NEW DELHI: Days after her expulsion from the Lok Sabha, 49-year-old Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra on Monday knocked the doors of the Supreme Court against her removal, a lawyer connected with the case told TNIE. 

The action against the TMC leader came after the Lok Sabha’s ethics panel found her guilty of accepting cash and expensive gifts from a businessman to ask questions attacking the Adani group and cornering the Narendra Modi-led government in Parliament. The charges against her include sharing her Parliament login credentials to unauthorised people for posting questions directly on her behalf. 

“Former Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra has filed a petition before the Supreme Court to challenge her expulsion from the Lower House in the ‘cash-for-query’ scam,” her lawyer said. He added that the petition is likely to come up for hearing within a week or even sooner, given the gravity of the case.

In her petition, Mahua has sought enforcement of her fundamental rights recognised by the Constitution. “The Ethics Committee order is unfair, unjust and arbitrary,” she said in her petition, adding that she was denied natural justice during the committee’s investigation against her.

Moitra was expelled from the Lok Sabha on December 8, following a heated debate in the House over the ethics panel’s report. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi moved the motion to expel the TMC MP for “unethical conduct”, which was adopted by the House by a voice vote. During the debate, the Lok Sabha Speaker did not allow Moitra to speak. The ethics panel report had also recommended a legal as well as institutional inquiry against the TMC leader. 

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday attacked the BJP for picking Mohan Yadav as the next chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, alleging that there are many serious allegations against him including “large-scale manipulation” in the Ujjain masterplan.

the BJP on Monday picked Yadav, a leader of Other Backward Classes (OBC) and a three-time MLA, as the next chief minister of Madhya Pradesh.

“Out of the 872 acres of land reserved for Simhastha, his land was carved out by changing the land use,” the Congress leader alleged.

Many of Yadav’s videos are also viral on social media in which he is seen abusing, threatening and making objectionable statements, Ramesh alleged. Is this ‘Modi’s guarantee’ for Madhya Pradesh, he asked.

Yadav, who was not seen as among the contenders for the CM post, is considered to be close to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and is a three-time MLA and a prominent leader of OBCs, who accounts for more than 48 per cent of the state’s population.

He was first elected as an MLA in 2013 from Ujjain South and retained the assembly seat in 2018 and again in 2023.

The BJP legislator was serving as the higher education minister in the outgoing CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s cabinet.

Durban: India’s desire to start the process of finding an ideal combination for the T20 World Cup 2024 suffered a minor dent as their first match against South Africa was abandoned without a ball being bowled after persistent rain here on Sunday.

In fact, even the toss did not take place.

Now, the ‘Men in Blue’ are left with just five T20Is two more against the Proteas and three games against Afghanistan at home in January ahead of next year’s showpiece in the West Indies and the USA.

In that context, India would have liked to make a head start to their search for a perfect blend at Kingsmead but rain put paid to those hopes temporarily.

With the IPL 2024 preceding the T20 World Cup, the Indian think-tank will certainly bank on the league to identify the ideal 15 for the marquee event.

India stand-in captain Suryakumar suggested as much.

“I feel there are limited T20s going forward, before the T20 World Cup. But then we play 14 league games in the IPL as well,” Suryakumar had mentioned during his pre-match press meet on Saturday.

But then nothing really can supplant the confidence a player can accrue while performing well in international matches, and the weight of a good outing doubles if the touring destination is South Africa.

It also offers the management a more realistic yardstick about a player’s ability.

The first-time visitors to the ‘Rainbow Nation’ such as Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Arshdeep Singh etc would have been eager to get that unique taste of cricket here and now they would have to wait till Tuesday for the second match at St George’s Park at Gqeberha, formerly known as Port Elizabeth.

From a leadership perspective, Suryakumar has done a very fine job while stepping in for injured Hardik Pandya during the home T20I series against the Aussies.

Suryakumar led from the front in India’s 4-1 series victory.

The 33-year-old would have liked to make a winning start here against the Proteas to underline his credentials to give the bigwigs another name potentially to consider for the captain’s role, if it ever comes to that.

It wasn’t entirely amusing then to hear the Mumbai man talking about his comfort while shepherding a young side.

“From personal point of view, it (captaincy) is a big responsibility. I really enjoyed it in the last series (against Australia). I would love to do the same (winning the series) in the coming series in South Africa.

“But from a larger perspective, we’ll see what comes ahead but for now let’s focus on the series,” he had said on Saturday.

The Durban T20I could also have handed India a chance to test their options for the sixth bowler slot, something that assumes importance as Pandya’s fitness continues to be iffy.

They, perhaps, could have tried the part-time spin of Tilak Varma, who recently bowled a few overs for Hyderabad in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Suryakumar did not provide a definite answer to the sixth bowling conundrum, but said they have enough personnel in their ranks to fill in that role.

“It is not like we don’t have a sixth bowling option. When the right time comes, you will see the sixth bowler or maybe the seventh or eighth (bowler),” he had said.

But for now, India will have to hit the meeting room and reinforce their plans ahead of the second match.

New Delhi: Evolving a “core positive agenda”, seat sharing and a programme to hold joint rallies are among the main challenges before the opposition INDIA bloc that will be taken up at its next meeting in the national capital on December 19.

“The 4th meeting of the leaders of INDIA parties will be held on Tuesday December 19th, 2023 in New Delhi at 3 pm,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X on Sunday.

The parties intend to move forward with the unity theme – “Main Nahin, Hum” (We, Not Me) – as a counter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the meeting, a senior leader of the Congress said.

The meeting is being held in the backdrop of the Congress’ poor show in the just concluded assembly elections, where it suffered humiliating defeats in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, while the BJP asserted that people have affirmed their faith in “Modi’s guarantees” and will re-elect his government in 2024.

The challenge before the opposition parties now is to come out with an alternative positive agenda to counter the BJP in the next general elections, the leader said.

Sources said during the meeting, the parties would chalk out plans on seat sharing, for holding joint election rallies and would evolve a common programme for them.

“The election results are not a rejection of issues that were raised in this poll campaign,” the leader said on poll planks like caste census and restoration of Old Pension Scheme that have been raised by the opposition parties.

He, however, admitted that the party would think out of the box to take on the BJP in 2024.

“Main Nahin, Hum” (We, Not Me) is the likely slogan that the opposition parties would work on to counter Modi. Sources add that the opposition alliance of the INDIA bloc is likely to take forward the issues of caste census, legal guarantee to MSP and social security for workers.

“Evolving the core positive agenda for the INDIA bloc is the biggest challenge for the opposition parties that would help it take on the BJP,” the leader said.

He added that the issues that dominated during the Bharat Jodo Yatra like “rising” economic inequality, social polarisation and political authoritarianism besides price rise and inflation are some issues that are likely to find resonance on the ground during the Lok Sabha polls.

These issues would become part of the common agenda of the opposition parties that will help the opposition alliance take on the BJP.

The INDIA bloc would highlight 10 years under Manmohan Singh and whether the 10 years under PM Modi have brought any difference to the life of the common man, the leader said.

He said the Adani issue will also be raised during the Lok Sabha poll campaign.

Leaders of 26 parties would gather for the strategy meeting in the national capital to address key issues before the alliance as it prepares to take on the BJP in the 2024 general elections, the sources said.

West Bengal chief minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee would be in the national capital from December 17 to 19 and is likely to take part in the meet. Work is on to ensure the presence of other senior leaders, the sources said.

New Delhi: All new trucks manufactured on or after October 1, 2025, must be equipped with AC cabins for drivers, as the Road Transport and Highways Ministry has issued a notification for mandating air-conditioned truck cabins.

In a gazette notification, the ministry has said, “…the vehicles manufactured on or after October 1, 2025, shall be fitted with an air-conditioning system for the cabin of vehicles of N2 and N3 category”.

The testing of the cabin fitted with an air-conditioning system shall be as per IS14618:2022, it added.

In July, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said the draft notification to mandate the installation of air-conditioning systems in the cabins of trucks has been approved.

Recently, the minister said that truck drivers play a key role in the transport sector, one of the most important areas for India, and there is a need to address issues regarding their working conditions and state of mind.

Air-conditioned cabins for trucks will soon be made mandatory, Gadkari had said.

Lamenting that truck drivers have been forced to work in extreme heat conditions, the minister said that he has been pushing for air-conditioned cabins for truck drivers for a long time even as “some people objected to it saying it will increase costs”.

Mangaluru: Several pockets of the Dakshina Kannada district received heavy rainfall on Saturday and Sunday night, while a yellow alert has been issued by the met department till Monday (Dec 11) Morning.

Heavy rains accompanied by thunder were reported to have occurred in urban and rural regions of the district during the night on the weekend.

Meanwhile, minor damages due to the heavy rain were reported from some regions.

While Mangaluru city, Puttur, Bantwal, Sullia and Bellare received good rains on Saturday night, On Sunday heavy rains lashed several parts of Belthangady.