JD(S) on Tuesday suspended its Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna from the party with immediate effect over an alleged sexual harassment case involving him. The suspension came minutes after the party core committee that met in Hubballi recommended his suspension to its national president and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, who is also Revanna’s grandfather. “Videos of Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna allegedly harassing women are widely in circulation on social media and media and this has caused huge embarrassment to the party and its leadership,” the suspension order said. Prajwal Revanna Stating that the Congress government in Karnataka has constituted a Special Investigation Team to investigate this, it said, “In this backdrop, as per JD(S)’ party constitution and rules regarding breach of discipline and punishment, Prajwal Revanna has been suspended with immediate effect.” The suspension order, signed by party General Secretary K R Shivakumar, was released to the media following approval from the JD(S) national President. Prajwal is the BJP-JD(S) alliance’s candidate from Hassan, which went to the polls on Friday. The 33-year-old is the son of H D Deve Gowda’s elder son H D Revanna, who is an MLA and a former Minister. Prajwal’s uncle H D Kumaraswamy is state president of JD(S). ‘BJP will not tolerate any insult to women’ Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday condemned the alleged sexual abuse of women involving Lok Sabha MP Prajwal Revanna, asserting that the BJP will not tolerate any insult to women. Revanna (33) is the BJP-JD(S) alliance candidate for Hassan Lok Sabha constituency, which went to polls on April 26. NSUI members burn a poster of Prajwal. Pics/PTI Earlier in the day, the JD(S) suspended Revanna from the party with immediate effect. “The issue regarding Revanna that has been reported in the media is very hurtful and cannot be tolerated in any way,” Shah told a press conference here. “The BJP’s stand is very clear; we will not tolerate any insult to ‘matri aur nari shakti’ (women empowerment),” he asserted. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
01 May,2024 07:46 AM IST | Bengaluru | AgenciesThe Supreme Court pulled up the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority for inaction in the misleading advertisements case involving Patanjali Ayurved Limited. Expressing dissatisfaction over the explanation offered by the body, a bench of Justice Hima Kohli and Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah observed it appeared that the licensing authority got activated to take action in accordance with the law only after the apex court’s April 10 order. “Be honest to the court if you want sympathy and compassion,” the bench observed. Patanjali gets show cause notice for GST Patanjali Foods has been served a show cause notice by the GST intelligence department, asking the company to explain why input tax credit worth R27.46 crore should not be recovered from it. Patanjali Ayurved Group firm has received notice from the DG of GST Intelligence, Chandigarh Zonal Unit. SC appreciates improved apology Supreme Court appreciated ‘marked improvement’ in unconditional public apology published in newspapers by yoga guru Ramdev, his aide Balkrishna and Patanjali Ayurved Ltd in misleading advertisements case. “I don’t know the second apology is on whose vetting. There has been marked improvement, we appreciate that. Now finally they have understood,” Justice Amanullah said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
01 May,2024 07:42 AM IST | New Delhi | AgenciesDelhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said AAP MP Raghav Chadha has undergone a major eye surgery in the UK and will join the party’s Lok Sabha poll campaigning once he feels better. He added that the MP had developed a serious eye ailment which could have led to blindness. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, too, said Chadha will campaign for the party for the general elections. “Raghav Chadha has undergone a major eye surgery in the UK. It is said that his condition was serious and there was a possibility of blindness. As soon as he gets better, he will come back to India and join us in the election campaigning,” Bharadwaj told PTI Videos. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
01 May,2024 07:38 AM IST | New Delhi | AgenciesThe Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the Enforcement Directorate on the timing of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest ahead of the general elections and sought a reply from the agency. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta asked Additional Solicitor General SV Raju to reply on the question of the timing and said, “Life and liberty are exceedingly important. You can’t deny that.” The bench, which asked Raju several other questions, asked the probe agency to reply on the next date of hearing of Kejriwal’s plea challenging his arrest in the money laundering case related to the excise policy scam. The matter is likely to be taken up for hearing on Friday - from Wednesday, both judges will be sitting in different combinations. The top court issued ED a notice on April 15 and sought its response to Kejriwal’s plea. On April 9, the high court upheld Kejriwal’s arrest, saying there was no illegality and the ED was left with “little option” after he skipped repeated summonses and refused to join the investigation. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
01 May,2024 07:34 AM IST | New Delhi | AgenciesWe’ve worn a red T-shirt with our red spectacles on, for fun, to fit in with the hammer and sickle, surrounding Lenin’s statue at the Jadavpur New Market, on the way to Kolkata’s Jadavpur University (JU). Among few institutes in India where Marx still gets discussed as strongly among students as the marks in their semester exams. And the Left is far from a metaphorical red flag. Only that some of the campus buildings itself are coloured in white and blue of the TMC. Which isn’t a coincidence. TMC’s Mamta Banerjee government in Kolkata announced property tax exemption in 2014-15 if you painted your buildings in her party colours. State-funded JU perhaps took the more practical route. Graffiti on campus walls slamming partisanship We turn right, into the campus, to figure what’s left of the Left. When asked if JU is JNU of Kolkata, locals promptly correct, “Oh, no; JNU is the JU of Delhi! The ideological battlelines drawn in student politics of JU are still between the Left, and ultra-Left, namely parties like AIDSO, FUCI, and SFI, all of which bear various shades of communism, from Stalinist, Maoist, to the more mainstream.” It’s another matter that the state has still not green-lit a student union election on campus since 2019. The colours of the buildings don’t matter, once you’re hit by graffities all over, from “smashing patriarchy”, “down with partisanship”, “free Kurds”, “environmentalism without class struggle is gardening,” invoking everywhere, Kranti revolution of Che Guevera, Bhagat Singh, et al. People, from the outside, might think of JU’s idealism as some sort of an elitist bubble. But it’s really driven by students from oppressed classes, voicing dissent. Which is allowed. In fact, actively encouraged by teachers, scholars, and authorities. “The space for debates is diminishing on other campuses. It’s about brainstorming, rather than brainwashing, and everybody is allowed their opinion,” says Srijan Bhattacharya, the ‘Young Turk’ CPM candidate from Jadavpur, who’s just returned from canvassing in the rural parts. Jadavpur is both the university and the constituency it’s on. Mamata has been elected from here to the Lok Sabha in the past. As has the doyen Somnath Chatterjee. The turning point for the Left, however, was when the CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee lost to TMC from Jadavpur in the 2011 Assembly elections, ending a 34-year CPI (M) rule. Graffiti on the university walls The party has been on a terminal decline since. Landing zero seats in the 2021 state elections. As with Congress, this Left-shaped hole has, evidently been filled by the BJP in Bengal since. “There is a silent makeover happening within the CPM,” says its candidate, Saira Shah Halim from the neighbouring South Kolkata constituency. By which she means, “We’re looking at nominating young, credible faces. There is even a digital push in the campaign. Something the Left had altogether stayed away from. Look at me, even I’m making reels!” Saira’s posters across South Kolkata urge for a vote for CPM, supported by the Congress, in equal font size—making her the face of INDIA bloc, that Mamta had walked out of. This Congress-Left bonhomie also bears irony in the context of JU. There’s a popular story that we get Srijan to recall, “Snehansu Acharya, an accomplished barrister, also from a zamindar family, was jailed by the Congress government for his communist affiliations in the 1950s. The CM BC Roy asked him to hand over land for education. He did and then returned to jail. This is where JU presently stands.” Students at the canteen prefer not to be quoted on their politics in the press. One of them, choosing anonymity, because he plans to sit for the civil services exam, says, “It’s not important to be identified as Left. Some do. Some don’t. The point is to voice, and deliver. Nobody is apolitical here.” There is visible support for young Srijan, once a popular student leader at JU when you ask around in the food stalls outside the campus. Graffiti on a shutter, ‘smashing patriarchy’ Campaigning for a month, with another month to go—Jadavpur polls on June 1—Srijan is placed opposite young Saayoni Ghosh, a former actor, with the TMC, and BJP’s think-tank ideologue, Anirban Ganguly, who’s also written a book on Narendra Modi. Saira, in South Kolkata, is up against two sitting MPs—the incumbent, Mala Roy, from TMC, and BJP’s Debasree Chaudhuri, a former minister, who’s been brought over from Raiganj constituency. Saira says, “The issue here is of corruption. Both BJP and TMC got exposed with electoral bonds, while CPM still works on fees from party members. Look at the scams exposed during the TMC—teacher recruitment, land-grab…” She adds, “In the 2022 by-polls, I beat the BJP candidate, while I lost to BJP’s Babul Supriyo, from the Ballygunge Assembly seat.” Securing a respectable second position would still be a success of some sort for the Left.
01 May,2024 06:01 AM IST | Jadavpur | Mayank ShekharThe Congress on Tuesday fielded actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar from the Gurgaon seat in Haryana for Lok Sabha elections 2024 and former Union minister Anand Sharma from Kangra in Himachal Pradesh, reported the PTI. According to the PTI, Satpal Raizada, a former MLA from Himachal Pradesh's Una, has been fielded by the Congress from the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat in the state and will contest the general elections against BJP candidate and Union Minister Anurag Thakur. The Congress also fielded Bhushan Patil from the Mumbai North constituency in Maharashtra, as per the PTI. This is the first Lok Sabha election that Sharma will be contesting. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha for the first time in April 1984 and has been a member of the Upper House of Parliament for four terms, the news agency reported. He has been a Union minister during the UPA government under Manmohan Singh and has also been a deputy leader of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha till he retired in 2022. Suspense over Amethi, Rae Bareli seats continues as three days left for nominations Meanwhile, suspense over the Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seats mounted on Tuesday, even as three days remain for the filing of nominations for the two seats considered as traditional seats of the Gandhi-Nehru family, reported the PTI. Amid speculation that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would be fielded from the two constituencies, the Congress workers in Amethi on Tuesday held a sit-in, demanding that the party names a member of the Gandhi family as its candidate from the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency, as per the PTI. According to the PTI, sources said that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is keen to contest from the Rae Bareli seat and her candidature is likely to be announced soon, once the party leadership takes a final call on the seat. Rahul Gandhi is yet to finalise his candidature on his second seat of Amethi and the leadership is likely to announce his name soon. The state leadership in Uttar Pradesh has already urged the central election committee and the party leadership to field Rahul Gandhi from Amethi and Priyanka from Rae Bareli. The CEC members had also supported the view of the Uttar Pradesh Congress during the last meeting of the CEC on Saturday, the news agency reported on Tuesday. Amethi Lok Sabha seat has been represented by Rahul Gandhi from 2004 and he remained the member of Parliament from the constituency for three consecutive terms till 2019 when he was defeated by BJP's Smriti Irani. Rahul Gandhi currently represents the Wayanad constituency in Kerala, from where he had also contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The Amethi and Rae Bareli constituencies go to polls on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections 2024. The Rae Bareli constituency was represented by Sonia Gandhi from 2004 to 2024. Prior to that Sonia Gandhi had represented the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency after she entered politics and contested for the first time in 1999. (with PTI inputs)
30 April,2024 10:38 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondentThe Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the "bhatakti aatma" jibe, saying his soul is "restless" for the cause of farmers and the common man, and ready to be restless "100 times" to highlight their plight, reported the PTI. "There is a 'bhatakti atma' (wandering soul) in Maharashtra. If it does not manage success it spoils others' good work. Maharashtra has been a victim of it," PM Modi had said at a rally on Monday, hitting out at Sharad Pawar without taking his name, according to the PTI. Addressing a Lok Sabha elections 2024 meeting on Tuesday, Sharad Pawar recalled PM Modi's 2016 statement about having come into politics holding the former's finger, and said "PM Modi is angry with me of late", as per the PTI. "Some years ago, PM Modi had delivered a speech in Pune stating that he (PM Modi) had come into politics by holding the finger of Pawar saheb. Yesterday, he said a 'restless' soul in Maharashtra has been causing restlessness across the state for the last 45 years, the news agency reported on Tuesday. "PM Modi had also said this soul was creating obstacles for the government. He also spoke about the need to safeguard against this soul," Sharad Pawar said while addressing an election meeting in Junnar tehsil for NCP (SP)'s Shirur Lok Sabha candidate Amol Kolhe. Sharad Pawar further said he has read Modi's speech and the ('bhatakti aatma') statement. "It is correct that the soul is 'asvastha' (restless) but not for the self but to highlight the hardships faced by farmers. I am restless to put forward the plight of the common man suffering from inflation. I am ready to be restless 100 times to highlight the woes of the people," the veteran politician said, as per the PTI. Sharad Pawar also criticised the prime minister for dubbing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi a 'shehzada' (prince), saying three generations of his family had served the country and sacrificed their lives. The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief further said that hardships faced by the common people and other issues should be raised. "I imbibed these values from the first chief minister Yashwantrao Chavan. We will not compromise on these values," said Sharad Pawar, according to the PTI. He said that PM Modi had promised to bring down the prices of fuel and LPG cylinders after coming to power (in 2014). "But check the prevailing prices of these commodities," he said. "PM Modi asked what he (Sharad Pawar) has done all these years. Rather, he (PM Modi) should answer these questions because he has been in power for the last 10 years. He doesn't answer (these questions) but has only one-point agenda to criticise others," the former Union minister said, a PTI report stated. Sharad Pawar said that the Prime Minister should uphold the prestige of his post. "Everybody is ready to uphold the prestige of that position (Prime Minister) but if the person who is sitting on that chair is spreading lies, criticising in a wrong way, then there is no point keeping power in the hand of such a person. We have to decide on taking out power from him," he added, the news agency reported. (with PTI inputs)
30 April,2024 07:22 PM IST | Pune | mid-day online correspondentAtleast four passengers were killed and 34 others injured after a state-run bus they were travelling in rammed into a truck in Nashik district of Maharashtra on Tuesday, police said, reported the PTI. Among the deceased were a teenage boy and a woman. Nine of the injured persons are in a serious condition, the police said, as per the PTI. The incident involving the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus occurred close to Aher Vasti near Chandwad town in the district on the Mumbai-Agra National Highway around 9.45 am, they said. "The bus was on its way to Nashik city from Bhusawal in neighbouring Jalgaon district when the left side of the bus crashed into the truck while trying to overtake it. Almost half the portion of the left side of the bus was damaged in the accident," a police official said, as per the PTI. "There were around 45 passengers in the bus. Four of them lost their lives in the accident, while 34 others were injured. The condition of nine of them is stated to be serious," he said, according to the PTI. The injured persons are being treated at the Chandwad government hospital and other private hospitals, the police said. Two of the four deceased are men, while two others are a 14-year-old boy and a woman, they said. 6 killed, 3 injured as truck rams into jeep in Bihar's Bhagalpur Meanwhile, in an another incident, six people, including two minors, died and three others were injured after a speeding truck rammed into a jeep in Bihar's Bhagalpur district, police said on Tuesday, according to the PTI. The accident took place in Aamapur village around 11.30 pm on Monday, they said. "The speeding stone chips-laden truck reportedly lost control and collided with the jeep on National Highway-80. The passengers were on their way to a marriage party," said Ajeet Kumar, Station House Officer (SHO) of Ghogha Police Station, as per the PTI. The injured have been admitted to the nearest government hospital. The driver of the truck, which has been impounded, fled, he said. "The rescue work continued for three hours... The bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination," Kumar added. (with PTI inputs)
30 April,2024 03:44 PM IST | Nashik | mid-day online correspondentA man-eater tiger that had killed six persons in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra in the last two months has been captured, the officials said on Tuesday, according to the PTI. The PTI reported that the nine-year-old tiger has been caged and it has marked the successful culmination of a two-month-long operation to capture the elusive big cat on the prowl which had struck terror in villages, the officials said. The tiger which had managed to throw foresters off his trail with his sharp animal instincts finally took the bait placed inside a cage on Monday night in the Karva-Ballarpur forest area, a senior official said on Tuesday, as per the PTI. The man-eater tiger had killed four persons in the Central Chanda division and two others in the Chandrapur division in Maharashtra in the last two months, the official added. "In view of the human-tiger conflict, villagers in the forest area were living in the atmosphere of terror, prompting the Forest Department to set up a team to capture the big cat," said Swetha Boddu, Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF), Central Chanda division, the news agency reported on Tuesday. She said that the operation to capture the tiger was going on continuously for the last two months. "As the tiger was more cautious, it became difficult to capture him. The team initially faced a tough time, but with persistence and patience, the forest department succeeded in the operation by caging the tiger on Monday night in the Karva-Ballarpur forest area," said Swetha Boddu, the PTI reported. The caging of the troublesome tiger before the start of the Tendu leaf collection season came as a huge relief for forest department personnel and villagers in the central Chanda division. "Further action about the tiger will be taken on directions from senior officials," the DCF said as per the PTI. Another official said troublesome tigers are generally shifted to a zoo in Nagpur and not released in the wild again. Leopard roaming in Vasai captured The male leopard, which was first sighted at the remains of an Indo-Portuguese fort on March 29 in Vasai and triggered panic among residents, has been caught by the joint efforts of the Maharashtra Forest department, wildlife NGOs and researchers last week. The officials had installed multiple trap cameras to monitor the movement of the leopard, which initially survived on the stray dogs but, later, it is believed that the big cat was surviving on rodents that are found abundant in the fort. (with PTI inputs)
30 April,2024 03:17 PM IST | Chandrapur | mid-day online correspondentDepartmental action has been initiated by 70 officials who didn't turn up for the training of presiding and polling officers held here. The District Magistrate Surya Pal Gangwar has taken action against all these officials. On Monday, Gangwar who took stock for the first day of the training session informed the respective departments to take strict action against these officials under the relevant sections of the Representation of the People Act. Also Read: Five of a family killed in car-lorry collision in Kerala's Kannur The training included the provision of a comprehensive understanding of the polling process and the guidelines that need to be followed for holding free and fair elections. Gangwar also noted that a total of 3,200 officials are to be trained. “There are two batches of officials being trained in two shifts. Each shift has around 1,600 officials. We had previously issued warning to the officials that attendance is a must because, during these training, officials will learn several strategies to mitigate issues that may arise on the day of polling,” Gangwar noted. Additionally, the officials were made aware of the operating of EVMs and VVPATs. They were also informed about the procedure to be carried in case the EVMs appear to be damaged. (With IANS Inputs)
30 April,2024 01:20 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentThe police in Jammu on Monday solved online fraud cases and recovered over Rs 29 lakh in Jammu capital city, officials said, reported the PTI. Acting on a complaint, a cyber police unit successfully solved a case of online fraud in which some people were duped of Rs 29.39 lakh, they said, as per the PTI. The officials said the cyber police unit swiftly initiated investigations into various complaints and recovered a total money amounting to Rs 29,39,841. These complaints were related to online frauds involving KYC update fraud, investment related frauds, credit card frauds, online job, task frauds and installation of third-party mobile apps, among others, they said, the news agency reported on Tuesday. Man booked for sharing morphed obscene pictures of 17-year-old student A man was booked by the Mumbai Police for allegedly sharing morphed obscene pictures of a 17-year-old student, an official said, reported the PTI. The police have registered a case against the yet to be identified man who allegedly sent morphed obscene pictures of the student along with his family members and relatives on their phones, and demanded money from them, an official said on Tuesday, as per the PTI. The suspect allegedly sent the morphed photos of the Class 12 student with his mother and other relatives on their Instagram accounts. The miscreant demanded money from the teenager and others for not uploading the pictures online, he said, according to the PTI. The teenager approached the Mumbai Police after receiving calls from his friends and relatives, informing him about the obscene pictures, the official said. In the meantime, the suspect also sent him a QR code scanner on his Instagram account and asked him to send money online if he wanted to get the pictures deleted, the news agency reported on Tuesday. The student sent one rupee on his QR code and then filed a complaint with the police. During the probe, the police found that a man, using an Instagram ID with the name Prateek, had been cheating people in a similar manner and had also received money from some of them. An FIR under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including 419 (cheating by personation), 385 (extortion), Information Technology Act and other sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act has been registered against the man, the official said, adding that further investigation is underway, the PTI reported. (with PTI inputs)
30 April,2024 12:36 PM IST | Jammu | mid-day online correspondentADVERTISEMENT
