Archives for August 2023

JAIPUR:  BJP held a massive ‘Maha-Gherao’ at Rajasthan Secretariat on Tuesday as a part of the conclusion programme of its ‘Nahi Sahega Rajasthan’ campaign. The protest culminated in thousands of party workers surrounding the state secretariat in Jaipur and was aimed at moulding public opinion against the Gehlot government just four months ahead of the Rajasthan elections.

But former CM Vasundhara Raje’s absence from the event has once again set off tongues over the divisions in the state BJP unit. The strong protest against the Gehlot government by the BJP leaders and workers saw clashes between protesting BJP workers and the police at several locations, escalating the situation further. 

During the protest, agitating BJP workers broke through the barricades set up for security. In response, the police resorted to the lathi charge to control the crowd, resulting in a BJP worker sustaining a head injury, which further fuelled the anger of party workers. In order to gain control, the police also used water cannons to disperse the protesters.

He said the saffron party’s politics of hate was responsible for such incidents.NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Wednesday took a swipe at the BJP over the Maharashtra train firing incident, clashes in Haryana and the violence in Manipur, asking if these were the “achche din” promised. He said politics of hate was responsible for such incidents.

RPF constable Chetan Singh (33) allegedly shot dead his senior Assistant Sub-Inspector Tikaram Meena and three passengers — Abdul Kadarbhai Mohammed Hussain Bhanpurwala (58), Asgar Abbas Sheikh (48) and Syed S (43) — near Palghar station on the outskirts of Mumbai.

In Haryana, mobs killed a cleric in a late-night attack on a mosque, torched an eatery and vandalised shops as communal violence that began in Haryana’s Nuh spilt over into neighbouring Gurugram.

Manipur witnessed violence for over two months, which broke out on May 3 after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts of the state to protest the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, killing over 160 people since then and injuring hundreds.

In a tweet, Sibal said, “Politics of Hate! Four were killed on Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast Express by RPF Jawan. Victims identified by religion.”

“Shops, mosque torched; Naib Imam killed, apart from four others in Nuh. Police allegedly collaborated in violence against women in Manipur.

KYIV: Russian ballistic missiles slammed into an apartment complex and a university building in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown Monday, killing six people and wounding 75 others as the blasts trapped residents beneath the rubble, Ukrainian officials said.

One of the two missiles that hit the central city of Kryvyi Rih destroyed part of an apartment building between the fourth and ninth floors, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said. The video showed black smoke billowing from corner units and burned-out or damaged cars on a tree-lined street.

The morning attack also destroyed part of a four-story university building.

The strike on Zelenskyy’s hometown, which has been hit in the past, happened a day after the Ukrainian president seemed to warn of more attacks inside Russia.

“Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia — to its symbolic centres and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process,” Zelenskyy said Sunday in his nightly video address.

It was not clear whether the missile strikes were in retaliation for his comments.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian artillery strike on the partially occupied Donetsk province killed two people and wounded six others in the regional capital, according to Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-installed leader of the illegally annexed province.

A bus was also hit as Ukrainian forces shelled the city of Donetsk multiple times Monday, Pushilin said.

Elsewhere, in the Russian-held part of the Zaporizhzhia region, three people were killed and 15 wounded in Ukrainian shelling that hit a store in the village of Basan, according to the Russia-backed acting regional governor Yevgeny Balitsky.

Neither side’s claims could be independently verified.

A recent Ukrainian counteroffensive, deploying weaponry supplied by Kyiv’s Western allies and aimed at driving Russian forces out of occupied areas, intensified last week. At the same time, Ukraine has sought to take the war deep into Russia, reportedly using drones to hit targets as far away as Moscow.

Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia and Moscow-annexed territory, especially Crimea, have become more frequent. The latest strike, on Sunday, damaged two office buildings a few miles (kilometres) from the Kremlin. Ukrainian officials did not acknowledge the attack.

Russia tightened security in the aftermath of that attack, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday, describing the assault as an “act of desperation.”

“The Kyiv regime is in a very, very difficult situation,” Peskov said, “as the counteroffensive is not working out as planned.”

“It’s obvious that the multibillion-dollar resources that have been transferred by NATO countries to the Kyiv regime are actually being spent inefficiently,” Peskov said.

“This raises big questions in Western capitals and great discomfort among taxpayers in Western countries.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin, analysts say, is wagering that Western support for Kyiv will wane as the war drags on and costs mount.

Another Ukrainian drone targeted a district police department early Monday in Russia’s Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, but there were no casualties, the local governor said.

Bombarding populated areas with missiles, artillery and drones has been a hallmark of Moscow’s military strategy throughout the war, and that approach has continued during the Ukrainian counteroffensive that started in June.

Russian officials insist they take aim only at legitimate military targets, but Ukraine and its supporters say mass civilian deaths during previous attacks are evidence of war crimes.

“In recent days, the enemy has been stubbornly attacking cities, city centres, shelling civilian objects and housing,” Zelenskyy said. “But this terror will not frighten us or break us.”

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Monday that his forces have increased the intensity of attacks on Ukrainian military facilities.

It was not immediately clear which military facilities he was referring to, as Russia’s recent missile strikes have hit civilian infrastructure.

In the southern city of Odesa, Russian strikes in recent weeks targeted port infrastructure and grain silos, after Moscow broke off an export agreement for Ukrainian grain. The Ukrainian foreign ministry estimated Monday that about 180,000 metric tons of grain have been destroyed by Russia in the past nine days.

Russian shelling Monday also killed four civilians and wounded 17 in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson. A 70-year-old woman was killed by shelling in her home in a Kharkiv province village near Izyum, authorities said.

In eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk province, one person was reported killed and seven people were injured after Russia shelled 12 cities and villages, according to Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko.

In other developments Monday, China introduced restrictions on the export of long-range civilian drones. Authorities cited the war in Ukraine and concern that drones could be converted for military purposes.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government is friendly with Moscow but says it’s neutral in the war. It has been stung by reports that both sides might be using Chinese-made drones for reconnaissance and possibly attacks.

Meanwhile, Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said Monday that his Wagner Group is not currently recruiting fighters.

In an audio message published on a Telegram channel associated with the Wagner chief, Prigozhin said the company had suspended recruitment as there is currently “no shortage of personnel.”

Prigozhin previously agreed with Western estimates that he lost more than 20,000 men in the long battle for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

Prigozhin last month led a short-lived mutiny against Moscow, demanding a leadership change in the Russian military. In an attempt to control him, Russian authorities insisted that Wagner fighters can only return to Ukraine if they join Russia’s regular army.

MUMBAI: Seventeen workers were killed and three injured as a crane fell on a bridge slab during construction of the third phase of Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra’s Thane district on Tuesday, an official said.

“Three to five persons are still feared trapped and efforts are on to rescue them,” an NDRF official said.

It was a special-purpose mobile gantry crane used in bridge construction and to install precast box girders in highway construction projects.

The accident took place shortly after midnight on Tuesday near Sarlambe village in Shahpur tehsil, around 80 km from Mumbai, the official said.

The Samruddhi Mahamarg, named Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, is a 701-km-long expressway connecting Mumbai and Nagpur.

It traverses ten districts including Nagpur, Washim, Wardha, Ahmednagar, Buldhana, Aurangabad, Amravati, Jalna, Nashik, and Thane.

The construction of the Samruddhi Mahamarg is being carried out by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation.

The first phase, connecting Nagpur to the temple town of Shirdi, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2022. It covers a distance of 520 km.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the 80 km long second phase of the Samruddhi Mahamarg stretch from Bharvir village in Igatpuri taluka to Shirdi on May 26.

Shinde said in May that the third and last phase would be completed by the end of December this year.

As many as 88 people have lost their lives in road accidents in the last six months on Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra, including 25 last month as a private bus caught fire after hitting a divider, an official said.

Road hypnosis is cited as one of the causes of the accidents on the six-lane wide access-controlled expressway, the state highway police official said.

Highway hypnosis or driving hypnosis is a condition when a driver zones out while driving a vehicle without remembering what occurred in that specific period.

NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha proceedings on Tuesday were adjourned till noon amid protest by opposition parties demanding discussion on the Manipur issue in the House.

Soon after the listed papers were tabled in the House, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar expressed anguish over repeated disruptions of the proceedings in the House on the “same issue”.

He said a short-duration discussion on the issue was scheduled the previous day, but it could not take place.

Dhankhar also did not approve 60 notices for taking up discussion on the Manipur issue under Rule 267 of the Rajya Sabha which allows for suspension of the day’s business to debate on any issue suggested by a member.

Meanwhile, opposition members started raising slogans. Around 11.25 am, the Chair adjourn House proceedings till noon.

Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 2 pm on Tuesday following protests by opposition members on the Manipur issue.

As soon as the House met for the day, opposition members started shouting slogans and held up placards Some of them were in the Well of the House while some stood near the Speaker’s Chair, holding placards, as they sought to raise the Manipur issue.

Speaker Om Birla told the protesting members that they will be given time to raise the issues.

BSP member Kunwar Danish Ali, standing in his seat, raised slogans on the violence in Nuh in Haryana.

“Sir, Nuh jal raha hai (Nuh is burning),” he said, addressing the Speaker.

Three questions and related supplementary were taken up during Question Hour, which went on for around 15 minutes.

However, as the protests continued, the proceedings were adjourned till 2 pm.

Protests on the Manipur violence have been disrupting Lok Sabha proceedings since the start of the Monsoon session on July 20.

PUNE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday shared the stage with NCP chief Sharad Pawar at the Lokmanya Tilak National Award ceremony in Pune.

Pawar attended the event held to confer Modi with the Lokmanya Tilak Award in recognition of his ‘supreme leadership’ and for ‘awakening the feeling of patriotism among citizens’.

The INDIA alliance members felt this won’t be good optics for the opposition at a time when a united front is being put up against the BJP.

Pawar did not meet some MPs who wanted to dissuade him from gracing the occasion.

The award was constituted in 1983 to honour the legacy of Lokmanya Tilak and is presented every year on August 1, Tilak’s death anniversary.

Some social organisations and members of various political parties staged a joint protest against Modi during the visit.

Prominent social activist Baba Adhav led the protest where the participants waved black flags.

The alliance members held the protest at Mandai, around 300 metres from the Dagdusheth Halwai Ganesh temple where Modi performed pooja soon after reaching Pune.

Leaders of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) and members of various social outfits took part in the protest.