News18 Daybreak | BJP's Pramod Sawant Takes Oath as Goa CM and Other Stories You Need to Watch Out For
What to Watch Out For
BJP's Pramod Sawant takes oath as Goa CM in 2am ceremony, 11 Ministers also sworn in
Following a day of hectic parleys and negotiations, the BJP’s Pramod Sawant swore in as the Chief Minister of Goa on Tuesday in a ceremony held at 2 am. The 45-year-old takes over from former defence minister and four-time CM of Goa Manohar Parrikar, who was cremated at the Miramar beach yesterday.
Also initiated were two deputy chief ministers, Goa Forward Party chief Vijai Sardesai and Maharashtra Gomantak Party MLA Sudin Dhavalikar, and nine other ministers.
Day’s developments: The BJP only managed to go to the governor after midnight to stake a claim over the government as negotiations with the ally parties ran late.
The discussions were led by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari who had flown in from the capital late Monday. Both Sardesai and Dhavalikar had earlier demanded the CM’s post saying that after Parrikar’s demise “all bets were off”. They were, however, assuaged into taking up the roles of deputy CMs.
He said she said: Meanwhile, the Goa Congress, who had earlier in the day also staked a claim to form the government, slammed Governor Mridula Sinha for giving the BJP a chance to form the government, and called her an "agent of the BJP".
“We're strongly condemning undemocratic action of Goa Governor Mridula Sinha for not allowing our single largest party to form the govt and allowing BJP to carry on horse trading despite BJP not having sufficient numbers to form the govt," Congress's Sunil Kawthankar said.
The Congress at 14 has the highest number of legislators in the state assembly.
Bidding farewell to Parrikar: Goa CM Manohar Parrikar, who died on Sunday after a long drawn battle with pancreatic cancer, was cremated with state honours in Goa yesterday. Thousands of supporters and BJP workers accompanied the funeral cortege from the Kala Academy Arts and Cultural Centre, where the remains had been kept throughout the day for the public to pay last respects.
Top BJP leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah, Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Irani, Suresh Prabhu, Devendra Fadnavis and Ramdas Athawale also attended the ceremony and offered floral tributes to Parrikar.
What You May Have Missed
Arrest warrant issued against Nirav Modi by London court, likely to be taken into custody soon
The Westminster Magistrate Court in London has issued a warrant of arrest against the fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi in response to a request by the Enforcement Directorate. According to officials, the investigative agency has been informed and he will be put under arrest soon.
Modi was being investigated for defrauding Punjab National Bank off Rs 13000 crore. The businessman had fled the country along with his uncle Mehul Choksi, the other accused in the case, by the time the allegations came to light.
Recently, Nirav Modi was spotted on the streets of London by British daily The Telegraph. He was sporting a handlebar moustache and an Ostrich skin jacket worth almost Rs 10 lakh and further investigations revealed that the accused was living in a luxury apartment in Central London where he had also started a new diamond business. He will be produced in court on March 25.
Mukesh Ambani bails out Anil Ambani in Ericsson payout case day before SC deadline, Anil thanks Mukesh and Nita Ambani
Anil Ambani, chairman of the debt-ridden telecom firm Reliance Communications Ltd (RCom), thanked his elder brother Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd, and Nita Ambani for their help in paying dues to Ericsson a day before the deadline. The Swedish firm, which had signed a deal in 2014 to manage and operate RCom's network, last year approached the top court over the unpaid dues. Following this, the SC had asked Anil Ambani to clear its dues by December 15, with the warning that delayed payment would spell an increased interest rate of 12 percent a year.
L&T buys 20% stake of VG Siddhartha in IT Firm Mindtree for Rs 3,269 crore, eyes more shares
Soon after Bangalore based tech firm Mindtree’s founder Subroto Bagchi announced his resignation from his government post to save his company from the "threat of hostile takeover" by Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T), the construction company signed a deal with Cafe Coffee Day founder VG Siddhartha to buy his 20.32 percent stake in Mindtree.
L&T also announced an open offer to the public shareholders of Mindtree to purchase up to an additional 31 per cent of the outstanding shares of Mindtree at a price of Rs 980 per share in cash.
Structural auditor who declared Mumbai Foot overbridge safe arrested for collapse
Mumbai police yesterday arrested the structural auditor of the foot overbridge, which collapsed on Thursday. Six people were killed and 31 injured in the incident that took place outside the bustling CMS train station. Police had initially booked the officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, who had been responsible for the maintenance of the bridge, and the Central Railways but later rescinded the move. The BMC, which is controlled by the Shiv Sena, and Centre-controlled Railways had traded charges over the bridge collapse.
News18 Election Lab: Vote of discontent: How does NOTA impact the election results?
Political observers have long debated whether ‘None of the Above’ (NOTA)—an option that enables the voter to not vote for any candidate—is a disapproval of the candidates in the fray or an expression of disenchantment with the country’s existing political system. In all elections held between 2013 and 2017, NOTA secured a total of 1.33 core votes.
Although the NOTA has no arithmetic value, in 2013 the Supreme Court had remarked that the NOTA option “will indeed compel the political parties to nominate a sound candidate,” noticing that it might help in cleansing the political system.
Congress announces fifth list; West Bengal, Andhra candidates among the 56
The Congress on Monday night announced its fifth list of candidates which consisted of a total of 56 names. The list included candidates from West Bengal where the CPI(M) has already announced its Lok Sabha aspirants after an alliance between the two parties fell through. The prominent names from West Bengal include Adhir Choudhury, Abu Hashem Khan Choudhury and Abhijeet Mukherjee. Former Union Minister Pallam Raju’s name also figures among the 22 candidates from Andhra Pradesh.
No need to be angry, our target is to defeat BJP: Priyanka Gandhi reacts after Maya's rejection
Addressing a rally on the three-day boat tour from Prayagraj to Varanasi, Priyanka Gandhi told the BSP supremo there was no reason to get angry as both parties shared the common goal of defeating the BJP. “We don't want to disturb anybody, we have no problems with anyone. Our goal is to defeat BJP... that is their goal too,” said the Congress-in-charge for UP East only hours after Mayawati had rejected the Congress offer of not fielding candidates on seven Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.
BJP likely to announce first list of Lok Sabha elections candidates today
The BJP is likely to release its first list of Lok Sabha elections candidates today as a Central Election Committee is slated to take place today evening. On Sunday, the BJP had announced its list of its candidates for 123 of the 175 seats in the Andhra Assembly and 54 (out of the 60 seats) of the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly elections. Both the states are set to have simultaneous polls.