009 for praising Modi, who was then the chief minister of Gujarat.

In a Facebook post, titled “On Narendra Modi’s impressive victory”, Abdullakutty opinioned that BJP’ victory was the acceptance of Modi’s development agenda. He said the secret of the PM’s success was that he had adopted Gandhian values. He also hailed the centre’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA), which envisages cleaning up India’s cities, towns and rural areas and to eliminate open defecation through construction of household-owned and community-owned toilets.

“PM Modi has reflected Mahatma Gandhi’s word that ‘when you develop a policy, you should remember the face of the poorest in his rule’. Swachch Bharath and Ujwala Yojana are examples of this.” said the former MP from Kerala’s Kannur.

He further called out political critics and leaders for castigating PM Modi and said that they should deliberate on the reasons behind the thumping victory of the BJP in national elections.

Prime Minister Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registered a landmark victory in the recently held Lok Sabha polls by winning 303 seats in the 543-member lower house.

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