The Lok Sabha will elect its new Speaker on June 26 for which notices for motions supporting candidates can be submitted by members by 12 noon a day prior, the Lok Sabha secretariat said on Thursday.

The 18th Lok Sabha will meet for the first time on June 24 and the session will conclude on July 3.

At any time before 12 noon on the day preceding the date fixed for the election, any member can give notice in writing to the secretary general of a motion supporting another member for the office of the speaker, a Lok Sabha bulletin noted.

“In the present case, notices of motions for the election of the Speaker can be given before 12 noon on Tuesday, June 25,” it explained.

While first two days will be devoted for oath taking of newly-elected members, June 26 has been fixed for the election of the speaker.

On June 27, President Droupadi Murmu will address a joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

The notice for the motion has to be seconded by a third member. Also, it has to be accompanied by a statement by the candidate contesting the poll that he or she is willing to serve as Speaker if elected.

A member cannot propose one’s own name, or second a motion, the secretariat pointed out, citing rules.

A member in whose name a motion stands on the list of business will, unless makes a statement conveying unwillingness to move it, will move the motion when called upon to do so, it said.

The motions which have been moved and duly seconded will be put one by one in the order in which they have been moved, and decided, if necessary, by a division.

If any motion is carried (adopted), the person presiding the proceedings (a pro-tem speaker) will declare that the member proposed in the motion which has been carried has been chosen as the Speaker of the House.

The other motions will become infructuous.

Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis

Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said candidates of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), which prides itself on its sons of the soil agenda, won Lok Sabha elections in Mumbai on the votes of minorities as well as non-Marathi and non-Hindi speakers.

In the recently concluded general elections, the Shiv Sena (UBT) won three of the six seats in the metropolis, while the BJP, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Congress emerged victorious in one constituency each.

The opposition’s victory was not due to the votes of Marathi speakers or common Mumbaikars or the north Indian population that has lived in the city for generations, Fadnavis said in his speech.

The opposition won on the votes of those for whom the Shiv Sena (UBT) had started using “janaab” for Bal Thackeray instead of the more popular Hindu Hridaysamrat, the senior BJP leader asserted.

Uddhav Thackeray had also stopped beginning his speeches with “my Hindu brothers and sisters” in the last six months in order to win the support of the minorities, Fadnavis further claimed.

The fake narrative of the opposition during the Lok Sabha poll campaign about the BJP wanting to change the Constitution and end reservations hit the ruling party hard, he admitted. The BJP contested 28 out of the 48 seats in Maharashtra but could win on just nine, down from the 23 it wrested in the 2019 edition.

“The Mumbai Graduates’ constituency elections have been announced and we should win it again as we had given it to our former political ally (Shiv Sena) some years back. Now, it is time to win it back. Our candidate Kiran Shelar will win to prove that the fake narrative against the BJP will not work henceforth,” Fadnavis asserted.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the first head of government who implemented the Constitution in the entire country. Earlier, due to Article 370, the Constitution was not applicable in Jammu and Kashmir. After its (Article 370) scrapping, the Constitution is now applicable there as well,” he claimed.

The BJP got 26 lakh votes in Mumbai as against MVA candidates gaining 24 lakh votes but the “arithmetic of votes helped them, and we (ruling BJP and Shiv Sena) could win only two seats”, Fadnavis said.

“It is also a good indicator that the Worli assembly seat of Aaditya Thackeray could give a lead of only 6000 votes to their candidate (form South Mumbai Lok Sabha seat). It clearly means the Sena’s charisma is over, and the BJP will make inroads in the civic polls,” the deputy CM said.

Kochi: Union Minister of State Suresh Gopi on Friday said that the External Affairs Ministry did a “wonderful” job in coordinating the efforts to ensure treatment of the Indians injured in the Kuwait fire tragedy which claimed atleast 49 lives.

The Minister of State for Tourism and Petroleum also said that he has cancelled his other programmes for the day and would be going to the international airport here to receive the bodies of the Malayalees who died in the Kuwait fire tragedy.

Meanwhile, Kerala Revenue Minister K Rajan told reporters here that the bodies of 23 Malayalees, 7 Tamilians and one person from Karnataka would be received here, before the flight carrying the mortal remains of the other Indians who died in the fire goes to Delhi.

Rajan said that arrangements have been made for public display of the mortal remains at the airport and thereafter, they would be sent to the families by ambulances that have been arranged by the Department of Non-Resident Keralites’ Affairs (NORKA).

He said that if extra ambulances for transporting the bodies of the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka natives were required, the Health Department was ready to arrange it.

“We have also arranged a pilot vehicle for each of the ambulances,” he said.

Rajan also said that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other state ministers would be arriving at the airport here.

Earlier, while speaking to reporters, Gopi said that the External Affairs Ministry was “pressed into service” to intervene diplomatically and ensure proper treatment of the injured Indians and repatriation of the mortal remains of those who died in the incident.

“They are doing it wonderfully,” he added.

Officials had said that 49 people were killed in the fire in the Al-Mangaf building on June 12 and 42 of them were Indians; the remaining were Pakistani, Filipino, Egyptian and Nepali nationals.

The building in southern Kuwait’s Mangaf area housed around 195 migrant workers.

Kuwait City: A special IAF aircraft carrying the mortal remains of 45 Indians killed in the tragic fire incident in Kuwait took off for Kochi on Friday morning. At least 49 foreign workers were killed and 50 others injured in the fire on Wednesday at the seven-storey building where 196 migrant workers were staying in the southern city of Mangaf.

“A special IAF aircraft carrying mortal remains of 45 Indian victims in the fire incident in Kuwait has taken off for Kochi,” The Embassy of India in Kuwait posted on X.

Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh, who coordinated with Kuwaiti authorities to ensure swift repatriation, is onboard the aircraft.

Meanwhile, the Public Prosecution in Kuwait ordered the provisional detention of a citizen and some expatriates on charges of manslaughter and accidental injury as a result of negligence in security and safety measures to prevent fire, the Arab Times newspaper reported.

Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has ordered authorities to provide compensation to the families of each of the 49 deceased persons.

Kuwait Fire Force on Thursday said the deadly fire was caused by an electrical short circuit.

In a decisive move, Karnataka Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil has instructed his department to inspect and potentially seal nursing colleges that fail to provide basic infrastructure for students. Patil issued the directive during a meeting at Vikasa Soudha, citing numerous complaints regarding infrastructure deficiencies.

Despite leniency, many private college managements have not rectified the issues. Patil noted, ‘Most colleges lack adequate teaching staff, library, and laboratory facilities, and they charge exorbitant fees.’ He added that stringent actions would be taken against non-compliant institutions.

The minister also rejected a 20% fee hike proposed by college managements, prioritizing students’ interests. Additionally, he urged colleges to increase government quota seats from 20% to 40% to support more underprivileged students. Patil emphasized the need for inspections before admissions to ensure compliance with government norms.

Rajkot: Police have arrested a co-owner of the Rajkot game zone, where a fire claimed 27 lives last month, taking the number of arrests in the case to ten, an official said on Friday.

Ashoksinh Jadeja, one of the six owners of the TRP game zone, surrendered before the police on Thursday evening, the official said.

Jadeja, who owns the land on which the game zone had come up, had been absconding after a fire devastated the recreation facility on May 25 in Gujarat’s Rajkot city.

Rajkot Police Commissioner Brajesh Kumar Jha confirmed on Friday that Jadeja is in the custody of the crime branch after his surrender.

Earlier, police had arrested five co-owners and a manager of the game zone. They also took into custody four government officials, including Rajkot’s Town Planning Officer (TPO) M D Sagathia, assistant TPOs Mukesh Makwana and Gautam Joshi, and former station officer of Kalavad Road fire station Rohit Vigora.

During the probe, it was confirmed that one of the co-owners, Prakash Hiran who was named in the FIR and missing since the tragedy, had died in the deadly fire as he was inside the facility when it was gutted.

CCTV camera footage showed the fire started after sparks fell on thermocol (polystrene) sheets during welding work on the ground floor. Though workers present there tried to douse the fire with fire extinguishers, it spread quickly and eventually engulfed the game zone.

According to the police, the game zone was being operated without any no objection certificate (NOC) from the fire department of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation.

Several game zones and other recreation hubs were sealed across the state after the Rajkot incident and FIRs were also filed against the owners for running such facilities without any permissions.

Jaipur: In hard-hitting remarks on the outcome of the Lok sabha polls, RSS leader Indresh Kumar on Thursday slammed the ruling BJP for “arrogance” and the opposition INDIA bloc for being “anti-Ram”.

Speaking at the ‘Ramrath Ayodhya Yatra Darshan Poojan Samaroh’ at Kanota near Jaipur, the RSS national executive member did not mention the rivals by name but suggested that the poll outcome reflected their attitudes.

“The party which did the bhakti (of lord Ram) but became arrogant was stopped at 241 but it was made the biggest party,” he said, in an apparent reference to Narendra Modi-led BJP which got 240 seats in the Lok Sabha seats.

“And those who had no faith in Ram, they together were stopped at 234,” he said, apparently referring to the INDIA bloc.

“See the ‘Vidhan’ of Ram Rajya in democracy; those who did ‘Bhakti (worshipped) of Ram but gradually turned arrogant, that party emerged as the biggest party, but the vote and power that should have been given was stopped by God due to their arrogance,” he said.

“Those who opposed Ram, none of them was given power. Even all of them together were made number two. God’s justice is true and enjoyable,” he said.

“Those who worship Ram should be humble and those who oppose Ram, the Lord himself dealt with them,” he said.

He said Lord Ram does not discriminate and does not punish. “Ram does not make anyone lament. Ram gives justice to everyone. He gives and will keep on giving. Lord Ram was always just and will remain so,” he said.

Kumar also said Lord Ram protected people and did good to Ravana too.

The remark came days after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said that a true ‘sevak’ does not have arrogance and serves the people by maintaining ‘dignity’.

Bhubaneswar: Four-time MLA and tribal leader Mohan Charan Majhi was on Wednesday sworn in as the first BJP chief minister of Odisha at a ceremony here attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several Union ministers and chief ministers.

Senior BJP leader and Patnagarh MLA KV Singh Deo and debutant from Nimapara assembly segment Pravati Parida took oath as deputy chief ministers.

Governor Rabghubar Das administered the oath of secrecy and office to them at Janata Maidan.

This is the first time that a BJP government has been formed in the eastern state.

Apart from Modi, BJP chief JP Nadda, Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Bhupender Yadav, Dharmendra Pradhan, Jual Oram, Ashwini Vaishnaw and others attended the ceremony.

Several chief ministers of BJP-ruled states including Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand were also present. Odisha’s outgoing chief minister Naveen Patnaik also attended the ceremony.

BJP for the first time got a clear mandate in Odisha, ending the 24-year-old stint of the BJD.

The saffron party stormed to power in Odisha by securing 78 seats in the 147-member Assembly while Patnaik-led BJD got 51 seats, Congress (14), CPI(M) won in one seat while Independents got three.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Manipur after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks on the situation in the north-eastern state. Addressing a press conference here, the former Maharashtra chief minister also sought to know what was the difference on the ground after the abrogation of Article 370, which provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

“Lives are being lost. Who is responsible for the terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir?” he asked.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Bhagwat on Monday expressed concern over peace eluding Manipur even after one year and said the situation in the strife-torn north eastern state must be considered with priority.

“Will Prime Minister Modi visit Manipur after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s remarks?” Thackeray asked.

“I am concerned about future of the country and not about future of the NDA govt,” the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said.

He also said there were no differences in the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and the NCP (SP) led by Sharad Pawar, over candidates for the upcoming state legislative council polls to four constituencies.

“There is no difference,” Thackeray asserted.

It is a fact there was a “loose connection” in the dialogue (among the MVA partners), Thackeray said, adding that he was not here after the Lok Sabha polls.

During this time, all parties declared their candidates and nominations had to be filed within the stipulated time, he said.

The deadline for filing nominations was June 7. Voting will be held on June 26 and results will be declared on July 1.