Jerusalem: Naftali Bennett was on Sunday sworn in as Israel’s new Prime Minister, ousting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from power after an uninterrupted 12 years at the helm of affairs.

Bennett, the 49-year-old leader of the right-wing Yamina party, took oath of office after the Knesset (Parliament) elected him as the 13th Prime Minister of Israel by a 60-59 vote in the 120-member house. One lawmaker abstained.

His government has 27 ministers, nine of them women.

The new government – an unprecedented coalition of ideologically divergent political parties drawn from the Right, the Left and the Centre, along with an Arab party – has a razor-thin majority in a 120-member house.

Mickey Levy of Yesh Atid party was elected as the speaker of Parliament with the support of 67 lawmakers.

Earlier, Bennett presented his new government’s ministers in the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in a speech constantly interrupted by supporters of 71-year-old Netanyahu.

Amid incessant heckling from rival bloc’s lawmakers, Bennett said that he is proud “of the ability to sit with people of different opinions”.

“At the decisive moment we took responsibility,” he said. “The alternative to this government was more elections, more hate, which would have broken up the country.”

“It is time for responsible leaders from different parts of the nation to stop this madness, he asserted.

Agitated Likud, ultra-orthodox and ultra-nationalist lawmakers constantly jeered at Bennett during his speech calling him “a criminal” and a “liar”.

In his speech, Bennett also said that Israel “will not allow Iran to arm itself with nuclear weapons.”

“Israel will not be a party to the agreement and will continue to preserve full freedom of action, he said, opposing the US efforts to revive Iran’s nuclear deal.

Bennett, a former ally turned rival of Netanyahu, is leading a fragile coalition of eight parties – Yamina, Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid, New Hope, Labor, Meretz, United Arab List, Kahol Lavan and Yisrael Beiteinu.

The alliance contains parties that have vast ideological differences, and perhaps most significantly includes the first independent Arab party to be part of a potential ruling coalition, Ra’am.

Bennett has entered into a power-sharing agreement with Centrist leader Yair Lapid, the head of the Yesh Atid party, under which the latter would take over Premiership in September 2023, serving for two years till the end of the term.

Lapid, the leader of the second-largest faction in the Knesset with 17 seats was invited by President Reuven Rivlin to form a coalition after Netanyahu, leading the Likud party with 30 seats, expressed his inability to put together a government backed by a majority of the lawmakers.

The unstable coalition that Lapid has managed to put together faces severe challenges and the glue that seems to hold them together is the ‘unity of purpose’ created by the agenda of ousting Netanyahu.

The approval of the new government by the Knesset ended 12 years of uninterrupted rule by Netanyahu, who holds the record of being the longest-serving Prime Minister in the country’s history.

Having served in the position earlier between 1996 and 1999, Netanyahu last year surpassed the record held by one of the Jewish state’s founding leaders, David Ben-Gurion.

In his address to parliament, Netanyahu vowed to bring down this “dangerous government”.

“If it is destined for us to be in the opposition, we will do it with our backs straight until we topple this dangerous government and return to lead the country in our way, Netanyahu said as he made clear he has no plans on giving up leadership of the Likud Party.

Iran is “celebrating” the formation of a “weak government in Israel, Netanyahu said.

“From the moment the US returns to the nuclear deal with Iran, the incoming government won’t approve significant operations in Iran,” he said.

“A government that is not able to forcefully oppose the international community on the pressing issues for our fate is not worthy of leading Israel,” he said, claiming that Bennett doesn’t have the credibility or the global standing to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear capability.

The formation of the new government ended the political impasse in the country that saw four elections in less than two years leading to inconclusive results.

But opinion polls suggest that majority of the Israelis do not look too hopeful regarding the longevity of the coalition of eight parties who do not see eye-to-eye on most of the critical issues facing the country.

Many analysts feel that the two factors likely to prolong or determine the tenure of the new fragile coalition are the fear of Netanyahu’s return and also a possible political demise of some of the right-wing factions that have gone against the wishes of their voting constituency to join hands.

It also includes Bennett’s Yamina party which has to score some “major wins” to restore the faith of its supporters in the movement.

Interestingly, almost one-third of the people standing in unity to oust Netanyahu would otherwise be his ‘natural allies’ ideologically, having also worked as his close associates in the past.

Many analysts believe that Netanyahu’s long-term ‘invincibility’ led to arrogance because of which he went on pushing his friends away from him each time there were differences of opinion, simultaneously also labelling them as Leftists as if it was a stigma.

It is still not all over for Netanyahu, who has dominated Israel’s political landscape for years and would remain the head of the right-wing Likud party and become the leader of the opposition.

The coalition agreement involving eight factions with the 61 seats required for a majority was signed on June 2, just about half an hour before a deadline was due to expire.

Netanyahu is fighting corruption cases on fraud, bribery and breach of trust charges, which he denies. If he were to go into the opposition, he might be denied parliamentary immunity.

KOLKATA: Mukul Roy’s ghar wapsi has sparked concerns not only in the BJP but also in West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress. The worry in the BJP camp is over the possibility of more Trinamool Congress turncoats in the party following Roy’s footsteps.

Concerns have mounted after former Trinamool Congress minister Rajib Banerjee, who is now in the saffron camp, held talks with TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh on Saturday. “Now he (Rajib) is criticising BJP for its divisive politics. But before the election, he organised a rally comprising Hindu hardliners and used the Election Commission against TMC workers in Domjur. He visited Kunal’s house but it doesn’t mean that he washed all his sins by taking a holy dip in the Ganges,” said Serampore Kalyan Banerjee, a TMC MP. Rajib contested from Domjur constituency for the BJP, but failed to win.

There is also strong buzz that former TMC MLA Sabyasachi Dutta, who joined the BJP, is set to follow his mentor Roy into the party. It was Roy, who is known for his ability to poach functionaries from rival camps, who brought Dutta to the saffron party.

Some in the TMC have already raised their voice against Dutta’s possible induction. TMC minister Sujit Bose is one of them. “The party will take the decision. But if the leadership wants to know my opinion, I will let them know my stance on his return,” said Dutta.

Even when Dutta was in the TMC, a rift between him and Bose had surfaced on many occasions. While campaigning for the election, Dutta had aggressively attacked Bose. Not just Dutta and Rajib, at least eight MLAs and an MP from north Bengal are expected to jump ship to the Trinamool Conrgess as an after-effect of Roy’s return to his old battle-pitch.

The Congress on Sunday alleged that scams are happening by taking donations in the name of Lord Ram after two opposition leaders accused Shriram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai of buying a piece of land at an inflated price for the Ram temple premises.

The allegation that the land worth Rs 2 crore was brought at an inflated price of Rs 18.5 crore was made by AAP’s Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh and a former minister in the Samajwadi Party government, Pawan Pandey.

The allegation was strongly refuted by Rai. Tagging a tweet on Rai refuting the allegation, Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala had said on Sunday, “Lord Ram, what kind of days are these? Scams are happening by taking donations in your name. Shameless robbers are intoxicated with arrogance like Ravana and are selling faith.”

“The question is how the land bought for Rs 2 crore was sold after 10 minutes to ‘Ram Janmabhoomi’ for Rs 18.50 crores?” he asked. “Now it seems – Kans are ruling, Ravana is everywhere!” Surjewala had said in a tweet in Hindi.

Terming it a case of money laundering, Singh and Pandey had sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate.

Sources said that the LJP president has now been left virtually isolated at the top after taking on the mantle following his father Ram Vilas Paswan’s death in 2020.

The Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) suffered a major jolt after five of its six Lok Sabha MPs have reportedly united against him and demanded his replacement with a new leadership. The five MPs have demanded that Hajipur MP Pashupati Kumar Paras, who is also Chirag Paswan’s, uncle be declared as the new president of the LJP. 

Speaking to the media over the phone, Paras said that he had to take this step it order to save the party and carry on the political ideologies with which late Ram Vilas Paswan had formed the LJP. “The LJP in Bihar assembly election had suffered badly. I will try and revive the party and take it further to provide peace to the soul of its founder,” he said.

According to the sources, the formation of a new party with a ‘renewed’ leadership was decided late on Sunday evening in New Delhi at Paras’ residence. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was informed about this decision to form a new fraction of LJP with five MPs. However, it is also being speculated that this was not a random development and has been on the cards since the death of Ram Vilas Paswan. Chirag was allegedly accused of undermining the seniors in the party, which left the leaders quite unhappy. 

Meanwhile, local political sources said that a senior JDU leader had also met Paras recently. “A new political game is being played from behind to teach Chirag Paswan a lesson,” an LJP leader close to the party chief said here.

A formal announcement on this leadership development is likely to be made in New Delhi on Monday after Lok Sabha Speaker’s approval. Political circles in Bihar have sparked a new buzz after Paras recently lauded CM Nitish Kumar as a good administrator.

While the rebel group, which includes MPs Prince Raj, Chandan Singh, Veena Devi and Mehboob Ali Kaiser, has long been unhappy with Chirag Paswan’s style of functioning, sources said, the LJP president has now been left virtually isolated at the top after taking on the mantle following his father Ram Vilas Paswan’s death in 2020.

Sources close to him have blamed the JDU for the split, saying the party had long been working to isolate the LJP president after his decision to go all out against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the 2020 assembly polls damaged the ruling party badly.

The rebel group may back the JDU in the coming days, the sources said.

CHANDIGARH:  Residents of Badkali village in Haryana’s Nuh district bordering the national capital on Saturday clashed with police and set a government vehicle on fire after a 22-year-old youth died at his house, allegedly after being tortured by the police. The deceased, Junaid was a painter and his family alleged that the youth was illegally picked up and detained by Faridabad Police without registering any case against him. 

Subsequently, a team of police personnel from Nuh came to the spot and asked villagers to clear the highway. However, tension mounted after the two sides engaged in an argument, which led to clashes.
The local residents pelted stones, beat up police personnel and damaged vehicles and also set an official vehicle ablaze, said the police.

Meanwhile, the family of Junaid claimed that he was going for a wedding in Rajasthan along with five others in a car and was picked up instead of another youth who was involved in a fraud case. Meanwhile, Faridabad Police stated that the allegations of illegal detention and torture raised by Junaid’s family are “baseless” and “far from facts”. 

“We deny all the allegations raised by the family of the deceased. Junaid died due to kidney problem. A case of fraud was registered as one Sonu was cheated of Rs 80,000  and two brothers of Junaid and his cousin were involved in the crime and were arrested,’’ said  spokesman of the police.

MUMBAI: Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran on Thursday said even though a “hybrid” model will be the new normal in future, India’s largest software exporter TCS will ask employees to come to work once the pandemic is over as social interactions are a social necessity.

“I do want to make the point that people need to meet people. It is a social necessity. So, there will be a shift towards moving people to work when the pandemic gets over,” Chandrasekaran, who also chairs TCS, said at the company’s annual general meeting.

At present, 97 per cent of the company’s staff have been working from their homes because of the pandemic, he said, admitting that a “hybrid” model where people work from homes and also from offices will be the new normal.

TCS believes a “significant number” of people will be working from home in the future, he said, adding, “the future of work will be somewhat hybrid where some people will work from home, sometimes people will come to the office. So, the hybrid will likely be the new normal.”

“We still believe that offices will be needed. The occupancy levels may go down. There will be lot more collaboration spaces in offices once people start coming in to work,” he said, answering a shareholder query on what happens to real estate and the huge campuses that it has built.

It can be noted that after the emergence of the pandemic, the company had first spelt out its 25-by-25 strategy, which said that at any given point of time a fourth of its staff will be working from the offices by 2025.

Chandrasekaran said the company was quick to shift work to the new normal after the country was put under a lockdown and ensured that all the necessary work happened at the backend, including shifting of computers and establishing security protocols.

He said 5 per cent of its 4.88 lakh workforce was impacted by COVID-19 infections and added that 80 per cent those affected have already recovered.

Replying to a query on employees’ mental well-being while working from homes, Chandrasekaran said the human resources department has reached out to every single employee and also developed in-house tools to discuss other issues beyond work and also indulge in hobbies like art and films.

He said the company employs 150 nationalities at present and follows a pattern of investing in people in all the markets it operates from, he said, pointing out that it has 15,000 people in Latin America.

Visa issues, which had been a dominant concern earlier, were not faced during the pandemic as a lot of work got shifted to be done from home, Chandrasekaran said.

When asked about fears of rising political instability in the world, he said TCS has a risk management framework which assesses the threats and how to mitigate the same.

At a time when many rivals are investing in 5G technologies, Chandrasekaran said the area is of interest to TCS as well and identified as an “important growth area” in the future.

Some companies grow in size through acquisitions, he said, adding that while TCS is not hesitant to do acquisitions, it will evaluate every proposal to ensure that growth happens with profitability.

The Indian market has been volatile, and the COVID pandemic has impacted the maintenance-focused projects, he said, adding that a large number of projects which come up are development or transformation-oriented in which TCS participates.

He said the company is probably the one which has worked the most for Indian government and state-run enterprises, and specified its work for Income Tax Department and the Passport Seva project as examples.

It has 700 micro, small and medium enterprises in the country working as vendors for it at present and has joined a trade receivables platform, he said.

The company witnessed 27 complaints of sexual harassment made against staffers in FY21 and each of the complaint will be followed as per law and action taken if an allegation is substantiated, he assured.

Earlier, both Chandrasekaran and its Rajesh Gopinathan, its CEO and MD, said that the company is at the cusp of a multi-year growth given how technological play is shaping up.

Chandrasekaran said the COVID pandemic advanced the technology adoption by at least ten years.

HYDERABAD:  Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman responded positively to Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao’s request to increase the borrowing limit under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act from the present four per cent to five per cent.

If the Centre increases the borrowing limit to five per cent, the State can raise an additional Rs 10,500 crore loan in the current fiscal. The State has proposed to borrow Rs 49,300 crore State Development Loans in the 2021-22 Budget. It may be mentioned here that the State has already raised loans of Rs 7,500 crore so far in the first quarter of the current fiscal and is raising another Rs 3,000 crore State Development Loan on June 15. Harish Rao supported the GST Council’s decision to reduce the tax on Covid-19 related materials.

He wanted the Centre to provide Covid-19 vaccine doses to the States at the earliest and import vaccine doses as per the country’s requirement. The vaccination drive should be expedited in the wake of warnings of a third wave of Covid- 19, he suggested to the Centre.

VIJAYAWADA: Kuchipudi police booked a case under various sections of POCSO Act against a 20-year-old boy for impregnating a minor girl by cheating her on the pretext of marriage on Saturday. 

The accused Durga Rao happens to be the neighbour of the victim and is reportedly married and has two children. According to Avanigadda DSP Mahaboob Basha, the accused was identified as a resident of ST Colony in Nudumolu Brahmana Cheruvu village and working in a private company in Avanigadda. 

The accused developed acquaintance with the victim girl which turned into a relationship. Promising the girl to marry her, the accused exploited her sexually. Upon learning of the incident, the parents of the girl filed a complaint leading to the arrest of the accused. 

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday asked its leaders to follow the party’s stance on the issue of abrogation of Article 370 as articulated in the August 6, 2019 resolution of the CWC, after its leader Digvijay Singh’s remarks sparked a row.

He was responding to a question about the “way forward” on the issue “once the Modi government is gone”.

The BJP launched a scathing attack on Singh and top party leaders, accusing them of speaking “the language of Pakistan” and spewing venom against India.

“The Congress Party has clearly stated its position on Jammu and Kashmir, in its resolution of August 6, 2019 of the Congress Working Committee. This is the only official stance of the party.”

“I urge and request all senior leaders to refer to the same,” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said, when asked about Singh’s remarks.

The CWC resolution of August 6, 2019 had said that it “deplores the unilateral, brazen and totally undemocratic manner in which Article 370 of the Constitution was abrogated and the State of Jammu and Kashmir was dismembered by misinterpreting the provisions of the Constitution.”

“Every principle of Constitutional law, states’ rights, Parliamentary procedure and democratic governance was violated,” the opposition party alleged “The Indian National Congress pledges to stand with the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and to fight the BJP and its divisive and diabolical agenda with every power in its hands. We urge the people of J&K to maintain peace and calm,” it said.

The CWC “strongly reaffirmed the consistent and stated position” of the Indian National Congress that J&K, including the areas under the illegal occupation of Pakistan and the part ceded by it to China, are an integral part of the Republic of India.

The integration of J&K with India is final and irrevocable, it said, “The CWC firmly asserted that all issues pertaining to J&K are internal matters of India and no outside interference will be tolerated,” the resolution had further said.

Singh’s remarks to a person, who the BJP said was a journalist of Pakistani origin, were seized by saffron party leaders on Saturday to unleash a torrent of criticism against the opposition party and demand statements from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi on the issue.