Archives for 2024

Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu

Shimla : Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu Wednesday said he has not resigned as the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh even as his government risks losing majority after some Congress MLAs cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls.

“I am a fighter. I hail from a humble family. We will win this battle and also prove a majority in the Vidhan Sabha,” he told mediapersons here.

Six Congress MLAs voted in favour of the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls in Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday with sources claiming they are “disappointed” with the working style of Chief Minister Sukhu.

The Congress government in the state faces an existential crisis after the six MLAs cross-voted.

“We are in touch with some of the MLAs who cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls,” Sukhu said, adding his government would last its full five-year term.

Thiruvananthapuram : The Congress Party will contest 16 seats in Kerala in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan said here on Wednesday.

The allocation of seats within the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) for the Lok Sabha elections has been finalised, he said.

Like in the previous polls, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the second largest coalition partner in UDF, would contest in two seats, the LoP said while addressing a press conference here.

Of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, the Congress will contest in 16 seats, IUML- 2, KCJ (J) – 1 and RSP-1.

The IUML leadership recently admitted that they had demanded one more Lok Sabha seat this time and said they won’t backtrack from their decision.

Satheesan, however, said issues were sorted through discussions.

He also indicated that the IUML would be allotted a Rajya Sabha seat instead of the Lok Sabha seat they had demanded.

DK Shivakumar | Bhupinder Singh Hooda

New Delhi (PTI): The Congress top brass on Wednesday rushed former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and DK Shivakumar to Shimla to parley with members of the party which is facing loss of support and risks losing power in the state.

Sources said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is learnt to have spoken to former party chief Rahul Gandhi as also general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on the Himachal developments.

Hours after six Congress MLAs voted in favour of the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls in Himachal Pradesh, Kharge swung into action to pacify the disgruntled lawmakers and sent Hooda and Shivakumar to the state. They are expected to reach Himachal Pradesh soon.

They have been asked to engage with the disgruntled MLAs, including six MLAs, who are learnt to be “disappointed” with the working style of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and are seeking his replacement.

The Congress government in the state faces an existential crisis after six MLAs crossed sides and are learnt to be in touch with the BJP.

Adding Congress’ woes, former state chief minister Vikramaditya Singh also announced his resignation from the cabinet and said he has already spoken to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Meanwhile, HP Vidhan Sabha Speaker suspended 15 BJP MLAs for misbehaviour and adjourned the house.

The state budget is pending approval in the assembly and the BJP, with the help of Congress rebels, is ensuring that the budget is not passed and is seeking a division of votes.

In a stunning upset for the ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh, the BJP on Tuesday won the state’s lone Rajya Sabha seat with its candidate Harsh Mahajan defeating Congress stalwart Abhishek Manu Singhvi and apparently set the stage for a no-trust motion in the assembly.

The contest tied with both the Congress and the BJP candidates getting 34 votes, indicating that at least six Congress MLAs voted against the party. The result was then declared on the basis of a draw of lots, officials said.

In the 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly, the Congress has 40 MLAs while the BJP has 25 legislators. The remaining three seats are held by independents.

Tumakuru: Deputy Superintendent Chandrashekar sustained injuries to the nose after being struck by a flag beam during a confrontation with BJP activists attempting to besiege the Tumakuru District Congress Committee office on Wednesday.

The BJP had alleged that supporters of Congress candidate Naseer Hussain raised pro-Pakistan slogans while celebrating his victory in the Rajya Sabha polls on Tuesday. In response, the BJP called for district-level protests against the Congress throughout Karnataka, instructing party activists to lay siege to Congress offices in each district.

The incident in Tumakuru occured when police intervened to detain BJP activists engaged in a protest and attempting to lay siege to the Congress office at Bhadramma Circle in the city. In the scuffle between protesters and law enforcement, the beam of a flag carried by the BJP activists struck DySP Chandrashekar on the nose, resulting in a gash.

New Delhi: Skipper Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli retained their place in the top bracket but the out-of-favour duo of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were excluded after ignoring the directive to play Ranji Trophy as the BCCI unveiled its centrally-contracted players for this year on Wednesday.

Rohit, Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja figured in the A plus category, the highest bracket of the BCCI’s central contracts list.

“Please note that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations,” said the BCCI in a statement.

“The BCCI has recommended that all athletes give precedence to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team,” the statement added.

Six cricketers feature in the A category, including R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya.

Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Yashasvi Jaiswal have got B category contracts.

As many as 15 have been handed C category contracts including Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, KS Bharat, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan and Rajat Patidar.

The selection committee has also recommended fast bowling contracts for Akash Deep, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal and Vidwath Kaverappa.

Akash Deep had impressed on debut in the recent fourth Test against England, which India won to seal the series.

In a departure from the norm, the BCCI this time has not mentioned the remuneration of the players across the four categories.

Cricketers are normally paid Rs 7 crore per annum in A plus bracket, Rs 5 crore in A, Rs 3 crore in B and Rs one crore in C category, over and above their match fees.

Noida: Two trained nurses who were on their way to work stopped midway to attend an emergency by helping a 33-year-old woman deliver her baby at a busy road intersection in Greater Noida.

The incident took place on Tuesday at Pari Chowk in Greater Noida when Prashant Sharma, who works in a private company, was pleading for help for his wife Roshni Sharma, who was undergoing labour pain.

Noticing his cry for help, nurses Jyoti and Renu Devi, who work at nearby Sharda Hospital, tended to the emergency and with their help the woman delivered a baby girl along the road at the busy Pari Chowk.

Nurse Devi said she was going for duty from Kasna. As soon as she got out of the auto at Pari Chowk, she saw the woman lying on the road, and her husband was pleading for help from the people.

“As soon as I reached there, the woman was suffering from labour pain. I called my fellow nurse Jyoti, she was also leaving for duty and she also came soon. We told people that we nurses are from Sharda Hospital. First, we covered the woman with her shawl with the help of a woman, after that, we both got the woman given a normal delivery,” Renu said.

“After the delivery, we wrapped the child in his jacket and booked an auto and started going to the hospital. The woman in the auto started feeling pain due to shock but we woke her up and got her admitted to the hospital,” she added.

Dr. Ruchi Srivastava, Senior Consultant, Gynecology Department, Sharda Hospital said the nurses called the hospital after delivery.

“As soon as they brought the woman and the child, we immediately started the treatment. The weight of the child is about 2.50 kg. This is the woman’s second child and now both are healthy,” she said.

“The woman was undergoing treatment in a hospital in Kasna but she said that she was having a caesarean child. From there she went to her home in Luksar. In the morning, she started having a labour pain and as soon as she reached Pari Chowk, she fell on the road. We are thankful that they were brought to the hospital timely,” Dr. Srivastava said.

Sharda Hospital spokesperson Ajit Kumar said the woman and the child are undergoing treatment and their medication is going free in the hospital and soon both will be discharged.

“The condition of the baby and mother is also stable. This is a proud moment for all of us and we should learn from such people. PK Gupta, Chancellor, Sharda University has given a certificate and Rs 5,100 to both nurses as an appreciation reward,” Kumar added.

Guwahati: Badminton player Suraj Goala of Assam played a pivotal role in helping Chandigarh University clinch the men’s team gold beating Jain University in the 4th Khelo India University Games 2023, Ashtalakshmi at the National Centre of Excellence, Amingaon here on Wednesday.

Goala, who also took oath on behalf of the athletes during the KIUG 2023, Ashtalakshmi opening ceremony teamed up with Dhruv Rawat in the first doubles for Chandigarh University and stayed unbeaten throughout the tournament to become the only player from Assam to bag the gold medal in the Games that were played across the North Eastern states.

Apart from Goala, swimmer Uttara Gogoi, who also represented Chandigarh University, clinched 3 silver and two bronze medals from the swimming competition at the Dr Zakir Hussain Aquatic complex while Angshuima Hatibaruah was part of the Bharti Vidyapeeth’s women’s kabaddi team that won the silver medal.

Uttara had won silver medals in 200m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle relay and 4×100 Medley relay apart from bagging the bronze medals in 100m butterfly and 50m butterfly category.

And Goala put an icing on the cake of Assam athletes’ performance as he laid the foundation of Chandigarh University’s victory in the men’s team final after both the teams were locked at 1-1 after the first two singles matches.

“This is my first Khelo India University Games and it is a proud feeling to win the gold medal in my home state”, Goala said after the gold medal winning performance.

The 26-year-old, who recently represented India at the Badminton Asia Team Championships is now hoping to build on this success and make a mark on the international circuit.

“I will be playing a few international tournaments in the next couple of months and hope to improve my world ranking and win a few tournaments”, said the men’s doubles national champion, who is the product of the Assam State Badminton Academy system.