RANCHI:  The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notice to JMM patriarch and Rajya Sabha MP 
Shibu Soren on Lokpal hearing, directing him to reply by November 10. The notice was issued after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey moved Delhi HC against the ex-parte decision passed in the matter and a stay on the ongoing hearing against Soren. 

Justice Yashwant Varma had on September 12 passed the stay order following objections raised by Soren. The stay was granted after Soren challenged the proceedings in the disproportionate assets case involving him through a petition.

Dubey in the review petition filed by him, had accused Soren of misleading the court saying that he suppressed facts to secure reliefs. According to Dubey, the day the Delhi HC passed the order, Lokpal and he remained unrepresented before the court and he came to know about the judgment only through media reports, adding that Soren misled the court by stating that he had given an advance notice to him.

Taking cognizance of the review petition filed by Dubey, the court has fixed November 10 as the next date of hearing. “Hearing on the ongoing proceedings of Lokpal will be conducted on November 10. The honourable court has taken cognizance on the objections raised by me,” said Dubey. 

Earlier, Dubey had filed a petition before the Lokpal against Shibu Soren for amassing disproportionate assets in his name as well as family members and others and demanded a CBI probe into the matter.
It was also mentioned in the complaint, filed on August 5, 2020, that Soren has amassed several commercial and residential properties in his and his family members’ names by adopting corrupt means by misusing the public exchequer in the State of Jharkhand.

AHMEDABAD:  Senior Congress leader and candidate for the congress party’s presidential polls Mallikarjun Kharge began his multi-state tour in Ahmedabad on Friday, to gather support for his candidature in the Congress presidential poll, scheduled for October 17. Addressing a press conference in the city, he said that if he becomes the party president, he will not be remote-controlled and rather he will have the remote control in his hand.

Kharge said that there is no such thing like ‘remote control’ in Congress party unlike the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), where every president is selected through a ‘consensus’. Replying to a reporter’s question about the BJP’s claim that he would act as the “remote control” and “proxy” of Sonia Gandhi after being elected to the post, he said, “Decisions would be taken by our committee, elected members, working committee, and primary board. A lot of people say I am a remote control and work from behind. They say I will do what Sonia Gandhi says. There is no such thing as a remote control in Congress, people take decisions together. It is your thinking. A few people are creating this idea.”

He attacked the BJP for not having a culture of electing party president. “How many times has the Prime Minister taken initiative to hold the election for party president’s post? In fact, all the BJP presidents have been elected through consensus. Now, you yourself decide which party wields remote control?” he said.  

He said that he would try his best to ensure that 50% of organisational posts are reserved for those below 50 years of age. He said if he becomes the party president, he would try to give representation to women, youth, Dalits, and backward classes at every level of the party, and also appeal to state units to fight polls unitedly. “I have jumped into the fray to save the ideology of my party, the ideology of Gandhi, Nehru and to strengthen the call for unity given by Sardar Patel,” he said.

Advocate of women, Dalit, OBC participation
Kharge said that if he becomes the party president, he would try to give representation to women, youth, Dalits, and backward classes at every level of the party, and also appeal to state units to fight polls unitedly. He also said that he would ensure workers below 50 get 50% party posts.

NASHIK: At least 11 persons were killed and 38 others injured as a private bus travelling to Mumbai caught fire after hitting a trailer truck in Nashik city of Maharashtra early on Saturday, officials said.ADVERTISEMENTAds by 

The accident took place at Nandur Naka on Nashik-Aurangabad highway around 5.15 am when the ‘sleeper’ bus was coming from Yavatmal in eastern Maharashtra, they said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the loss of lives in the bus tragedy and said ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh would be given to the next of kin of each deceased and the injured would be given Rs 50,000 each.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the families of the dead and said the medical expenses of the injured would be borne by the state government.

“A luxury bus travelling to Mumbai from Yavatmal hit a trailer truck going to Pune at an intersection near Mirchi Hotel on Nashik-Aurangabad highway. Soon after ramming into the truck, the bus caught fire in which 11 passengers died,” Nashik Police Commissioner Jayant Naiknavare said.

The injured persons were admitted to the District Civil Hospital and another private medical facility in Nashik, he said.

Before catching fire, the bus also hit a mini cargo van, due to which it got overturned, the commissioner added.

Another police official said 38 persons were injured in the incident.

On being alerted, the police, fire brigade and other agencies reached the spot and launched a rescue operation and the fire was doused off.

However, the bus was completely gutted in the incident, he said.

Some eyewitnesses said the fire was so intense that they could not do anything to save the passengers for some time and had to stand there helplessly.

The death toll in the accident may go up as the condition of some of the injured persons is serious, the officials added.

In a tweet, PM Modi said, “Anguished by the bus tragedy in Nashik. My thoughts are with those who have lost their loved ones in this mishap. May the injured recover at the earliest. The local administration is providing all possible assistance to those affected.” 

“An ex-gratia of Rs.2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each of the deceased due to the bus fire in Nashik. The injured would be given Rs.50,000,” he added.

President Droupadi Murmu also condoled the loss of lives in the accident and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

“I am deeply saddened to learn about the death of many people in a bus fire in Nashik. I express my deepest condolences to the families who lost their loved ones in this accident. I wish the injured a speedy recovery,” the President said in a tweet in Hindi.

MUMBAI: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Wednesday said people should develop entrepreneurial skills rather than depending on government jobs.“For a country as populous as Bharat, it is a natural expectation that economic and development policy making should be employment-oriented. “But employment does not mean simply jobs, this prudence should expand in our society,” said Bhagwat in his annual Dushera address in Nagpur.

“Enterprise-oriented actions have to be encouraged. Setting up of decentralised employment training programmes in every district, job opportunities in home districts, development programmes in villages as also education, health, ease of travel — these are common expectations from the government.” 

He also pointed out that population control and religion-based population balance are important subjects that can no longer be ignored. “The population policy should be applicable for all. Public awareness campaigns will be required for creating a mindset of total observance of this policy. Only then rules on population control will yield results,” he added.

Growing population can also be an asset, Bhagwat said. “We are at the stage of demographic dividend and this should work in our favour. China managed to control the population by implementing strict policies but now its population is old. Realising that they are now encouraging a two-child policy,” he said.

He said scare-mongering was being done that there was a danger to minorities, but asserted that this is neither the nature of the Sangh nor of Hindus. The Sangh, he asserted, resolves to stand on the side of brotherhood, amity and peace.

“There should be no recurrence of Udaipur and Amravati incidents (where a tailor and a pharmacist were killed after they supported suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma), Bhagwat said, adding that a particular community as a whole should not be taken as the root cause for it.

Empowering of women
Bhagwat also laid emphasis on women’s empowerment and said society cannot progress without women.  He also said the concept of Hindu Rashtra is now being taken seriously

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday asserted his rebellion was not an act of “betrayal”, but a “revolt” and asked Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray to kneel down at party founder Bal Thackeray’s memorial here and apologise for going against his ideals and aligning with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). 

Addressing a mega rally at the Bandra Kurla Complex’s MMRDA ground on the occasion of Dussehra, Shinde said voters in the state elected the Shiv Sena and the BJP in the 2019 Assembly elections, but Thackeray “betrayed” people by joining hands with the Congress and the NCP to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

He said massive crowds at his Dussehra rally was proof enough to show who are true inheritors of Bal Thackeray’s legacy.

Slamming Thackeray, Shinde, who heads the rebel faction of the party, said the Shiv Sena was not a “private limited company” and maintained the 56-year-old outfit was built through hard work of common Sena workers.

The chief minister stoutly defended his rebellion against Thackeray’s leadership in June that brought down the MVA government. Shinde asserted his rebellion was not an act of “betrayal” (gaddari), but a revolt (gadar).

The Thackeray-led faction of the Shiv Sena has often targeted rebels as “traitors”.

The rally was attended by Jaidev Thackeray, brother of Uddhav Thackeray, and his estranged wife Smita Thackeray.

Nihar Thackeray, grandson of late Bal Thackeray, also attended the rally besides Champa Singh Thapa, a long-time personal aide of the Sena founder.

PANDAVAPURA: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra here, participating in a public event of the party after a long gap

Amid cheers and slogan-shouting by party workers, Sonia Gandhi walked besides her son Rahul Gandhi and other leaders for a few kilometres in Mandya district of Karnataka.

A number of senior Congress leaders, including former chief minister Siddaramaiah and PCC president D K Shivakumar, walked along with the Gandhis.

Security personnel had a tough time controlling the crowds which jostled to get a glimpse of the Congress president.

This is the first time that Sonia Gandhi has joined a public event after recovering from COVID-19 earlier this year.

The Congress president had contracted coronavirus twice and was also hospitalised

Sonia Gandhi has not been electioneering or participating in public events of the party for a long time due to health reasons.

She had last participated in a roadshow in Varanasi in August 2016 where she sustained a shoulder injury and later underwent a surgery.

The 3,570 km long Bharat Jodo Yatra began from Kanyakumari on September 8.

With the Yatra, the Congress said it wants to combat the alleged divisive politics of the BJP-led Central government.