President appoints two judges to HC of J&K and Ladakh

TB Team
-
0
President appoints two judges to HC of J&K and Ladakh

President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday appointed two judicial officers as judges of the common High Court of J&K and Ladakh Union Territories.

An order of appointment issued by the President said Mohan Lal and Mohammad Akram Chowdhary have been appointed as judges of the common high court of J&K and Ladakh.

With these appointments, the total strength of judges in the common High Court has gone up to 13.

The order further says the appointment shall come into effect from the day they assume office.

Former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh resigns from Congress

TB Team
-
0
Former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh resigns from Congress

Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday resigned from the Congress and sent a seven-page letter to party President Sonia Gandhi. He named his party the Punjab Lok Congress.

“I have today sent my resignation to Congress President Sonia Gandhi ji, listing my reasons for the resignation. ‘Punjab Lok Congress’ is the name of the new party. The registration is pending approval with the Election Commission of India. The party symbol will be approved later,” Amarinder Singh informed in a tweet.

Singh had quit as the chief minister in September after a power tussle with state Congress chief Navjot Sidhu.

BJP further consolidates lead in Huzurabad

TB Team
-
0
BJP further consolidates lead in Huzurabad

The BJP was racing ahead in by-elections to the Huzurabad Assembly seat as its candidate and former minister Eatala Rajender increased his lead to over 11,000 votes.

At the end of 15th round, he was leading by 11,583 votes of his nearest rival G. Srinivas Yadav of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Rajender, whose resignation caused the bypoll, secured a total of 68,486 votes after completion of 15 rounds while Yadav had polled 57,0003 votes. Venkat Balmoor of the Congress party was a distant third with 2,131 votes.

The former minister, who was leading from the first round, increased his lead with every round. Barring eighth and 11th round when TRS nominee took the lead, it was Rajender who had an upper hand in the remaining 13 rounds.

Seven more rounds of counting were remaining but going by the outcome so far, Rajender is likely to emerge a winner.

Out of 2,36,837 voters, 2,05,053 had cast their votes in the by-election held on Saturday.

A total of 30 candidates were in fray in the by-election, caused by the resignation of Eatala Rajender after he was dropped from State Cabinet by Chief Minister K. Chandraekhar Rao following allegations of land grabbing.

Rajender, a four-time MLA from Huzurabad, also quit TRS to join BJP.

Meanwhile, celebrations were held in the BJP camp as Rajender took a clear lead. Party workers burst crackers and distributed sweets at the party office in Hyderabad.

The Election Commission has prohibited any victory procession in Huzurabad after the counting. According to the orders issued by the Chief Electoral Officer, no more than two persons will be allowed to accompany the winning candidate or his representative while receiving the certificate of election from the Returning Officer.

Former UP CMs too did not contest Assembly polls: SP

TB Team
-
0
Former UP CMs too did not contest Assembly polls: SP

Defending their party president Akhilesh Yadav’s decision of not contesting the Assembly polls, Samajwadi Party leaders on Tuesday claimed that in the past also several leaders, including incumbent Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, did not contest the polls.

The Chief Ministers from 2007 till now have been the members of the upper house in the state, they said.

Soon after Yadav’s announcement on Monday, the Opposition tore into the SP saying that the decision was taken as the party had lost all hopes of winning.

Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajiv Rai said that the party, not the parliamentary board, will decide who will contest elections. As far as the BJP is concerned, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and both the Deputy Chief Ministers Dinesh Sharma and Keshav Lal Maurya are members of the Legislative Council.

During his last term as the Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav was a Legislative Council member. He had not contested the 2012 elections.

Similarly, BSP supremo Mayawati who has been Chief Minister four times was a MLC but not a MLA.

Yogi Adityanath is also a MLC. He did not contest the elections in 2017 when the BJP stormed into power but he was the MP from Gorakhpur and was later elected leader of the Legislative party.

Keshav Lal Maurya and Dinesh Sharma are both MLCs elected after being appointed as ministers.

For the Assembly polls, Akhilesh, the MP from Azamgarh, will be the face of his party’s campaign, Rai said.

In 2000, Rajnath Singh was elected as a MLA from Haidergarh and was the Chief Minister, while another Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav was the last elected MLA as Chief Minister. He was elected from Gunnaur.

Counting on for 2 Assembly seats in Rajasthan

TB Team
-
0
Counting on for 2 Assembly seats in Rajasthan

Counting is on for the votes cast in the October 30 bypolls to the two Assembly constituencies of Vallabhnagar and Dhariyawad in Rajasthan.

The elections were necessitated after after the demise of Congress MLA Gajendra Singh Shekhawat from Vallabhnagar and the BJP’s Gautamlal Meena from Dhariyawad.

Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta said that the counting began at 8 a.m. at the Mohanlal Sukhadia University Campus of Udaipur district headquarters for Vallabhnagar and Government Senior Secondary School, Neemuch Naka, Pratapgarh district headquarters for Dhariawad.

Counting of votes of the Vallabhnagar seat will be completed in 23 rounds and Dhariyawad in 24 rounds, he said.

In Vallabhnagar, a total of 1,186 postal ballots were issued in the categories of absentee voters above 80 years, absentee disabled voters, service voters and polling staff, out of which 1,049 postal ballots were received.

For Dhariyawad, 300 postal ballot papers were issued in the above four categories, out of which a total of 285 postal ballots have been received. Counting of postal ballots will be done in the Returning Officer’s chamber.

Gupta said that after the declaration of election results, no procession, rally and function will be allowed by the winning candidate. He said that only two persons would be allowed along with the winning candidate to obtain the certificate of election from the Returning Officer.

A total of 16 candidates were in the fray– nine from Vallabhnagar and seven from Dhariyavad.

Around 71.72 per cent polling was recorded in Vallabhnagar and about 69.10 per cent in Dhariyavad.

The polling percentage in both the assembly constituencies was around 70.40.

Gupta has directed the District Election Officer and District Superintendent of Police to visit the counting centres on time and ensure adequate security arrangements. CAPF, SAPF and local police have been deployed in a three-tier security circle.

The Chief Electoral Officer said that all necessary arrangements like sanitisation of the counting place a day before the counting place, arrangement of helpdesk, thermal scanner at the counting place, face shield, hand gloves, soap and sanitizer, separate toilets for women counting workers has been provided.

Kejriwal dares Cong to give 40% tickets to women in Goa, Punjab

TB Team
-
0
Kejriwal dares Cong to give 40% tickets to women in Goa, Punjab

The Congress is offering 40 per cent reservation in tickets to women in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, because the party knows that it would not come to power in the politically crucial state anyway, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal said here on Monday.

Kejriwal also dared Congress to offer a similar quota in assembly tickets in other poll-bound states like Punjab and Goa.

“If you are sincere, why is this being done only in UP, are women in Goa any lesser? Give 40 per cent tickets to women in Punjab and Goa too. They (Congress) are offering it in UP, because they know they won’t come to power,” Kejriwal told a press conference in Panaji.

“We urge them not to politicise or perform a drama around it (women’s reservation of seats law). If you want to give reservation to women, come with a bill in Parliament, our party will be the first to support 33 per cent reservation for women,” Kejriwal said.

Pawan Kalyan’s fans annoy him, yet again

TB Team
-
0
Pawan Kalyan’s fans annoy him, yet again

Telugu film star and Jana Sena Party founder Pawan Kalyan, who has been questioning the Andhra Pradesh government on several welfare issues, had attended a strike aimed at opposing the privatisation of the state’s renowned Vizag Steel Plant.

As Pawan Kalyan was being reasonable, going by his speeches, his fans who were supposed to understand the gravity of the issue happening there, behaved in a contrasting way.

They had brought up Pawan Kalyan’s screen title ‘Powerstar’ as their slogans, which eventually irked their leader.

The angry politician asked his fans not to chant his screen name, which his fans fail to do most of the time.

“I don’t want this title ‘Powerstar’. I have no ‘Power’. How can I be a ‘Powerstar’? I am here to address some important issues. Please cooperate,” Pawan Kalyan had warned his fans.

Sunday’s strike angered Pawan Kalyan, much more than earlier.

Even the inside reports suggest that Pawan Kalyan is not happy with the behavior of his fans. His political supporters also suggest that his fans need to understand that the actor has turned into a politician, and hence must not behave in a way that disturbs his cause in the political events.

“These fans do not vote for him. But, attend the events and chant his screen names, while Pawan is trying to question the government on several important issues. This must change,” one of the Internet users wrote.

While another fan wrote: “See them shouting Powerstar as if it is a movie event. Fans themselves do not understand that his fight has such authenticity, which is to be changed.”

10-minute grocery delivery app Zepto raises $60 mn

TB Team
-
0
10-minute grocery delivery app Zepto raises $60 mn

Quick grocery delivery app Zepto on Monday said it has raised $60 million in an early-stage round to expand its 10-minute delivery service nationwide.

Zepto said that with its network of �cloud stores’ or micro-warehouses, it is able to consistently deliver in 10 minutes through a combination of technical and operational excellence.

“The data speaks for itself � once we started delivering in 10 minutes, our NPS (net promotor score) shot up and has constantly remained at around 85 with a 50%+ week-on-week user retention rate, which shows the incredibly strong customer love for our product,” said Kaivalya Vohra, Founder & CTO.

Aadit Palicha and Vohra, both computer science graduates from Stanford University in the US, have built Zepto this year with backing from institutional investors like Glade Brook Capital, Nexus and Y Combinator, along with individual investors.

Zepto said it is expanding quickly across Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR and will be launching in key areas across Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Kolkata in the next 30 days.

Its management includes senior leaders from Flipkart, Uber, Dream11, Pharmeasy and Pepperfry, to name a few.

“Q-Commerce in India is an opportunity of epic proportions and strong unit economics. Today, we’re consistently growing 200 per cent every single month with an unstoppable team, robust product infrastructure, and deep access to institutional capital,” said Palicha.

Priyanka Gandhi-Jayant airport meeting creates a buzz

TB Team
-
0
Priyanka Gandhi-Jayant airport meeting creates a buzz

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had a chance meeting with Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) President Jayant Chaudhary at the VIP lounge of the Lucknow airport which has created a buzz.

Priyanka Gandhi was returning from Gorakhpur after addressing a rally and Chaudhary was on his way to Delhi after releasing his party’s manifesto in Lucknow.

During the meeting for almost an hour on Sunday, they discussion the political situation and later Chaudhary left with Congress General Secretary in her aircraft to Delhi.

The meeting gains significance in view of reports that relations between Samajwadi Party and RLD have lately been under strain over seat sharing.

The RLD which is on the resurgence mode in western Uttar Pradesh following its support to the farmers’ agitation, has been seeking a larger share of seats in the region while the SP is unwilling to give more than 15 seats.

Over 69% cast votes in Assam bypolls

TB Team
-
0
Over 69% cast votes in Assam bypolls

Over 69.60 per cent of nearly eight lakh voters on Saturday cast their votes in the bypolls to the five Assembly seats in Assam, officials said.

Election officials said that the voting was held from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. under heavy security cover of the central forces and strict Covid protocols in all the 1,176 polling stations. One health worker was posted as Covid Nodal Officer in each of the polling stations, where sanitizer, infrared thermometer and social distancing were religiously followed by the voters and elections officials.

According to the election officials, the voting was peaceful and no untoward incident was reported from anywhere of the five districts, where the by-elections were conducted. The state’s Chief Electoral Officer Nitin Khade, who along with other officials monitored the polling process through webcasting, said that there has been no incident so far.

“Adequate Central Armed Police Forces were deployed at each polling station to ensure free and fair polling,” he said. Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police of the five districts personally supervised the situations.

An election official said that showcasing Assam’s vibrant traditional culture, many of the polling stations were decorated with local produce and items.

Nearly eight lakh voters, including 3,93,078 women, were eligible to decide the fate of 31 candidates in Mariani, Thowra, Bhabanipur, Gossaigaon and Tamulpur Assembly seats. The BJP has fielded turncoat candidates in three seats — Congress’ Rupjyoti Kurmi in Mariani and Sushanta Borgohain in Thowra, and All India United Democratic Front’s (AIUDF) Phanidhar Talukdar in Bhabanipur. The BJP’s ally United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) had nominated Jiron Basumatary in Gossaigaon and Jolen Daimary in Tamulpur.

The main opposition Congress, which fielded candidates in all five seats, has been trying hard to at least retain the Thowra and Mariani seats.

The AIUDF has fielded candidates in Bhabanipur and Gossaigaon, while the Akhil Gogoi-led Raijor Dal is contesting in Thowra and Mariani and Hagrama Mahilary-led Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) is contesting in Gossaigaon.

The AIUDF and the BPF were allies of the Congress-led 10-party ‘Mahajot’ (grand alliance) in the Assembly polls earlier this year.

The by-elections were necessitated due to the Covid-related deaths of two sitting MLAs belonging to UPPL and BPF while two Congress (Kurmi and Borgohain) and one AIUDF legislator (Talukdar) joined BJP after quitting their Assembly membership.

The counting of votes will take place on November 2.

1...888990...162Page 89 of 162