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Nitish Kumar to begin seventh term as Bihar CM on Monday, Shah, Nadda to attend oath-taking ceremony

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PATNA: A day after being unanimously elected leader of the Bihar NDA, JD(U) president Nitish Kumar will on Monday be sworn-in as the state’s chief minister for his seventh term. The swearing-in ceremony will begin at 4.30 pm.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda will attend the oath-taking ceremony.

Earlier on Sunday, Nitish staked his claim to form the new government after handing the letter of support of 126 lawmakers to Governor Phagu Chauhan. The NDA meeting was held in the presence of BJP’s central observer and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Addressing the media later, Nitish said: “I did not want to be the CM, but only after the request and instructions of the leaders of the BJP, I accepted the post,” he said. Within the BJP, Katihar MLA Tar Kishor Prasad was elected its legislature party leader, which suggested he could be made the deputy chief minister.

Perhaps to acknowledge the role of women as silent voters in the NDA victory, the BJP elected Bettiah MLA Renu Devi as deputy leader of the legislature party. Team Nitish could have 15 representatives from the BJP, 12 JD(U) and two each from the Hindustani Awam Morcha and the Vikassheel Insaan Party.

This is the seventh time when Nitish Kumar will take an oath to become the Chief Minister of Bihar. He had served as the Chief Minister of the state for little over seven days in March 2000, after which he was elected in 2005 when he served a full term.He was re-elected to power in November 2010, after which he served for four years before resigning, and had again taken oath as Chief Minister in February 2015.

He was voted to power in 2015 Assembly election as part of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’. However, after corruption allegations were levelled against his deputy Tejashwi Yadav in 2015, Nitish resigned only to be sworn in as Chief Minister merely 12 hours later joining hands with the BJP to form a government in the state.

Will ensure BJP remains in Opposition in Maharashtra for next 25 years, says Shiv Sena Sanjay Raut

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Former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya has alleged there were multiple land deals between Uddhav Thackeray’s wife Rashmi and Anvay Naik who allegedly committed suicide on May 5, 2018.

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Friday said allegations of land deals between the families of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and the late Anvay Naik were attempts to change the direction of probe into the suicide of the Alibaug-based interior designe

The ruling party’s chief spokesperson, Sanjay Raut, hit out at the BJP and singled out for criticism its former MP Kirit Somaiya, who made claims of land deals between the two families on Wednesday and sought a probe.

Further lashing out at the main opposition party, Raut said, “We will ensure that the BJP remains out of power for 25 years in Maharashtra.”

Talking to reporters, Raut lost his cool and referred to the BJP as “shethji party” and called Somaiya a “vyapari” (traders).

“Spokespersons of the shethji party/traders are not ready to speak about a Marathi woman being widowed (referring to interior designer Anvay Naik’s wife).

“She and her daughter are crying for justice and when we are trying to ensure that they get justice, these people are making allegations to divert direction of the probe into the suicide. This is a serious matter,” said Raut, hitting out at the Sena’s former ally.

A land deal between the two families was done legally in 2014, the Rajya Sabha MP claimed.

“Is he (Somaiya) having a problem that a Marathi person did the deal,” he said, adding no matter what the Sena-led MVA government will last its full term (till 2024).

“We will ensure that the BJP sits out of power for 25 years in Maharashtra.

Our stand is to give justice to the family of Anvay Naik and punish those legally who forced him to take the extreme step of ending his life,” Raut said.

“Shethji’s party wants to protect the accused,” the Sena leader said in an apparent reference to TV journalist Arnab Goswami, who along with two others, has been charged with abetting the suicide of Anvay Naik and his mother over non-payment of dues by their companies.

“What 21 deals is he (Somaiya) talking about? Show me even five. There was one transaction which was absolutely legal,” Raut aid.

Asked about the demand for a probe by the Enforcement Directorate into the alleged land deals, Raut shot back, “Why only ED let there be a probe by the CBI. Go to Interpol, FBI, KGB, Interpol and the United Nations.”

Somaiya has alleged there were multiple land deals between Uddhav Thackeray’s wife Rashmi and Anvay Naik who allegedly committed suicide on May 5, 2018.

“How are you linked to the accused. Don’t you have any concern for the mother-son duo who ended their lives?” Raut asked, targeting the former BJP Member of Parliament.

COVID-19 Updates India’s active caseload drops below 4.85 lakh

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India’s active COVID-19 cases remained below five lakh for the third consecutive day at 4,84,547, which comprise 5.55 per cent of the total caseload, the Union Health Ministry said.

India on Friday added 44,878 fresh cases to its COVID-19 tally and 547 deaths to its toll, as per the data shared by the Union Health Ministry. 

With this addition of fresh cases, the case-load in India surged to 87,28,795 while the toll reached 1,28,68.

Meanwhile, the total active cases in the country are 4,84,547 after a decrease of 4,747 in the last 24 hours and total cured cases are 81,15,580 with 49,079 new discharges.

The National Capital of Delhi has come under the radar again due to its high COVID-19 cases and also reporting over 

Recovery from pandemic could be bumpy, says ECB chief Christine Lagarde

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Analysts have been predicting more stimulus as a renewed increase in virus infections and partial lockdowns weigh on economic growth.

FRANKFURT: European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde says the current 1.35 trillion-euro ($1.58 trillion) bond purchase program and cheap loans to banks are “likely to remain the main tools” to help the economy as it prepares to offer more stimulus in December.

Lagarde said Wednesday that “while all options are on the table,” the bond purchase program and offers of long-term credit to banks – in some cases carrying a negative interest rate that pays the banks to borrow – had proven effective and could be adjusted as the pandemic evolves.

At the central bank’s last meeting on Oct.28 Lagarde said there was “little doubt” that the monetary authority for the 19 countries that use the euro would step up its stimulus efforts at its Dec.10 meeting.

Analysts have been predicting more stimulus as a renewed increase in virus infections and partial lockdowns weigh on economic growth.

Inflation, meanwhile, was at minus 0.3% in September and continues to lag the ECB’s goal of below but close to 2%.

Lagarde warned Wednesday in her speech to an ECB online conference that the economy faces a “bumpy,” “stop-and-start” recovery despite good news about potential vaccines.

She warned that lasting changes in behavior could drag out the rebound, and that governments and central banks will need policies that bridge the gap until vaccination is widespread.

COVID-19 effect: Hotel industry stares at Rs 90,000 crore revenue loss

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Consultancy firm ANAROCK estimates that the sector is likely to face a revenue loss of Rs 90,000 crore in 2020


Hotels, restaurantsFor representational purposesBy Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, occupancy levels for hotels in India continue to remain at rock bottom. According to JLL’s Hotel Momentum India (HMI) report, the Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) across 11 markets crashed by a whopping 70-90 per cent in the April-June 2020 period compared to the previous year.

This RevPAR value has falled 52.8 per cent year-on-year in the January to September 2020 period.

In terms of individual markets, Mumbai continues to be the RevPAR leader despite a decline of 71.7 per cent year-on-year in April-June 2020, whereas Bengaluru saw the sharpest decline in RevPAR at 88.1 per cent decline compared to the same period of the previous year. Other markets such as Pune (86.2 per cent), Kolkata (82.6 per cent) and Goa (78.8 per cent) also witnessed sharp declines in RevPAR, according to the report.

Consultancy firm ANAROCK estimates that the sector is likely to face a revenue loss of Rs 90,000 crore in 2020. Hotel occupancy, it noted, has only improved from approximately 10 per cent in April 2020 to 26 per cent in September 2020.

“Saying that COVID-19 has had an unprecedented impact on the hotels sector in India is putting it mildly… Occupancy and average daily rate (ADR) are expected to reach pre-COVID levels by 2022 and 2023 respectively – assuming that a vaccine is in place by early 2021 and becomes widely available before the end of the year,” said Mandeep Lamba, President (South Asia) HVS Anarock.

The consultant also added that while over 11,500 rooms were expected to be added to supplies over 2020 and 2021, only 15-20 per cent of the anticipated 2020 supply is likely to come into the market, with the rest being postponed to 2021 and beyond.

It said that some properties are likely to be repurposed to other asset classes such as hospitals, student housing and co-living.

Government colleges in Karnataka set to open, but short of guest teachers

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Most of them are language and commerce lecturers, sources in the teaching fraternity point out.

Education: In a state which fares low in the in the literacy rate, education is still in bad shape. The higher education options in the state leave the students with not much choice but to leave the state. With no big engineering or medical college, the students of the state often travel to South India or move to Punjab or Delhi. Even with the case of arts stream, the standards of the colleges are not up to the mark and oftening completing the degree on time is compromised. Be it the 15 years rule of Lallu Prasad Yadav or the incumbent Nitish Kumar, education has not been a priority. (File Photo |EPS)

BENGALURU: While preparations are under way to start the academic year with physical attendance in classes for students and teaching faculty from November 17, government colleges are faced with inadequate manpower, an issue which could have been resolved earlier. 

As many as 14,500 guest lecturers have not been paid salaries since March and havent been reappointed for the 2020-21 academic year, while more than 1,000 permanent teachers in 428 government colleges in the state are yet to be appointed for the academic year.

Most of them are language and commerce lecturers, sources in the teaching fraternity point out. The ratio of guest faculty to permanent teachers is 2:1, says general secretary of Karnataka Government College Teachers Association (KGCTA) HB Narayana.

There are about 7,000 permanent faculty members in the state. A higher concentration of guest teachers is seen in government college in B and C zones (non-urban areas). There is no saying if they will report back to work as they have not been given their appointment letter and not paid salaries for the last eight months.

Some have also taken up other jobs – such as selling vegetables – to make ends meet, says guest lecturer Suma (name changed) at a government college in Bengaluru. All these years, lecturers like Suma, who has eight years under her belt as a guest lecturer, are awaiting financial as well as job security. 

We are paid for 10 months, and after the summer break, we have to just wait to hopefully make it to the list of guest faculty members for the next year. Sometimes, if permanent appointments are made, they take up 16 hours of workload per day per person, while guest lecturers, who receive a fraction of the salary and work eight hours, are taken off the list,” Suma says.

This insecurity has amplified with the pandemic and the department is still trying to work out a way to make the appointments. Without confirmation of appointments, guest lecturers do not know if they have made the cut, and they have discontinued teaching their students as they are officially not employed in the college.

The problem facing the government colleges is that the guest lecturers handle more than just the classrooms – they are involved in various other jobs including the admission process. With their absence, or meagre presence, the workload for the permanent faculty is bound to increase in classrooms as they try to fill in for the missing guest lecturers.

With just six days to go for the reopening of offline classes, if shifts have to be worked out to ensure COVID-19 safety norms, the colleges are faced with no clarity on who will handle additional workload, says KGCTA secretary Narayana.The appointment of more than 1,000 faculty members was also stalled when the government decided against it after the pandemic started weighing on the state’s kitty.

To try and remedy this, the department is seeking the finance department’s approval to sanction the appointments. Commissioner of department of Collegiate Education and Teechnical Education Pradeep that special recruitment rules were finalised, but those were put on hold (owing to the pandemic). “The higher education department has already sought a special permission from the finance department, and approval is awaited,” he said.

Bengaluru Challenger postponed

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If it does happen next year, there is no certainty about the event having spectators.

BENGALURU:  The Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) has more or less decided to postpone the Bangalore Open, an ATP challenger event. In 2020, it was held in February. They are set to ‘inform the ATP soon’ about their decision and request them to provide a slot in the second half of the calendar season.

“We might push it (Bangalore Open) to the second half of the calendar,” KSLTA joint-secretary Sunil Yajaman told this daily on Wednesday. “However, we will have to discuss that with the ATP, and they will be the one to finalise it. For the first half, the calendar is getting ready and I hope they will give us some dates or week in the second half, and then we will be able to select one of them. We are hopeful of getting a slot.”

If it does happen next year, there is no certainty about the event having spectators. But KSLTA is not too perturbed with it and will follow whatever is to be followed in regards to fans inside the stadium. Though Covid-19 cases in Bengaluru might have improved, the present situation is not ideal for getting sponsorships, which is also one of the reasons for KSLTA’s decision.

In these tournaments, the state government has been a huge support and we get nearly 40-50 per cent of funding from them. The remaining comes from corporate sponsorships. Right now, it is difficult for the government due to the pandemic situation too. Also, it is not an ideal time for us to reach out for corporate sponsorships as well,” he added.

Pakistan Army shells four sectors along LoC in Poonch-Rajouri

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This is third consecutive day that the Pakistan Army has targeted hamlets and posts with mortar bombs and heavy firing triggering fear and panic among the residents along the LoC in Poonch.

Indian Army

JAMMU: The Pakistan Army on Thursday opened heavy fire and shelled forward areas and posts in four sectors along the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

The Indian Army effectively retaliated.

This is third consecutive day that the Pakistan Army has targeted hamlets and posts with mortar bombs and heavy firing triggering fear and panic among the residents along the LoC in Poonch district.

Pakistan also opened fire along the International Border (IB) targeting hamlets and Border Out Posts (BoPs) in Hiranagar sector of Kathua district overnight, they said.

“At about 0900 hours, Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms & shelling with mortars along LoC in Shahpur, Kirni and Qasba sectors in district Poonch and also in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district”, a defence spokesman said.

Pakistani troops have violated the ceasefire 24 times this month.

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