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Rahul Gandhi joins the list of party presidents not attending PM Modi’s all-party meeting on ‘One Nation, One Election’

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi joins the list of party presidents not attending PM Modi’s all-party meeting on ‘One Nation, One Election’

The largest opposition party in Lok Sabha the Congress party has decided to skip the all-party meeting called by PM Narendra Modi today. PM had called presidents of all political parties having at least on MP in either house of the parliament to discuss various issues. The top agenda is ‘One Nation, One Election’, a proposal to hold elections for Lok Sabha and all Vidhan Sabhas in the country simultaneously once in five years. But the Congress party has decided that its president Rahul Gandhi will not be attending the meeting.


With the decision to not attend the meeting, Congress has joined a list of opposition parties which have decided to skip it. Earlier, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, DMK president M.K. Stalin, Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu, NCP leader Sharad Pawar and Aap Aadmi Party’s national convenor Arvind Kejriwal had decided against attending the meeting.

As a reason to not attend, Mamata Banerjee had said that very little time was available to study the issue before attending the meeting. In later written to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, the Bengal CM has suggested circulating a white paper among the parties first seeking their views on the matter.


Assam Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi informed media that the party is not attending the meeting. But no reason has been given yet from the party for the decision.

On the other hand, AAP has decided to send Raghav Chadha to represent the party in place of the Delhi CM. The left parties have decided to attend the meeting, but they will oppose the idea of ‘One Nation, One Election’ in the meeting.

‘Can’t express the pain I’m going through everyday’: HD Kumaraswamy once again sulks over Congress-JDS alliance

OpIndia Staff
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‘Can’t express the pain I’m going through everyday’: HD Kumaraswamy once again sulks over Congress-JDS alliance

Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, while speaking at a public gathering in Channapatna on Tuesday once again reiterated the grief and difficulty he is facing in running the state government, which is a coalition between his Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) and the Congress.

Stressing that he needs to resolve the pain of the people in his state, Kumaraswamy said, “I promise to fulfil all your expectations. I cannot express the pain I am going through everyday… Though I want to express it to you, I cannot… However, I need to solve the pain of the people in my state as I have the responsibility of running the government smoothly.”


Furthering the ‘poaching’ allegations on BJP, Kumaraswamy also claimed that one of his Members of Legislative Assembly got a call from the BJP and was offered Rs 10 crore to leave the JD(S) and defect to the BJP.


However, by now, people of Karnataka are quite familiar with their CM’s disposition as this is not the first instance when Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy has bemoaned about his situation of leading a straitjacketed coalition government.

HD Kumaraswamy once answering a question raised by an India Today scribe had lamented, “If I had got the clear majority, I would have given a better government to Karnataka.”

Prior to this incident, the Karnataka CM wailed that he is working as a clerk and not like a CM due to Congress interference.

Earlier in July 2018, expressing his unhappiness over the coalition government Kumaraswamy had literally cried saying he was unhappy and swallowing the poison of a coalition government.

In a pitching reference to some Congress leaders who are said to begrudging the Karnataka CM, H.D Kumaraswamy for latching on to the highest post, he had broken down at a JD(S) event and said, “You’re happy that your Anna became the chief minister but I do not share your happiness. I’m swallowing my pain, which is like swallowing poison, without sharing it”, Karnataka CM said in the context of heading a coalition government that lacks people’s mandate. Refusing to accept the facilitation Kumaraswamy said in a poignant voice, “If I decide to do so, I can step down within two hours,” clearly exposing the undercurrent between the two parties.

“The chief minister’s post is not a bed of roses, it’s a bed of thorns,” he added.

This leads one to believe that the alliance between Congress and JDS has just been an opportunistic alliance. In the Karnataka Assembly elections in early 2018, the BJP secured 104 seats while the JD(S) and the Congress won 37 and 80 seats, respectively. But, shockingly the Congress and the JD(S) had then forged an alliance to keep the saffron party out of power in Karnataka.

In the recently concluded Lok Sabha election, NDA won 25 seats while Congress and JDS managed only three seats in the state.

Meet Om Birla, BJP’s Kota MP who has been elected uncontested as the speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha

OpIndia Staff
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Meet Om Birla, BJP’s Kota MP who has been elected uncontested as the speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha

Today, PM Modi proposed the name of Kota’s BJP MP Om Birla for the post of speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha. The proposal was accepted by all major parties, including the Congress, TMC, DMK, BJD and Om Birla was elected uncontested as the speaker.


PM Modi, proposing Birla’s name, had stated, ” Om Birla Ji has been in public life for years, he started as a student leader and has been serving the society since then, without a break.”

PM Modi added that Birla represents Kota, a place that has become like a mini-India, associated with education and learning. He mentioned that he has also worked with Birla for a long time.


Om Birla, aged 57, has been elected twice as a BJP MP from the Kota-Bundi seat. Prior to that, he has also been an MLA in the Rajasthan assembly thrice. In the recent Lok Sabha elections, Birla had defeated the Congress candidate Ramnarayan Meena by over 2.5 lakh votes.

Om Birla is a member of the Standing Committee on Energy in Parliament, member of Committee on Petitions and Consultative Committee for Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Birla has been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since he was a student in school. His public life had started with the post of President of the Students Association in the Gumanpura Senior Secondary School. He later became the joint secretary at the Rajasthan College of Commerce, Kota. He was BJYM Kota district president for over 4 years. He went on to become the BJYM state president for over 6 years and then the National Vice President of BJYM for over 6 years.

Om Birla’s presence and rise within the BJP circles have been much like those of PM Modi and Amit Shah, rising as ground level party workers to state then to national leadership roles.

Birla is well known in Rajasthan for his welfare and charity initiatives. He had started and managed a program called Paridhan where clothes and books were provided to the poor. He also runs free meal programs, blood donation camps and medicine banks to make medicine available to the poor free of cost. The Paridhan project also employs tailors who stitch clothes for the needy as per their requirements. The Prasadam initiative, a widely popular campaign in Kota, feeds the poor twice a day.

Birla had also started the project of ‘Rain Basera’ (night shelters) in Kota where the poor and homeless are provided shelter, mattress and blankets for the night during winters. He had also run a much-appreciated relief and rehabilitation campaign during the Uttarakhand floods of 2013.

Acute Encephalitis Syndrome: Centre to set up a panel of experts to monitor situation in Bihar

OpIndia Staff
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Acute Encephalitis Syndrome: Centre to set up a panel of experts to monitor situation in Bihar

After Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) claimed over 112 lives in Bihar, the centre has finally decided to intervene by setting up a panel to monitor the situation in Bihar, reports India Today.

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has said that a multi-disciplinary expert panel will be constituted to monitor and formulate measures to be taken up to prevent another AES outbreak. The panel will be constituted with experts from AIIMS, National Centre for Disease Control, World Health Organisation and several other health organisations.

On Monday, Dr Harsh Vardhan had issued directions for sending a high-level team to Bihar’s Muzaffarpur to set up a state-of-the-art multi-disciplinary research centre in the wake of deaths of 103 children due to suspected encephalitis.

The interdisciplinary team consisted of experts from ICMR, Delhi, NIMHANS, Bangalore, National Institute of Malaria Research and National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE) Chennai and AIIMS, Delhi.

The centre had also decided to set up five virological labs in different districts in the state with a consultation with the state government.

The outbreak of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in the country, especially in Bihar has become a major health emergency in the country as more than 100 children have lost their lives.

The AES is locally called the ‘chamki’ fever. Encephalitis, a rare disease, is an inflammation (swelling and irritation) of the brain. In most cases, a virus causes this inflammation. Most cases happen in children, the elderly, and people with a weakened immune system. It causes flu-like symptoms such as high fever, convulsions and headaches.

World Cup Match Preview of New Zealand v South Africa: Rain to play the spoilsport

Ritesh
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World Cup Match Preview of New Zealand v South Africa: Rain to play the spoilsport

Both New Zealand and South Africa have crumbled in tight situations, especially if its a world cup tournament. South Africa has never been to the finals of the World Cup, and New Zealand reached it only once despite being in the semis for seven times. The last time they met in the World Cup was in 2015, and that was a semi-final.

Before the World Cup started, many predicted England, India, and Australia would reach the semis, but for the fourth team, most of them were confused between New Zealand and South Africa. The tournament is in its mid-stage and looking at the points table, Kiwis have more chances to reach the semis.

New Zealand has won all the three previous contests of this World Cup and shared a point with India due to a complete washout. The three wins came against the weaker teams, and they are yet to play a strong opposition. On current form, the Proteas cannot be called a strong team, but still, they have the fire to beat any team.

Kiwis have been excellent in all departments so far; especially their bowlers are enjoying the condition which is conducive for the seamers. Their batting has not been tested against a quality bowling attack, but still, Kiwis have a great batting line-up. A win here for them would mean they are almost through to the semi-finals.

South Africa has won its previous match against Afghanistan, keeping their hope alive for the knock out stage of the World Cup. They are in a situation where they have to win every game in the tournament, a loss here would mean they have to depend on other’s fortunes to reach the semis.

Rain is expected in the first half of the day, probably a late start with 40 overs a side match.

Players to watch out

Trent Boult is a big match winner and one of the most dangerous seam bowlers on rain-affected pitches. He has been very consistent in the tournament so far and Kiwis would be expecting him to rattle the Proteas top order.

Imran Tahir, the spin legend, would be hoping to continue his form, he is the leading wicket-taker for South Africa. Kiwis aren’t good against spin, so it would be interesting to see if Tahir gets the new ball to bowl for an early breakthrough.

New Zealand v South Africa in ODIs:

Overall: Matches 70, New Zealand Won 24, South Africa Won 41, No Result 5

World Cup: Matches 7, New Zealand Won 5, South Africa Won 2

Recent Form (most recent first): New Zealand W W W W W, South Africa W NR L L L

ICC Rankings: New Zealand (3), South Africa (4)

Upcoming Records:

Martin Guptill has scored 907 runs in World Cup and needs 93 more to become the second New Zealand player to reach the 1,000 runs milestone.

Williamson needs one more to reach fifty 50-plus scores in ODIs.

Squads:

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt), Tom Blundell (wk), Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (wk), Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.

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

Kolkata: Former Miss India, Uber driver attacked by mob, Fardin Khan, Sheik Rahit, and 5 others arrested

OpIndia Staff
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Kolkata: Former Miss India, Uber driver attacked by mob, Fardin Khan, Sheik Rahit, and 5 others arrested

In a horrific incident in Kolkata, former Miss India Universe Ushoshi Sengupta has been allegedly dragged out of her car and attacked by seven men raising further concerns about the increasingly deteriorating state of law and order in the West Bengal.

Ushoshi Sengupta, a former Miss India Universe, narrated her ordeal in a Facebook post including sharing some videos, where it can be seen that her cab was attacked on Monday night by a group of people.

According to Sengupta’s post, the incident took place at around 11.30pm when some men on a two-wheeler followed and hit the cab in which Sengupta and her colleague were travelling. Within moments, about 15 men appeared at the scene and started banging on the car windows, said Sengupta.

“Last night 17th June 2019 at around 11:40 pm I took an uber from JW Marriott Kolkata. I was accompanied by my colleague. We were taking a left turn from the Exide crossing towards Elgin while few boys in a bike (without helmets) came and hit the Uber. To which they stopped the bike and started yelling at the driver.

“In a fraction of second there were 15 boys and they all started banging the car window and dragging the driver out. They dragged the driver and started beating him up. This is when I stepped out and started shouting taking a video of the incident,” Sengupta wrote in a Facebook post which has gone viral.

“The boys followed us till my colleague’s house and right when we were dropping him near lake gardens govt housing, 6 of the boys in 3 bikes came and stopped my car, threw stones, broke the car. Dragged me out and tried to break my phone to delete the video. My colleague jumped out of fear and I was completely shaken. I came out started shouting by now the locals had come out,” she said.

Shockingly, according to Sengupta’s post, police officials at Maidan police station did not come to her help despite her cry for help as it was not under their jurisdiction and instead asked her to go to Bhawanipore Police station.

“I ran across the street to Maidan Police station, I saw an officer standing and I requested him to come with me, he told me that this is not under them but under the jurisdiction of Bhawanipore Police station. This is when I broke down I begged them to come or else the boys would have killed the driver,” said Sengupta.

In her post, Sengupta has also written about the reluctance of police officials at the Charu Market Police Station to file a report, who said Sengupta to do the same only at Bhawanipore Police Station where the incident had taken place.

“At this point, I gave up and started shouting. 1:30 am. No female police officer at the station. After raising a lot of questions the officer took my complaint but refused to take the uber drivers to complain stating that 2 FIR’s can’t be taken for the same complaint. And he told me that it’s against the law. My Uber driver insisted that he wants to do (file) the complaint but the officers didn’t take it. I am attaching the video of the mob and the picture of the broken car,” she wrote.

After Sengupta’s Facebook post went viral, the Kolkata police finally swung into action and arrested seven men, Sheik Rahit, Fardin Khan, Sk. Sabir Ali, Sk. Gani, Sk. Imran Ali, Sk. Wasim and Atif Khan, for allegedly harassing the complainant, assaulting an Uber driver and vandalising the cab. A detailed inquiry is going on into the case, said Joint Commissioner of Kolkata Police, Crime, Praveen Tripathi said.

Karnataka: Congress suspends senior MLA Roshan Baig with immediate effect for anti-party activities

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka: Congress suspends senior MLA Roshan Baig with immediate effect for anti-party activities

Senior Congress leader Roshan Baig has been suspended on Tuesday by the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee for anti-party activities.

“All India Congress Committee has approved the proposal sent by KPCC to take action against R Roshan Baig, MLA on account of his anti-party activities. He has been suspended from the party with immediate effect,” Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee said in a press statement.


Roshan Baig had been in news for the past few weeks. He stirred controversy by hitting out on the party in-charge in Karnataka, KC Venugopal, calling him a ‘buffoon’ and training guns at former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, levelling serious allegations that the portfolios in the Karnataka state assembly were ‘sold’.

Talking about the Lok Sabha debacle, Baig had held Siddaramaiah’s “arrogance” and Dinesh Gundu Rao’s “immaturity” responsible for the “flop show”.

Baig’s name also surfaced in connection with the Rs 15,000 crore IMA Jewels ponzi scam in which thousands of investors are feared to have lost their money after company’ founder and managing director Mansoor Khan disappeared.

Khan, in an audio clip, accused Roshan Baig of arm twisting and refusing to return Rs 400 crore which he had taken after he failed to get a Lok Sabha ticket for the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.

Baig, the seven-time legislator, who had been expressing displeasure against the Congress party leadership on not being included in the coalition cabinet headed by HD Kumaraswamy, had also appealed to the Muslim community to join hands with the BJP as the Congress only treated them as “bonded labour” and a vote bank.

Congress leader from Bengaluru Central, Rizwan Arshad took to Twitter to welcome Congress’ decision to suspend Baig, “Welcome the decision of AICC to suspend Roshan Baig from the Congress Party. He violated party discipline. Worked against the party in Lok Sabah election. Hobnobbed with BJP. Everyone knows that his actions and associations have brought great misery to common people.”


However, Baig could not be reached out for his comment on his suspension immediately.

7 faculty members from Bengal university resign after TMC student wing members hurl casteist abuses against tribal professor

OpIndia Staff
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7 faculty members from Bengal university resign after TMC student wing members hurl casteist abuses against tribal professor

After abuse and harassment of doctors on duty resulted in over a week-long strike bringing the healthcare facilities in West Bengal to a screeching halt, another incident of political elements abusing a University professor has come to light.

As per reports, Dr Saraswati Kerketa, a professor at the Rabindra Bharati University has alleged that a group of students belonging to the TMCP, (Trinamool Chhatra Parishad) had harassed and abused her, hurled casteist and derogatory remarks against her and even threatened her safety and well being. TMCP is the student wing of TMC.


Dr Saraswati Kerketa has mentioned in her letter that several students from the union had visited her at her office and had threatened and abused her. She stated that the students also threw a bottle at her and did not allow her to sit, eat or drink anything for hours, despite her pleading that she has an orthopaedic condition.

They also hurled casteist abuses and insulted her gender, colour, background and her place of birth. After the ordeal, when she was on her way home, she was also allegedly followed by some of those students which had forced her to seek refuge at a friend’s house.

Following Dr Kerketa’s complaint and some other incidents, several faculty members at the university have tendered their resignations protesting against the menace of TMCP members. As per reports, Dr Kerketa was being harassed by TMCP members since late May and when some other faculty members objected to it and protested, the TMCP members had gheraoed them for five hours recently. Following the incident, seven faculty members, 4 HoDs and 3 Deans have decided to resign.

As per reports, the heads of Bengali, Sanskrit, Economics and Political Sciences departments and the Deans of The School of Languages and Culture, Department of Visual Arts and BR Ambedkar Study Centre at the Rabindra Bharti University have tendered their resignations on Monday.

Following the resignations, WB education minister Partha Chatterjee had reportedly visited the university yesterday and met faculty members. He also spoke to VC Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhry who had ordered an inquiry into the incidents. The VC has stated that Dr Saraswati Kerketa’s letter has been submitted to the Executive Council and investigations have already started. He promised that the guilty will not be spared.

Video and statistics highlights from England v Afghanistan match

OpIndia Staff
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Video and statistics highlights from England v Afghanistan match

A crushing victory for England against the minnows at The Old Trafford pushed them to number one in the points table. There was no stopping since the time they won the toss, and now they have four wins in 5 games.

Eoin Morgan would not have imagined that he would create a world record after he chose to bat first against Afghanistan. England got a new opener for this ODI, James Vince, who has replaced an injured Jason Roy. Vince and Bairstow added 46 runs in 9.3 overs before Mujeeb caught Vince off Dawlat Zadran’s bowling.

In comes the man in form, Joe Root, who added 120 runs for the 2nd wicket. Bairstow was marching towards his first World Cup hundred, but Afghan skipper Gulbadin took the catch off his bowling. A disappointed Bairstow became the first victim of the nervous nineties of this tournament.

After that, it was just Morgan’s show. When he scored his first run of the innings, Root was on 47, by the time Root added 41 more runs to his tally, Morgan has added 142. Yes, 189 runs partnership of which Morgan who destroyed the bowling scored 142 runs. He smashed 17 sixes, the most by any batsman in ODI innings, fastest hundred for England in World Cup and 4th fastest by anyone in World Cup history.

Just after hitting his 17th six, Morgan lost his wicket. But that didn’t change the tempo of innings. Moeen Ali thrashed the bowlers all over the park; he smashed 31 runs off just nine balls with four sixes which helped England to reach 397 in their 50 overs, an English record.

Watch: England Innings (batting)

Afghanistan had nothing to lose in this situation. Although they lost the first wicket in second over, they batted much better compared to their previous four outings in the tournament. Gulbadin Naib (37), Rahmat Shah (46), Hasmatullah Shahidi (76), and Asghar Afghan (44) contributed a significant chunk of runs in Afghanistan’s total of 247. They also added in most sixes in a world cup match record. Jofra and Rashid took three wickets each. England won by 150 runs.

Watch: Afghanistan Innings (batting)

STATS

  • Eoin Morgan belted 17 sixes in the innings, which is a world record for ODI innings. The previous best was 16 – held by Rohit Sharma and AB de Villiers
  • Morgan’s 148 is his highest ODI score and England’s third highest score in World Cups.
  • It took just 57 balls for Morgan to reach the hundred, an English record in the World Cup, and 4th fastest by any batsman in World Cup.
  • A combined of 33 sixes were hit by both the teams (25 by England and eight by Afghanistan), which is a World Cup record.
  • Twenty-five sixes by English batsmen are now the World Record in ODI cricket. England also held the previous record of most sixes by a team in ODI innings.
  • Root and Morgan added 189 runs for the third wicket, the most by any English pair for any wicket in World Cup history.
  • England’s 397 is now the highest World Cup score for them; they surpassed their best score of 386 which was scored in the same edition against Bangladesh.
  • Rashid Khan conceded 110 runs in his nine overs is the most expensive bowling figure in World Cup history. Eleven sixes scored off Rashid is the most ever by a bowler in the history of ODI cricket.

After barring NDTV from accessing capital markets, SEBI imposes penalty of Rs 12 lakh for non-disclosure of information

OpIndia Staff
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After barring NDTV from accessing capital markets, SEBI imposes penalty of Rs 12 lakh for non-disclosure of information

In yet another setback for controversial media group NDTV, SEBI has imposed a penalty of Rs. 12 lakh on New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) for failing to make timely disclosures to the stock exchanges.

Reportedly, the order comes after the SEBI noticed multiple disclosure lapses by NDTV and noted non-compliance with the Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeover (SAST) Regulations.

SEBI examined that Indiabulls Financial Services in January 2008 had acquired 40 lakh shares of NDTV, amounting to 6.40 per cent of the total share capital of the firm. The promoters of NDTV acquired 20.28 per cent of the total share capital of NDTV in July 2008.

However, the entities were to make requisite disclosures to NDTV under relevant provisions of SAST norms, while NDTV, in turn, was supposed to report the same to BSE as well as NSE. As per the order, the controversial media group delayed in disclosing information related to change in the shareholdings of its promoters and Indiabulls Financial Services.

“The allegation of delayed disclosures under Regulation 7(3) of SAST.. to BSE and NSE against the Notice stands established,” Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said.

Consequently, a penalty of Rs 12 lakh has been imposed on NDTV which shall be payable “jointly and severally” by the media company.

Earlier this week, the SEBI had barred NDTV’s key promoters – Prannoy Roy, Radhika Roy and their holding firm RRPR Holdings from accessing the capital markets for two years and also restrained the two individuals from holding any board or top management role at the company in this period.

However, Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy have now got a stay from Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) against an earlier order passed by SEBI barring NDTV promoters from holding managerial positions at the news television network.

This is not the first time that NDTV is facing charges for indulging in such financial irregularities. Earlier, NDTV had got a show cause notice from the Income Tax Department. The IT Department show cause notice pertained to the IT Department levying a penalty of Rs. 436.80 crores for the assessment year 2009-10.

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