Vol. 65 No. 357 | TUESDAY | JUNE 28, 2022 | 17 Pages | YASHWANT SINHA FILES NOMINATION F ormer union minister Yashwant Sinha filed his nomination on Monday as the common opposition candidate against NDA nominee Droupadi Murmu for the July 18 Presidential election, a contest described by his supporters as a “battle of ideologies”. The 84-year-old, accompanied by his wife Nilima and flanked by leaders of at least 15 opposition parties, including Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav, Farooq Abdullah and K T Rama Rao, submitted four sets of nomination papers to Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody, who is the returning officer for the election. SC TO HEAR PLEA AGAINST AMBANI SECURITY COVER T he Supreme Court will today hear a plea of the Centre challenging the Tripura High Court directive to ask Ministry of Home Affairs officials to appear before it in a PIL challenging the grant of security cover to industrialist Mukesh Ambani and his family members in Mumbai. A vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Pardiwala was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the high court has no jurisdiction to entertain the PIL as the state government has nothing to do with the security cover provided to the Ambanis by the Centre on the recommendation of the Maharashtra government. Mehta said he wants the appeal to be heard urgently as ministry officials have been asked to appear before the high court on Tuesday with original records concerning the threat perception. 75% STATE COVID DEATHS IN CITY M umbai continues to contribute the most to Covid-19 cases and related deaths. In June, nearly 75 per cent of Covid deaths across Maharashtra were from Mumbai. While 51 deaths were reported from across the state, 38 of these were from the city. In March, the state witnessed 31 deaths, of which only two were in Mumbai. –See City BJP IN NO RUSH In a jarring twist to the already shocking case of nine members of a Sangli family being found dead on June 20, the police on Monday arrested a tantrik and his accomplice for allegedly murdering them by poisoning the tea and making it look like a suicide pact. The police said that the tantrik, Abbas Bagwan, 48, had convinced the family that he could perform rituals that would lead them to massive hidden treasure. Inspector General of Police (Kolhapur range) Manoj Kumar Lohiya said, “He took large amounts of money from them and we SANJAY JOG MUMBAI The 39 rebel legislators led by Eknath Shinde have extended their stay in Guwahati till July 5 and will soon submit a letter to Governor BS Koshyari on withdrawal of support from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and urge him to ask to prove majority in the state assembly The monsoon session of . the state legislature is slated to begin on July 18. As per the Shinde camp, the 39 legislators will not have to merge with any party including the BJP or , the MNS or Prahar Janshakti, and can participate in the trust vote motion and vote against the government. Based on the letter by the rebel legislators, the Governor, in 48 hours, can ask the Chief Minister to prove the majority but before that a , new Speaker will be elected. Sources said that Shinde and other MLAs will argue that it is the real Shiv Sena and the 16 legislators of Thackeray-led Sena will have to follow its whip. Thereafter, the newly elected Speaker will file its reply to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the BJP has indicated that it will not move a no-confidence motion, but will watch the evolving political situation. Former minister and veteran BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar, who attended the party’s core committee meeting on Monday evening, said, “The BJP is currently in a ‘wait and watch’ mode and has not yet decided whether to form a government or align with any party . It has not received any proposal from the Shinde camp.” He further noted that the core committee has assessed the status in the state assembly after the Supreme Court’s ruling. If necessary the BJP , will convene a meeting of the core team again to decide a future course of action, he said. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE The Maharashtra government informed the Bombay High Court on Monday that it will not arrest Marathi actor Ketaki Chitale in the 21 out of 22 FIRs registered against her for her social media post against NCP chief Sharad Pawar. Chitale was granted bail in one of the FIRs and was released last week. A division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Nitin Borkar accepted the state- Heavy police deployment outside Anand Ashram in Thane after Eknath Shinde’s supporters called a public meeting on Monday. WHO IS FOOTING THE BILL? URVI MAHAJANI T he turmoil in the Maharashtra government has reached the Bombay High Court with a public interest litigation (PIL) urging it to question the rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde and other MLAs on who is footing their bills for chartered flights and hotel stay. The PIL, filed by seven citizens, states that the MLAs were staying at Le Meridien in Surat and are booked at Radisson Blue Hotel in Guwahati. “It has been revealed from various news reports and videos that all of them have travelled by a chartered plane,” states the PIL, adding, “It is expedient for the citizens to know how elected representatives of people are spending such huge amounts and whether they are using money from public funds to travel in chartered planes and reside at lavish five star –SEE CITY hotels.” NO LEAPFROGGING D FPJ BUREAU NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Monday skipped a quick solution to the political crisis in Maharashtra and issued notice to state deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal on the Shiv Sena rebels’ pleas against the disqualification notices sent to them; the notices were also sent to Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu and legislature party leader Anil Chaudhary. The court has fixed the next hearing on July 11, the opening day after the summer vacation. The vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and JB Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for the deputy speaker, assured the court that no action will be taken on the disqualification of the rebel MLAs till the next date of hearing in the matter. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE Sena vs Sena in Kolhapur: Sainiks confront supporters of rebel MLA and minister The tantrik told the family he could perform rituals that would lead to massive health, which led the members to borrow. suspect that this is why they were borrowing so heavily .” This was indicated in the note found on the crime scene and led the police to arrest several lenders from the village. The Vhanmore family members were found dead in their two houses in Mhaisal village, Miraj. The note named ment and kept the petitions for hearing on July 11. Chitale was arrested by Kalwa police on May 14 after she allegedly uploaded an objectionable social media post about Pawar. In the 22 FIRs against her, four are non-cognisable offences. She has filed two petitions before the HC; one has sought a stay on the investigation in these cases, while the other seeks that her arrest and detention by the Kalwa police on May 14 be declared “illegal” and in “breach of the law”. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE 25 village residents, who had lent money to the family and were now harassing them. The police had arrested 16 of them. However, under utmost secrecy the police had already , opened up another investigation, after several red herrings were spotted. Lohiya said, “Our suspicions were first raised when we read the note. Usually a sui, cide note starts by mentioning the problems victims are facing. It then goes on to name the people responsible and ends with the reasons. In this case, the note began by listing out the names of the lenders and ended with the description of harassment.” CONTD. ON NATION PAGE G7 BONHOMIE Sunrise: 06:04 am Sunset : 07:20 pm 9 REBELS STRIPPED OFF PORTFOLIOS The rebel Shiv Sena camp led by Eknath Shinde, on Monday, released a statement after relief from the Supreme Court. In the fourpage statement, the camp’s spokesperson Deepak Kesarkar claimed their move is to safeguard Hindutva and not a rebellion. The MLAs said they have suggested to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to allow a Shiv Sena alliance with the BJP, adding that “the BJP-Sena alliance, in line with the earlier verdict given by Maharashtra, will take the state to great PM Modi meets Biden, Macron, Trudeau at the Summit in Germany SANJAY JOG MUMBAI Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led government has stripped five cabinet and four ministers camping in Guwahati of their departments. Thackeray has allocated these departments to Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress ministers. The nine ministers include cabinet ministers Eknath Shinde, Gulabrao Patil, Sandeepan Bhumre, Dadaji Bhuse, Uday Samant, and ministers of state Shambhuraj Desai, Rajendra Patil Yedravkar, Abdul Sattar and Bacchu Kadu. The Shiv Sena now has four cabinet ministers, including the CM himself, Aaditya Thackeray Anil Parab, and , Subhash Desai. Barring Aaditya, the rest three are MLCs. Cabinet minister Shankarrao Gadakh represents Krantikari Shetkari. Shinde’s portfolios – urban development and public undertaking – were given to senior Sena leader and state industries minister Subhash Desai. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE SANJAY JOG MUMBAI uring the hearing, the SC asked the rebels’ advocate NK Kaul why they didn’t approach the Bombay High Court first. Kaul replied that the MLAs’ properties are being threatened, and the situation is not conducive for them to pursue their rights in Mumbai. Pardiwala told the deputy speaker, who was to decide cases of rebels at 5.30 pm on Monday, that a noconfidence motion against him is already pending, so “haste can lead to undesirable consequences”. 300c. 240c. ‘RAUT FINISHING OFF THE PARTY’ NEXT SUPREME COURT HEARING ON JULY 11 Relief from arrest for Chitale in 21 FIRs URVI MAHAJANI MUMBAI MORE TO DEMOCRACY THAN JUST NUMBERS BJP not keen on no-confidence motion; rebels expected to approach Guv with letter of withdrawal of support; will then seek to force a no-trust vote Sangli mass suicide a murder; tantrik poisoned the family GAUTAM S MENGLE MUMBAI JUGJUGG JEEYO IS BY FAR THE BIGGEST FILM IN MY CAREER: MANIESH PAUL EDIT PIC: VIBHAV BIRWATKAR THE LINES 23.5 MN WORKERS TO BE PART OF GIG ECONOMY BY FY30: NITI AAYOG heights of development.” Kesarkar said, “It is unfortunate that Sanjay Raut, who hasn’t been elected by the people, is set off to finish our party. He is the NCP’s blue-eyed boy. You may succeed in distancing the Shiv Sena from the BJP. But if you are trying to distance the Shiv Sena from Hindutva, how do you expect us to tolerate it?” He noted, “Even more unfortunate is that if the party is being run on Sanjay Raut’s advice, that too at the cost of isolating people like us who get elected by the people multiple times. Then what option do we have?” Dy CM Ajit Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal test –SEE CITY positive for Covid-19 FPJ BUREAU NEW DELHI Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the G7 Summit at Schloss Elmau, southern Germany. They briefly interacted with each other, with President Biden, in an instance of conviviality between the leaders of the two largest democracies of the world, walking up to Modi to greet him. The PM was earlier received by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz upon his arrival at Schloss Elmau. He was later seen interacting with the Canadian Prime Agnipath scheme: IAF FPJ BUREAU NEW DELHI The Indian Air Force (IAF) has received 94,281 applications under the Agnipath recruitment scheme within four days of the registration process kicking off. After the scheme was unveiled on June 14, violent protests rocked several states for nearly a week and several opposition parties, including the Congress party have been , demanding its rollback. Defence Ministry spokesperson, A Bharat Bhushan Babu, said on Twitter on Monday “A total of , 94,281 Agniveer Vayu aspirants have registered till 10.30 SUMMONS ISSUED IN PATRA CHAWL MONEY LAUNDERING CASE SOMENDRA SHARMA MUMBAI The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday said it has summoned Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut in a money-laundering case related to alleged irregularities in the redevelopment of the Patra Chawl project in Goregaon by a private firm, Guru Ashish Construction Pvt Ltd. Raut has been asked to appear before the ED today . Raut, however, said he will ask for more time. “If they give me time, it’s okay, or else I will go there,” he said. In April, the ED had provisionally attached properties nearly worth Rs 11.15 crore in the case. The attached as- I knew ED is going to summon me. I won’t kneel down. No matter what the rebel MLAs do, I’ll not go to Guwahati. I’m Balasaheb’s Shiv Sainik and I’ll stay with my party. I’ll not appear before ED tomorrow. I will seek time from ED, but will definitely go. – Sanjay Raut sets were in the form of land held by Pravin Raut, former director of Guru Ashish at Palghar, Saphale and Padgha, a flat at Dadar belonging to Raut’s wife Varsha and plots at Kihim Beach at Alibaug, jointly held by Sanjay Raut, his wife and Swapna Patkar, wife of Sujit Patkar. The ED had already filed a chargesheet against businessman Pravin Raut. The agency had earlier claimed in a statement, “Money trail investigation had revealed that around Rs 100 crore was transferred from Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) to the account of Pravin Raut. As per the ED, this amount was further diverted by Pravin Raut to various accounts of his close associates, family members, and his business entities. It is also revealed that in 2010, a part of the proceeds of crime amounting to Rs 83 lakh was received by Varsha Raut directly/ indirectly from Madhuri Pravin Raut, wife of Pravin Raut. The ED said this amount was utilised by Varsha Raut for purchase of a flat at Dadar. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE BDD chawl bonanza: Homes now for Rs 25L LAST WORD SANJAY JOG MUMBAI In a major relief to 2,250 police personnel from BDD chawls, state housing minister Jitendra Awhad on Monday announced that the price of homes after redevelopment has been reduced to Rs 25 lakh from Rs 50 lakh. This was done after strong opposition by the tenants who had sought the intervention of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and pleaded for revision in the price. Awhad said the tenants should now vacate the houses and let the project go ahead. After the announcement, Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray who was , elected from the Worli assembly seat, INTEGRATED TOWNSHIP T he Housing Department on Monday declared an integrated township of 63 hectare on government land in Adivali village in Panvel taluka, Raigad. It will be treated as a vital project and will be the biggest township of MHADA in Maharashtra. received a rousing welcome from the tenants. Aaditya said, “The problem of the BDD scam was solved last year after 25 years by the CM, Sharad Pawar, Jitendra Awhad, Sunil Shinde, Sachin Bhau, Ashish Chemburkar and my- self.” On May 18, Awhad had announced that these homes will be priced at Rs 50 lakh, but the decision was strongly opposed by the Police Parivar, a representative body of police personnel. The or- Minister; both leaders were scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting later in the evening. The bonhomie between Modi and Macron was also on full display as they hugged and briefly chatted after the group photo. The German Presidency has invited Argentina, India, Indonesia, Senegal and South Africa to the G7 Summit in Elmau, Bavaria. Chancellor Scholz is looking forward to constructive and lively talks with the partner countries. As per an official statement, “This will send out a powerful signal from Elmau – a common message from strong democracies that are aware of their global responsibilities. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE 94k applications under ED summons Sena MP Sanjay Raut PIC: SALMAN ANSARI BETWEEN EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Indore, Bhopal, Konkan, E-paper ganisation had warned that the personnel would take to the streets if the state government does not provide affordable housing to those who are always on the road to protect Mumbaikars. However, Awhad had justified the price, saying that the construction cost of each house is approximately Rs 1.05 crore to Rs 1.15 crore. The CM, who reviewed the chawls’ redevelopment at Naigaon, NM Joshi Marg and Worli, said the police will be provided homes at the construction rate after redevelopment. He directed the housing department to take necessary action in this regard and urged the residents to cooperate with the state government to expeditiously complete the redevelopment. am (Monday). Registration closes on July 5.” Till Sunday , the IAF had received 56,960 applications under the scheme. A slew of placatory steps have been announced to quell the protests, like preference for Agniveers in Central paramilitary forces and defence public sector undertakings upon the end of their four-year tenure. Many BJP-ruled states also declared Agniveers will be accorded priority in induction into the state police forces. The armed forces have, however, made it clear those who had indulged in violent protests and arson against the new recruitment scheme will not be inducted. CR train status to go live KAMAL MISHRA MUMBAI From July, lakhs of Central Railway (CR) commuters will be able to track the live location of local trains through Yatri App. So far, this facility is available only for the Navi Mumbai-Uran section. CR division railway manager (Mumbai division) Shalabh Goel said that the installation of GPS devices in all local rakes is almost complete. A senior CR officer monitoring the project said, “Testing on the BelapurKharkopar section has been completed successfully. We have now decided to replicate it on the main line as well.” The information will be auto refreshed on the app every 30 seconds. He said that it has been developed as a non-fare revenue initiative. “With Yatri, passengers have information on suburban trains, stations and facilities at their fingertips,” he said, adding that travellers can use the app to get authentic information and live updates about trains, too. “It will now provide announcements, the latest timetable, railway’s policies, station amenities, and much more,” another official said. Subhash Gupta, the chairman of Rail Yatri Parishad, said that the app will become more useful once it starts providing live location of trains.